Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems Archive & Install lives?

Well, only in a sense...

I've been under the impression that A & I disappeared a bunch of versions of OS X ago, and since I don't use Time Machine I've done several clean installs which I've now learned were unnecessary.

While researching the possibility of reverting from Safari 10 to Safari 9 I ran across a post that advised reinstalling OS X without erasing, and since I already knew that my OS X 10.11.3 installer allowed me to select my boot volume for installation while I was booted into it I decided to give it a go and see what would happen.

So I booted into a clone and let 'er rip, and when the dust had cleared, my 10.11.6 volume had reverted to 10.11.3, complete with Safari 9, although some of my tweaks had to be re-tweaked. (iTunes 12.5.1 remained intact.)

Although the installer overwrote OS X, as did A & I, it didn't archive my previous system.

I can't imagine this feature having been overlooked here for so long, but I don't remember ever having read about it.

Somebody please slap me and wake me up!

I think A&I as we have known it is gone forever.

Everything is an A&I now, with an "automatic post-install cleanup" that runs and gets rid of the old system. They took the "A" out of "A&I".

Yet another tool/troubleshooting/feature that Apple has axed over the years.

The ability to install OS X/MacOS on top of an old installation and retain all of your apps, settings, and data is a wonderful feature.

I was mighty pleased to see my desktop when I walked back into the room after the installer had run.

A & I probably is gone for ever, but plain old I is enough for me. (I don't recall ever having had to fish anything out of a Previous System folder after doing an A & I.)