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Nick412

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 16, 2011
37
0
I have an iMac with Snow Leopard on it and I have 2 macbooks with leopard on them. In order to get Lion would i have to upgrade the other 2 macbooks to snow leopard or will I be able to download Lion once I have it on my iMac.
 

weemanpow3

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2008
284
15
Direct from Apple site

"Make sure you have the latest version of Snow Leopard."

Hopefully their will be a way to transferer the 4gb file to a USB drive or DVD so we don't have to re download for the other SL machines we have.
 

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,878
2,929
What if you only have a single computer, and it has Leopard? Are you supposed to buy Snow Leopard, install it, buy and download Lion, and then install Lion? That's crazy!
 

weemanpow3

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2008
284
15
If you have Leopard and a computer that can support Lion, then you will have to buy Snow Leopard and install it to be able to download and install Lion. The total price of SL+Lion isn't high at all IMO $60 total.
 

Icy1007

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2011
1,075
74
Cleveland, OH
What if you only have a single computer, and it has Leopard? Are you supposed to buy Snow Leopard, install it, buy and download Lion, and then install Lion? That's crazy!

Hmm, lets think about it for a moment. Apple announces that Lion will be exclusive to the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store is only available on Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

That means, in order to upgrade to Lion, you will need Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

So, yes, you will need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first before being able to upgrade to Lion.
 

qacjared

macrumors regular
Jan 28, 2008
241
1
Hmm, lets think about it for a moment. Apple announces that Lion will be exclusive to the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store is only available on Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

That means, in order to upgrade to Lion, you will need Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

So, yes, you will need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first before being able to upgrade to Lion.

It is inconceivable that Apple would not provide an upgrade option for those options where a App Store install is impossible–Government Machines, the Developing World, Large Organizations, Repair Technicians, the list goes on and on. There are people willing to pay for physical media for Lion and pay a premium for it. All Apple has to do is spend a few employee days on some extra on some disc graphic design work for a disc some packaging charge twice the price for the physical version and make lots of pocket money. The cost of doing that is SO low for a company the size of Apple that it seems crazy not to do so, even if they don't want advertise the fact. It's just like how Apple still sells Leopard discs for Power PC Macs if you talk to the right person.

Either that, or an upgraded version of the Mac Box Set with the new version of iWork that was demoed today to solve to Leopard to Lion problem like they solved the Tiger to Snow Leopard Problem.
 
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NazgulRR

macrumors 6502
Oct 4, 2010
421
82
So let me get that straight:

The only way to install Lion is to upgrade it from SL?? Won't "clean installations" on blank hard drives be possible?
 
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BlackViper

macrumors member
Mar 2, 2010
77
0
I think there will be some physical media solution for those who need it. It could be as simple as allowing the user to create an install disk/drive using the Lion upgrade app. 4GB seems like enough to hold a full-installation, even if the upgrade is in-place and only updates new files. I don't see Apple requiring a 4GB download to each computer; they've already improved the iOS update process, OS X should be similar. The Snow Leopard upgrade disk was advertised as only for Leopard users/single install, but works just fine to do a full-install on as many machines as you like.
 

rikscha

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2010
800
420
London
that would also imply that in the case of reinstalling the complete system I would have to install snow leopard first and then install Lion. I cant believe it is going to be like that. Totally inconvenient. That would be a step back and they said the installation process would become easier and quicker with Lion. Perhaps one gets access to the app store somehow prior to every new installation?
 

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,878
2,929
Hmm, lets think about it for a moment. Apple announces that Lion will be exclusive to the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store is only available on Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

That means, in order to upgrade to Lion, you will need Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

So, yes, you will need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first before being able to upgrade to Lion.

But isn't that really stupid? I mean if Microsoft did that, wouldn't everyone be saying how unfair they are? Imagine if you had to buy Windows 7 just to be able to install Windows 8 (not just upgrade, but any kind of install). I understand that you can't upgrade from Leopard to Lion directly, but a clean install option should still be there, as it was for previous OSs.
 

hitekalex

macrumors 68000
Feb 4, 2008
1,624
0
Chicago, USA
Hmm, lets think about it for a moment. Apple announces that Lion will be exclusive to the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store is only available on Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

That means, in order to upgrade to Lion, you will need Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher.

