10.8 GM Build out...

[mrbyu]

My 2007 Blackbook was still running perfectly when I upgraded to a 2011 MBA. The MBA is a massive step up from that MB but I could see myself still happily using the Blackbook had I never upgraded. I'm a little annoyed that both of my Macs have been stuck with Intel integrated graphics though....

Man, I would be happy if my 2011 MBA 13" (1,7 Ghz i5, 4 GB RAM) would be only "abandoned" after 4 years, like your good old 2007-2008 MacBooks...

But looking at Apple's latest hardware requirements for some new features, thinking about that I could still install the newest OS X in 2015... only a dream

I also wouldn't be surprised if the poor MBA owners who went with 2 GB ram were left behind next year. So I really hope Mountain Lion will be a stabile and smoothed out OS, as I'm seeing myself and a lot of other people stuck with it... I cannot afford buying a new Mac after every 2-3 years (let alone every year ).

 

[gpat]

Honestly, even though it is a major fixer of Lion's problems, for people who don't own a iOS device, there's still a lot of charm in SnoLeo.
Just the other day I averted a major crisis (cause by M$ Office, obviously) because I had easy access to my Library folder (yes i know it's only hidden, but I don't like to tamper with terminal just to hide and unhide stuff, I always have the feeling I'm touching stuff way above my knowledge level).

As I said, to me, this looks like OSX 10.i
(i as in iOS, not as I roman numerals)

I think it's a great OS, if you own an iOS device.
if not, gimme 10.6.8 yummies.

just a note, I'm not an android user. I have a Blackberry due to professional reasons.

Uhm, on Lion you can show your Library folder simply pressing the "Option" key while you are on the "Go" menu on your Finder.

 

[stiligFox]

Yes....i know a bunch of photographers/videographers living in the bush in Africa which are using laptops. Nearest town is 300kms away. Internet they have is via GSM phone. No way you can download an OS over that!

My best guess would be to have a friend near a city make you a DVD and mail it to you. A really backwards way of doing it, yes, but doable I suppose...

 

[gpat]

A few things have changed since 1985. For instance, RAM isn't "precious" anymore. 16GB is under $100...how much RAM could reminders take up? Under 100 MB maybe? Come on...

RAM is going to be much more precious once Apple doesn't make it user replaceable anymore on the new notebooks

 

[tmoerel]

You can also hold the Option key while you look at the Go menu in the Finder Menu Bar.

Or enter the following command in terminal. This will unhide your Library:

chflags nohidden ~/Library

 

[SchneiderMan]

Basically feels just like Sl and Lion. I would never have noticed or paid much attention to these new features.

 

[Buzzin Hornet]

Does anyone got the MD5 of the InstallESD.dmg for people to check if they got the correct installation file?

 

[CyBeRino]

Yes....i know a bunch of photographers/videographers living in the bush in Africa which are using laptops. Nearest town is 300kms away. Internet they have is via GSM phone. No way you can download an OS over that!

One could argue they could simply wait with their OS upgrade.

 

[gjvon]

What kind of geek waits for an OS Patch?
Baffling. Its 2012 people. We test, then buy.
Learned that with past OS improvements.

 

[digitalfrog]

I'm a photographer, and I would NEVER-EVER upgrade the os of my production laptop during an assignment in the field !

300km from a city (and overall support) and risking to destroy it all ? Nobody in their right mind would do so.

Yes....i know a bunch of photographers/videographers living in the bush in Africa which are using laptops. Nearest town is 300kms away. Internet they have is via GSM phone. No way you can download an OS over that!

 

[tmoerel]

My best guess would be to have a friend near a city make you a DVD and mail it to you. A really backwards way of doing it, yes, but doable I suppose...

Not going to work as there are no mailmen in the bush

 

[Lancer]

You know what the right price for it should have been?

$0

Just a few years ago we would have been paying $129US (About $200 here in AU) for this, so I think $20 is a small price to pay for the latest update, but I'm hoping the new iMac comes out with ML installed so I won't be paying for it anyway

 

[stiligFox]

Not going to work as there are no mailmen in the bush

Quite the lol that gave me...

Maybe they could "AirDrop" it in?

 

[dempson]

Man, I would be happy if my 2011 MBA 13" (1,7 Ghz i5, 4 GB RAM) would be only "abandoned" after 4 years, like your good old 2007-2008 MacBooks...

But looking at Apple's latest hardware requirements for some new features, thinking about that I could still install the newest OS X in 2015... only a dream

I also wouldn't be surprised if the poor MBA owners who went with 2 GB ram were left behind next year. So I really hope Mountain Lion will be a stabile and smoothed out OS, as I'm seeing myself and a lot of other people stuck with it... I cannot afford buying a new Mac after every 2-3 years (let alone every year ).

I don't think Apple will cut off support for 2 GB MBAs that quickly.

A little historical analysis (back as far as 10.3)...

