11-28-2007, 01:23 PM
Leopard is still Unix, and yes, you benefit from this simple maintenance habit.
Most of us don't pretend to understand what Repair Permissions does, but there's no reason to take it for granted as pointless or unnecessary. Compared to some practices, it's not mystical. It's just a computer. It's easy as pie to do, and only takes about 30 seconds, a few times a month. And it beats the heck out of all the annoying crap we had to constantly do to keep OS 9 happy. With OS X, Repairing Permissions is literally all the maintenance we're asked to do. And if we forget or fail to do it, it's not a huge deal, but doing it occasionally is still a good thing. So be a good Apple, continue doing that little deed, and your mac will be happy.
Letting Software Update automatically do updates, opinions here vary.
My own practice (after seeing the rare mishap from fellow users) is to install the small stuff pretty much without giving it a second thought, but Actual major OS Updates (the kind with . #s) it's better to download, then install. Depending on your internet connection, some unexpected interruption, a hiccup, or inattention, can foul up a System Update install. It's only those substantial System Updates, or anything requiring a reboot, that I'm more cautious with.
Otherwise, click yes to accept the download, and multitask all you want, the download will proceed and install itself, and you can hardly break anything.
I have friends who remember to "Repair Permissions" maybe three times a year. Then they forget where Disk Utility is. (in the Utilities Folder) And their macs seem to run as good as mine. It's hard to mess up.
Most of us don't pretend to understand what Repair Permissions does, but there's no reason to take it for granted as pointless or unnecessary. Compared to some practices, it's not mystical. It's just a computer. It's easy as pie to do, and only takes about 30 seconds, a few times a month. And it beats the heck out of all the annoying crap we had to constantly do to keep OS 9 happy. With OS X, Repairing Permissions is literally all the maintenance we're asked to do. And if we forget or fail to do it, it's not a huge deal, but doing it occasionally is still a good thing. So be a good Apple, continue doing that little deed, and your mac will be happy.
Letting Software Update automatically do updates, opinions here vary.
My own practice (after seeing the rare mishap from fellow users) is to install the small stuff pretty much without giving it a second thought, but Actual major OS Updates (the kind with . #s) it's better to download, then install. Depending on your internet connection, some unexpected interruption, a hiccup, or inattention, can foul up a System Update install. It's only those substantial System Updates, or anything requiring a reboot, that I'm more cautious with.
Otherwise, click yes to accept the download, and multitask all you want, the download will proceed and install itself, and you can hardly break anything.
I have friends who remember to "Repair Permissions" maybe three times a year. Then they forget where Disk Utility is. (in the Utilities Folder) And their macs seem to run as good as mine. It's hard to mess up.