Upgrading to Lion question.

[Roc P.]

Ok, so a friend of mine has an Aluminum iMac from 2008 I believe, running Leopard. I'm not sure of the exact specs but I am pretty sure it is capable of running Lion. My question is:

Does she HAVE to upgrade to Snow Leopard first so that she can then download Lion from the Mac App store and install it OR can she go to an Apple store and buy Lion on a thumb drive and install it over Leopard? Any info is appreciated, thank you!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Roc P.

Ok, so a friend of mine has an Aluminum iMac from 2008 I believe, running Leopard. I'm not sure of the exact specs but I am pretty sure it is capable of running Lion. My question is:

Does she HAVE to upgrade to Snow Leopard first so that she can then download Lion from the Mac App store and install it OR can she go to an Apple store and buy Lion on a thumb drive and install it over Leopard? Any info is appreciated, thank you!

OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive - Apple Store (U.S.)

To upgrade your Mac to OS X Lion, you must be running OS X Snow Leopard. If you have OS X v10.5 Leopard, purchase OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard now and install it on your Mac.

[Roc P.]

Well that about sums it up. I was hoping she could save the $30 for Snow Leopard and go straight to Lion. Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[bedifferent]

Does the App Store check if you're running SL or does it check when you attempt installation? I know you can open the Lion install file and drill down to the ESDInstall.dmg, burn it to a USB drive or DVD and perform a clean install. I already had SL but as a developer had Lion so didn't have to go through the buying process.

[robgendreau]

BTW, Apple has been giving away FREE Snow Leopard disks to MobileMe users so they can upgrade to SL and then to Lion. Check to see if she has MobileMe before you buy the disk (and maybe there are enough floating around you can buy one for cheap).

Rob

[Roc P.]

Originally Posted by robgendreau

BTW, Apple has been giving away FREE Snow Leopard disks to MobileMe users so they can upgrade to SL and then to Lion. Check to see if she has MobileMe before you buy the disk (and maybe there are enough floating around you can buy one for cheap).

Rob

You're right, I have asked her if she is a MobilMe user though and she is not.

[Roc P.]

What is really frustrating is that I called my local Apple store to see if they had Snow Leopard in stock and they told me yes. I go down there and they don't have it in stock, it is only available online. I wanted to avoid this but I am ready to just use my own Snow Leopard disc to upgrade her and then she can just buy Lion herself through the Mac App store. We'll see. She might changer her mind about upgrading altogether anyway.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Roc P.

I am ready to just use my own Snow Leopard disc to upgrade her

If you're talking about the grey install disk that came with your Mac, that won't work. The grey install discs that come with Macs are model-specific and will not work on other models.

[Roc P.]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

If you're talking about the grey install disk that came with your Mac, that won't work. The grey install discs that come with Macs are model-specific and will not work on other models.

Nah it's a disc I bought at Apple for $29 however I don't know if it's specific for MacBook's only or if it can be used on her iMac also. It's also wrong and violates the license agreement so I don't think I'll do it.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Roc P.

Nah it's a disc I bought at Apple for $29 however I don't know if it's specific for MacBook's only or if it can be used on her iMac also. It's also wrong and violates the license agreement so I don't think I'll do it.

The retail version works on any Mac model, but you're right about the license agreement. Are you still running Snow Leopard on your Mac, or have you upgraded to Lion? If you're on Lion, you no longer have Snow Leopard on your computer. You could sell or give your SL disk to her and since her Mac would be the only one with that copy of SL installed, it shouldn't violate the license agreement.

[Roc P.]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

The retail version works on any Mac model, but you're right about the license agreement. Are you still running Snow Leopard on your Mac, or have you upgraded to Lion? If you're on Lion, you no longer have Snow Leopard on your computer. You could sell or give your SL disk to her and since her Mac would be the only one with that copy of SL installed, it shouldn't violate the license agreement.

Yeah, I upgraded my MacBook to Lion, so I have no use for it anyway. My iMac came with Lion and my PPC iMac can't go past Leopard. You make a good point about if she's the only one running this copy of SL it still isn't violating the license agreement. Not to mention she would only be running it for a few hours because the intention is to upgrade to Lion anyway.