So, yes, you will need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first before being able to upgrade to Lion.

No, that's incorrect. There will be ways to install Lion off physical media (DVD or Flash stick). 10.6.x will not be required.
 

SimonMW

macrumors 6502
Jan 15, 2008
261
2
No, that's incorrect. There will be ways to install Lion off physical media (DVD or Flash stick). 10.6.x will not be required.
Well then you must be psychic or something. Apple have said categorically outright that the ONLY place you will be able to get Lion is from the App store. If there was another way to get it they would say "You can get Lion from the App store, or from our Apple stores on disc" etc.
 

odvan

macrumors member
Jun 8, 2011
91
10
Well, AFAIK you need Snow Leopard for using App Store. Because it works only in Snow Leopard.

But I also think hard version would be available, cause, you know, how about people in Australia and New Zealand? They have extremely slow internet, will need half a day to download 4GB. That's not a clever thing.

PS I'm newbie - where the hell the option for fast replay? W/o pushing "reply" button?:confused:
 

hitekalex

macrumors 68000
Feb 4, 2008
1,624
0
Chicago, USA
Well then you must be psychic or something. Apple have said categorically outright that the ONLY place you will be able to get Lion is from the App store. If there was another way to get it they would say "You can get Lion from the App store, or from our Apple stores on disc" etc.

Yes that's what they said, and they were directing this at individual consumers.

But think about it. My office has 200 iMacs - do you think we will be downloading a 4GB upgrade from App Store for each of these 200 machines?? NO! There will be DVDs or USB sticks available for cases like this.

Newly purchased Macs will also come with USB sticks containing Lion for restore/reinstall purposes, just as they do now.
 

vtgts300kw

macrumors newbie
Jun 8, 2011
7
0
Well, AFAIK you need Snow Leopard for using App Store. Because it works only in Snow Leopard.

But I also think hard version would be available, cause, you know, how about people in Australia and New Zealand? They have extremely slow internet, will need half a day to download 4GB. That's not a clever thing.

PS I'm newbie - where the hell the option for fast replay? W/o pushing "reply" button?:confused:

The 'net isn't that slow down here ( NZ ), but it is freekin expensive for what you get. The 4gb download will cost about $10 ( obviously not a huge expense ), but we are getting a 30% reduction in the cost of the OS.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,343
12,461
"And what do you know - someone already found a way to create a bootable Lion disk.. AND it's been confirmed no Snow Leopard is required, so Lion can be a completely clean install:"

It _is_ possible to create a Lion "boot DVD", boot the Mac from it, and then do a "completely clean install" on a blank volume.

I've done exactly that.

DP4 running fine here, installed from DVD. :)
 

xgman

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2007
5,672
1,378
same here except that I had to wipe the snow lep drive to get the install to complete and then use migration assistant via time machine to get my stuff mostly back.
 

irishgrizzly

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2006
1,461
2
I say they'll release a stand alone DVD soon after it is available to download via the store. It seems like they want to push people towards the store while they have a captive audience. The DVD will have to ship with new Macs from the day of Lion release.
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
There will be no DVD, they made that pretty clear in the keynote. They should offer Lion as a download from their site, though, for Leopard users.
 

hitekalex

macrumors 68000
Feb 4, 2008
1,624
0
Chicago, USA
If you are referring to the Amazon link, that is not proof. Amazon posts "guesses" all the time--remember the iWork 11 books last year?

OK, you're going to buy a new iMac in August that will ship with Lion pre-installed. What OS do you think will be included on restore disk that comes with all new systems?

And what about Macs installed in various business environments? Do you think Apple is going to force its corporate customers to individually download Lion from App Store for each and every machine? Of course not - they will provide Lion install disks.
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
OK, you're going to buy a new iMac in August that will ship with Lion pre-installed. What OS do you think will be included on restore disk that comes with all new systems?

Someone posted somewhere on here that an Apple Engineer told him (at WWDC, persumably)
that restore disks in new computers will be no more when Lion is released.

And what about Macs installed in various business environments? Do you think Apple is going to force its corporate customers to individually download Lion from App Store for each and every machine? Of course not - they will provide Lion install disks.

Of course not, but I don't think they will offer media. Download + utility to restore to thumb drive.
 
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