The Darkroom Computer
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Hello friends. In our world of digital photography and videography, there’s likely a computer involved somewhere. This could be a traditional desktop or laptop device or perhaps you do all your work on a smartphone or tablet. We’ll refer to this as the darkroom computer even though most of us no longer have a physical darkroom, and we also rarely work in the complete dark.
Whichever platform(s) you choose, at some point the makers of the operating systems that run those devices will develop and deliver a new version of the operating system that drives the device.
For Windows users, that has happened and is called Windows 11. For Macintosh users, that has happened and is called macOS 12 Monterey. iOS users are now seeing iOS 15, and I mean no disrespect to Android users, but I don’t own or use anything running Android and thus any commentary on the subject from me would be without value.
Before doing any update or upgrade, ensure that you have a functioning backup process and that you can read and recover from a backup. If this is not true, stop reading right now and go make a backup.
Updates vs Upgrades
There is a big difference between updates and upgrades. Updates are usually bug or security fixes to an existing version of the operating system. They will come out on a schedule or randomly depending on the OS developer. Sometimes they include feature enhancements although the move to always connected devices means that new features most often go with a version upgrade. Features now mostly only come with an update if something is badly broken.
Ongoing Updates
Your device should advise you of updates and unless you are more paranoid than I, the general recommendation is to apply updates as released, especially if they are security updates because makers are always behind the curve in dealing with new cyber threats.
It is very rare that an update will break something significant and while there are always horror stories on that vast bastion of nothing but pure facts aka the Internet, generally most updates are very safe and in many scenarios, necessary to stay safe.
Updates tend to come in two flavours. The most common is the fix update. It will not change the major or minor version number of your software but will often show a big jump in the numbers after the minor number indicator. These tend to be small, and while you may not see a need, you should apply them. Doing this will save you pain and time.
The next kind of update is the dot release. For example, macOS Monterey as I write this is at version 12.01 This means version 12, dot release 0 subrelease 1. A fix update would change the 1. A dot release often referred to as a service pack would be called 12.1nnn indicating a collection of required changes. Dot releases will include all the individual releases since the last dot release. They are typically very safe.
If you are not applying operating system updates regularly, please consider changing your process and do so.
The Upgrade
Operating systems are massively complex entities and it would be foolish to assume that every eventuality has been tested before. An upgrade means a fundamental change of the operating system and while the change will provide backward compatibility with the previous version, it means a big shift. Think of Windows 10 to Windows 11, or macOS Big Sur to macOS Monterey. These are fundamental OS changes and always have higher risks when implementing.
I don’t worry that my Apple Logic Pro will not run on Monterey. I got an update to it to make that happen automatically. Where I am more concerned is that the drivers and software that do not come from Apple will work with Monterey. All big software makers participate in OS maker’s development programs and have lots of notice of what’s coming. Having been part of dev programs with both companies, they put enormous investment into this model to try to ensure that third party stuff keeps working. Sometimes however, the off board equipment has limits or the company making the software is just not large enough to support the current base AND build for a new OS version, so there are delays.
Best Practices
In my real day to day role as a senior IT leader, my practice is to never be too far behind, but never first through the door. If the organizations that I service have big IT departments they are still cautious. Small organizations and one person shops need to be similarly cautious.
My guideline for updates is to be up to date, no more than two weeks behind. We do this at the enterprise level and it works, so it will work for you too.
Upgrades are a different story. We test the new version on non-production devices long before release, and do not deploy the new operating system on new machines or existing machines until at least after the first dot release has been public for a month or so. This means that no Windows 11 nor Monterey in production as a general rule. With Apple, that’s a problem because their machines always come with the latest version of the OS so we have to be very careful. With Windows machines, we stick to name brand providers and have agreements with them on what OS is shipped with the machine. When you buy Windows machines in retail, you typically have that choice as well.
Why Upgrade
In my own work as a nerd and a geek, I always wanted to be out on the sharp edge of new. I made mistakes doing that on production machines that hurt my workflow badly. I still get on early, but only on a machine that I am ready to wipe completely, never production.
The questions that I ask, that I recommend that you ask yourself are;
What can I do with the new version that I cannot do with the current version that I need to do right now?
What can I do with the new version that I cannot do with the current version that I would like to try, but not necessarily today?
Have I checked with all my software and hardware vendors to confirm compliance of the products that I own with this new version? For example, when Apple dropped Firewire support in the OS, a stack of Firewire equipment that I owned became boat anchors overnight. Extremely annoying
While the new OS version is no cost, what will I need to spend to make my existing software and hardware compliant (if possible) with the new version? Am I willing to spend that money?
You will likely find that when you take an objective approach, you don’t need to jump right away. You have time and time is a very good thing. I’m not saying don’t upgrade. You should if only because you will not get fixes for the older versions any more, only security patches and those later than for the current version.
What If I Cannot Upgrade
It’s possible that the computer that you own and that is working just fine cannot use the new OS version. This has happened to me. I accept that at some point, if I want that same functionality and to prevent getting left behind by third party software makers who stop supporting older OS versions with their new software releases, I will have to budget for and plan to replace the machine. That’s life and no computer is safe from this possibility.
What If You Have No Choice?
This happens when you buy a new machine that comes preinstalled with the new version of the operating system. At this point you should have been checking compliance of your existing software and hardware as noted in my best practices questions and been planning on the process. Or you could just wing it and hope for the best
In Summary
In the world of digital photography for serious photo makers, the digital darkroom is a given, not an option. Consequently, we need to put as much attention and focus into this as we do the camera and lighting technology that we use. Keeping our technology as current as we can and as we need is an important step in our ongoing creative process.
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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.
