Which system for a downgrade?

[janvier25]

I have an early 2011 MBP running 10.6.8. I'm very happy with the OS stability and appearance, except for the cracked glass. I have no other Apple devices.

Tomorrow I'm getting a newly refurbed mid-2012 rMBP. I assume it will come with Yosemite pre-loaded and have a Genius appointment Wednesday to downgrade and transfer my settings. My question is, to which system? To Mavericks, Snow Leopard, something else? Is there a particular system I should have to take full advantage of the Retina display?

What else should I ask for (like a restore partition)?

_______________________________
Specs: Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

----------

I have an early 2011 MBP running 10.6.8. I'm very happy with the OS stability and appearance, except for the cracked glass.

Tomorrow I'm getting a newly refurbed mid-2012 rMBP. I assume it will come with Yosemite pre-loaded and have a Genius appointment Wednesday to downgrade and transfer my settings. My question is, to which system? To Mavericks, Snow Leopard, something else? Is there a particular system I should have to take full advantage of the Retina display?

What else should I ask for (like a restore partition)?

_______________________________
Specs: Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

 

[DeltaMac]

...
Tomorrow I'm getting a newly refurbed mid-2012 rMBP. I assume it will come with Yosemite pre-loaded and have a Genius appointment Wednesday to downgrade and transfer my settings. My question is, to which system? To Mavericks, Snow Leopard, something else? Is there a particular system I should have to take full advantage of the Retina display?

What else should I ask for (like a restore partition)?
.../QUOTE]

I doubt that your 2012 refurb will come with Yosemite.
Apple normally puts the same system and other software that originally shipped with that same system.
In your example, I would expect to see 10.8 (Mountain Lion), not Yosemite.
from Apple's Refurb info:

includes the operating software originally shipped with the unit and the custom software offered with that system.

And, any system Lion or newer will have a restore partition (better known as a Recovery partition).

If you want an older system anyway, Lion (10.7.4) is as old as you can use.
Snow Leopard won't support the retina display, and won't boot to that anyway...

 

[Eithanius]

I have an early 2011 MBP running 10.6.8. I'm very happy with the OS stability and appearance, except for the cracked glass. I have no other Apple devices.

Tomorrow I'm getting a newly refurbed mid-2012 rMBP. I assume it will come with Yosemite pre-loaded and have a Genius appointment Wednesday to downgrade and transfer my settings. My question is, to which system? To Mavericks, Snow Leopard, something else? Is there a particular system I should have to take full advantage of the Retina display?

What else should I ask for (like a restore partition)?

_______________________________
Specs: Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

----------

I have an early 2011 MBP running 10.6.8. I'm very happy with the OS stability and appearance, except for the cracked glass.

Tomorrow I'm getting a newly refurbed mid-2012 rMBP. I assume it will come with Yosemite pre-loaded and have a Genius appointment Wednesday to downgrade and transfer my settings. My question is, to which system? To Mavericks, Snow Leopard, something else? Is there a particular system I should have to take full advantage of the Retina display?

What else should I ask for (like a restore partition)?

_______________________________
Specs: Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Mind sending over your early-2011 cMBP...?

 

[janvier25]

Which system for a downgrade?

Mind sending over your early-2011 cMBP...?

I think the new one will be doing service as an external monitor for awhile. Besides the crack, it also needs a new left fan. It cracked while in a neoprene case inside a leather backpack. They're still going for a few hundred though, and this was an unplanned purchase.

 

[janvier25]

Which system for a downgrade?

Thanks. The computer arrived, but I'm waiting to open it at my appointment tomorrow. Meanwhile, is there a scan available to see whether the apps and extensions on my current computer will work with Mountain Lion? My search turned up old software.

ETA: You were right, it came with Mountain Lion.

In your example, I would expect to see 10.8 (Mountain Lion), not Yosemite.
from Apple's Refurb info:

And, any system Lion or newer will have a restore partition (better known as a Recovery partition).

If you want an older system anyway, Lion (10.7.4) is as old as you can use.
Snow Leopard won't support the retina display, and won't boot to that anyway...

 

[Eithanius]

Thanks. The computer arrived, but I'm waiting to open it at my appointment tomorrow. Meanwhile, is there a scan available to see whether the apps and extensions on my current computer will work with Mountain Lion? My search turned up old software.

Have you tried roaringapps.com...?

 

[GeoFan49]

Just tried RoaringApps.com and it seems to have some good info but is not really current and up-to-date.

Looking for something that I can run on SL and will tell me what apps that I have INSTALLED on SL and will NOT work on Yosemite, in realtime, by looking at my installed apps and comparing with some database of knone compatibilities and incompatibilities.

Any suggestions?

 

[janvier25]

Have you tried roaringapps.com...?

What GeoFan49 said.