Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

No cheap upgrade path for Tiger/Leopard

D

Dave00

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 2, 2003
886
119
Pittsburgh
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.

I also think this really is sending a signal as far as future hardware. Optical drives are clearly going away. Am i the only one that values the ability to store data on cheap, mailable media?

Dave
 
Eh, it kinda makes sense. To upgrade to SL from Tiger, people were supposed to get Leopard first. Lion is also pretty cheap, and was originally supposed to be $129, so even without already having SL, it's only going to be $60. That's really not that bad.

I do agree with the optical issue though. What happens if your hard drive fails? You can't boot from a recovery partition on a failed hard drive. I would much rather have it as a DVD or USB stick.
 
Dave00 said:
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.

I also think this really is sending a signal as far as future hardware. Optical drives are clearly going away. Am i the only one that values the ability to store data on cheap, mailable media?

Dave
Click to expand...

I have a super drive. I have had my machine for over 3 years and have only used it to burn things a handful of times. I have used it to help some technologically impaired friend and almost never for something I need. An external superdrive costs $79 (I think). If I opted for a MBA, I'd be quite happy to do without the optical drive day to day as long as I had access to one I could boot from when I really needed it.

I had a Dell D600 series machine that had no optical drive yet was heavier than my 2008 white Macbook which replaced it. The optical drive came with some awful looking "high current" cable that had usb and some proprietary socket. It was a real mess. I wound up carrying it in my bag because at the time my job required frequent use of optical media. In short, I lived without an internal optical drive from about 2004 to 2008. I hated the way Dell did it but I agreed with the principle that lighter is better. It doesn't bother me if Apple thinks the internal optical drive is going away as long as I have an easy way to boot from my OS X DVD when I need it. I hope Apple offers a mail order copy of Lion for those that want to restore from DVD rather than dealing with a 3 step restore process going all the way back to pre-app store Snow Leopard.
 
Dave00 said:
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I had been planning to jump from Leopard to Lion, and buy a Lion disc for someone else as a gift. So now I can't do that?

I'd rather have the disc in my hand than a disk image on my hard drive. This might mean I won't upgrade my OS until I replace my computer.
 
$60 to jump two levels of OS is not bad at all. It's more if you want to upgrade from Tiger, but how many people are going to upgrade to Lion if Leopard wasn't worth upgrading to?

I have Tiger on my 2006 white Intel, and I've never been inclined to upgrade the OS. Why bother? I use it for basic documents and church work. If I want more I use a newer computer.

I guess owning the DVD would be nice, but then it will also be nice to not have to keep track of it. My apple ID will not get scratches in it if a child inadvertently pulls it out of a CD case.
 
Dave00 said:
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.

I also think this really is sending a signal as far as future hardware. Optical drives are clearly going away. Am i the only one that values the ability to store data on cheap, mailable media?

Dave
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it's all relevant. Steve Jobs is so rich he has no clue what it's like at the average middle class level. He is so out of touch, nothing could ground him. Apple is physically located in Cupertino CA the heart of Silicon Valley one of the richest areas of California, and far richer than most of the other Cities in the US.

Therefore it's easy to all of these tech people especially CEO's with obscenely large annual incomes, to misunderstand the true impact of pricing in the Midwest as just one example. Especially a company like Apple that has a history of an extreme elitist attitude. California is where a good majority of the Apple Cult like followers live, so they are out of touch as well. It's not cheap to live here. They always go to Apples defense, no matter what the issue is or what the financial impact is on the average user, if there is such a thing.

I would also hazard a guess that the demographic of the Apple buyer in CA includes an unusually high number of kids under 14. I see them everywhere with their iPhones, Android phones, and other high end gear.

At the end of the day, it will be very interesting (if not a bit maddening) to see just how this all goes down. Apple is shaking up the industry in a manor that could do more damage than good. Only time will tell.
 
maclaptop said:
At the end of the day, it will be very interesting (if not a bit maddening) to see just how this all goes down. Apple is shaking up the industry in a manor that could do more damage than good. Only time will tell.
Click to expand...

I remember this same conversation happening back in 1997 (should be 1998) when the iMac came with USB ports only, AND only a CD drive and not a floppy drive. Seems we all managed...

And speaking of cost to upgrade, have you checked out what it costs to go from Win XP to Win 7? AND what it costs if you have more than 1 PC? I'd say that Apple is being much more than fair.
 
Last edited:
Mike in Kansas said:
I remember this same conversation happening back in 2007 when the iMac came with USB ports only, AND only a CD drive and not a floppy drive. Seems we all managed...

...
Click to expand...
The iMac was introduced in 1998. By 2007, even Wintel PCs had eliminated floppy drives and RS232 ports.
 
So what we're complaining about is the difficulty in upgrading across three levels of major OS upgrades? OK, easy answer is this: For Tiger users, buy Leopard DVD, Snow Leopard DVD, Lion download. I think that's $190. For Leopard users, buy Snow Leopard DVD and Lion download. That's $60.

