Aug 15 2012

Upgrades Aren’t Always Painless

Just a quick update for today.

With the impending release of Windows 8 it’s a good time to remind people that upgrades (be it hardware or software) aren’t always seamless or painless. Whilst there isn’t an expected problem with people upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows 7 or even Windows Vista you should always prepare yourself to work out the odd problem or two with hardware drivers and perhaps some software.

If you’ve bought your computer from a large manufacturer such as Dell or HP then you may want to consider visiting their websites and checking for Windows 8 drivers before you upgrade. In most cases, Windows 7 drivers should work just fine if Windows 8 drivers are non-existent but it’s always good to match the drivers with the intended operating system.

Mac OS X on the other hand can be a challenge. My wife recently upgraded her MacBook Air to Max OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) but after doing so found that her 3G USB modem no longer worked. After troubleshooting with the carrier she ended up having to get a new 3G USB modem and now I had another modem to add to my collection.

Incompatibilities can happen at the most inconvenient times and may go undetected if you don’t test everything after upgrading or doing some research beforehand. The bottom line is if you want to live on the bleeding edge then just be prepared for a few bumps in the road and to smooth them out as necessary.

Boydo

My name is Boyd and I’m a Service Management Specialist with a knack for operational data gathering, transformation, analysis and reporting.

In 2012, I obtained my Masters of Science in Information Technology through the University of New South Wales @ The Australia Defence Force Academy (UNSW@ADFA).

I was also part of an online community known as the Panasonic Insider Crew in the capacity of “Insider Guru” for Panasonic Australia where I interacted with other tech enthusiasts and find out more about Panasonic's latest gadgets.

I love technology, gadgets, and the Internet and maintain a keen interest in these areas locally, nationally, and globally. I hope by sharing my views on these topics that people will receive an honest point of view from someone with a genuine interest in these topics.

I have also written and edited articles for Neowin - you can check out my articles over @ https://www.neowin.net/news/poster/boyd_chan

I hope you enjoy reading my blog!

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