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Apple's New O/S for 2009

M

Mork

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2009
539
34
I just bought a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5.6.

My question is, when Apple ships the new Apple O/S ("Snow Leopard") this year, how do I go about upgrading my laptop to use it?

Is upgrading an Apple O/S as arduous a task as upgrading Windows? I have a brand new MacBook Pro (15") so I'm hopeful I'll be fine from a hardware point of view...

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks.

M
 
You will be able to buy an install disk directly from Apple on the online store or any Apple retail store, which is also an upgrade disk.

Literally, all you do is put the disk in, hit the restart button, and go watch an episode of Seinfeld. The most daunting thing you will have to do is select which drive to install it on, and that's it. It'll upgrade itself and preserve all your files/settings.

Now, some will tell you that it's a good idea to back up your entire drive and do a fresh install, which is true, yes. That's what I will be doing. However, you're likely going to be able to just run the installer on top of 10.5.x with no trouble.

Hope this helps. :)
 
listen to everything Chex said, i would like to add that you should wait until the 10.6.1 update comes out. ALL new OS's first updates are normally very buggy and can often quit on you. i did it with 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5, if you wait until the 10.*.1 comes out then your normally as safe as you can get.
 
Wow, thanks to all!

I should have known Apple would have painless upgrades (as opposed to WinBlows).

Does anyone know what's new and cool in 10.6?

M
 
Mork said:
Does anyone know what's new and cool in 10.6?
Click to expand...

Nothing, and that's the point.

Snow Leopard is optimization, not cute new features.

I'm expecting 50% performance increases on everything that isn't a Mac Pro and 2x minimum on the Mac Pros.

Also, it won't work on any computer that isn't Core 2 Duo.

Core Duo is not Core 2 Duo.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Also, it won't work on any computer that isn't Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...
That's the first I've heard of that. Do you simply mean it won't see the performance gains as with a Core Duo? Because it sounds like you mean having a Core 2 Duo machine is a requirement.
 
glasserp said:
That's the first I've heard of that. Do you simply mean it won't see the performance gains as with a Core Duo? Because it sounds like you mean having a Core 2 Duo machine is a requirement.
Click to expand...

At this point, I am fairly certain that you will require a Core 2 Duo machine to run the OS, as it is 64-bit.

PowerPC is being dropped, and I can see Core Duo (32-bit) not working.
 
Faster is better!

Now, if we could just get Paint Shop Pro to do a conversion.

Snagit is going to be coming out on the Mac, eventually, finally!

A few other tools like Enterprise Architect for UML and I'd be all set (no more VM Fusion, though VM works perfectly).

M
 
That's probably why they introduced the Box Set now. Depending on your machine you buy either Leopard or Snow Leopard.

"Which Leopard is Right for you? Come to any Apple store and our Geniuses will help you decide"
 
hobbbz said:
That's probably why they introduced the Box Set now. Depending on your machine you buy either Leopard or Snow Leopard.

"Which Leopard is Right for you? Come to any Apple store and our Geniuses will help you decide"
Click to expand...

It isn't like Apple to support a legacy...anything. They are dropping support for an entire architecture by abandoning ppc and the only machine stuck in a 'time warp' if you want to call it that..will be the core duo machines. Oh, and the mac mini. If those users wanted to upgrade to Leo they had better get with the program sooner or later.
 
But to the average end user there should be little no noticeable difference.

If you're running Tiger, upgrade to one of the Leopards. Which one will depend on your CPU.

I can't see them abandoning a <3 yr old machine.

I'm not saying this because I own a CoreDuo and don't want my machine dropped, I'm saying it because it's logical.

They want to sell iWork and iLife. If you don't have a Leopard you need one.
 
The Core Duo is the current architecture, right?

I mean I just got a MacBook Pro 15" and it has Core Duo I think.

Won't 10.6 be compatible with the currently shipping products?

Perhaps I'm confused what the other person was saying....
 
