Amazon Begins Accepting Pre-Orders for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

[gibbz]

Again, Apple describes how it works. Not hard to understand.

Apple - How to get Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Upgrading from Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard.
If your Intel-based Mac is running Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, just purchase Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard when it’s available and follow the simple installation instructions.

Maybe I'm reading this simple messages wrong, but it seems that indeed you need a computer running (meaning it has to be detected) Leopard for SL to be installed

 

[Eidorian]

I'm sure if you already have Snow Leopard installed you'll be able to reinstall over that. It will just have to be at least 10.5 you have already installed.

This has been brought up before but what if you have a clean drive?

 

[farleysmaster]

I suppose you could clone the old drive on to it/restore from Time Machine?

 

[macintoshtoffy]

I'm sure if you already have Snow Leopard installed you'll be able to reinstall over that. It will just have to be at least 10.5 you have already installed.

What happens if I want to replace the hard disk? reinstall Leopard then install Snow Leopard?

I know there will be a hack soon enough to work around the problem but I hardly think one should need to do that just to get the software to do what it is supposed to do.

 

[brad.c]

Again, Apple describes how it works. Not hard to understand.

Apple - How to get Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Maybe I'm reading this simple messages wrong, but it seems that indeed you need a computer running (meaning it has to be detected) Leopard for SL to be installed

I find the wording a little ambiguous. If you think about it, their suggested upgrade path from Tiger is to buy the $169 boxed set, which is essentially SL ($29) + iWork ($79) + iLife ($79) = $187. Does it really follow that in addition to saving $18, you also get a completely different SL installation disk?

 

[Jono Hayes]

Clean install

you can do a clean install with an update disk.

when you running the install you can pick to format for harddrive and then install.

the instill DVD will cheek what OS you are running before it starts. and if you do not have leopard it will tell you.



+ ilife 09 wont come with the $29 snow leopard. you will have to buy a box set. or a new computer

 

[Undecided]

I found this part of the page to be a bit disturbing ...

That's just yearning plus sad resignation. Namely, yearning for Snow Leopard, and checking it out, but sadly resigning oneself to the fate of upgrading one's Windows box to Windows 7 with the hope it will come close to Snow Leopard.

 

[morphineseason]

If you're really adamant about doing a "clean install" couldn't you just install the upgrade, then probably do a clean install after Snow Leopard is on your system? Same goes for future clean installs. If you have Snow Leopard already installed on your system, I don't see why you'd need to go back and install Leopard. Has an Apple OS disc ever been that way?

Heck, even the original Vista upgrade discs let you do clean installs after installing a non-activated Vista - that was the main workaround for getting a clean Vista installation with an upgrade disc.

 

[Mac Kiwi]

I am sure Apple will clean up all the install/reinstall controversy before release,or leak details thereof.


So all of the Apple PR aside how much faster is SL looking?....Do we have any real indicators.



If your machine is running ok is there any real need to do a fresh reinstall? Or is it a better safe then sorry scenario.

 

[griz]

Ordered mine through the up-to-date program directly from apple over 2 weeks ago. $9.95 is a steal of a deal. Just hope it ships out in time to get it on the release date.

 

[ColinEC]

Isn't one of the gripes with Windows all the editions they have? It seems like Snow Leopard is emulating that.

I'm unsure if I even want to purchase the $30 version if it's upgrade only. I'd much rather do a clean install than upgrade over Leopard.

Edit:

Nevermind, if I had read a little bit I would have noted that the upgrade disc does allow erasing hard drives and doing clean installs.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

So when you buy this $29 Snow Leopard upgrade, does that mean that it is actually an upgrade disk, thus requiring Leopard 10.5 to be installed? Or can I also do a clean install of 10.6 using this disk? I have Leopard (bought, original, legal), but I don't want to upgrade but rather go for a fresh start.

We still don't know, but the logistics of having one disc would be far easier than two.

I'm going to do a clean install. I'll restore some apps a la carte from TM. The others I deem necessary will have their .dmgs burned to DVD.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

I am sure Apple will clean up all the install/reinstall controversy before release,or leak details thereof.

I bloody well hope so - I also hope they get their act together regarding the X3100 drivers as well; I have a machine capable of 64bit, and goddamit, I should be able to run it in 64bit mode.

So all of the Apple PR aside how much faster is SL looking?....Do we have any real indicators.

It ranges from noticeable to major improvements; it depends on what you use your computer for.

If your machine is running ok is there any real need to do a fresh reinstall? Or is it a better safe then sorry scenario.

Look at the Leopard 10.5 threads that came with issues of third parties installing hackware which use private frameworks, configuration files that aren't quite kosher because of changes in the operating system.

I've never done an Operating System upgrade simply because an operating system is a big and complex system where the slightest problem can make all hell break loose. I've seen people complain their system isn't working but, claimed that it has nothing to do with upgrading rather than clean installing; they eat some humble pie, do a clean install and all problems suddenly disappear.

 

[burningbright]

Bloody hope they won't require the Leopard disc- bought my macbook second hand, without the install disc.. Wasn't a big deal at the time as Leopard was already very stable, but SL might be pretty crashy to start with... Surely the SL disc could just check what OS the computer is already running and take it from there?

 

[macintoshtoffy]

How is your white Macbook completely useless ? Do you use it now ?

Just because it won't run the 64-bit kernel doesn't mean the OS won't run better.

And yet you DELIBERATELY ignore all the threads discussing 64bit - beyond merely 'addressing more memory'. But then again, select thread reading is your forté given that you would be confronted with facts you cannot digest.

