I guess i’m part of the lucky crew- i’ve only had to clean install my OS once (about 2 weeks after getting it so not much data was on it- and that was back on 10.1.1) and haven’t had any detrimental problems with Photoshop. I work for a large company that is exclusively mac based (and use a lot of them) and work around a large amount of tech savvy people and have never heard these terms before visiting these forums. I know cocktail is an application, but what does it do? and what does repairing permissions do and how do you do it?
I did a search on it, and while i understand that i should do it before and after an install, i don’t get what function it actually does or why i should be doing it (other than just because)- this might not be the right place for this question, but i thought since i see in so many threads where this advice is given, i thought i’d ask exactly what it is.
Thanks for the advice. I’m running 10.3.3 (i know we’re up to 10.3.4, but i always think about it when i’m really busy and not when i actually have the time to update) I’ve often considered buying the book, but never have. The next time i’m at the bookstore i might have to pick it up.
What I don’t understand, is that at a time when operating systems are so good and sophisticated it can’t do it’s own maintenance. Why is that the user still got to do it them self, the OS should detect a flaw and repair it. I don’t believe this is a hard task for the OS to do.
Even out of a marketing perspective this makes sense; how many people are out there that are using a Mac and have no clue how to maintain it properly. Eventually there Mac slows down and they blame it on there stupid Apple and I can’t blame them; Apple doesn’t put it in there manual that you have to repair your permissions.
I have been on so many sets where the Art-director or other "professionals" would complain that there Powerbook became so sluggish over time, none of them had any clue how to speed it up again. If I did some maintenance work on there machine they would look at me if I was some kind of genius…..
You won’t find too many folks disagreeing with you. But complaining here doesn’t count. We’re all users just like you, just trying to help each other out. You’re preaching to the choir.
Hound Apple on their discussion boards, or write to Steve Jobs.
My question to 1bp is how long has he been operating these bank of Macs without all the maintenance procedures. I still have my suspicions all this is hardware based.
How can this guy not do this in a professional production environment without any problems and the rest here do?
<< Apple doesn’t put it in there manual that you have to repair your permissions. >>
Because they didn’t get around to writing a manual yet.
David Pogue did it for them in his "The Missing Manual" — which every serious user of OSX should own.
As for the other users, I imagine that they just take their machines in for "Service" every few weeks (although OSX does go through a FirstAid cycle when you start up). If you never shut down, you miss out on that although you will get the Cron scripts running automatically.
In other words, Apple have done their best for the technologically impaired — while those who know better know that a quick swig of Cocktail works wonders.
For those who don’t care to use Cocktail for chron scripts, rebuilding permissions, or eliminating extra unneeded language resources, Macaroni performs those three functions automatically or on a personalized schedule. I install it on every new Mac I help set up, particularly for new users.
I second Ann’s hearty recommendation of David Pogue’s "Missing Manual for OS X".
He’s a good, clear writer, easy to read, with a sly sense of humor that can make even difficult passages amusing and interesting enough to keep you reading.
If there’s a Fry’s store near you, they’re offering the rebate for the full price of the book (and many other O’Reilly publications) again –or at least they were last week. I bought David Pogue’s Missing Manual the first time the rebate was being offered, and I just received my rebate check in the mail yesterday. You end up shelling out only the sales tax.
thanks for the info.. that would be great if there was a Fry’s near me but i’m in the NYC area where one doesn’t exist (although i hope there are others out there who take advantage of it)
Check in book stores around your area. The rebate offer is directly from the publisher, just the coupon is issued by Fry’s at the time of the sale. If there are no Fry’s stores back East, the publisher (O’Reilly) may have similar arrangements with some other chain over there.
