Apple has released its latest operating system – OS X Yosemite. There have been streams of reports about people upgrading to Yosemite and the installation freezing at ‘less than a minute remaining…’ I learnt the hard way so I’ve gathered some of the things you should do before upgrading…

Do a back up

Always, always do a back up before installing any new operating system. When I was installing Yosemite last week, it froze. It said I had less than a minute remaining for three days, and because I hadn’t done a back up, I was too scared to follow any of the advice online about doing a hard restart.

Luck was on my side though because when I gave in and did a hard restart, nothing was lost, but this doesn’t mean the same will happen for you so save yourself the sleepless nights by backing up!

Install current system updates

We’ve all been there, our Mac tells us to upgrade and we just click the ‘Later’ button. Not doing these updates and then automatically upgrading to a whole new operating system could be what makes it freeze and errors occur. Apple probably released updates for Mavericks beforehand to prepare it for Yosemite. So, if you are going to upgrade, make sure Mavericks is complete with all current updates.

Check online

Thankfully, many kind people will download new operating systems the moment they come out, if not before, and will post information and articles etc online that will help users install new systems. When you do check online – make sure you read the most current article you can find, as one that’s dated even just a few weeks previous could be old news! Apple likes to change things regularly 😉

Find out if it’s right for you

I’d recommend ensuring your Mac is compatible with the new operating system by reading up online, especially if your machine is five or six years old. Unfortunately, Yosemite OS X may still be offered to you, even if your Mac won’t run efficiently with it, so definitely do your research first!