 

[Eric5h5]

Amazon's 5-7 day free shipping involves on them literally sitting on the order for business 5 days before sending it out USPS or ground shipping.

Hardly...I pretty much always get stuff shipped by their free shipping in under a week. If they sit on it at all, it's maybe a day.

--Eric

 

[Riemann Zeta]

I assume that the 10.6 Install app will perform a disc check swap n' continue sort of step for completely clean format installs.

Which shouldn't be terribly hard to work around, I'm sure hacks and workarounds will exist within days of release.

 

[RazHyena]

I think I'll wait a couple months after it's release so Apple works the initial bugs out, and then just buy the bone fide version for like $129 or whatever they charge for stand alone OS discs.

 

[heisetax]

Boxed Set &/or OS 10.5

Too bad Tiger users need to buy the Box Set. I hope that changes. Maybe it's necessary (for many people) because previous iLife versions can't be used with Leopard/Snow Leopard--but I don't think that's the case. I think my own iLife is old, and still working with Leopard. (Maybe not with Snow Leopard though?)

Can Tiger users buy Leopard right now, and then get Snow Leopard for $10? I don't see up-to-date applying unless you buy hardware, so maybe that avenue is closed. (Amazon has Leopard for $100, so that plus $10 up-to-date would be great if it were possible.)

So--worst case for Tiger users--buy Leopard now for $100, then Snow Leopard for $30? Thus avoiding the extra $40 for iLife/iWork if they don't want it? (Not that it isn't a great price if you DO want it.)

The SL upgrade seems more about selling the boxed set than anything else. This means that Apple wants to be sure every Intel Mac User has purchased a copy of OS 10.5. The bigger Apple gets the more like MS it becomes.

 

[heisetax]

Old or new hardware.

How is that a fiasco?

If that's the case then the Snow Leopard disk will only include the new files and will thus be small and quick.

So you'd spend, say, 30 minutes installing Leopard and then 10 minutes upgrading it to Snow Leopard.

Oh no When I instal Final Cut Studio it's something like 6 or 7 disks I think. But having to use 2 here is a "fiasco?"

Until SL ships everyone is guessing. For my guess I would look to the future Mac hardware. Unless Apple changes the way they handle the Mac OS & new hardware a new Mac will only run on a version of the Mac OS that comes with it or a newer version. So unless all new Macs will boot from Mac OS 10.5.7 (8,9 or such), an actual installation of OS 10.5 could not be required.

That's my 2 cents worth.

 

[Sijmen]

Does the version of iLife that came with the Intel Tiger Macs run on Snow Leopard? Just wondering.

My PowerBook came with '05 and then when Leopard came out, it didn't really work at all so I had to upgrade. i would have bought a box set if there was one back then.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

I assume that the 10.6 Install app will perform a disc check swap n' continue sort of step for completely clean format installs.

Which shouldn't be terribly hard to work around, I'm sure hacks and workarounds will exist within days of release.

Already done with uptodate; create an image, mount it, navigate to a certain directory, delete the script, burn it to a DVD-DL, and voila you have a version that doesn't check,

 

[Mac Kiwi]

I bloody well hope so - I also hope they get their act together regarding the X3100 drivers as well; I have a machine capable of 64bit, and goddamit, I should be able to run it in 64bit mode.



It ranges from noticeable to major improvements; it depends on what you use your computer for.



Look at the Leopard 10.5 threads that came with issues of third parties installing hackware which use private frameworks, configuration files that aren't quite kosher because of changes in the operating system.

I've never done an Operating System upgrade simply because an operating system is a big and complex system where the slightest problem can make all hell break loose. I've seen people complain their system isn't working but, claimed that it has nothing to do with upgrading rather than clean installing; they eat some humble pie, do a clean install and all problems suddenly disappear.

Cheers for that macintoshtoffy

 

[-js-]

The gray installer discs are locked to their specific hardware model identifiers.

OEM vs. upgrade vs. retail time now? Licenses abound!

I've heard this before, but I've also heard from a number of people who used grey discs to install OS 10.3 and 10.4 on other hardware models besides the one they were intended for.

In any case, however, my point was that they are not locked to the specific computer, even if there are customized to a single model.

But, the 10.5 install discs that shipped with my MBP and MP look exactly the same. They say nothing about what model they are for. Thus, I highly doubt that they are customized.

The point is just that Apple has a pretty enlightened view of such things, in my opinion. I'm thrilled, for example, that all the music on iTunes is now DRM free. That's amazing.

And I'm thrilled with the $29 price tag for a SL upgrade disc that will also do a clean install. That's a really great, and unexpected piece of good news. So I have to install 10.5 on a new, blank drive first. So what? No big deal. In most cases I can think of, I'd be using CCC to "install" my OS/programs/user info onto a new drive anyway.

So, it surprises me to see people complaining about Apple and its policies. Realistically, we really couldn't ask for more! Honestly, as was pointed out above, it's an honor system on the OS X install discs. There's nothing forcibly stopping you from using that single license to install OS X on multiple computers. Nothing but your conscience and the illegality of the thing, that is.

I just think that's pretty cool! Not trying to be difficult or start an argument. It's just cool, I think.

 

[mmendoza27]

Not that it's legal, but you can do a clean install with the up-to-date disks. If I'm not mistaken, that's exactly what came in my iMac when I bought it on Leopard launch day. I needed to buy an iMac anyways. First thing I did was pop it into the old 17" MacBook Pro I had and did a clean install.

I just bought a Mac Pro and will be eligible for the up-to-date program (drop-in disk) and will do a clean install from there.