In general, most Mac models are supported by major new OS X versions that are released within four years of that Mac model being discontinued, with Snow Leopard being a major exception (three years in that case).

Apart from Snow Leopard's major cull, the following Mac models got less than four years of OS upgrades after they were discontinued:

800 MHz iBook G4 was not officially supported by 10.5 (3 years, 6 months).

Late 2006 Mac Mini was not able to run 10.7 (3y11m).

Mountain Lion's victims younger than four years are the original MacBook Air (3y9m), early 2008 MacBook (3y9m), late 2008 MacBook (3y6m), 2008 Xserve (3y6m), and mid 2007 Mac Mini (3y4m).


Assuming an absolute minimum three year support window (matching AppleCare for the last machines sold new for that generation), all mid 2011 MacBook Airs (discontinued in June 2012) must be supported by new OS versions released prior to mid 2015, are at some risk of being dropped by a mid to late 2015 OS upgrade, and likely to be dropped by a 2016 or later OS upgrade.

Since the mid 2011 MacBook Air was available in a configuration with 2 GB of RAM, all OS X versions released prior to mid 2015 must be able to work on a minimum of 2 GB of RAM, at least for a MacBook Air.

Even if a mid to late 2015 OS requires a minimum of 4 GB, it might still work on a 4 GB mid 2011 MacBook Air, only dropping support for those with 2 GB.

I expect your 4 GB mid 2011 MBA will be supported with OS updates until at least mid 2015, possibly mid 2016. Even once you can't upgrade to the latest OS, you will get at least another year of security and other minor updates, hopefully more than one year.

 

[Regbial]

It's illegal because the only people who are legally allowed to download the software are the ones who pay Apple for development privileges.

So it's basically a free Mountain Lion copy for helping out right?

 

[TheMacBookPro]

So it's basically a free Mountain Lion copy for helping out right?

They get the GM and DPs for free so they can develop applications for the operating system. I wouldn't really call it 'for helping out' since they have to pay $99 for access to the developer tools (including the DPs and GM copies of the OS).

 

[hollerz]

Yes....i know a bunch of photographers/videographers living in the bush in Africa which are using laptops. Nearest town is 300kms away. Internet they have is via GSM phone. No way you can download an OS over that!

Not going to work as there are no mailmen in the bush

So how do you propose they get the OS they so badly need while on assignment in the bush?

 

[Regbial]

They get the GM and DPs for free so they can develop applications for the operating system. I wouldn't really call it 'for helping out' since they have to pay $99 for access to the developer tools (including the DPs and GM copies of the OS).

Oh I thought it was something more akin to just courtesy. Thanks.

 

[Starship77]

Some people are complaining about the price, saying that this is not an upgrade worth $19… Well, let's analyze the latest prices for OSX:

SnowLeo(10.6): $29.00
Lion(10.7): $29.99
MLion(10.8): $19.99

So, if you haven't bought any new mac since Leopard (10.5, released in 2007), and you've been upgrading your OS consistently, you will have a maximum total of $78.98 spent on OS X upgrades when ML(10.8) comes out.

The mid 2007 iMacs and Macbook pro's that came with Leopard, are still able to run Mountain Lion. So, do you consider the differences between Leopard (10.5) and Mountain Lion (10.8) a "Full System Upgrade" or a "Service Pack Upgrade"?

I believe ML is different enough from Leopard to be considered a full upgrade, so you've paid 78.98 for it!

Now, how much windows users have paid to go from Vista to Windows 7? $219.99.

In conclusion: I'm happy with OS X prices.

 

[paul117]

i just upgraded my mac mini server to mountain lion GM and upgraded the server app to mountain lion.... upgrade was easier then i thought was working great the moment the install finished

 

[gspannu]

In other words the "Go full screen on any monitor" feature in the image behind Tim Cook.

Yes, it has been available since DP4… I think.

 

[7709876]

Now, how much windows users have paid to go from Vista to Windows 7? $219.99.

In conclusion: I'm happy with OS X prices.

Where are you getting those prices from? A full licence of Windows7 Home Premium is available online for about £55 (roughly 85 american dollars)

You can go from XP to that (or even earlier theoretically)

 

[throAU]

Yes....i know a bunch of photographers/videographers living in the bush in Africa which are using laptops. Nearest town is 300kms away. Internet they have is via GSM phone. No way you can download an OS over that!

I hear snow leopard and lion are still working with the feature set they left the factory with.

 

[PBP]

iWork is working again! In DP4 it didn't start, in GM its working fine so far

 

[Xeronimo74]

I always recommend a fresh install with no restore of any settings when a new OS comes out. I've noticed a lot of issues occur after upgrades, and things start getting muddled!

So you would have to reconfigure everything, no? Why would I want to do that?
I've never had problems with upgrades ... also Lion seems a tad bit slower than SL. Hopefully ML will change that.