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[Merged] $29 Snow Leopard vs. $169 Box Set Questions

I'd be interested to know if the Snow Leopard upgrade installer requires you to have a copy of Leopard already installed or some other such annoying copy protection scheme, or if it's just part of the license agreement. I really hope it's the latter, since it would make my life much easier in case of a reinstall.
 
xxSpudxx said:
My beef is more about iWork and iLife. I purchased iWork seperately with my iMac in february. Pretty dumb that I have to buy it again to get a complete install DVD.

Mostly i just like bitching about it. In the end, i will prob deal with the upgrade DVD and keep leopard with it.

But it is the interwebs and it wouldnt be alive w/out all the bitching and moaning now would it?
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that too. For people in your situation, it would almost be worth waiting until next February, when the iLife and iWork 2010 bundles are released. But who wants to wait for that? :p
 
ButtUglyJeff said:
I'm sure there are people with Tiger that want to go to Snow Leopard, which means Apple needs to release a full version as well. But we won't know the details till Friday.
Click to expand...

Apple has already said users on Tiger need to buy the box set ...
 
The boxed set also comes with iWork/iLife ... so it isn't a horrid deal for the extra $40 ... considering that most that didn't opt to pay for Leopard, likely also didn't pay for iWork/iLife yet.

So yes, the full version is there, just with a couple extras.
 
Sun Baked said:
The boxed set also comes with iWork/iLife ... so it isn't a horrid deal for the extra $40 ... considering that most that didn't opt to pay for Leopard, likely also didn't pay for iWork/iLife yet.
Click to expand...

True. That and people that got their Mac with Tiger, and are upgrading, also paid $129 for Leopard, plus $29 for SL.

It's not like SL has less features than Leopard, so Tiger users aren't getting less for paying more.
 
r.j.s said:
You should be able to erase and install from the upgrade disc. Upgrade just means you need to have Leopard installed first.
Click to expand...

techfreak85 said:
the Full install is on the Disk(for erase and install), just not accessible unless u have leopard.
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Please provide links to the official Apple press release or anything on their website stating that you need to have Leopard preinstalled in order to do an upgrade/clean install.

Btw, don't bother, you won't find anything ;)

The only difference between the Tiger/Leopard release and this Snow Leopard release is the price. It used to be 129$ but has been lowered to 29$ because of hardly any user visible change (it's all under the hood, most things were already there but are now cleaned up and improved as it should have been right from the start) and because of the really bad economy everywhere in the world (aka they wouldn't have sold any copy of Snow Leopard if they were to ask 129$).

Also there is a difference between a license and what you can do technically.

So yes, expect that you can do a clean install of Snow Leopard on a complete empty disk. There is nothing that proofs otherwise!

r.j.s said:
Apple has already said users on Tiger need to buy the box set ...
Click to expand...
Duh, users running an old OS will most likely run outdated iLife and iWork versions. I'm not even sure if the newest iLife and iWork version will even run on Tiger (I think they need Leopard to run). The idea of the Mac Box Set was giving users with outdated software a cheap option to upgrade to the newest versions. That doesn't change with Snow Leopard.
 
dyn said:
So yes, expect that you can do a clean install of Snow Leopard on a complete empty disk. There is nothing that proofs otherwise!
Click to expand...

Except ... during the switch to Leopard, the drop-in discs required Tiger to be installed. It checked. I wouldn't put it past Apple to do the same thing here.

Do you have proof that you can install from the upgrade disc to a clean disk?

Duh, users running an old OS will most likely run outdated iLife and iWork versions. I'm not even sure if the newest iLife and iWork version will even run on Tiger (I think they need Leopard to run). The idea of the Mac Box Set was giving users with outdated software a cheap option to upgrade to the newest versions. That doesn't change with Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

I don't see where you're going with this.
 
BlueRevolution said:
I'd be interested to know if the Snow Leopard upgrade installer requires you to have a copy of Leopard already installed or some other such annoying copy protection scheme, or if it's just part of the license agreement. I really hope it's the latter, since it would make my life much easier in case of a reinstall.
Click to expand...

I'm betting it's the latter. Apple have been pretty forgiving with not having any registration / copy protection on any version of OS X. I doubt they'll start now. Really, the number of people upgrading from Tiger to Snow Leopard is so small, is it really worth inconveniencing people to stop them?
 
