Backups make no difference. GP is correct. A backup of an iOS device includes only user data and apps, not the OS itself, because it is always more reliable to install the OS from a known-good source, and you wouldn't want those bits getting overwritten by corrupted versions from a backup.

And as I understand it, iTunes won't sign the firmware for your device unless Apple says it should. And Apple stops letting it do so shortly after the next OS comes out. Therefore, short of a jailbreak and some sort of forced downgrade from within iOS itself, it is not possible to reinstall a non-current version of iOS even if you've kept the old IPSW file (except on older devices where no newer version is available).

So long as there's somewhere on the main board to attach that cable, sure. That was my point.

Go take a look at which devices support "mavericks" and come back and post your findings.
HINT: Many Mac Pro users were unhappy with the "line" at "2008 and newer"

The list for Mavericks was identical to the list for Mountain Lion. They were mad a year earlier than that.

The way Apple determines support tends to be based upon hardware functionality. Mountain Lion dropped the 32-bit kernel, which means only systems with a 64-bit EFI could run it. Of course, for as long as I can remember, folks have been hacking OS X to run on older, unsupported machines—usually by hacking up the installer and replacing the missing drivers and platform experts, IIRC.

In the case of Mountain Lion and later, such a hack would also require writing a custom bootloader, because the 32-bit EFI can't load a 64-bit bootloader, and the Apple-provided 32-bit bootloader can't load a 64-bit kernel. It seems likely that the non-EFI kernels and bootloader used in the Hackintosh community would "just work" in that regard, but I've never tried it.

Either way, I'm pretty sure the discussion was about phone hardware, rather than computers.

IMO, a phone should be supported with (at a minimum) security updates until at least two years after the last time the manufacturer made it available for sale new. That way, anyone on a two-year contract can upgrade to a newer device before the security bug fixes stop.

There is an old saying that Unix is user friendly, it is just particular about who it chooses for friends. Maybe the two of you have been hanging around *nix for years, but how well do you really know it? Kill -1 (aka kill -HUP) is pretty handing if you are running infrastructure that other people rely upon for uninterrupted service. Just rereading a config file for updates is generally better and easier than stopping and restarting daemons*, and plenty of standard daemons expect it. It also a handy command since at times it will kill things that other variations of the kill command won't, including kill -9. It also can be a good place to start since "gentle" kills give a process an opportunity to clean up after themselves.

If you take into account all of the standard utilities of Unix and its derivatives there is an enormous amount of functionality and multiple ways to accomplish the same task. I haven't met anyone yet that was fluent in every tool and facility in standard Unixland. That is part of what I like about it - there is so much you can learn and apply, and knowing which tools can scratch particular itches. Even "obsolete" tools can be useful.

* Although there are times when stopping and restarting is a good thing too.

I have an Ipad Mini Retina. I honestly don't notice any major slow-downs (a wee bit longer to launch an app -- and noticeably longer to boot the device). However, some apps no longer worked (awaiting an update) -- and this is somewhat minor.

The MAJOR issue I have (and it's appearing a lot on the apple forums) is 5ghz wifi. For many users it's pretty much unusable. I had to switch down to 2.4 (my router has up to 4 SSIDs, 2 for each frequency). I don't LIKE 2.4 because it gets a fair amount of interference, but it's a suitable work around. I'm hoping this gets resolved in the next update.

My main complaint is (and I kick myself in the butt over it) *THIS* complaint was registered while IOS8 was in beta by many users. I SAW those complains and figured they were resolved before they released the update. I should have known better. I had enough sense *NOT* to update my phone (iphone 5).

That said, I don't notice much of ANYTHING worthy of real "hoopla". 'Hey siri' is neat, but I'm still unsure if I will find actual utility from it once the novelty wears off. Certainly not enough "new" stuff to warrant it's size and bulk.

You're deluded if you think that. The Progressive lobbyists and Democrats that wrote the bill are the ones that had to water it down and put state level bribes in it to get Democrats to vote for it. The Republicans couldn't be bribed, and knew better than to vote for it. It is a bill owned by Democrats, lock, stock, and barrel.

That would be the health care coverage that was in place when "Obamacare" was deemed passed (remember that one?). Just kidding about the "deemed" part, it actually did pass on a party line vote. When a business fails the problem is even worse. Then there is no health insurance and no job.

Because it was the Democrats that passed Obamacare and forced bad choices on everyone?

Your life and pursuit of happiness (note: pursuit) are your responsibility, not your boss's.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, Obamacare is preventing a growing amount of treatment.

At least this is a simpler case than most for assigning responsibility. Obamacare was written and voted into law purely by Democrats, and a Democratic administration executed the law. The Republicans had no hand in it.

That the F-35 isn't a perfect warplane is well established. On the other hand the "Affordable Care Act" is absolutely useless against the latest Russian and Chinese combat aircraft. Even the elderly Iranian air force is more than a match for the ACA.

Your memory isn't so good either. Obamacare was written by Democrats and "progressive" lobbyists*, voted for by Democrats, and implemented by a Democratic administration. They own it lock, stock, and barrel. The Republicans didn't vote for it, you can't blame the Obamacare debacle on them.

If you're going to create a massive new entitlement program grabbing control of 16% of the economy then you should have a broad consensus and support for doing it, and do it with care. The Democrats didn't have that but decided to force a badly written, ill conceived boondoggle on the country. We'll be paying the price for that for years, and I doubt that the Democrats will pay any real price at all.

* Center For American Progress President Shares Part In Obamacare: "I Helped Write The Bill"

I wouldn't worry about it. Once a Republican is back in the Oval Office the MSM will be interested in journalism again so there will be more places to find corroborating stories. Besides, the MSM won't have much choice, they'll need a break - carrying all that water wears on the arms and Obama has called for more than most. If only his presidency had turned out as well as Jimmy Carters. If only ...

It's called "journalism." Maybe you've heard of it? There's a whole amendment to the Constitution devoted to protecting it.

You forgot to include the economic costs of people having their hours cut so they no longer qualify for benefits and end up working two part time jobs without benefits to make ends meet. You left out the costs of businesses cutting jobs and locations, and refusing to expand, to avoid the fines, penalties, and costs associated with Obamacare. You left out the costs of people that had benefits but lost them due to companies being forced to drop benefits due to the unnecessary costs forced on them if they offer healthcare due to Obamacare. You left out the stifling of innovation due to the punitive costs and structure of the medical device tax. You forgot to include the cost of trying to force people to violate their conscience as Obamacare is doing.

And perhaps most important, you forgot to include the dangerous precedent of allowing the Federal government to directly force nearly everyone to go buy a very expensive service specified at the whim of the government and its bureaucrats.

What will you have to say if the next administration decides to enforce the militia clause by requiring every adult not convicted of a felony to purchase a $800 rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition and keep it locked in their homes, available for yearly inspection? Not much different than Obamacare, which is now enforced by the IRS. Well, actually that is probably a lot cheaper than most people's Obamacare bill.

Obamacare is creating plenty of new costs all by itself. It is been a debacle and it has barely started. It will be inflicting plenty more damage on the economy and society in the years to come baring a repeal.