Will Snow Leopard be available as an "upgrade" when its released?

[vader1990]

Hi,

I'm a recent MAC switcher--got the unibody Macbook Pro--I love it!!

I was wondering if Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade when its released. By "upgrade" I mean, like they have it for Vista; it keeps ALL your document, files, folders, etc. [I have upgraded Vista basic to Ultimate in this fashion; I've heard its also possible to do with XP] intact, but simply "upgrades" the OS. Will I have to do a fresh install for Snow Leopard? Installing MS Office, CS4, etc. again sounds kind of daunting if you ask me, lol.

Thanks for the help!

 

[rolex54]

you can just upgrade and keep all your original settings and documents.

 

[Schtumple]

Snow Leopard will be in one version, when installing, it gives you the option to upgrade, simple

 

[mi.mac.rules]

does "one version" mean it won't matter what mac you have, one disk for every mac? with leopard you need to get a disk specific to your type of machine, so if this were circumvented that'd be sweet!

 

[Schtumple]

does "one version" mean it won't matter what mac you have, one disk for every mac? with leopard you need to get a disk specific to your type of machine, so if this were circumvented that'd be sweet!

The version of Leopard that came with your machine is specific to your machine, to prevent piracy.

The retail version works on all macs.

 

[kindablue09]

does "one version" mean it won't matter what mac you have, one disk for every mac? with leopard you need to get a disk specific to your type of machine, so if this were circumvented that'd be sweet!

What? You need your own copy (to make it legal, that is) but I am pretty sure Leopard is Leopard; as long as you meet the system requirements you buy the only version of Leopard.

 

[OllyW]

does "one version" mean it won't matter what mac you have, one disk for every mac? with leopard you need to get a disk specific to your type of machine, so if this were circumvented that'd be sweet!

The retail version of Leopard will install on any Mac which meets the minimum specifications. You are thinking of the Restore DVDs which are supplied with a new Mac, as these are machine specific.

 

[klaus]

Schtumple is indeed correct. The version of Leopard, Tiger, Snow Leopard that comes with your mac is specific to that type of machine. The source will be the same I guess, but there's some protection software on the disks.

See for yourself, try the disk that came with your mbp and try to install it on your mini.

It's partly for security reasons, but partly due to the fact that sometimes new machines ship with a custom build that is newer than the retail version at that time. Future updates will have that new set of code as well, but Apple can't take that risk.

 

[Schtumple]

To simplify:

Retail copy:
You purchase this from Apple, you can use it to upgrade from the previous version of Mac OS X if applicable.

Machine Specific Disc:
These come with a purchase of a new Mac, they are specific to the machine you purchase as they are normally a custom build of OSX with specific drivers for that machine.

 

[macpad]

i'm fairly new to macs as well - does anyone know if it is more advantageous to do a fresh install rather than upgrading from the currently installed OS ?

ime with windows, there were always some little bugs when doing an upgrade on the OS which is why i prefer doing fresh installs. is this generally the case with OS X as well ?

cheers.

 

[Schtumple]

No, upgrading is pretty straight forward and easy on Mac, I upgraded to Leopard on my old iMac, haven't had any problems with it.

I remember upgrading from Windows 98 to XP, and it would only last about a week or 2 or endless BSODs, then it wouldn't boot

Upgrading on Windows is pathetic, on Mac it actually works

 

[macpad]

I remember upgrading from Windows 98 to XP, and it would only last about a week or 2 or endless BSODs, then it wouldn't boot

Upgrading on Windows is pathetic, on Mac it actually works

exactly ! ..hence my concern, especially with snow leopard coming up.

i suppose my concern is mostly with 3rd party apps compatibility - i'm guessing i should wait a bit until all my apps are officially compatible with the new OS.

i'm also running fusion for windows xp. i'm curious how that factors into the upgrade.

 

[Schtumple]

exactly ! ..hence my concern, especially with snow leopard coming up.

i suppose my concern is mostly with 3rd party apps compatibility - i'm guessing i should wait a bit until all my apps are officially compatible with the new OS.

i'm also running fusion for windows xp. i'm curious how that factors into the upgrade.

In terms of 3rd party apps, most will probably work fine, a few of the big ones, Photoshop, FCP etc etc, probably best to wait till 10.6.1 is released, by then the majority of 3rd parties will have patched any bugs that were present.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Although the upgrade option should work, I rarely do it. I like to start with fresh installs. With fresh installs, you lower the chances of something to go wrong. I would only recommend if you have a ton of applications which would be a b---h to reinstall.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

I'm glad to hear of the upgrade function, I thought installing SL requires a full install. I have way too many apps to bother with a full re-install(adobe suite, aperture, FCE, crossover games/team fortress 2), I glad I can just upgrade.

Thanks for the news guys!