Serious Anticipation For 10.5

As the (possible) release date of 10.5 draws nearer it is all too clear that the anticipation of all those who know they’ll be installing it is growing higher by the day. That only gets backed by the bits of news we read online about it.

But, we all need to know that it isn’t just a simple task, it’s a full new OS. So, we need to start soon in thinking about the 3rd party things we’ve installed in 10.4.x, especially things installed into the /Library folder. These are the items that may be problematic in 10.5. I’ve already stripped my system down to the bare basics when it comes to StartupItems, Components, and the like.

We also might want to set an installation time. What I mean is that if the OS is released on the 26th then the earliest any of us will have it is that weekend. But, do we really want to submit ourselves to the OS that weekend? My answer is NO, I don’t. Even if the disc is in my hands I’ll wait another 2.5 weeks (until the first quarter of school is over) to actually install it over my copy of 10.4.11 that is installed internally on my MacBook.

But, that doesn’t mean I won’t be installing it. Mary has already said that she’ll be waiting a few weeks after I install it before she hands over her MacBook Pro to me for the installation. When she got a new computer she also got a new backup hard drive, opening up a currently unneeded drive partition. I’m starting to think seriously about (if I feel like it when it comes out of course) installing a copy of 10.5 on that drive for both of us to boot to when we want to play with the new OS. That way we learn it’s good and bad sides without hurting our personal data. That would last me the 2.5 weeks before I have the time/ want to install it internally and permanently onto my MacBook. Try to enjoy this time of mass anticipation, Alex.