Its going to be fine. You will be able to restore the disk image to an external hdd or burn to a dvd, and boot from those. I did this will the developer preview and installed it on my mac mini server which has no optical drive. Okay for personal/private use, but the problem is it doesnt solve (legally) how I install it on the non-internet connected macs at work. I am thinking that dvd's will probably be made though business and volume license channels.
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Lion should really be on a disc
- Thread starter NoSmokingBandit
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I whole-heartedly agree. I think in the process of attempting to produce a "wow" factor in being able to get Lion BEFORE physical media is pressed, boxed & shipped, that Apple discounted the "OMG I can't blah" factor. I think it was a calculated risk and one that hasn't paid off.
The sad result is more panic about the announcement than "wow" response.
Physical media still seems to be important to the majority of users when it's a Major OS. Apps are a different kettle of fish. Perhaps there should be a new phrase coined for "AppStore Phobia"
I think the words "To upgrade on day one" could indicate that there will be a physical option coming sometime after.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/how-to-buy/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/how-to-buy/
I really hope that there's and install media. I don't have a credit card (bank want's to give me one, but expenses for a student are too much to be justified), there aren't itunes gift cards for sale. So either somebody buys lion and I get an illegal copy or I have to wait for an official media.
But let's hope when 10.7.2 gets released it has already it the stores, I really doubt that the only path will be the app store.
But let's hope when 10.7.2 gets released it has already it the stores, I really doubt that the only path will be the app store.
The early adopters (that's most of us!) are almost certain to already have Snow Leopard. They'll jump on, grab the release, and then a fortnight/month later, physical copies will be in stores. There'll have to be a way for Apple to provide physical copies to people — as has already been said, slow/non-existent internet connections, mass installs and so on. The other indication of this is the precedent that was set with Snow Leopard — once it was available, Apple stopped selling Leopard. If they discontinue Snow Leopard in the same fashion, they'll have no way to upgrade or reinstall people in store. Blowing someone off with 'You can download it off the Mac App Store' when without an OS they might not have a way of doing so is silly.
What could happen is that the physical copy is a fair amount more expensive ($49.99, perhaps). That'd incentivise people to get it from the MAS if possible and accomodate Leopard —> Lion switchers.
What could happen is that the physical copy is a fair amount more expensive ($49.99, perhaps). That'd incentivise people to get it from the MAS if possible and accomodate Leopard —> Lion switchers.
I think it should be on a disc for those of us that do not have the best internet connection and have a bandwidth cap, and like me do not live near an apple store. The closest one for me is a solid 3 hour drive. I hope the posters before me are right and it does indeed come on DVD
I would bet that the lion installer you download will in fact be a dmg. In which case you need just restore the dmg to a USB via Disk Utility or burn it on your own DVD.
Basically this cuts out you having to go buy this at the store, but you do need to use your own DVD.. if you want a bootable copy.
Basically this cuts out you having to go buy this at the store, but you do need to use your own DVD.. if you want a bootable copy.
Hmm... The world I live in currently has no unlimited internet connection, mine is capped at 2.5GB for $100. Speed is about 80kbps, yes, kilobits.
So, how the heck am I supposed to download a 4GB OS?
Now, I am *from* the world you're talking about, but I hate when third-world countries that are starting to have a significant internet userbase get shafted with this kind of progress. Everything is dropbox this, dropbox that, cloud this, cloud that. I wasn't exactly jumping for joy with the iCloud announcement.
I'm all for this sort of development but let's not let the superfast unlimited internet connections "cloud" our eyes to the fact that a significant portion of the world still has a mediocre internet infrastructure. Apple needs to cater for both.
Here's a good example. I had my sister download the 4.3.1 iOS update for both my iPhone and iPad as it was impossible for me to get them here (I had a 500MB cap then). She put it in a flash drive and sent it by mail. After a long wait I received the flash drive and excitedly started to update. Well, turned out that by the time I received the flash drive, iOS 4.3.3 had arrived and there's no way of course that Apple will let you install an older iOS on your device even though it would have been an upgrade for me, not a downgrade. Thanks Apple!
Yeah that's strange. What if Lion has the ability to create a restore disk, or a restore partition on an external drive (even a USB pen drive) that you can use to do basic things such as restore from Time Machine, Disk Utility, or even contain the 4GB of OS install files to reinstall the OS from scratch? Maybe this function could be already in Disk Utility somehow? Can't you just turn the downloaded disk image into a bootable USB drive already somehow?
If not, I'm sure a 3rd party will instantly come up with a simple solution that will turn the downloaded package into a bootable USB drive.
A four gig download is horrendous. An idea would be to set it up like a torrent. It would make things alot easier. Granted, I know, apple will never do this. Instead, we'll be sitting at home waiting for about three hours for the download to finish. I really hope they release a dvd. I'm happy to pay twice the price for a physical copy.
USB drive?
4 GB is nothing. It's the size of a small game nowadays. Steam handles big game launches with file sizes of 9GB+ just fine, and I routinely get dl speeds of 1+Mbps, all without torrenting. (Gabe Newell of Valve was asked about torrents once, and he said that they decided it wasn't necessary.)
It will be the same with Apple. They didn't build that data center for nothing.
It's not available everywhere. I was dependent on my parents for all my purchase until last year, when I got 18. My credit union doesn't have that kind of card.
Quoted for TRUTH.
Also you don't need to burn to ISO because from what I understand, there is going to be a recovery partition which is created once you have downloaded Lion.
They have also said in the keynote that you only need to download it once.
Quoted for TRUTH.
Also you don't need to burn to ISO because from what I understand, there is going to be a recovery partition which is created once you have downloaded Lion.
They have also said in the keynote that you only need to download it once.
