I dearly wish computers would last forever. They can! I’ve had a PC run well for 11 years. Ming the Merciless. He was a great system, but eventually the software grew incompatible, and I had to buy a new PC.
The same thing happened recently to my beloved iMac, Chronos. He was just over 5-years-old, and he ran well. A few years ago I needed to replace his video card. And the system did run hot. So I knew an update was looming.
The thing that tipped me to get a new Macintosh, however, was the software.
Like many Mac users, I don’t upgrade OS X every time Apple releases a new version — and they distribute a new version of that operating system annually. So I was stuck in the past, but content.
The first upgrade denied me was XCode, the Apple development environment. That wasn’t a big deal because I mostly use the C compiler at the command prompt, and the old compiler still worked.
The second upgrade denied me was Adobe Creative Cloud. The new version came out and I clicked the Upgrade button (I pay for the annual subscription) and — Ta-Da! — it was incompatible with the Mac’s old OS X.
The third upgrade denied me was Parallels, the PC/Windows simulator. I actually paid for and downloaded version 11, so I was beginning to feel more pressure for an upgrade. (Oh, and my OS X was several generations out of date, so I’d need to do multiple OS X upgrades.)
The final upgrade denied me was Word 2016, Microsoft Office.
I was willing to wait until the next release of OS X comes out in a few weeks, but then I said, “Naa!” And I actually said that aloud, if you’re trying to picture this episode in your head.
“Naaa!”
It had three A’s in it, not two as I recall.
With the old Mac getting hot and work needed to get done, I ordered the new Mac.
Again, you can hang on to computers as long as you keep them maintained. All parts can be replaced or upgraded. Providing you have a backup, you can even replace the hard drive. But eventually you’ll either spend more than a new computer would cost, or you run into the software compatibility issue, as I did.
For me, the most delightful thing about getting a new computer is the speed. I made sure my new iMac was the fastest model offered (iCore 7 at 4.0 GHz with “Turbo Boost”) and that it had a higher capacity hard drive (3TB v. 1TV) and more memory (16GB v. 8GB) than the old system.
The computer arrived last week, and after using it for a few days, I must say that I’m delighted. On Wednesday, I’ll detail the file transfer ordeal, which was amazing and smooth but took a dreadfully long amount of time.
