As long as I’m sticking my toe into the Mac waters… I ran across this post from Jeffrey Zeldman today, which explains how users of Mac OS X can safely update to the latest version of their OS. (In other words, install the latest Mac service pack.)
Apple’s 10.3.6 update to OS X Panther worked wonderfully well for many users. But it created problems for many others, including slow startups, bizarre internet connection delays, and the sudden failure of networked drives.
Apple has just solved that problem by introducing version 10.3.7, which unfortunately creates problems for some users including slow startups, bizarre internet connection delays, and the sudden failure of networked drives. Oops.
The recommended procedure for installing this service pack … er, update involves the following steps:
- Use a third-party tool to delete all cached fonts
- Use another third-party tool to “repair permissions, run cron scripts, prebind the system, and clean system, user, and internet caches”
- Run a full backup
- Turn off all third-party startup items and
- Remove all external hard drives from the desktop
At that point, you’re ready to perform the update. Apparently you need to hold your breath and face Cupertino while you do this, because after the update is complete you have to delete the font caches again, use that third-party tool to do all those bizarre techie tasks, slowly bring back the third-party startup items, and then…
After working with the Mac for a while without experiencing problems, run another full backup.
OK, can anyone explain how this is less complex for the average person than installing Service Pack 2 for Windows XP?
Ed Bott 
The only part of that advice that’s worthwhile is to backup. That’s all I’ve ever done when installing an OS X update. See this for a more complete analysis:
http://daringfireball.net/2004/12/software_update
Since I don’t use Windows, I don’t know if this kind of “voodoo” advice is unique to the Mac or not.