Caution ahead for OS X Mavericks upgrade with scientific instrument workflows

A recent post on the X-Rite Photo Blog warned customers about "communication issues" between Mavericks systems and the company's color calibration instrumentation and software. These hardware packages are used in the professional content creation and video industries.

The company said that certain calibration applications will require a driver upgrade. X-Rite customers that have upgraded to the recently released Apple OS 10.9 Mavericks may experience communication issues with X-Rite instruments.

To resolve these communications issues, certain X-Rite applications require an update to the latest X-Rite Device Services (XRD v2.3.2) driver software. The update is only for Mavericks systems.

It is highly recommended to perform this update. Please note that this auto-update will only be performed on Mavericks and is triggered once a day. XRD will not be auto-updated on any other operating system, be it Mac or Windows based.

In addition, Mavericks also breaks calibration of dual display setups. The primary display is calibrated, but the app crashes when starting calibration of the secondary display. The blog post details a workaround.

Suggestion: Anyone with a workflow that uses a scientific instrument should be very cautious approaching the Mavericks upgrade. Check with the vendor about any reports of driver or software issues with the product. And it's best to wait, wait, wait.