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Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
#27178 10/25/13 02:17 AM
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On a whim, I installed OS X 10.9. I almost never join the first wave, but I was curious. It was easy to install. I checked out my apps after installation and found only one problem. I use MS Office 2008 (now abandoned by Microsoft). I found that existing documents for both Excel and Word would open normally if I double clicked on them in their folders, but, when I clicked on their icons on the Dock, the documents opened, but the title at the top of the page says "Document 1 (Compatibility Mode)" instead of the existing document's title. I'm going to have to open them from their folders instead of using the Dock. Going the route of Save As for each document will likely result in my forgetting to fix the title a few times. I'd rather open the docs from their folders to avoid confusion.

I expect an update in Mavericks to fix it unless they go along with Microsoft and also abandon my versions of Word and Excel. I'll wait to see what happens before getting steamed up. Other than that, this was the smoothest initial update I've ever seen and I started way back there with Lisa and the first Mac.

I'd be very interested to see if someone using Microsoft Office 2011 has the same result.

Last edited by JoBoy; 10/25/13 02:25 AM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27179 10/25/13 03:42 AM
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It's up to Microsoft to provide compatibility updating to their Office software versions.

Since MS abandoned support for Office 2008 last April, Microsoft is pushing users to upgrade if compatibility is an issue.

I also use Office 2008, buy any issues I may experience, will not be a big enough deal for me to buy a newer version.

Based upon a cursory look at the MS Forum for Office 2011, it appears the various elements may be experiencing issues on Mavericks. So, MS is probably working like crazy to get an update out ...well, your guess would be as good as mine. smirk


MacStudio M1max - 14.4.1, 64 GB Ram, 4TB SSD; Studio Display; iPhone 13mini; Watch 9; iPadPro (M2) 11" WiFi
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27180 10/25/13 09:51 AM
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For the dock issue, try removing the dock icons and putting them back by dragging from their parent folder. That has been known to cure some problems.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27181 10/25/13 12:13 PM
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JoBoy this may be an opportune time to try out NeoOffice, a full suite of Microsoft Office compatible apps in a single wrapper or its "kissin' cousin" OpenOffice. NeoOffice is available through the App Store for $9.95 which gets it into Apple's new automatic update service


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
joemikeb #27185 10/25/13 07:56 PM
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Much as I hate Microsoft Office (and boy, do I hate it, even though I have to use it), I find I hate NeoOffice even more.

I tried to like it. Really, I tried. But it's slow, and it's clunky, and its user interface is--if this is possible--even more clumsy than Microsoft's.

These days, I'm a huge fan of Pages. I write for a living nowadays, and it's easy to export Pages to Word.


Photo gallery, all about me, and more: www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
tacit #27188 10/25/13 10:24 PM
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How long has it been since you tried NeoOffice? The GUI is definitely not my favorite but IMO it is no worse than Microsoft Office and over the past year there have been significant improvements in speed.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
tacit #27189 10/25/13 11:17 PM
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What do you think of these changes to Pages?


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
jchuzi #27195 10/26/13 10:43 PM
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Thanks. I tried that several times and it doesn't work. However, a work around is to use the Apple menu where you go to see About This Mac. Select Recent Items and open the desired document. It works. I can do that until the Dock issue is corrected.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
jchuzi #27196 10/26/13 10:43 PM
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Basically what I see in the new Pages is a flashy new GUI that is migrating to a feature set that can be/is supported by the iCloud Pages Beta and iOS as well as OS X. In other words dumbing Pages down so they can support the same feature set on iOS, OS X, and iCloud.

When I worked for Microsoft back in the mid 70% it was generally conceded that 20% of the features in the Microsoft Office suite accounted for 80% of the work done with some strong argumentation that it was more like 10% of the features performing 90% of the work. I have seen nothing in the last 38 years that would refute that argument. To me Apple has never quite figured out what they want Pages to be. It has always seemed a bit of a cross between a modestly endowed word processor and an even more modestly endowed desktop publishing wanna be. For the last several years the only real changes to Pages have been along the lines of bug fixes, GUI enhancements, and keeping up to date with OS X features and no enhancement, significant or otherwise, in the basic feature set.

The new Pages have improved the feature/work ratio by reducing the available features so that it takes 80% or more of the features to perform a similar amount of the work. The advantage of the new approach is much simpler code that is easier to implement on a variety of platforms and is arguably more stable. Probably a better fit for the casual users if for no other reason than a much shallower learning curve. This actually fits into the blended iOS, iCloud, OS X world, more along the line of Apple's consumer grade apps such as iPhoto and iDVD.

