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General discussion

Can I upgrade os x 10.5.8 to 10.7?

Dec 11, 2011 11:34PM PST

I have discovered a program I would like to use needs 10.6 or 10.7 to run. I have no knowledge of the different versions and therefore don't know the advantages or disadvantages of upgrading my version.

Discussion is locked

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As long as your computer is capable
Dec 12, 2011 9:00AM PST

of running 10.6 or 10.7 then yes, you can upgrade it to either one.

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Sure about that?
Dec 12, 2011 9:29AM PST

Sure about that? A quick perusal of Apple's website shows 10.6 retailing for the same $30 now as it has since it was released. Maybe you were thinking of 10.5?

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(NT) Ooops, my bad. Thinking 10.5
Dec 12, 2011 9:37PM PST
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to mrmacfixit
Feb 27, 2012 9:10AM PST

What is this soft wear called?

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to mrmacfixit
Feb 27, 2012 9:11AM PST

What is this program called?

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The software is called Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6)
Feb 27, 2012 8:57PM PST
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up grade from 10.5.8 to 10.6
May 16, 2012 10:13PM PDT

Most will not be able to up grade because there unit will not work with the new 10.7 system from apple. The processor is not compatible with upgrades. They do not tell you up front only after you buy the up grade and it will not work do they tell you. Shame on Apple.

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To be fair
May 17, 2012 12:57AM PDT

To be fair, and I'll preface this quickly by stating that I think you do have a valid point, the system requirements for Lion are pretty widely available, so really is it Apple's fault that you didn't take 5-10 minutes to track this information down first? That being said, it would be fairly trivial for them to add a check of your system specs into the app store, that would pop up a message saying your system does not meet the requirements for Lion. Thus preventing a lot of erroneous purchases, like I suspect is driving your post. They could even roll this out across all apps in the app store, where the app store program simply parses the system requirements provided by the developers, checks that against the specs of your system, and then when your system doesn't make the cut, a message pops up saying as much.

It would be a fairly trivial feature to add, the hardest part would be getting existing apps without much in the way of system requirements to have system requirements added. There are various ways of contending with that situation as well. So one does have to kind of wonder why this feature seems conspicuously absent from every app store-like program. The only exception I can think of is the Mozilla extension library, which manages to automatically disable the downloading of extensions that would not work with your browser version. If Mozilla can do it, then surely Apple can as well.

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This sort of thing is already available in the
May 17, 2012 8:50AM PDT

iPod/iPad/iPhone App store.

If your version of iOS does not match the requirements, it will not download it.

Not sure it is on everything but certainly on the few things that I have tried to download for my original iPhone

P

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Like said
Dec 12, 2011 9:35AM PST

Like said, it MAY work, but it may also not work. Apple's upgrade system is really only designed to work with the previous version, so when you try and upgrade from two or more versions back, the results are unpredictable. Sometimes it works without a hitch, sometimes it just makes a mess of things.

Now, one minor detail, since you're running an OS version which leaves at least some degree of ambiguity. If you have a PowerPC based system (G4 or G5), then 10.6 or later will not run on your system. For 10.7 you need a system with at least a Core 2 Duo (a Core Duo won't cut it). You don't give any details on the system you're using, so if you go to the Apple icon in the menu bar, select About This Mac, and you don't see Core 2 Duo or Xeon next to where it says Processor, then 10.7 will not run on your system. A Core i3/i5/i7 would also work, but if you had a unit with one of those CPUs, it would already be running 10.6 or 10.7.

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It is a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Dec 12, 2011 9:48PM PST

and memory 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Version 10.5.8

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The safest route
Dec 12, 2011 10:20PM PST

The safest route would be to buy a retail copy of 10.6 and upgrade to that first. Then you want to download the 10.6.8 v1.1 combo update off Apple's site, and install that. After which you could use the app store to download 10.7 and install it. Or you could just stick with 10.6 if you want, since that was a supported OS version for AIR.

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(NT) Thanks Jimmy:)
Dec 12, 2011 11:53PM PST
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Snow Leopard Required
Dec 16, 2011 7:18PM PST

You Cannot Do A Direct Upgrade From Leopard ! Leopard Does Not Have The Mac App. Store. The Mac App Store Is The Only Place You Can Buy Lion. You Will First Have To Go To macsales dot com; & For $29.00 Buy Snow Leopard. After Snow Leopard Is Installed Get All The Updates The Final Update 10.6.8 Will Include The Mac App. Store. From There You Can Purchase The Lion Download For $29.00. That The Only Way It Will Work Wit No Problems. Hope That Helps.

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Not necessarily
Dec 16, 2011 10:27PM PST

Not necessarily. Someone could presumably go to another machine, one with the App Store on it, log in with their iTunes account info, buy, download, and BURN a copy of the Lion installer to a DVD, then take it back home and use that to install. All perfectly legal, if a bit unlikely and convoluted. Come to think of it, Apple should probably consider offering such a service in their retail stores for customers who don't have broadband. I'm calling dibs on the idea! Silly

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Just a question,
Dec 16, 2011 10:31PM PST

the App Store app is sitting in the Applications folder of Snow Leopard and above.
It is not integrated into the OS, it's just a stand alone app.

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AAAGGGGGGHHHHH!
Dec 18, 2011 11:45PM PST

oh dear, oh my...I love reading your comments to each other and seeing the logic and thinking going onHappy However, I am left a bit confused on what is available to me and what course of action is the best/simplest one for me to follow.

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(NT) Email my profile
Dec 19, 2011 8:52AM PST
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Apple does sell
Dec 19, 2011 12:26PM PST

Apple does sell some kind of USB bootstrap device for installing 10.7, but you still have to download it, so unless you have some kind of broadband, just forget it.

Given your situation, simply buying a copy of 10.6, which still comes on a DVD, might be your best bet. That'll probably last you until you're ready to buy a new unit which will come with 10.7 or 10.8 (if it's out by then) loaded from the factory and solve that little problem for you.

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(NT) Thanks and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year:)
Dec 20, 2011 4:52AM PST
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Interesting question
Dec 19, 2011 12:23PM PST

Interesting question, and I'd test that out if I had a reliable means of finding a unit running 10.5. Unless it's tied to some API that is only in 10.6, I don't see why it couldn't work. At least on the x86 side of things, I'm sure they never bothered making it a universal binary. If I had 10.5 install media, I'd try loading it into a VM to see what happened, but I don't.