Upgrading?

[' r i S e n]

Sorry if this has been asked, but I have never owned a Mac through a new operating system release.

How will I move from Snow Leopard to Lion when it comes out? I am assuming obviously a payment - how much would that be (approx, of course)? Would I be paying for an update or the OS itself (disc) - or does it depend on what I want it as?

Thank you.

 

[flopticalcube]

Going by previous releases, pricing can be anywhere from $30 to $130. There is only one version and it can do both an upgrade and a clean install. Much speculation that a download version will be available. This may be either or both upgrade or full.

 

[maflynn]

You question is a bit premature and all we can say is what what apple has done in the past.

Pricing prior to 10.6, new versions of OSX were generally priced around 125, upgrades were priced around 25 if memory serves me. As flopticalcube posted the upgrade and full version were the same. I think you had to order the upgrade online and it wasn't available for long (I could be wrong on this, its been a while).

My main point is that asking this question is a bit pointless since we really don't know what apple will do and waiting for them to release that information is probably the best advise.

 

[roadbloc]

If it's priced over £100, I'm becoming a developer.

 

[maflynn]

If it's priced over £100, I'm becoming a developer.

I'm guessing it will be in the 125 range. I wonder if they'll take a page out of Snow Leopard's book and offer it for much less. I mean they could not justify a $125 price when there was so little features [for the consumer].

Given that 10.7 doesn't offer much either, with the exception of some ipad like features will apple offer 10.7 for less then $125?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'm guessing it will be in the 125 range. I wonder if they'll take a page out of Snow Leopard's book and offer it for much less. I mean they could not justify a $125 price when there was so little features [for the consumer].

Given that 10.7 doesn't offer much either, with the exception of some ipad like features will apple offer 10.7 for less then $125?

I don't think so. There's too much in the way of user-facing changes for Apple to knock the price of Lion down TOO much. However... Apple may offer an incentive to get it via the Mac App Store, assuming they offer it that way, by lowering the price a bit (say, $99 rather than $129).

 

[' r i S e n]

You question is a bit premature and all we can say is what what apple has done in the past.

Pricing prior to 10.6, new versions of OSX were generally priced around 125, upgrades were priced around 25 if memory serves me. As flopticalcube posted the upgrade and full version were the same. I think you had to order the upgrade online and it wasn't available for long (I could be wrong on this, its been a while).

My main point is that asking this question is a bit pointless since we really don't know what apple will do and waiting for them to release that information is probably the best advise.

Well, that's exactly what I am looking for. Of course I am not looking for an exact answer as that doesn't exist - I was looking for an approximate answer based off of the word of users that have owned a Mac through the update of an OS, and in what form or fashion that it may come about.

 

[petvas]

Does anyone know if beta testers are getting a complimentary copy? How was it with previous beta programs? I am not talking about the dev program, but about Appleseed.

 

[' r i S e n]

I thought I would bump this, as I have another question.

Is it crucial that I upgrade to Lion, or is it only if I want to take advantage of it's new features? In other words, am I able to just stick with Snow Leopard and still receive software updates that don't actually pertain to the OS itself (assuming they stop supporting it with updates, of course)?

Would there be any major disadvantages to still be running Snow Leopard when Lion hits other than the specific differences - such as things like compatibility, etc in general?

 

[Mal]

Typically, the only reason to upgrade other than to take advantage of the new features is if an app that you want to run requires the updated OS. So until you need Lion to run an app you want to use, there's nothing keeping you from continuing to use Snow Leopard. It will continue to receive crucial updates and patches, though not likely anything too significant. In the past, Apple has typically even distributed Safari updates, such as Safari 4 being available for Tiger though it was designed with and for Leopard primarily. I suspect Safari 5 will be available for Snow Leopard, though there's of course no guarantee.

jW

 

[ErikGrim]

Going to take a wild guess here at $79.99. The same price point as Aperture (which still sells boxed for $199) on the App Store.

 

[' r i S e n]

Typically, the only reason to upgrade other than to take advantage of the new features is if an app that you want to run requires the updated OS. So until you need Lion to run an app you want to use, there's nothing keeping you from continuing to use Snow Leopard. It will continue to receive crucial updates and patches, though not likely anything too significant. In the past, Apple has typically even distributed Safari updates, such as Safari 4 being available for Tiger though it was designed with and for Leopard primarily. I suspect Safari 5 will be available for Snow Leopard, though there's of course no guarantee.

jW

Nice, so if all of my current Apps work with Snow Leopard then I am good? Is it possible though for something like Photoshop to receive a mandatory update that makes it "require" Lion? I know that may sound kind of stupid as I can't really see an application losing compatibility with a previous OS if it ran on it before, but I just want to make sure. I like Snow Leopard a lot how it is and would prefer to just keep running it.

You're saying it is also possible for them to keep pumping out updates for Snow Leopard even when Lion hits? (not that you are implying that it is likely, just possible)

Thanks for the helpful reply.

 

[Mal]

Something like Photoshop CS6 might conceivably require Lion, but if you have CS5 or earlier, it will continue to work as it is. There are no required updates, only ones that enable things that might overcome your reluctance to update your OS.

Basically, if it's working now, it'll continue to work for those same tasks unless you choose to change something about your setup.

jW

 

[' r i S e n]

Something like Photoshop CS6 might conceivably require Lion, but if you have CS5 or earlier, it will continue to work as it is. There are no required updates, only ones that enable things that might overcome your reluctance to update your OS.

Basically, if it's working now, it'll continue to work for those same tasks unless you choose to change something about your setup.

jW

Sounds good man thank you very much for your posts.