OS X Mavericks Brings More Grief for Apple
Updated · Oct 20, 2024
The steady drip of problems with OS X Mavericks is not uncommon for new operating system releases, although Apple may be having second thoughts about naming version 10.9 ‘Mavericks’ after a surfing site in California and using a default image of a crashing wave. Installation seems to take forever and with little payoff in terms of new features.
pple’s OS X Mavericks version of its operating system for Mac computers is being adopted at a record pace. But there are also reports of a variety of issues, including problems with installation, the Mail app, and multiple monitors.
n just the first 24 hours of its availability, Mavericks version 10.9 accounted for 5.5 percent of all Mac-based Web traffic in the U.S. and Canada, according to ad network Chitika. The OS was released on Tuesday, and that traffic volume, if accurate, is more than three times the 1.6 percent of traffic recorded for Mountain Lion during its first 24 hours.
A key reason for the high adoption, of course, could well be this version’s price: free. Although the Mountain Lion update was only $19.99, any price tag is more of a hurdle than none.
Incomplete Downloads
Throughout the Web, there are reports of various installation problems, including incomplete downloads, hard disk errors, and installations that get hung up.
When downloading the OS, one circulating suggestion is to try again if there’s a problem, because of the high level of traffic. For hard disk errors, hold down Command-R immediately after the chime when the Mac is starting up. This will reboot the OS X recovery partition, after which Disk Utility can be run to undertake a disk repair routine on the main boot drive. Any errors can then be fixed, followed by a normal restart and resumption of the installation.
For installations that get hung up, wait about an hour to see if the installation resumes. If not, quit the installer or force-quit it, then reboot and try again.
There have also been reports of problems involving the Mavericks Mail app and Google’s Gmail. One such issue is that the Mail app cannot delete or does not show messages in the Inbox. Some users have also said that they are not able to send e-mail, or can’t rearrange Gmail mailboxes in the Mail app’s sidebar.
Multiple Monitors
Users who have second monitors have reported difficulties with mouse movement on second monitors that utilize a DisplayLink driver, following the Mavericks installation. Other issues include severe flickering on DisplayLink screens for some applications or difficulties in display arrangements when using two or more displays.
This steady drip of problems is not, of course, uncommon for new releases, although Apple may be having second thoughts about naming version 10.9 after a surfing site in California and using a default image of a crashing wave.
Mavericks can run on any Mac computer that can run Version 10.8 Mountain Lion, although the machine needs to have at least OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. The new OS features an updated Maps and iBooks app, a new power management that Apple says can reduce CPU usage by as much as 72 percent, enhanced security for apps and browser plug-ins, and a new Tags feature for organizing files in a way that is consistent across Macs and iOS devices.
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