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Lion for my new Imac...

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Beach Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
44
0
Still getting used to my new 27 inch Imac...the first two weeks have been outstanding! I've decided NOT to upgrade to LION yet, so my transition from a pc will hopefully continue to go off without any problems.

My question is: Would I be able to downoad Lion from the Mac App Store, but not actually install it. That way I could continue to enjoy Snow Leopard and then officially install and run Lion once a newer version comes out with fixes. My free upgrade to LION expires in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for any advice and help...
 
jbg232

jbg232

macrumors 65816
Oct 15, 2007
1,148
10
You can download the installer application (what you actually download from the app store) but it will not be the newest version if a new one comes out. You can run the installer any time you want.
 
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Beach Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
44
0
I found an article showing how to make a backup copy of Lion. I thought maybe I could download Lion and put a copy on my USB. I could continue to use SL until I decided to use Lion. I just don't want to screw anything up!!!
 
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robgendreau

macrumors 68040
Jul 13, 2008
3,465
329
Sure; download the installer. Unlike other Mac App Store apps it needs to be launched/opened in order to run and install. Meanwhile, you can put a copy somewhere or make your own installer thumb drive or DVD (search for instructions). Just be aware once you run the installer it deletes itself from its original location in Applications (but not the copy you squirreled away somewhere).

If you are entitled to a free copy there might be issues about waiting too long to "upgrade," I dunno.

You could also install it on another volume, and then boot into it and see if you like it. I don't really see any reason to stick with old system software on a new mac unless you've got some old software to run or some other specific reason. And you'd want to make sure your hardware runs on Lion during that free tech support/warranty period.

Rob
 
H

Hamilton1963

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2010
117
0
Yes you can. Four days ago I downloaded my free Lion OS, it is on my Apps account, on my computer Applications and also I downloaded to my external HDD.

Beach Guy said:
My question is: Would I be able to downoad Lion from the Mac App Store, but not actually install it. That way I could continue to enjoy Snow Leopard and then officially install and run Lion once a newer version comes out with fixes. My free upgrade to LION expires in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for any advice and help...
Click to expand...
 
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bad1550

macrumors regular
Aug 13, 2007
227
0
I just download my copy today on new iMac.

I have not installed. Will wait for updates first.

How can I backup to an external drive or flash USB?
 
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BullittMustang

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2008
612
95
I did just that. I bought a new iMac that had snow leopard. Downloaded and saved my free upgrade to lion. I only waited a couple of days though. I installed it. It works great. Glad I didn't wait any longer. I did follow instructions and make an install DVD before I installed lion.
 
T

Tozzi

macrumors regular
Sep 3, 2009
106
0
Munich, Germany
robgendreau said:
Sure; download the installer. Unlike other Mac App Store apps it needs to be launched/opened in order to run and install. Meanwhile, you can put a copy somewhere or make your own installer thumb drive or DVD (search for instructions). Just be aware once you run the installer it deletes itself from its original location in Applications (but not the copy you squirreled away somewhere).
Click to expand...

This.
Download it, burn the dmg image and then wait for 10.7.1 (or better 10.7.3 or something), meanwhile enjoy the "it just works" factor you get by using SL.
 
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Hamilton1963

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2010
117
0
Click and drag to your desktop then drag it to your external HDD. I tried to drag direct to my external HDD but, for some reason it didn't work. P.S. If you save it to your External Drive you'll need to drag the OS from your external drive to your desktop first in case you need to use it again. I tried to install it from the external drive but it didn't work.

bad1550 said:
I just download my copy today on new iMac.

I have not installed. Will wait for updates first.

How can I backup to an external drive or flash USB?
Click to expand...
 
S

stevendphoto

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2011
66
0
I bought a 27" Imac (3.4, 4gbRam, 2tbHD, 2gbVR,) and upgraded to lion last weekend..

The only differences I have seen are:
(1) To rewake from sleep mode, I used to just hit the power button on the keyboard, now I have to phsyically hit the on/off button on the monitor.
(2) I am pretty sure that the Magic Mouse SCROLLS in the opposite directions

no biggie..
 
A

ahu

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2011
1
0
How do I download my free Lion for my new iMac?

I read where several of you bought new iMacs as I recently did. How did you get Lion for free? Is there a code I need? My iMac is less than 2 weeks.

ahu
 
W

Wizzykin

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2011
15
0
This just reminded me of a question I had.

I'm making the switch from PC and I'm wondering: what does the iMac come with in terms of physical contents? Will I get an OS X CD that I can use to reinstall if the computer gets bogged down or something happens? Is it more akin to how PCs come with restore disks, where you just run a CD or restore program?

That's something I'm curious about. I built my own PC years ago and I far prefer to have the OS on a CD than I can install any time I want to. I'm wondering how Apple deals with this.
 
obsidian1200

obsidian1200

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2010
359
0
Albuquerque, NM
Wizzykin said:
This just reminded me of a question I had.

I'm making the switch from PC and I'm wondering: what does the iMac come with in terms of physical contents? Will I get an OS X CD that I can use to reinstall if the computer gets bogged down or something happens? Is it more akin to how PCs come with restore disks, where you just run a CD or restore program?

That's something I'm curious about. I built my own PC years ago and I far prefer to have the OS on a CD than I can install any time I want to. I'm wondering how Apple deals with this.
Click to expand...

It depends on the machine you receive. If it is preinstalled with Lion, then you will not get a physical CD to restore the OS with. However, Apple does have some built-in measures to help compensate for that such as a recovery partition (useless when the drive fails, ofc) and a internet restore, which is usually slower than a restore from a CD.

However, if it is preinstalled with SL, you will get SL CDs and can easily make a Lion CD following the many guides mentioned in this thread. I'm not sure how difficult it is to mac a Lion CD if your computer comes preinstalled with Lion, though. It might be just as easy to do.
 
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Wizzykin

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2011
15
0
obsidian1200 said:
It depends on the machine you receive. If it is preinstalled with Lion, then you will not get a physical CD to restore the OS with. However, Apple does have some built-in measures to help compensate for that such as a recovery partition (useless when the drive fails, ofc) and a internet restore, which is usually slower than a restore from a CD.

However, if it is preinstalled with SL, you will get SL CDs and can easily make a Lion CD following the many guides mentioned in this thread. I'm not sure how difficult it is to mac a Lion CD if your computer comes preinstalled with Lion, though. It might be just as easy to do.
Click to expand...

Thank you. So I actually want to see if it's boxed with Snow Leopard when I go in then. I just prefer to have a disk.
 
jji7skyline

jji7skyline

macrumors 6502
Aug 10, 2011
302
0
You can download it and then leave on your dock til you want to install it. You may also like to burn it to a DVD for safekeeping :)
 
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