Upgrade operating system or buy new MBP

[bmlriley]

I am running into problems trying to acquire new or upgrade existing software. I am running 10.5.8 and many programs want a more current version. If I upgrade to Snow Leopard will I be dissatisfied with the performance? How about then upgrading to Lion?

I get the beachball of doom occasionally. 2.4 mhz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB RAM, plenty of disk space available.

This is computer is for personal, not business use.

Or should I save my money and wait until the Ivy Bridge processor is released?

Suggestions are appreciated.

 

[GGJstudios]

I am running into problems trying to acquire new or upgrade existing software. I am running 10.5.8 and many programs want a more current version. If I upgrade to Snow Leopard will I be dissatisfied with the performance? How about then upgrading to Lion?

Your Mac should run SL or Lion just fine.

I get the beachball of doom occasionally. 2.4 mhz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB RAM, plenty of disk space available.

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

 

[SuperCachetes]

What kinds of "many programs" are causing a beach ball?

I have a 2.53 C2D (although with a bit more RAM, that almost never gets used) and the only time I beach ball is booting up, which is to say never.

I have always been on the latest OS and have never noticed any speed differences one way or another - again, except for booting up, which is to say never.

My recommendation is to DEFINITELY go to Snow Leopard at the very least. Lion seems to have had a few more issues for some so far, but on our generation of computers it seems to be less common.

 

[jamojamo]

Another vote for you to go to Snow Leopard at least. I have a C2D 2.53 and ran fine on 4GB RAM for ages, bumped up to 8GB (best $50 spend ever) and can't remember the last beachball I've seen, not that I was seeing a lot on 4GB.

I haven't pulled the trigger on Lion yet, still don't see the obvious need for it. May spend the $29 shortly but as of now, undecided.

Definitely cheaper than a new machine.

 

[rockyroad55]

Friend is running Lion on his 2.2 C2D with 1GB RAM. Some beach balling but other than that, it's pretty good. I'm sure a memory upgrade will help him.