Simple question -- Should I upgrade to Lion?

up to you, really. u can search here, google...EVERYONE has an opinion.

u may run into some bumps on the road...can you deal with that?
lion is great, most of it. at some point, you'll want to move to it.

when that is is a decision only you can make...

 

Yes, love the gestures in Lion.

 

Lion 10.7.2

I'd do it - I did it when 10.7.2 was out - previous versions seemed to buggy;
you'll love iCloud, gestures, ...
for me it was well worth upgrading and I pretty much use the same programs as you do and a couple of other software like office 2011, cs5, ...
so far *touch wood* everthing's working fine

 

Just do it already, what are you waiting for?

 

Don't do it, Lion isn't very good.

 

Simple Question...

Should I go to breakfast?

Yours is the same kind of question

 

google the issue. but IMHO, breakfast is the most important meal. having said that, eat if you're hungry. or don't...

 

The OP stated he has an iMac ... exactly HOW do you use gestures on a MOUSE?

 

You assume the OP doesn't use a Magic Trackpad.

To the OP, any number of threads on this subject are very useful. I say upgrade.

 

Yes, I have found it a reasonable upgrade. Make sure all your productivity apps run well.
I waited until 10.7.2 before jumping.
That being said, there are some things that still irritate me but I have "learnt" to live with them… either that or jump ship to MS…

Yup. Don't be stingy with the RAM.

You really do need a "Magic Trackpad" (God I wish they didn't call it "Magic").
Without a trackpad you will find your enjoyment and use of Lion hampered.

 

"For those who have done this, is Lion a worthwhile update? My computer is running fine with Snow Leopard but I'm tempted by the latest and greatest technology. I don't want to do it if the hassle will outweigh the benefits, though."

My suggestion:

Why not try _both_ of them for a while? You can install Lion, run it off-and-on for an "evaluation period" for several months, and then make a final decision, while still retaining Snow Leopard as your "main" system.

The easiest/best way to do this is to install Lion onto a DIFFERENT DRIVE that is separate and apart from your internal drive which currently has Snow Leopard on it.

Then, you can just "switch boot" as desired.

Yes, having Lion on an external drive (most likely USB) will result in longer boot times, and it may not be fully "as fast" as it would be if it were installed on your internal drive.

But the consolation is that if for some reason you DON'T like it, or have problems with it, your original Snow Leopard installation remains untouched. And Lion will "be there waiting" until a further update brings it up to your level of desirability.

If the time comes when you decide to make Lion your main system, you can then:
- Make a clone of Snow Leopard onto an external drive
- "Clone" your copy of Lion from the external to your internal drive

You'll then be all set to go.

It's ALWAYS a good idea to have a second bootable system drive in any case.

If you don't currently have an external drive to install Lion onto, I would suggest one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one you like that's cheap, USB3 might be a good idea for the future)

.... along with a "bare drive" from the vendor of your choice.

A USB/SATA dock is cheap, easy to use, and will become a valued piece of hardware on your desk or in your drawer. You can swap drives as needed and you can even boot from these (same as if it were an external "enclosure").

 

Yes. I upgraded to 10.7.2 last week. The UI is snappier and I'm starting to get used to the multiple desktops rather than spaces. I upgraded VMware Fusion and plan to upgrade Office. Life moves forward ... //smile

 

Actually I like Apple's marketing terms in regards to their products. Do we really need them to be like every other PC company referring to their products as model numbers?
Instead of Magic Trackpad other PC companies might call it "Z5823589 PAD".

I say since no other company has mastered multitouch gestures as Apple has they are more in line of calling their trackpad "Magic".

Not attacking you but lighten up. Good buzz words create conversation and people remember your products. Afterall you did mention it.

 

At least 4GB RAM and clean installation (Don't update from 10.6.x to Lion. I prefer a clean installation). And 10.7.1 is the best Ver now for Lion. Don't go forward to 10.7.2 because there're some crazy bugs in 10.7.2 if you often use Sleep mode. But it's up to you, maybe you'll want to use iCloud so just stick to 10.7.2 for iCloud and Find My Mac. At my point, stay 10.7.1 until 10.7.3 release and if it's better.

Pro users want Snow Leopard 10.6.8: The best softwares supports. The best StartUp and Shutdown speed. It's almost perfect (it's hard to find a bug in SL 10.6.8). Spotlight is always good enough for user to ignore Launchpad. Spaces + All Windows are good reasons to ignore Mission Control. Sleep mode works well here (I rarely shutdown my Mac machines MBA or iMac, just need about 5 secs to back with my work from Sleep mode. Time = Gold, no StartUp time please LOL). In my opinion, DashBoard in SL is cooler than its in Lion.

For me, 10.6.8 supplement update (the latest update patch for SL 10.6.8) is the best OS now. Same or higher level compare to Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and Ubuntu 11.04 x86. But I luv Mac such that I give SL 10.6.8 higher mark than others two OSs.

Lion still need a short time to be better and beat any OS
Make up your mind. Happy with you decision. Any way, Mac is great to experience

 

I disagree, I'm a "pro user" and I have been much more productive with Lion than I was with Snow Leopard. Too many people on this forum focus on the most obvious features of Lion rather than the small stuff which makes for a really great OS.