I have always hoped that Pages would evolve into a good mid-range word processor/desktop publisher but instead it has devolved into a high end Text editor. crazy


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
joemikeb #27197 10/26/13 11:08 PM
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Thanks for the idea. I have a concern that makes me want to stay with MS Office: I have a scad of spreadsheets where iteration is at the heart of their operation. It works perfectly the way I have them set up. They are very valuable to me in my work and I don't have the time to go back and set them up again if they are damaged. I looked at Apple's Numbers, but earlier versions had no iteration at all. Now, they make an obeisance to iteration, but it takes a vastly difference form and it couldn't possibly work with my spreadsheets. I'm concerned about trying any other Excel substitute at this point. It's crunch time for a large project and I can't afford the time.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27198 10/26/13 11:20 PM
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I gave up on Pages. I'll use Word for simple stuff or rough drafts, but for my final document that goes out the door, I use Adobe's InDesign. It gives me complete control of text, graphics and position on the page for everything. Yes, it's overkill since I don't do magazine layouts or book publishing for a living, but I get what I want and the look is undeniably professional. Also, it imports Word documents that can be changed as desired. I often use Word for rough drafts and import it to InDesign for final formatting.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
jchuzi #27199 10/27/13 12:17 AM
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
What do you think of these changes to Pages?


I think it's unfortunate that Apple is reducing the functionality of Pages.

It doesn't affect me personally. I use Pages to write manuscripts; for any formatting, I use Adobe InDesign (a full-fledged desktop publishing app).


Photo gallery, all about me, and more: www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
tacit #27200 10/27/13 01:26 AM
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Originally Posted By: tacit
I use Adobe InDesign (a full-fledged desktop publishing app).
If only InDesign were not so expensive and now a rental product so you have to pay fr it every year! shocked


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
joemikeb #27201 10/27/13 01:57 AM
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But I don't need to stay "up to date." I'm still using CS4 and, so far, it works just fine. I'm a little anxious that Apple and Adobe might collude sometime and make me choose between OS X updates and CS4, but I'm getting my moneys worth so far.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
jchuzi #27214 10/29/13 07:09 PM
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With a little more experimenting, I've discovered that the Save As problem with Word and Excel only occurs when a document is place in the Dock. If you put a Folder in the Dock and put the documents in the folder, there is no problem. For me, that is a solution I can live with.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27223 10/31/13 03:02 AM
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I'm afraid the bloom is off the rose between Mavericks and me. I keep finding more strange, irritating things that obviously need fixing. It's typical of a first version of a new upgrade. I impulsively installed Mavericks due to curiosity. I'd go back to Mountain Lion if I had the time to make the change and if I hadn't done a lot of work since I installed Mavericks.

Wisdom gained from past experience indicates at least a couple of updates ought to take place before moving up. I knew that and still I suckered. That's the last time I'll sucker...hopefully. frown


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27234 11/01/13 07:54 PM
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I, too, have run into a couple little bug-a-boos.

For example: iBOOKS (new to "Mavericks"). I was using it for a couple of days when it simply stopped loading the next day. I have no idea why. I ran PERMISSIONS REPAIR which did not rectify the issue i.e. the dock icon would bounce a few times, then stop. So I trashed the PLIST file. Again, not fixed.

Fortunately, I had made a back-up in Time Machine. So, I reset the permissions - using GET INFO - in the current bummed version of iBOOKS to ALL READ/WRITE so that I could delete the app from my MBP. Then I went into the Time Machine back-up which I had made the first day that I installed "Mavericks" . . . and restored that (original) copy to my MBP.

All is as it should be with iBOOKS. I will report back if the app 'acts up' again.

Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
JoBoy #27265 11/03/13 03:03 PM
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I've been using Mavericks since the first day available, and I've had absolutely no issues whatsoever with either my hardware or any of my software (Apple's or other 3rd parties).

While everyone's experience can be different, due to different hardware configs as well as 3rd party software, I think it very important to evaluate one's hardware in relation to the processor needs of a new OS before installing a new OS.

As one can see, I'm using a Mid-2010 MBP, and based upon my use of Mavericks, I feel the i7 processor (along with 8GB RAM - max on this vintage MBP) is handling Mavericks very well.

However, if I had an older machine, I would have considered the prospect of whether such a legacy machine could support Mavericks in the way the OS wants. (This also can be said about the 3rd party software one uses and which might also not be optimized for Mavericks and thus, requiring upgrading.)

It can be easy to blame the new OS, when it's actually the older hardware and software that's not playing nice. Suffice it to say that in this situation, one's best alternative is to match the new OS with the latest hardware (along with the updated, 3rd party versions of what one uses). ...If one doesn't want to buy new, then maintaining one's system wit an OS version that does play nice, is a prudent strategy.

[My prior machine was a PowerBook G4, which I used for 7 years and with an OS not updated past Tiger as I'd read that Lion wasn't going to run as smoothly on such a legacy machine as Lion would on a new generation machine of the day. I used my PB G4 for about a year or so after Lion was introduced (if I'm remembering the cat sequence correctly). But once the OS progression put me so far down the upgrade scale, I then acquired my MBP and welcomed the new world of the then, current MBP specs.]


MacStudio M1max - 14.4.1, 64 GB Ram, 4TB SSD; Studio Display; iPhone 13mini; Watch 9; iPadPro (M2) 11" WiFi
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
pbGuy #27324 11/08/13 12:42 PM
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Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mavericks is almost trouble-free for me
jchuzi #27345 11/09/13 12:34 PM
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Apple has issued a fix for the "Gmail and OS X Mail trouble" described in that article: OS X: About Mail Update for Mavericks.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors

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