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Well, I just completed my normal cleanup/disk maintenance/repair/backup processing on both of my machines. I then proceeded, on my Mac Mini, to 1) Erase, Format, and Partition the 256 gig SSD inside the machine, 2) do a clean installation of OS 10.11.1, El Capitan, and 3) used Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy all the non-Apple stuff from the just completed SuperDuper! backup. Everything went smoothly. I also 1) used the new version of TechTool Pro to create the El Capitan version of the eDrive, and 2) installed Onyx V3.1,1, the most recent version compatible with El Capitan. Finally, I needed to "re-activate" my Canon Printer/Scanner.
Everything went very well, except for one minor "issue": I cannot find a way to have hidden partitions visible in the OS 10.11.1 version of Disk Utility. The prior method of getting a Debug menu in Disk Utility does not work. So, when I launch Disk Utility, all I see are the primary partition (contains the OS, along with all my migrated "stuff"), and the eDrive partition created by TechTool Pro. (I of course can see all partitions via the System Report via the "About This Mac" menu). This is actually not an issue for me, as any recovery I would do would be from a SuperDuper! backup.
I am now in the process of doing the same thing for my 13" MacBook Air. In fact, OS 10.11.1 is being installed as I write this. I also expect that to go smooth.
A couple of remarks about this entire process:
1. I insured that all my third party software was up to date, so that it would work with El Capitan. I did need to upgrade Office 2011, Onyx, TechTool Pro, and SuperDuper!, but everything else is fine.
2. I waited until OS 10.11.1 was made available. Given that the OS 10.11.1 beta first appeared in early August, and almost two months before OS 10.11 was released, it seemed more logical (and safe) to wait until 10.11.1 was officially available, before I upgraded (I actually did a clean installation of OS 10.11.1, instead of upgrading from OS 10.10.5).
3. In the past, whenever Apple released an OS upgrade to a current OS (like OS 10.10.5 for OS 10.10), I always would download the Combo Updater, and use it in upgrading my OS. I also would use both the original OS and the Combo Updater in any recovery processing. However, Cory recently pointed out that when Apple releases an OS upgrade (like OS 10.11.1; the ".1" update is not available as a Combo Updater, which makes sense, as it is only updating the original version. Subsequent updates, however, would either be an incremental one (say from 10.11.1 to 10.11.2), or the Combo 10.11.2 update would be updating from 10.11.0 or 10.11.1 to 10.11.2), when one gets it from the Apple Store, one is getting a full, updated OS. While that is certainly convenient, it sure takes a long time to download it! The 10.11.1 stand alone updater is available, and it is much smaller (about 1.2 Gig) that the 10.11.1 Update from the Apple store. I guess it's a matter of preference, in terms of 1) how, long it takes to download the "full" update versus either an incremental or Combo Update, and 2) only doing one step for a Recovery with a "full" update, or two steps, first using the original OS, and then the Combo Updater. I actually prefer the second way, and thus when OS 10.11.2 is released, I'll just get the OS 10.11.2 Combo Updater (typically available within 24 to 48 hours after the upgrade is officially released by Apple).
Everything went very well, except for one minor "issue": I cannot find a way to have hidden partitions visible in the OS 10.11.1 version of Disk Utility. The prior method of getting a Debug menu in Disk Utility does not work. So, when I launch Disk Utility, all I see are the primary partition (contains the OS, along with all my migrated "stuff"), and the eDrive partition created by TechTool Pro. (I of course can see all partitions via the System Report via the "About This Mac" menu). This is actually not an issue for me, as any recovery I would do would be from a SuperDuper! backup.
I am now in the process of doing the same thing for my 13" MacBook Air. In fact, OS 10.11.1 is being installed as I write this. I also expect that to go smooth.
A couple of remarks about this entire process:
1. I insured that all my third party software was up to date, so that it would work with El Capitan. I did need to upgrade Office 2011, Onyx, TechTool Pro, and SuperDuper!, but everything else is fine.
2. I waited until OS 10.11.1 was made available. Given that the OS 10.11.1 beta first appeared in early August, and almost two months before OS 10.11 was released, it seemed more logical (and safe) to wait until 10.11.1 was officially available, before I upgraded (I actually did a clean installation of OS 10.11.1, instead of upgrading from OS 10.10.5).
3. In the past, whenever Apple released an OS upgrade to a current OS (like OS 10.10.5 for OS 10.10), I always would download the Combo Updater, and use it in upgrading my OS. I also would use both the original OS and the Combo Updater in any recovery processing. However, Cory recently pointed out that when Apple releases an OS upgrade (like OS 10.11.1; the ".1" update is not available as a Combo Updater, which makes sense, as it is only updating the original version. Subsequent updates, however, would either be an incremental one (say from 10.11.1 to 10.11.2), or the Combo 10.11.2 update would be updating from 10.11.0 or 10.11.1 to 10.11.2), when one gets it from the Apple Store, one is getting a full, updated OS. While that is certainly convenient, it sure takes a long time to download it! The 10.11.1 stand alone updater is available, and it is much smaller (about 1.2 Gig) that the 10.11.1 Update from the Apple store. I guess it's a matter of preference, in terms of 1) how, long it takes to download the "full" update versus either an incremental or Combo Update, and 2) only doing one step for a Recovery with a "full" update, or two steps, first using the original OS, and then the Combo Updater. I actually prefer the second way, and thus when OS 10.11.2 is released, I'll just get the OS 10.11.2 Combo Updater (typically available within 24 to 48 hours after the upgrade is officially released by Apple).
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