Is it going to be installed via Wi-Fi? The transfer speed is so slow, it's going to be insanely long unless you have 802.11n (I don't) or use an ethernet cable.
Assuming you have a router which you wirelessly connect to, which is connected to your ISP, it would be retrieved through there and then wifi/ethernet to your computer, depending on how you're connected.
A fast connection to your ISP would help though.
A fast connection to your ISP would help though.
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
I agree that it doesn't make sense.
The Mac App Store is for apps, not operating systems. If anything, it should be through Software Update, which is more the right place, although I realize it doesn't have a mechanism to accept credit cards.
I was planning on replacing my MBP's hard drive this summer and was going to buy the Lion Box Set to get the newest iLife (and was hoping there would be a new iWork, as well) to install on the new drive. Fresh and clean.
Now, unless Apple gives users a way to burn a disc of the download (which is a bit funky even if they did let you do that, a bit "Windows" like), I suppose I would have to install Snow Leopard on the brand new hard drive, update Snow Leopard to get the Mac App Store, and then buy Lion. Roar! That makes me angry. Plus I wouldn't get to install iLife and iWork at the same time.
I think for a lot of people not having a disc doesn't make sense, but I think for people upgrading hard drives, it particularly does not make sense and is a step backward. If they don't offer an alternative, I think I'll even have to buy a copy of Snow Leopard as they last time I looked, I couldn't find any copies around the house.
Not only that, the Mac App Store is NOT ready for the onslaught of downloads. If you need evidence of the lack of customer support from the Mac App Store, I can post long threads of e-mails I have had with them over account bugs I have experienced. The Mac App Store customer support is horrible. The only support is by e-mail, and the problem is that they simply don't read the e-mails! They send me canned responses that have nothing to do with the issue I wrote in about. I have stopped buying from the Mac App Store because I have had so much trouble updating apps I have bought (it really is buggy for me), and I also don't like that I can't download demos. I have found it a far better experience to download directly from developers who offer demos in some cases and much more reliable updating.
The Mac App Store is for apps, not operating systems. If anything, it should be through Software Update, which is more the right place, although I realize it doesn't have a mechanism to accept credit cards.
I was planning on replacing my MBP's hard drive this summer and was going to buy the Lion Box Set to get the newest iLife (and was hoping there would be a new iWork, as well) to install on the new drive. Fresh and clean.
Now, unless Apple gives users a way to burn a disc of the download (which is a bit funky even if they did let you do that, a bit "Windows" like), I suppose I would have to install Snow Leopard on the brand new hard drive, update Snow Leopard to get the Mac App Store, and then buy Lion. Roar! That makes me angry. Plus I wouldn't get to install iLife and iWork at the same time.
I think for a lot of people not having a disc doesn't make sense, but I think for people upgrading hard drives, it particularly does not make sense and is a step backward. If they don't offer an alternative, I think I'll even have to buy a copy of Snow Leopard as they last time I looked, I couldn't find any copies around the house.
Not only that, the Mac App Store is NOT ready for the onslaught of downloads. If you need evidence of the lack of customer support from the Mac App Store, I can post long threads of e-mails I have had with them over account bugs I have experienced. The Mac App Store customer support is horrible. The only support is by e-mail, and the problem is that they simply don't read the e-mails! They send me canned responses that have nothing to do with the issue I wrote in about. I have stopped buying from the Mac App Store because I have had so much trouble updating apps I have bought (it really is buggy for me), and I also don't like that I can't download demos. I have found it a far better experience to download directly from developers who offer demos in some cases and much more reliable updating.
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
Quoted for TRUTH.
Also you don't need to burn to ISO because from what I understand, there is going to be a recovery partition which is created once you have downloaded Lion.
They have also said in the keynote that you only need to download it once.
But if you can't burn to ISO, how do you install on a new drive?
Spectacular demonstration of ignorance coming from people with super-fast unlimited connections here... Guess what : in the world outside there are places where the internet is super-shi**y and totally limited.
If apple is gonna make Lion only available on app store, at least make all country able to use the app store.
I live in Iceland and there's not even Iceland on the app store. So, how are we gonna be able to install Lion? Currently i set my adress to US, don't even know if I'm able to put my credit card number on that account because its an Icelandic credit card..!
That's the reason why I'm not using the App Store.
I live in Iceland and there's not even Iceland on the app store. So, how are we gonna be able to install Lion? Currently i set my adress to US, don't even know if I'm able to put my credit card number on that account because its an Icelandic credit card..!
That's the reason why I'm not using the App Store.
Assuming you have a router which you wirelessly connect to, which is connected to your ISP, it would be retrieved through there and then wifi/ethernet to your computer, depending on how you're connected.
A fast connection to your ISP would help though.
You obviously didn't get what I meant
You said:
I wasn't talking about the download part. Rather, I was referring to the installation on multiple computers.
According to you, one doesn't need to burn the disk image nor to download multiple times. But how does one transfer the file from one computer to another in an efficient way, that everyone can do? AirDrop isn't on 10.6, 802.11g (the most common) is way too slow and using ethernet isn't the most practical way. There is the good old sneakernet, but it's not very typical of Apple.
I totally agree. This is one of the downsides on being part of the cult of the Mac. Jobs tells us how we should use our computers and we're just supposed to cheer every time he takes away our options.
You should not need all those steps...
Boot to SL DVD
Disk utility, format the drive
Restore from backup(Time Machine Disk)
Done.
Just did it with my wifes Macbook after installing a new HDD last week.
Her's was just an upgrade and had nothing wrong with the OS.
Even after all you described, its still easier than re-installing Windows.
I am here to disagree on your point. Why? Because manyof the apps on the App store are not the most current versions of software out there. Apple or third party vendors.