14 DAY TRIAL // Mac users still rocking OS X 10.5 Leopard are feeling left out in the cold by Apple whose upgrade policy for OS X 10.7 Lion says they have to go through version 10.6 of the operating system - Snow Leopard.
A thread titled “I want to move from 10.5.8 to Lion…” (and many others like it) over at Apple Support Communities reveals that users are confused about the Lion upgrade procedure.
“Do I have to buy 10.6 […] for my iMac THEN ALSO buy Lion when it comes out?”, Slimjimmery asks.
“Unfortunately, yes” is the answer.
Indeed, Apple appears to have been reluctant in offering everyone a chance to grab Lion and install the software without too many dependencies.
The necessity to have a compatible Mac configuration is easily justified - advanced software requires advanced hardware.
However, many end users will not appreciate Apple’s software requirement, namely to have the latest version of Snow Leopard with the Mac App Store installed.
Apple has confirmed that Lion is going to be distributed solely through the Mac App Store as a digital download available to those running the current-generation Mac OS.
Image Credits: Apple
Users are not only disappointed to hear that Lion will not be sold on media (DVD or USB thumb drive, like the ones shipping with MacBook Airs), but also that installing Lion will require an Internet connection, and a strong one at that.
Take this user’s opinion, for example.
Reader SamD stopped by Softpedia to read OS X 10.7 Lion System Requirements, How to Install, and came to the following conclusion:
“As I understand it, Lion will be a 4GB download, and will not be available on DVD at all.
Assuming I have a steady 5 Mbps download speed, that's over 2 hours to download. Most DSL users get 3 Mbps or less, so their times will be longer. Apple users who only have dial-up access to the Internet can forget about upgrading at all.
What about people living with download limits on their monthly usage? A 4GB download could use up several days worth of access for a whole family.
I assume that Apple is trying to stop people from buying OS/X to use on non-Apple hardware, but there will be adverse consequences for many legitimate Apple owner due to this policy. I hope Apple will reconsider.”
Apple could also be attempting to thwart piracy, but it has already been confirmed that you can burn OS X Lion on a disc and boot a Mac with it.
Another reader says: “Are the people from Apple so silly? I don't thing so. ‘To have Snow Leopard’ means that this is [an] upgrade. I'm wandering [sic] what happens when people like me want to make fresh install on empty hard drive? Don't thing [sic] they will make people create .ISO from the downloaded version and burn it on DVD.”
We hope so too, and there is a good chance Apple will end up providing Lion on USB stick with the purchase of every Mac starting this summer.
However, the fact that you have to upgrade Leopard to Snow Leopard in order to ultimately install Lion will not go overlooked by the technology blogosphere.
Apple, prepare to be bad mouthed not only by Windows fanboys, but by your own faithful fans too this time around.