Forced to upgrade to 5.1 - Can someone explain why?

[BookofNick]

Using a mac here. Yesterday my bitcoin application logo had a question mark superimposed on it. Clicking on it did nothing. I searched my computer for any application or file containing the word "bitcoin." I thought my bitcoins were lost.

I later downloaded the latest version of the app - 5.1. Upon opening the client for the first time, the bitcoins from my old client appeared.

All's well in the end, but can someone explain how this occurred? How did my old client just disappear? And how did my coins re-appear in the new client?

[grue]

maybe the mac client stores the wallet in a place that doesn't disappear upon deletion? keychain comes to mind for me.

i'm not a mac expert, so i'm not 100% sure

[BookofNick]

maybe the mac client stores the wallet in a place that doesn't disappear upon deletion? keychain comes to mind for me.

i'm not a mac expert, so i'm not 100% sure

Never deleted the wallet or the client.

[deepceleron]

The bitcoin wallet is stored at ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/. All versions look to the same user directory location for your wallet.

[BookofNick]

The bitcoin wallet is stored at ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/. All versions look to the same user directory location for your wallet.

Yet I did a search and couldn't find bitcoin anywhere on my comp. Also why did it disappear from my desktop?

[digital]

You didn't find it because the bitcoin wallet is named "wallet.dat", at least in Windows. 

You should have searched for wallet.

[DeathAndTaxes]

There is no forced upgrade.  No idea how Bitcoin got deleted off your Mac but it certainly wasn't a kill switch from the Bitcoin cartel to force you to upgrade.  There are some nodes out there running very old code (so old they likely shouldn't be).

[deepceleron]

The bitcoin wallet is stored at ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/. All versions look to the same user directory location for your wallet.

Yet I did a search and couldn't find bitcoin anywhere on my comp. Also why did it disappear from my desktop?

You don't need to search for your wallet, just know it is saved in a different place than the Bitcoin client software. I was explaining why you still have your bitcoins and addresses even after reinstalling the Bitcoin software - even if you delete the program, it leaves behind your Bitcoin data, because it could have money in it.