should i upgrade to the new mac os 10.9.1 for FREE?

CodeMonster

so apple has released a new mac update and its FREE!
the reason im asking this is because i have to update to a newer mac version to use gamesalad on my brothers computer, my brothers mac desktop is on 10.6.8 and i need 10.7 or higher to run gamesalad/publish my ios game to the appstore.
so my question is;
is this new update by apple 10.9.1 free because its bad and they want testers? or its good because the last thing i want to do is stuff up my brothers mac desktop.
thanks!

tatiang

It has nothing to do with it being bad. It's just a decision Apple made based on the market conditions. You can read about it here: http://www.zdnet.com/apple-makes-os-x-mavericks-free-the-implications-7000022288 and here: http://mashable.com/2013/10/29/os-x-mavericks-review.

Danjinkies

I guess you can say it all depends on your hardware specs. I'm using an early 2011 Mac Book Pro, i5 core processor with 4GB of RAM and I've noticed a decrease in performance speed after I upgraded to 10.9 . This is namely because the new OS is designed for the newer machines that are available. I think if your brother's computer has enough RAM probably 8 to 16GB and a good processor you should be fine upgrading.

tatiang

Good point. A large amount of RAM is a necessity these days. I wouldn't make the upgrade without having 8 GB. I'm running it on a 4 GB iMac at work and it's slow.