How to Prepare for iOS 5 - eTaiwan News

Apple has released a major upgrade to its operating system for iPhones and iPads. Called iOS 5, the new software, which is a free download, has more than 200 improvements according to its maker.

Here's one that alone makes it worth installing: You know how when you get a new message while not using your iPhone or iPad, a blue box pops up with the message, but then the next message that comes in replaces it? Now, iOS 5 keeps a list of all your notifications that you can check when you get back to your phone or tablet.

But before you start the upgrade, please take a few steps to prevent an awkward accident that erases data from your device.

Sync your iPhone or iPad – Connect your phone or tablet to your computer. Using iTunes, press the Sync button to make sure your computer has an up-to-date copy of all the personal data on your phone. Most important, this will save your contact list in case it somehow gets lost.

Backup your iPhone or iPad – In iTunes, right-click on the name of your iPhone or iPad. Select the Back Up option. That will provide an extra level of safe recovery if your favorite gadget somehow gets broken by the update. In theory, a simple sync will do and a total data loss won't happen. But in practice, it's just a few clicks and a couple of minutes to make sure you don't lose anything.

Backup your computer – Are you going to set up iCloud, the new Apple service that stores all your music and other data on Apple's servers? If so, backup your computer first, because iCloud requires a software update to the operating system your Mac – a move that raises red flags to any tech support guy (I used to be one.) Plug in an external USB drive and use the Time Machine app to create a backup of your Mac. You probably won't need it, but you'll have peace of mind.

Pick your iCloud master device – Again, if you're going to use iCloud, it will ask you to choose one Apple device to serve as the master copy. This can be a Mac, an iPhone an iPad, or an iPod Touch. Make sure that device has all the contacts and calendar entries you want synced to your other gadgets. You could put them in later, but now seems like a good time to spend a few minutes making sure you're organized.

Go ahead and update – On Wednesday, many early adopters who tried to install iOS 5 were stopped in mid-update by what appears to have been server overload at Apple. Today, though, the barrage of complaints on Twitter had stopped as of Wednesday night. (Apple refuses to tell me what's going on, which is why I'm using Twitter to monitor the situation.) It seems safe to go ahead and update now.