9/10/19
5:00 am

At Look Back After 2000 Episodes

Over the course of the last 12 years, I've given a lot of advice to Mac users. Take a look at some of the best advice that still holds up after all these years. Do you shut down your Mac or sleep? Should you get anto-virus software? Should you stress about batteries or rumors or new Macs? Do you need a cleaning app?

Check out At Look Back After 2000 Episodes at YouTube for closed captioning and more options.

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost episode number 2000! 
That's right. 2000 episodes. So let's take a look at some of the best advice I've given out over the last twelve years.
For the first decade of MacMost it was ad supported. That means there were all of those ads at the MacMost.com website. I hated them. You hated them. So I got rid of them and instead now it's a Patreon supported site. You can go to MacMost.com/Patreon and there you can find out more. Join us and also get exclusive content. 
Hi, this is Gary Rosenzweig with MacMost Now. This is going to be a semi daily program where we talk about all sorts of things having to do with Macintosh, iPod, and iPhone. Now I stopped numbering MacMost videos awhile ago. You don't see the numbers in the titles anymore or anything like that but I do, kind of, keep track of it still so I know this is episode number 2000. That's a lot of episodes. I started in 2007. Changed the formats a few times. Sometimes it's been three episodes a week. Most of the time it's been five episodes a week. I've given out lots of advice. Some of those episodes are pretty old and obsolete. They deal with old operating systems, old iPhones and things like that. But some of those old episodes really hold up. So let's take a look at five old episodes where I've given out advice and that advice still holds up today.
So first, all the way back in episode number 240, I posed the question do you shutdown your Mac or put it to sleep. Let's take a look at one of the biggest dilemmas to face Mac users. Shutdown or to sleep? Of course the answer is you put it to sleep. A lot of people still think that you need to shutdown your Mac at the end of everyday or even if you're not going to use it for a few hours, or something like that. In fact you should let your Mac sleep because there's a lot of maintenance it does in the background. It does that while it's sleeping rather than using up the processor while you're trying to use it. One of the reasons people experience slow Macs is because they shutdown their Mac the minute they're finished using it then start it up and start using it again. This means it can't perform those maintenance tasks like Spotlight Indexing and backing up while it's just sleeping and being idle. It has to do them while you're working so it slows things down.
Now in episode 357 I asked the question do you need anti-virus software. On this episode I'm going to address a controversial topic, do you need antivirus software for your Mac. My answer is NO. You just need to follow three rules. This is where I came up with the three rules and I've been talking about those every since. I've come out with a free book, a free course, everything and they are all based on these three rules. The three rules are only download software from sites that you trust. So starting with the Mac App Store and then maybe a couple of companies like Microsoft, Adobe directly from their sites. 
Rule number two is to keep your Mac updated. A lot of people say I don't want to update to the latest operating system or I don't want this update because I'm busy and I don't want it to do that. But updates include security improvements. So you want to make sure that you stay up to date. Not just with the operating system but with the software as well because older versions of software could have security flaws in it too. The third thing is to just to keep up to date with the news because you know the press is going to be all over it if there is a major security issue with Apple. If anything major happens that you need to know about to protect yourself it will be there and you can take whatever steps are needed.
Now right around episode 577 I did a couple of videos where I talk about not stressing about things. I noticed that people were stressing a lot about their Macs. I did a series of videos while I was on vacation with beautiful Hawaiian backdrops and one of them was don't stress about rumors. A question I get all the time is is it the right time to buy a new Mac or an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. People hear rumors and they think a new one might be coming out soon and should they wait or should they buy now. I saw lots of people stressing about like oh I need to get a new Mac but there's a rumor that they are going to change the Macs in some way and do I wait. 
So basically I said, look they're always going to be rumors about updates and there are always going to be updates. Get a Mac when you need it. There's always going to be a next Mac that's going to make yours the older model. It's always going to happen. You could keep waiting forever for a new Mac to come out. Use common sense. You can check rumor sites and things like that. But people stress so much about that. The truth is if you get a Mac and a couple months later a new model comes out it's probably only a little bit better than the one you've got now and then there will be another after that and another one after that. But if you wait you're still spending all those months using an older Mac and not getting as much work done.
Now I think the very next video I did was don't stress about batteries. I saw people stressing about their MacBook and iPhone and iPad batteries all the time. How do I get the most life out of it. Do I have to condition it? Do I have to do something special to make it last longer, be better, or whatever? Let's talk about stressing over your Mac or iOS battery. The truth is that you don't have to worry about any of that. People stressing over nothing. The batteries in Apple's products are really smart. The hardware is smart, the software is smart. It's handling it all for you. Use your Mac plugged in when it's convenient. Use it on the battery when it's convenient. People are wasting a lot of time and energy trying to use their Macs and their iOS devices in special ways maybe just to eek out another 1% of their battery. Now I've done a ton of videos on this since then because it keeps coming up. The most recent one is episode 1957.
Now another thing I get asked about and I first addressed it in episode 722 is do you need a cleaning program. Let's talk about whether or not you need Mac cleaning programs. I still get people asking me this. Should I download this Mac cleaning program that I've seen an advertisement for? The answer is NO. Years ago, decades ago, computers kind of needed these cleaning programs to keep things, you know, from getting too cluttered from the machine slowing down. But operating systems today take care of all of that for you running maintenance in the background. A lot of these things these cleaning programs are doing are actually counterproductive. Some of them are just outright adware or malware just spamming you with all sorts of things. Taking your money from you. You don't need any cleaning software with your Mac. Just ignore those ads. Don't download any of that stuff. No maintenance software on your Mac. It's just as true today as it was way back in that old episode.
So over the last 2000 episodes a lot of things have stayed the same. Some things have changes. There's a lot more gray in my beard and Macs have gotten more awesome than ever. I'm looking forward to the next 2000 episodes.

