Preferred distribution of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

As someone who doesn't yet have a MacBook Air, I'd prefer a DVD.

I'm glad that Apple is moving towards digital distribution, but I like having a physical copy. And I'd be worried that I'd misplace the USB drive (like I have all the others I've bought. )

After having installed the Lion preview, which was done via the App Store, I'm all for it. It comes as a disk image (DMG). I don't know if it can burned and booted, but it can certainly be saved offline. While the preview is a one-time-only download, presumably the purchased version could be downloaded repeatedly as necessary, like other App Store purchases.

I'd like a downloadable version that allows me to burn a DVD myself.

To be honest, I'll take an AppStore download anyday over USB/DVD.

Even I have to re-download the OS, I can spend an hour and do so. I don't want the pain of installing it through a CD or a DVD.

BUT:
I don't want an AppStore Download to EVER be the only method of distribution. A USB option will be honored anyway.

I prefer MAS because I will be able to buy in in the launch date with this way. Also, I will not have to pay distributor fees to Turkish distributor.

DVD and/or USB it's much much faster.

I would use the App Store but for the few who have slow connections i suppose other means would be better.

thank you lord for my 50mb download

I would prefer Jordi hand me it.

Definitely USB or CD. It's quicker (my internet's not the fastest out there…) and I always enjoy going to the Apple Store to play around with the iPad or see the new iMacs…

i'd like a USB drive or download. even better would be both. i want a physical copy for when it is needed or for in the future 'what if' situation.

Doesn't really matter to me.... after it's downloaded i'd assume someone could burn the OS to optical media or throw it on a thumb drive should they ever need to reinstall and don't have internet access... then again it would be a pretty rare occasion to need to do a complete reformat in the middle of the desert...

I'll go with whatever option ends up being the cheapest

A 30 minute download compared to a 3 day delivery wait. Mac App store please.

USB or DVD for me please.

dvd, i always break usb sticks or make them unreadable and i don't need a ddl, half the ppl i know either still have really slow internet or don't know how to install sth without a cd simply asking u what to do next

App store would be the quickest and probably also the best method as you would always have the most up to date version of the OS with the latest security updates and bug fixes any time you need to install a fresh copy.

I'd probably prefer the USB but the optical drive would be a close second. I'd rather not have to deal with downloading it and burning a DVD drive (or find a large enough thumb drive)

bier-meister said:

App store would be the quickest and probably also the best method as you would always have the most up to date version of the OS with the latest security updates and bug fixes any time you need to install a fresh copy.

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I'd not say that it would be the quickest. The pokey pace of downloading is the biggest bottleneck. Perhaps its not fare to compare apple with fedora (or ubuntu) but when they update their OS, its takes forever for me to download. I usually try to do this at work as my companies internet connection is much faster but it takes hours nonetheless.

App store release is nice, but I much prefer physical media. That being said, I would prefer Lion to come loaded on USB keys rather than optical media. USB offers a much faster install for both upgrades and full installs than optical discs.

maflynn said:

I'd not say that it would be the quickest. The pokey pace of downloading is the biggest bottleneck. Perhaps its not fare to compare apple with fedora (or ubuntu) but when they update their OS, its takes forever for me to download. I usually try to do this at work as my companies internet connection is much faster but it takes hours nonetheless.

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I meant quick in comparison to ordering it online and waiting for delivery or having to go the local store, queuing and returning home. At least with a decent connection you can start the download, and then cook a meal, take a shower, go to work, sleep, etc

I can't imagine it would be much bigger than the xcode download and that doesn't take so long, I think just over an hour for me.

maflynn said:

I'd not say that it would be the quickest. The pokey pace of downloading is the biggest bottleneck. Perhaps its not fare to compare apple with fedora (or ubuntu) but when they update their OS, its takes forever for me to download. I usually try to do this at work as my companies internet connection is much faster but it takes hours nonetheless.

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well if you account for the entire process of updating the OS, yes it probably is the quickest. If I need a CD, that requires going to the store, finding the product, waiting in line, driving home, then installing it; or waiting for it to be shipped to you. A disc or thumb drive won't magically appear at your house come upgrade time!

If its a download I could start it, go about my buisness doing whatever else I felt like until the download is complete then upgrade...

And in the future if I didn't want to wait for it to download again I could always throw it on a cheap 8gb thumb drive or a dual layer DVD. Then again if you do redownload it every time it would already come with all of the security patches and such and you wouldn't have to worry about downloading anything else after you're done with the install.

-edit-
beat me to it haha...

but yeah for those saying they prefer physical media, you know you could burn it to a dvd or copy it to a thumb drive once you have downloaded it right?

Since I have an Air, app store download would be fine but USB would be most preferable.

My main hope is that the App Store distributed version has a provision to do a bare-metal install.

Bare-metal installs are a part of life. If the system goes tits up and the hard drive is dead you need a way to reinstall the OS.

For corporate/school environments, it seems the best way will be to just get the traditional install media.

What if you want to restore your computer from Time Machine? Normally you would boot from the OS install disk, plug in your Time Machine disk, and it would restore your computer exactly the way it was at a given point. How would you do that with an App Store download, since you can't boot from it, thus you can't erase your system and restore it should you need to?

Daveoc64 said:

I'd like a downloadable version that allows me to burn a DVD myself.

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Exactly. This option should aldo be included in the poll.