Long term upkeep

[OrangeCrane]

So I am considering a mid-level Hackintosh and I have looked at the forums here... especially the SnowLeopard/Lion/MountainLion sections. I am sure many of you guys are serious hardware/computer people and know your stuff.

My main concern is this: it will be my main computer for a full time legit business. I run Lightroom and Photoshop for the most part. The most important thing for me (aside from speed) is reliability. How much time is dedicated to solving issues every time a new version of the OS is released?? Is it complicated to update/resolve these issues??!?!?! I am not too tech savvy, I'm a photographer. I won't consider this if I have to spend a hour to play and figure out why my computer is not working every time the next version of 10.8.X comes out.

Thanks in advance.
Orange

 

[brownin]

If you go for one of the "CustoMac Builds", all the hardware is very compatible and also very common - meaning if they is a new version. if there is any issues with an update, you can be damn sure it will be fixed quickly.

 

[Einsteiniac]

I use my hacks now as my main Macs. It took me a long time for them to gain that trust however. That said I don't upgrade software any longer and if I do I make sure I have enough time to do an archive and install just in case stuff goes bad. So as long as you aren't the type that needs to click update now you should be fine.

 

[BitterMelon]

The best way to avoid this problem (IMO) is to:
1. Not install updates right away. Wait for feedback on it from the community.
2. Have a Time Machine backup running. If an update screws up the computer, you can easily reinstall and restore from the backup. It will take a few hours, but you don't really need to attend it.

 

[brownin]

I use my hacks now as my main Macs. It took me a long time for them to gain that trust however. That said I don't upgrade software any longer and if I do I make sure I have enough time to do an archive and install just in case stuff goes bad. So as long as you aren't the type that needs to click update now you should be fine.

Adding to that...

Once it is installed and up and running, any of the Customac builds are very reliable and also, a hell of a lot faster!

I'm a student, the 3 other people living with my have either a MacBook Pro or iMac and mine kicks its ass

 

[nobodynose]

So I am considering a mid-level Hackintosh and I have looked at the forums here... especially the SnowLeopard/Lion/MountainLion sections. I am sure many of you guys are serious hardware/computer people and know your stuff.

My main concern is this: it will be my main computer for a full time legit business. I run Lightroom and Photoshop for the most part. The most important thing for me (aside from speed) is reliability. How much time is dedicated to solving issues every time a new version of the OS is released?? Is it complicated to update/resolve these issues??!?!?! I am not too tech savvy, I'm a photographer. I won't consider this if I have to spend a hour to play and figure out why my computer is not working every time the next version of 10.8.X comes out.

Thanks in advance.
Orange

I replaced an aging MacBook Pro with my Hackintosh (I no longer needed the portability). I was a little intimidated at first at the thought of having a machine *I* had to support myself as my only machine, but after almost a year with it I've come to realize that the tonymacx86 community gives better, more in-depth support than Apple ever could.

 

[OrangeCrane]

To me, the most precious thing is time. I do not have a lot of it because of my business. I guess I can plan ahead and not click on the latest OSX upgrade until a couple of weeks has passed.

My question still remains: how long does it take to resolve hardware compatibility issues when OSX gets "upgraded"? And I am talking about the time from the identification of an issue until a resolution is found *and* how long it would take to fix the problem.

And I didn't even think of possible software issues. Are there any known issues with Lightroom and Photoshop? My main worry was OSX not working.

Thanks in advance for all your input guys.

Orange

 

[Einsteiniac]

To me, the most precious thing is time. I do not have a lot of it because of my business. I guess I can plan ahead and not click on the latest OSX upgrade until a couple of weeks has passed.

My question still remains: how long does it take to resolve hardware compatibility issues when OSX gets "upgraded"? And I am talking about the time from the identification of an issue until a resolution is found *and* how long it would take to fix the problem.

And I didn't even think of possible software issues. Are there any known issues with Lightroom and Photoshop? My main worry was OSX not working.

Thanks in advance for all your input guys.

Orange

That is a very hard question to answer. Typically if your hack worked in a certain OS it will continue working in all the point releases just fine. Sometimes however Apple will change drivers that may break compatibility but its unlikely. If you choose components that Apple itself uses you can be sure compatibility will stay because they need it for their devices. Things such as wifi, ethernet, sounds, graphics, SATA, chipsets, etc. You can feel fairly confident it will always work in that OS. Typically if a point release update breaks something it gets resolved very quickly. Like others have posted as well as long as you stick with components that Tonymac recommends in his CustoMac's you will have a very large user base looking for a fix and that will decrease your time.

Again the biggest thing I can say to you is, if it's not broke don't fix it.

Mark