Comments: 27 Responses to “At Look Back After 2000 Episodes”

Dave Grieve

2 months ago

Congratulations Gary. Thanks for helping all Mac users throughout the years!!!!

Don Palmer

2 months ago

Thanks for dedicating 12 years of your life to sharing your immense talent. You are not only the
best in your business, you are also the most giving.

Beverly Pevarnick

2 months ago

Gary! Thank you for making such a concise informative video. You really are the best.

Jim Curtin

2 months ago

Congratulations and thank you for all the help.

Tom Abbott

2 months ago

Thanks Gary. I’ve been watching your videos since I got a Mac back in late 2011. You’re videos are awesome. They’re short and stick to just one topic so you can just bounce around and pick out the videos you want to watch instead of having to watch long videos waiting to see the topic your interested in. I recommend your videos to all my friends. A clink of the glass to 2000 more videos!

Barb McKillop

2 months ago

Congratulations Gary I can’t thank you enough for helping me my Mac, iPad over the years. I am 77 and let me tell you I have read your macmost faithfully. Thanks again for all your help

Lauren Eisen

2 months ago

gary, you and your advice are truly an asset and have been of great help to me throughout the years. thank you!

Wade Marsden

2 months ago

Congratulations on your milestone episode, and thanks for all the help and tips, over the years. The best Mac advise on the Internet.

Sharman

2 months ago

Thank you Gary. Been having some problems with message on my Mac as it will not open and I don’t know how to open it but my question is what about Malwarebytes? Apple said it is what they use so I did order it and am using it. Should I renew it or not? Thank you.

Gary Rosenzweig

2 months ago

Sharman: The only thing you should need is the free version of Malwarebytes, and only if you have an infection and cannot figure out how to get rid of it on your own. It would just be a one-time run to clear that infection. But if you only download software from sites you should trust, you won’t even need that.

Tom Benson

2 months ago

Congratulations Gary! I am so thankful for you and your instructional videos! I pass your site off to everyone I see who uses a Mac!

Teri Picard

2 months ago

Congrats on 2000!! You are crucial to my use of Apple products. Keep up the good works! Cheers!

Hessel Frings

2 months ago

Hey Gary, congratulations on the 2000th episode. I’ve been with you for over 10 years, all the way from the Netherlands. Learned so much! keep it up! greetz Hessel

Janice

2 months ago

Congratulations on your episode 2000! I’ve been following MacMost since 2011. Thanks to your videos, I feel I’m getting far more out my Apple products than without your video series. So here’s looking forward to following your next 2000 episodes! Cheers 🥂

2 months ago

Congratulations Gary, and thank you so much for all you have taught me. Just about everything I know has come from your podcasts and website. I tell everyone that! Al

Gary

2 months ago

Thank you, so much, for simplifying, as much as possible, subjects that can be difficult for some of us “old folks” (82) to grasp.

Mark Scully

2 months ago

From New Zealand, Gary I always enjoy reading and trying out your tips thanks for the 2000 episodes. Don’t worry about the grey hair at least you still have some. :)

Don

2 months ago

Regarding the “Gary” above, I wish I was 82 again. If I had 1/10 of your knowledge, I’d be so happy. You have helped me in more ways than you know. Thank You !

Brad

2 months ago

Congratulations Gary, This is the one stop shop I go to to get all my info on Apple products.
If I have a problem I know I will find the answer. keep it going. Thank you mate

Bert Mullemeister

2 months ago

Hi Gary, thanks for giving a great service to many of us. Just one things re turning off or sleeping the iMac, I am concerned that while it is on sleep I hear the drive going. Is there a way to stop that and save on wear and tear

Gary Rosenzweig

2 months ago

Bert: There is a setting in Energy Saver in System Preferences to put the drive to sleep when possible. Is it an older Mac with a spinning hard drive? Does it make that much noise? Is it in the same room as where you sleep? Keep in mind that the system maintenance it is doing would need the drive, of course.

Karl

2 months ago

Wow I can’t believe its been 12 years! Time sure does fly. Thank you for all the great videos.

Lou

2 months ago

Most informative.
Thanks as always for the info review.

Gene

2 months ago

Great job Gary and thanks. What proclivity to support productivity!
One question. Doesn’t powering down one’s Mac ensure that it does “cleaning and whatever” on restart?

I was at an Apple store and one of their staff suggested powering down my iPad a few times a week. Good or bad advice?

Gary Rosenzweig

2 months ago

Gene: It will try to do it on restart. But the problem is that it this is when YOU start doing things too, right? That’s why you turned it on. So some things will get postponed again, and other things will compete with your use of the computer, slowing you down. That’s why you leave it on.
I can’t think of any reason why you would need to power down your iPad, especially that often.

Ron

2 months ago

Yes, congratulations, Gary. This was both fun & educational in a number of ways. Thanks for sharing some history!

Delmar H. Knudson, M.D.

2 months ago

Gary is concise and helpful. He never uses filler, never tries to impress you with a long word when a short one does it as well or better. His computer knowledge is encyclopedic. I went to a tough – curve demanding high school, picked up degrees from 4 universities; and would have to look long and hard to find a better instructor than Gary. I have met him personally and found him to be genuine and always looking to inform others in a simple, straightforward, and pleasant manner.

At Look Back After 2000 Episodes

Comments: 27 Responses to “At Look Back After 2000 Episodes”

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