Tiger Tamer

ID: 050704.0708

Last week I successfully upgraded my PowerBook G4 from Mac OS X 10.3.9 to 10.4.1 (Tiger). Here's my advice and experience:

Read. I checked Apple's Mac OS X website, as well as the websites of my software vendors for information about upgrading to Tiger. My two biggest concerns were Macromedia's Studio MX 2004 (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and Freehand), and Norton SystemWorks 3.0, that includes Norton AntiVirus 9.0. Lots of minor glitches were reported with Studio MX 2004, especially if one did an Archive and Install rather than simple Upgrade. SystemWorks 3.0 and AntiVirus 9.0 are incompatible with Tiger. I also read all the readme and other files during installation.

Network. I checked with people I knew who might have already upgraded, or were knowledgeable on the subject. (Thanks Fred and Hai!)

Update. I used Software Update as well as website visits to make certain all my software was updated to its current version, and compatiblle with Tiger. In the case of Norton AntiVirus, this meant purchasing ($39.95) an upgrade from version 9 to 10.

Record. I recorded and printed all the serial numbers and activation keys for all my software. QuickTime for example, is notorious for replacing your current version with another, requiring you to register, or even upgrade again. Activation keys had delayed me transferring Studio MX 2004 from my Windows machine to my PowerBook, and I didn't want to go through that again. I'd also recommend including usernames and passswords, as well as email account parameters.

Backup. I made redundant backups: A disk-image on an external hard drive, as well as specific folders on external hard drives, CDs, and even flash memory. (All my Support folder, that includes upgrade files and other information for all my software, hardware, ISPs, and websites, just fits on a 1GB flash stick.)

After removing Norton SystemWorks 3, and with it AntiVirus 9 — AntiVirus auto-protection should be disabled before installation in any event — I inserted the Tiger install DVD — the upgrade is only available on DVD — at 10:25 AM, on Thursday, June 30, 2005, then followed the proverbial "onscreen instructions" for "Easy Installation on 'Macintosh HD.'" A little less than an hour later, installation completed. (Installing printer drivers seemed to take the most time — 20 - 30 minutes — and turned out to be the least useful step.)

(An unexpected, but not surprising problem, was my Bluetooth mouse — see my May 12, 2005 blog, My New Mouse. It was not available during installation. I had to use the trackpad.)

After restart, which was very slow, three screens popped-up: a Finder folder for the installation disk, a "Confirm Access to Keychain" dialogue asking "permission to use the 'Netscape' item" (Sure. Why not?), and the Mac OS X Setup Assistant. I was surprised to be asked my Apple ID and Password, the one thing I did not record! Fortunately, I remembered it, and could register the upgrade. I was relieved to see the new widget icon in the Dock, and the Spotlight icon in the menubar.

There was an immediate upgrade to Mac OS X 10.4.1 and DVD Player 4.6, which I downloaded and applied. The restart was faster than before.

All my software started up normally, and at first glance seem to function correctly. The one exception is my HP officeJet G55xi Printer. Fireworks recognizes and uses it as a scanner, and Mac OS X recognizes it as an installed printer, but printing fails. There was no mention of problems upgrading to Tiger with this printer on HP's site, and no new driver available. I suspect all I need do is reinstall the OfficeJet driver. Since I rarely print anything with the machine — it's used mostly for scanning — this has low priority.

I installed Norton AntiVirus 10, and restarted again. I haven't had to restart the machine since. So far, so good. Some peculiarities:

• As mentioned above, the printer does not work. (Apple did not list the OfficeJet G55xi as a supported printer.)
• Apple applications such as iCalendar, especially alerts, are very much slower with Tiger than with Panther. It may be Spotlight's indexing is creating these delays.
• My Bluetooth mouse takes three to four times longer to be recognized. This is probably a function of the longer time it takes memory-resisdent applications like iCalendar to start.

Tiger Tamer is also the title of a Jack Finney short story that appeared in the May 31, 1952 issue of Collier's magazine. The image for today's blog is a detail of the page 70 illustration for that story.

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