Making the crossover to Mac

[iTane]

Hi Guys,

First post at these forums.

I've been a PC user for a number of years, and have had small experiences with Macs here and there but never owned one. I'm looking at selling my desktop PC and buying a laptop, and I figured out that a MacBook would be a sound investment.

Anyways, I understand that Apple are going to be updating the OS from Tiger to Leopard sometime soon. Is this going to happen in the next month or so? Or should I just buy the current version for sale with Tiger?

Does anybody else know if the upgraded OS will also come with any new physical features? Like upgraded RAM, Graphics etc?

The MacBook I'm currently looking at is the Black one at it's base spec (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HardDrive, Superdrive).

 

[ToddG]

The OS and the hardware are two separate things. It's certainly possible that Apple will have new MacBook specs between now and the release of Leopard. And six months after that. And so on. Hardware is always going to improve.

It's anyone's guess as to when Leopard will be released. The question is, do you want the MB now or are you willing to wait a few months? Both are valid options. I bought my MBP in November because I needed a new notebook right then; I am holding off on buying a Mac Pro until Leopard comes out because I don't really need it so much as I want it.

Other things to consider:

* The upgrade from Tiger to Leopard will most likely cost $99. So it's not a bank-breaking issue if you buy a Tiger-equipped Mac today and decide to upgrade in few months.

* You may not want to be the first person on your block to run Leopard; like anything else, the first release is the one most likely to need fixes and improvements in the short term.

 

[MacHeadCase]

Welcome to Mac-Forums, iTane!

Rumours are flying all over the place with a release date for Leopard and Apple is tight-lipped about it so right now it's anyone's guess. It was vaguely pointed out in last summer's WWDC that Leopard would be released at the end of 2007's first half which would make it a May or June release.

Take the time to visit an Apple Store (if you have one near your town) or a Mac reseller and try them out to get a feel of the OS. You will also find plenty of info for switchers in Mac-Forums so just make yourself comfy and browse through the different sub-forums. If some of your questions aren't answered in threads, don't be shy and post away.

We'll do our best to try to help! :girl:

 

[iTane]

Thanks very much for the warm welcome.

I realise that the hardware and software are seperate. I was just wondering if Apple would take the oppurtunity to improve the specs at the same time as upgrading the OS. I was one of the unfortunate people who bought a 4G iPod 3 weeks before they announced the 5G Video iPod... Gutted.

Upgrading the OS for $99 (around £50 to me) isn't much of a problem, but I'd be kicking myself if I bought one in it's current form to find that the "Leopard version" had more RAM or better graphics (if at all).

I'm only halfway there to the £1000 I need for it, so I guess it'll take another month or two before I'll be ready to buy.

Again, thanks very much for the friendly welcome. I'll have a trawl around the forums to find some answer to my questions.

iTane

 

[ToddG]

iTane -- I doubt Apple will release "Leopard versions" of their computers if for no other reason than it would discourage owners of older Macs from buying the OS upgrade. The smart strategy would be to demonstrate how well Leopard works on 2004-2006 Macs.

By the time you're ready to go, there's a fair chance there will be new MacBooks, a new OS, or both. When you've got the cash and you're ready to spend, whatever you get will make you happy.

 

[fragged3d]

I to am a switcher as they call it. I bought a new MB this week and I am regretting not doing it sooner! I love OS X and when I return to a windows machine it feels slow and buggy! You can wait for all the hardware changes in the world or you can buy and be happy. The part about Leopard, the salesman that sold me my MB said that Leopard would show at least a 20% efficiency from Tiger. Leopard is suppost to be 64 bit native and will take advantage of the Duo Core processors. This is my experience so far and I'm happy with my purchase. Hope this helps!

<R>

 

[iTane]

Thanks for your input mate.

Just to clarify, I'm not waiting for all the hardware changes in the world to come along. I've never really kept track of when and how Apple update their computers, so I was just wondering if there was a chance that when they update the OS to Leopard... will that come with hardware changes too?

Seems not to be the case from what I'm told. Better asking just incase though.

 

[technologist]

I've never noticed any sort of "tie-in" between OS upgrades and hardware upgrades. Hardware updates may happen at any time.

Unlike, say, XP-Vista, the Tiger-Leopard transition won't involve a huge increase in hardware requirements, so there's not as much of a need for this sort of thing, anyway.