Mork said:
The Core Duo is the current architecture, right?

I mean I just got a MacBook Pro 15" and it has Core Duo I think.

Won't 10.6 be compatible with the currently shipping products?

Perhaps I'm confused what the other person was saying....
Click to expand...

The "Core 2 Duo" is the current architecture, there is a difference between the two.
 
Mork said:
The Core Duo is the current architecture, right?

I mean I just got a MacBook Pro 15" and it has Core Duo I think.

Won't 10.6 be compatible with the currently shipping products?

Perhaps I'm confused what the other person was saying....
Click to expand...

Whatever the differnce... neither Core Duo (the first shipped Intel Macs) nor the Core 2 Duo (the 2nd Generation) nor Core i7 the current gen in the unibodies is anywhere near to be dropped by Apple any time soon!
 
Phew!

I'm a Mac Newbie, so thanks for the clarification.

:)
 
Apple Ink said:
Whatever the differnce... neither Core Duo (the first shipped Intel Macs) nor the Core 2 Duo (the 2nd Generation) nor Core i7 the current gen in the unibodies is anywhere near to be dropped by Apple any time soon!
Click to expand...

Yeah, they don't have Core i7 for two reasons.

1. Core i7 is a desktop chip. Not even the iMac uses desktop chips. Not even the Mac Pro uses desktop chips.
2. Notebook Nehalem won't be out until October.

They're using Penryn. And the Core Duo... is probably going to be dropped.
 
Nothing, and that's the point.

Snow Leopard is optimization, not cute new features.
Click to expand...

There are not many new features *that we know about*. However in reality there are bound to be a lot of new things. We already know for example that it will have a new look.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Nothing, and that's the point.

Snow Leopard is optimization, not cute new features.

I'm expecting 50% performance increases on everything that isn't a Mac Pro and 2x minimum on the Mac Pros.

Also, it won't work on any computer that isn't Core 2 Duo.

Core Duo is not Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...

Is that to say that the OS won't work on a Core Duo, or that the performance increases will be minimal on a Core Duo?
 
Tallest Skil said:
Yeah, they don't have Core i7 for two reasons.

1. Core i7 is a desktop chip. Not even the iMac uses desktop chips. Not even the Mac Pro uses desktop chips.
2. Notebook Nehalem won't be out until October.

They're using Penryn. And the Core Duo... is probably going to be dropped.
Click to expand...

Oh ho... Skil you beat me again... :)

Yes I forgot Calpella is still due this summer!

But I disaree with the fact that Apple's planning to shed suppoert for Core Duo by 10.7 or 8...

Thanks for the rectification!
 
Tallest Skil said:
Nothing, and that's the point.

Snow Leopard is optimization, not cute new features.

I'm expecting 50% performance increases on everything that isn't a Mac Pro and 2x minimum on the Mac Pros.

Also, it won't work on any computer that isn't Core 2 Duo.

Core Duo is not Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...

The Developer Preview after WWDC 2008 worked on Core Duo Macs.
What's changed since then?

To the Original Poster:
Apple nailed installation a long time ago, before OS X.
Problems, whilst not unheard of, are pretty rare.
 
elppa said:
The Developer Preview after WWDC 2008 worked on Core Duo Macs.
What's changed since then?
Click to expand...

Nothing. They also state that it will be an entirely 64-bit OS on the web page, and there is a crappy "32-bit mode" in the developer builds right now that has you restart an application to use it thus.

So if it's 64-bit like they said it would be, Core Duo computers won't run it.
 
Now I'm really confused.

I thought I had a 64-bit O/S in 10.5.

Here's what I have. The machine is a two weeks old.

Apple MacBook Pro MB471LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, Slot Loading SuperDrive)

----

Is this a 32-bit only machine? I'm running 10.5.6 now.

What happens with 10.6?

If I don't have a 64-bit capable machine, which Apple machines are?

I thought I had a state-of-the-art new machine (64-bit and all that...).

M
 
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