The Windows 7 upgrade is $119 for Home Premium. Windows 7 Professional is $199.

Seems quite fair to me, especially if you upgrade your OS on a semi-reasonable scale. If you're still on Tiger, did you really hold back and not use life-saving Time Machine? What is the last iTunes version you could get?

If you haven't figure it out, Apple is very much on the side of advancing technology without trying to support users for the better part of a century. With the last two upgrades setting you back a total of $60, that's nothing compared to when I paid $199 for Windows XP professional -- for one computer. Lion will be $30 for up to 10 Macs.

I'm guessing there will be DVDs available by mail for an added fee, but go look at the Mac App Store and Amazon's PC and Mac downloads. So many of the items are much cheaper than boxes in stores. I think I saved my mom $15 on her latest Norton Internet Security upgrade because I downloaded it from Amazon.
 
Dave00 said:
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.

I also think this really is sending a signal as far as future hardware. Optical drives are clearly going away. Am i the only one that values the ability to store data on cheap, mailable media?

Dave
Click to expand...

You've been enjoying a "cheap" ride on Tiger all these years....now it's time to pay up....why should you be able to upgrade to the latest and greatest for the same price as those who have kept up through all the OS updates?
 
Gregg2 said:
I agree with you. I had been planning to jump from Leopard to Lion, and buy a Lion disc for someone else as a gift. So now I can't do that?
Click to expand...

You were REALLY going to be gifting someone a copy of a new operating system? REALLY?

Give them an iTunes gift card loaded with $29 and let them download it from the App Store if you were so set on buying an operating system as a gift.

Makes me think I should go out and buy my Mom a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. :rolleyes: ;)
 
mstrze said:
You were REALLY going to be gifting someone a copy of a new operating system? REALLY?

Give them an iTunes gift card loaded with $29 and let them download it from the App Store if you were so set on buying an operating system as a gift.

Makes me think I should go out and buy my Mom a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. :rolleyes: ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, really. We must not be in the same generation. You speak of buying a gift for an older relative. Can you not conceive of someone buying a Mac OS disc as a gift for a younger relative? I had assumed that Lion would be $129 as Leopard was. That's a big chunk for someone with more month than money.
 
I guess I just don't see people commonly giving the gift of an operating system to either someone older or younger. It would be like getting socks and underwear for a Christmas gift.:(

I have received (and given) the gift of games and fun apps, but never an OS.

Maybe it's just me.

And Gregg2...be the magnanimous older 'uncle' and buy him or her a nice $100 (or similar local currency) iTunes gift card and he or she can get the new OS AND load up on some fun stuff too!
 
Dave00 said:
This absolutely sucks. If you have an older OS, you can't upgrade to Lion without first upgrading to Snow Leopard - since you can only download through the App Store, and App Store only works on Snow Leopard.

I also think this really is sending a signal as far as future hardware. Optical drives are clearly going away. Am i the only one that values the ability to store data on cheap, mailable media?

Dave
Click to expand...


Sounds just like a post I read when Apple introduced a computer w/out a floppy drive. There was the same wailing and gnashing of teeth then.
 
s15119 said:
Sounds just like a post I read when Apple introduced a computer w/out a floppy drive. There was the same wailing and gnashing of teeth then.
Click to expand...

True, but I think this is a little different. I prefer having some physical media to use. Whether we have to manually create a dvd with a work around, or apple provides a mechanism will dictate how easy it is.

The optical drive is going away, but does that mean we can't have a thumb drive with the OS install image?
 
mstrze said:
I guess I just don't see people commonly giving the gift of an operating system to either someone older or younger. It would be like getting socks and underwear for a Christmas gift.:(

I have received (and given) the gift of games and fun apps, but never an OS.

Maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like that's a real possibility. Hope those games and apps you got as gifts didn't require to to shell out $129 to upgrade your OS.

I have given an OS upgrade as a gift before. It was truly appreciated by the recipient, since it was unaffordable otherwise. I guess the only gift I wouldn't appreciate would be one that had no value.
 
alust2013 said:
I do agree with the optical issue though. What happens if your hard drive fails? You can't boot from a recovery partition on a failed hard drive. I would much rather have it as a DVD or USB stick.
Click to expand...

You can create a bootable DVD, so it's not an issue. You can even use Disk Utility's Restore function to install on a Mac without an optical drive. It's extremely easy.

As far as Tiger users complaining about the cost to upgrade to Lion, that's ridiculous. They're 3 OS versions behind once Lion comes out. I don't buy that argument. If they wanted a newer OS they should have upgraded to Leopard or Snow Leopard long ago. And I don't believe there is a very large percentage of Intel Mac users on Tiger, which makes this argument pointless anyway because PPC owners can't upgrade to SL, forget about Lion.

As for Leopard owners, yes, it does stink that you can't upgrade straight to Lion, but the total cost is still very inexpensive ($60) to buy both SL and Lion. That's way cheaper than only 1 version of Windows.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back