I try to avoid upgrading OSX. When a new version comes out, I wait for a hardware refresh and just get a new Mac (Apple has a nasty habit of disregarding backwards compatibility, and it's really nice to be able to do stuff like run older powerpc programs)
EDIT: the [deleted] comment was 'I miss snow leopard'
Even that strategy isn't enough. I bought a Retina MBP with Lion pre-installed, which was the only configuration they sold, so you'd think it would have been pretty well tested. It turned out that the Lion video drivers couldn't handle the retina display. I had full machine crashes three times a day. Others online had the same problem, and some who were beta testing Mountain Lion said the new video drivers had cured their crashes. As soon as ML was released, I took the free upgrade, and the crashing stopped.
I then upgraded my kids' Snow Leopard Mac to Mountain Lion so I'd only have one Mac OS to admin (along with my Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android machines...sigh). The Mountain Lion upgrade caused all sorts of headaches on the kids' machine.
Moral: The new Mac OS version you buy might not be compatible with your Mac, even if it's the OS that came with it.
When you have a business, its far easier to just purchase a new machine and expense it than it is to upgrade existing machines. Time is far more value than money, and I'd much rather spend 3K for a new machine than waste a day or a week struggling with an upgrade issue and dealing with AppleCare.
PS: it's eligible for section 179 accelerated depreciation and sales-tax free in NY thanks to ST 121.3
Please note my reply was meant to be taken as a joke. I expect most people don't need to refresh their Apple gear on a yearly basis, but that is a bit of the stereotype of an enthusiastic Apple fan, and your post can be taken humorously to fit that image. Of course with Apple the answer is always more hardware. :-)
> Apple has a nasty habit of disregarding backwards compatibility
On the hardware front, every single major update runs better than the one before here (Mid '09 MBP 13", originally under Leopard). Only issues were the battery on Lion an Mountain Lion on both .0 and .1 minors, which was a bug that affected everyone.
Backwards compatibility refers to newer software/hardware not supporting older software/hardware. For example, Apple axed the rosetta powerpc support (which allowed you to run older software after apple switched to intel CPUs) in Leopard. I still keep a PowerBook G4 just for MacDraw.
Rosetta is optional but supported on Snow Leopard, and gets downloaded automatically on demand. Seven years of transition (assuming SL stopped to be supported when ML was released) to Intel was more than enough for active software to be ported.
You just can't carry legacy code indefinitely, you have to stay focused or you'll be all over the place and suffer death by a thousand cuts.
I intuitively agree as a programmer, but in practise, the focused 10.7/10.8 line has been pretty buggy compared to the legacy-happy 10.6; and the legacy-happy Windows 7 was a smash hit compared to the focused Windows RT. Of course, it might be even worse with Rosetta added to the mix...
I've also given away my Mid-09 MBP because 10.7 Safari was terrible without an SSD ("blank page" bug) :(
