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Worries over newly ordered MacBook Pro - Lion/Snow Leopard

P

Piano

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1
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Hello! This is my first post, so please bear with me :)

I'm pretty happy that I recently ordered a new 15" MBP 2.0 GHz for school (custom built with 128 GB SSD and 15" HR Anti-Glare Matte option, as I couldn't stand the glossy ones)

My old computer is very old...a Powerbook G4 from 2002 that is still running very, very well, despite its age. Running Tiger on it at the moment, but the school stated that I should have a computer not more than 3 years old, so I decided to put in the cash for a new comp.

I have read a few posts throughout the forums and my web searches that Microsoft Office 2004 was not compatible with Lion...I personally do not like the 2008 nor the 2011 version, and would much rather stick with MS Office 2004 (since I know how to use it very well) even if it meant staying on the Snow Leopard OS. However, I had a question though - since my Mac was custom built and ordered on July 19, 2011, does this mean that it would come installed with Lion already? :( I already have licenses/software for a multitude of other PPC programs and would love to have Snow Leopard instead of Lion, and since most of these PPC programs won't run under Lion, I am in a bind. I also read on the forums that users could not "downgrade" to Snow Leopard when your machine comes pre-installed with Lion. Is this the case? Is it possible for me to do a clean wipe of the hard drive and install Snow Leopard, since I have the install DVD? Are there any options at this point for someone in my shoes?

Thanks for the help everyone! Really appreciate it. :eek:
 
Welcome to MacRumours, Chances are you will be getting the mbp with Snow leopard installed.

Reason 1 : so you can pay and get the Lion upgrade
Reason 2 : July 16th is still before Lions official release.


I too was upgraded from a powerbook g4 to a mbp.

I upgraded Tiger to SL and it still run smooth. But of course slower than a mbp.
 
Piano said:
Hello! This is my first post, so please bear with me :)

I'm pretty happy that I recently ordered a new 15" MBP 2.0 GHz for school (custom built with 128 GB SSD and 15" HR Anti-Glare Matte option, as I couldn't stand the glossy ones)

My old computer is very old...a Powerbook G4 from 2002 that is still running very, very well, despite its age. Running Tiger on it at the moment, but the school stated that I should have a computer not more than 3 years old, so I decided to put in the cash for a new comp.

I have read a few posts throughout the forums and my web searches that Microsoft Office 2004 was not compatible with Lion...I personally do not like the 2008 nor the 2011 version, and would much rather stick with MS Office 2004 (since I know how to use it very well) even if it meant staying on the Snow Leopard OS. However, I had a question though - since my Mac was custom built and ordered on July 19, 2011, does this mean that it would come installed with Lion already? :( I already have licenses/software for a multitude of other PPC programs and would love to have Snow Leopard instead of Lion, and since most of these PPC programs won't run under Lion, I am in a bind. I also read on the forums that users could not "downgrade" to Snow Leopard when your machine comes pre-installed with Lion. Is this the case? Is it possible for me to do a clean wipe of the hard drive and install Snow Leopard, since I have the install DVD? Are there any options at this point for someone in my shoes?

Thanks for the help everyone! Really appreciate it. :eek:
Click to expand...
Firstly, if Word 2004 is a PowerPC application it will not run on Lion.
Second however is the bigger question will you be allowed to run Word 2004, Office for Mac 2008 introduced the .docx format which is used on all newer version of Office. Documents made in the .doc format in semi rare cases will not display correctly in Office for Mac 2008, 2011 or Office 2007, 2010. Personally I think you are going to have to get used to the 2011 version of Office as you will not be able to view documents shared by people with newer version of Office and will be sending people with newer version of Office documents which potentially will be Unreadable or messed in such a way that your formatting is incorrect.

I personally have found that I can work much quicker in Office 2011, I have had both the 2004 and the 2008 versions and would never turn back!

I hope you take this into consideration before setting your mind on Office 2004
 
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Why not go with open office ? It's free, it supports the latest standards like docx and doesn't have the horrible 2007 interface.
Your gonna get a whole lot more out of your ssd/trackpad with lion plus a whole load of new features and security benefits.
 
I'm using MS Office for Mac, 2011 on Lion and love it, I was also a fan of the older Office software but caught on real quick, you won't have any problems.
 
Piano said:
I also read on the forums that users could not "downgrade" to Snow Leopard when your machine comes pre-installed with Lion.
Click to expand...

I'm intrigued - in what thread did you see this? I have the same concerns as you, as I require some of my PPC programs (CS2...sigh) to work when my 15" shows up. I ordered mine on June 29 and the second one shipped out on July 20th, (*grumble UPS damaged the first one grumble*) so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll have SL on it. Buuuut, I don't know how zealous they are about installing Lion on CTO models. IMHO it would be a safe assumption that if you ordered it before the release date it would have SL on it...unless it shipped after 10.7 came out and they got all Lion-happy at the factory.

Carp, now I'm worried too. I just finished paying for a wedding...I can't afford a full license for CS5 at the moment.
 
This thread has assuaged any concerns I had. It makes sense - they're not upgrading/altering the MBP for Lion, so a downgrade to SL, if necessary, should work.
 
Contiguous said:
I'm intrigued - in what thread did you see this? I have the same concerns as you, as I require some of my PPC programs (CS2...sigh) to work when my 15" shows up. I ordered mine on June 29 and the second one shipped out on July 20th, (*grumble UPS damaged the first one grumble*) so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll have SL on it. Buuuut, I don't know how zealous they are about installing Lion on CTO models. IMHO it would be a safe assumption that if you ordered it before the release date it would have SL on it...unless it shipped after 10.7 came out and they got all Lion-happy at the factory.

Carp, now I'm worried too. I just finished paying for a wedding...I can't afford a full license for CS5 at the moment.
Click to expand...

the way I see it what happens if you wish to replace a new hard drive or to format yours?
you can't down load it because you don't have internet yet.
so you have to have a boot table disk or I have to load OS x from my old one.
 
Got it, has SL, not Lion. In case anyone was wondering. Phew. Now my next source of worry: spilling something on the keyboard.
 
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