I remember back in the day I had a Windows 98 upgrade disc. I reformatted my hard drive. When I installed, it said "Windows 95 not detected, please insert Windows 95 CD." I inserted my old Windows 95 CD, it verified it, then I put 98 back in and the installation continued.

Is that too much to ask for from Apple?
 
I just asked an apple store rep if I could wipe the hard drive from disk utility within the install disc and install snow leopard and I was told it would be completely possible. In all honesty, I doubt you actually need leopard to make the install happen. it's probably just suggested in that typical "you need this to be cool :cool:" setting that they market all of their crap.
 
Valmor said:
I remember back in the day I had a Windows 98 upgrade disc. I reformatted my hard drive. When I installed, it said "Windows 95 not detected, please insert Windows 95 CD." I inserted my old Windows 95 CD, it verified it, then I put 98 back in and the installation continued.

Is that too much to ask for from Apple?
Click to expand...

yeah i would be surprised if they didn't do that..
 
I installed Snow Leopard 10A432 a second time on my UBMBP after already having it installed and it was a clean install. No problem!!!!!
 
Experiment #2

I placed a freshly formatted hard drive in my UBMBP then placed Snow Leopard 10A432 in the DVD drive and it installed without a hitch!!!!!!!! :D
 
I agree. Mac OS X desktop doesn't even use a serial number (although the server version does, and verifies when connected to the internet). The only difference between the single-user and family pack versions of OS X and iLife is legal, not technical.
 
madog said:
Yeah, I think the DVD manufacturing plant Apple buys from charges by the megabyte. They should just release a standalone "normal" copy of SL as with every previous major release that has the entire OS on it and not jsut an upgrade.
Click to expand...


Please remember from the beginning Apple has said Snow Leopard was an update for Leopard.

It has been that way for a long time. This is why it's only $29.
Had this been a full blown NEW version of OSX it would retail for $129 like all the other major versions did.
 
Mr. Wonderful said:
I was thinking about that too. For people in your situation, it would almost be worth waiting until next February, when the iLife and iWork 2010 bundles are released. But who wants to wait for that? :p
Click to expand...

Updating OSX always breaks like 80% of my apps, so i always wait for a few updates until i buy a new OS.
 
Tundraboy said:
Experiment #2

I placed a freshly formatted hard drive in my UBMBP then placed Snow Leopard 10A432 in the DVD drive and it installed without a hitch!!!!!!!! :D
Click to expand...

Few people would think the installer of SL upgrade DVD is the same with that of 10A432. I *GUESS* there will be additional check routine to verify if the user is a leopard user. I further *GUESS* SL installer will pass the routine if any of the following conditions meets:

1) Installed Leopard on internal or external hdd
2) Installed SL on internal or external hdd
3) TM backup of either Leopard or SL on external hdd


4) (maybe) Leopard installation dvd

sounds reasonable to me, at least.
 
Maybe the installer checks your hardware and knows by model number or something like that, then knows it came with Leopard factory installed.
 
Idk why Apple cant just make an official announcement. Its really just a pain in the ass for their customers.
 
bjorn989 said:
If you don't have a Leopard install, you need to buy Leopard/Snow Leopard. This is included in the Mac Box Set. They are also including the iLife and iWork suites in this package. If you don't want iLife/iWork 09, buy the Leopard box and Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

If you have Tiger, you can't buy and install Snow Leopard on its own?
You have to buy some earlier operating system or iLife as well?

Bizarre.
 
Tundraboy said:
I installed Snow Leopard 10A432 a second time on my UBMBP after already having it installed and it was a clean install. No problem!!!!!
Click to expand...

Wipe your drive, shut down your machine and then try it.

I want to know what will happen if you try to install to a
brand new drive. That's what you may have to do in the
case of a hard drive failure (not unheard of).
 
Brian Hickman said:
I know that I am in the minority here, but I am receiving my X25-M (160GB) on Thursday. So I am planning on going from a blank SSD right to Snow Leopard. All I want is for the Snow Leopard installer to ask me to insert my Leopard Install DVD as part of the Snow Leopard "upgrade" process.
Click to expand...

It should be even easier for you. I see from your sig you have a
2008 Mac Pro. All 2008 Mac Pros came with OS X 10.5 installed.

A simple machine check would suffice in your case.

Note: Apple have used machine checks in the past to stop their
software being installed on older machines.
 
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