I hope you're kidding because that's certainly not true.
I had more wifi issues with Snow Leopard, security was dropping quite rapidly as well. For me both these issues were fixed in Lion.

I disagree. You have to know the exact name of the product. At least for me it's much more trouble to call up Spotlight and then type in the name of the app, wait for it to show up on the list then click to launch. In Launchpad I just click on the app I want, no searching or typing in product names.
I love Spotlight too but it's not for everybody so please speak for yourself.

Again, speak for yourself. That's your opinion.

Really? How so? Explain to me how Dashboard in Lion is any different than in Snow Leopard?

 

I wouldn't. I am still finding it a little buggy with a couple of applications and Mobile Me syncing does not seem to working very well at all, but as my main work machine is 10.6.8 I am not about to commit to iCloud conversion yet and these problems may be related to that. I would downgrade, but Snow Leopard is not available for this machine.

Overall it feels a little slower to me. I quite like the look except for iCal which is disgusting. The new mail.app is better and has worked perfectly and I have had no problems with Microsoft Office, Safari and screen sharing is better. Some Adobe applications are not completely compatible.

 

you're gonna have to move to the cloud next year anyway (as it will replace MobileMe). and go to macupdate and DL "lion tweaks"...you can kill the ugly in iCal...

am loving lion (bugs and all), my fave os X so far (even without using mission control, etc). launchpad is a nice way to quickly grab an app..

 

You're the first guy who said that Lion StartUp and ShutDown faster than SL. << Am I wrong???

Spotlight << You always type full name of an application when use it??? For me, only 2 or 3 characters of the Application's name --- And you don't know the shortcut to open spotlight??? Pro User??? No impression with names of Applications installed by yourself??? Pro User??? Can I understand that "you can't handle almost things you have?"??? Pro User???

Dashboard << Sry that I didn't say it clearly. It works as well with Lion, but I love the way it appear in SL. Not in another screen with a bored theme, ok? And normal user need to look for a trick to change Dashboard theme???

Security problem with SL?? << Ok, a normal user like me (not a pro like you) want to know about this section. Write down here exactly what you recommended with it. Show me please???

Wifi issue with SL << Ok, this sound is good from you. I already saw some topic about wifi issue with SL (but only 2, I remembered). But how many people have the same problem with SL??? Just you and somebody or almost???
How many posts in the wifi issue topic talked that they had got problem with SL??? Check it out again. There're more topics outside about wifi issue with Lion , search and count them pls. And count the posts about it. You know all things??? Or just talk about you???

Just like me?? Sry, maybe I'm different from you. My post gave out info that I had got or I researched. Just want to help people to make up their mind. I prefer SL but not anti-Lion. Like I said, Lion is new upgrade and any new upgrade always come with new experience (LaunchPad, Mission Control, etc..) also come with bugs too. it need more time to be complete. Just go forward with Lion if you want new experience. At the moment, 10.6.8 must be Stable Version. I believe that you understand exactly meaning of the word Stable

 

If you use Quicken, don't do it. Due to Intuit always treating Apple as a 2nd class platform, it is not compatible with Lion.

 

You might do yourself and the forum a benefit if you learn how to properly quote someone on the forum.

First, I love how you keep referring to me as "pro user" as if I am suppose to be some perfect person. I'm confident enough to believe that many people will share my same sentiment about Spotlight. Not everyone is going to remember the title of an application they have in their app library so it's beside the point whether or not I remember the first few letters or the entire name of the app. Spotlight search is only as good as what you remember to type in the field. Not everyone wants to constantly type in an app they want to launch. If Spotlight was the end-all then there would be no reason for Stacks or Launchpad, afterall according to you we should all remember the name of the app we need to use and be content on typing it in every time.

What exactly do you mean using these symbols in your post? "<<"?

I guess you are unaware that Dashboard in Lion doesn't require that default background. You can turn it off and you'll be using the same Dashboard that overlay's your desktop as in Snow Leopard.

Where exactly did I say that Lion's startup and shutdown were faster than Snow Leopard's?

 

That's the unix way of supplying input ... ( or one way of supplying input ).

For example you can use a script like this to supply a command into a utility. All the lines between the "<< EOF" and the actual line "EOF" are fed into the utility one line at a time.

sqlplus / as sysdba << EOF
shutdown immediate;
EOF

 

Thanks for replying. At least to protect your point.

1> Missing info about wifi issues from you. Trying to protect your own point without knowing and searching huh?

2> I said SL StartUp and Shutdown faster than Lion in first post and you quote that line right? Or I remembered wrong?

3> Ok Launchpad is perfect for you. Trying install full CS5 master collection and see what Launchpad give you. My friends complain so much about this problem. 've to open Applications folder to delete Uninstall.app files of the collection to avoid spamming in Launchpad. It still need time to be complete. Does Spotlight have the same problem? And I really wonder how can a Pro User can't remember anything around names of Applications? Just 2 or 3 characters (not complete name of Application you want to open). Is it hard to do as you imagine?

Repeat. Lion is a new upgrade with new experience but as rule for all new things it need time to be complete upgrade. SL 10.6.8 is stable, also be the best OS now.

 

I regret the "upgrade". Random crashes, internet drops out, wifi stops working, generally unstable. My Mac almost feels like a PC now in terms of stability.