14 DAY TRIAL // Apple says upgrading to the next Mac OS won’t require you to “visit a store, bring home a box, and install a bunch of discs.” The new way to upgrade your Mac OS is to click the Mac App Store icon on your Mac, buy Mountain Lion when it’s released, “and your Mac does the rest.”
To begin your upgrade, you first need to ensure that your Mac can handle the workload.
That is to say “your Mac must be one of the following models: iMac (Mid 2007 or newer); MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer); MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer); MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer); Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer); Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer); Xserve (Early 2009).”
Moving on to the software requirements, you will need to ensure that you’re running either OS X Lion or the older Snow Leopard - the latest version, mind you.
“While you have the About This Mac window open, check what version of OS X your Mac is running,” says Apple. “If you are running Lion (10.7.x), you’re ready to update to Mountain Lion,” according to the company.
“If you are running Snow Leopard (10.6.x), update to the latest version of OS X Snow Leopard before you purchase OS X Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store. Click the Apple icon and choose Software Update to install Snow Leopard v10.6.8, the latest version,” the Mac maker adds.
The final (and obvious) step is to download the new OS X from the Mac App Store. Mountain Lion will be released next month, as per Apple's press releases following the WWDC 2012 keynote address.
Users simply open the Mac App Store from their Dock, search for and download Mountain Lion, and then follow the onscreen instructions to install it.
Users are presented with the easiest wizard ever where they simply click the "next" arrow a few times and let the hardware do the rest.
For those who don’t have a broadband Internet connection at home, the Apple Retail Store offers help with downloading, according to the tech giant headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.