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A new Mac in my future?

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Well, of course, at some point...

:Smirk: Tongue firmly in cheek:
Do ya think Leopard is becoming obsolete?

Today for the first time, I was unable to do something I tried because of the OS, on a web page, of course. It wanted me to upgrade flash, so, ok, I was ok with that. However, the process was over before it could begin. The OS X selection was for 10.6 or higher.

Now, I've been pondering the purchase for at least a year now. Give me another year, at least. ;D
 

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If I'm reading things correctly...it sounds like the issue is with the OS (10.5 Leopard) not the computer (Core 2 Duo Mac-Mini). So all that needs to be done is an OS upgrade...and not a new computer (as the thread title suggests).:)

And of course a Snow Leopard install disk only costs $19.99.:)

- Nick
 

bobtomay

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Agree with Nick. Personally, can't think of a "good" reason for anyone to still be running 10.5 on an Intel Mac.
 
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I agree with the two post above.. Although if your RAM is 4GB or less. I would consider a RAM and OS upgrade. Both are economical and easy.
 
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For security reasons if nothing else (and there is PLENTY else ... compatibility with the Mac App Store, supported updates, an iTunes version compatible with newer iOS devices and on and on and on, and yes current Flash and Java), you should upgrade to Snow Leopard if you are able. Cheapest and best upgrade you will ever do for that machine.
 
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If I'm reading things correctly...it sounds like the issue is with the OS (10.5 Leopard) not the computer (Core 2 Duo Mac-Mini). So all that needs to be done is an OS upgrade...and not a new computer (as the thread title suggests).:)

And of course a Snow Leopard install disk only costs $19.99.:)

- Nick

My research indicated that Mountain Lion will not run on this Mac.

Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MM21.009A.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.19f2

I don't recall what it was, maybe the graphics card? Something arcane. Needs more RAM, which I bought and then returned because I didn't see the point in just upgrading to Snow Leopard, or Lion and losing Spaces. Plus, up until yesterday, it never refused to do anything I asked of it.

For security reasons if nothing else (and there is PLENTY else ... compatibility with the Mac App Store, supported updates, an iTunes version compatible with newer iOS devices and on and on and on, and yes current Flash and Java), you should upgrade to Snow Leopard if you are able. Cheapest and best upgrade you will ever do for that machine.
Don't care about any apps on the App Store other than a free OS upgrade. Don't have any iOS devices, and have no plans to ever buy one. But the on and on part gives pause. ;)
I am able to upgrade to SL, but not so inclined.

The next wall I will hit is the tiny size of the hard drive. Well, I've hit it already.
Hitachi HTS541680J9SA00:
Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: Hitachi HTS541680J9SA00
Revision: SB2AC7MP
For now, I'm going to a 64 MB flash drive to move some music and photos. I only have the music in order to burn recordings from vinyl onto CDs or copy to an MP3 player. I don't know why I'm keeping the photos. They're kind of a back up to the negatives, 'cause if they're worth keeping, they get printed, with the exception of some old legacy photos.

The newest Mini has a 1TB hard drive. That's what has me salivating, not the new OS.
 

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My research indicated that Mountain Lion will not run on this Mac.

You are correct...Mountain Lion (10.8) is officially not supposed to be able to run on this computer (unless there's some sort of work-around). 10.7.5 (Lion) is the max. OS.

But...your specs say the Mini has 1gig of ram. So to run Lion (10.7) it's supposed to need at least 2gig of ram. Max. installed ram can be 4gig...but as with many Apple computers of this vintage (MacBooks and MacBook Pro's)...only around 3.25gig is addressable.

...I didn't see the point in just upgrading to Snow Leopard, or Lion and losing Spaces. Plus, up until yesterday, it never refused to do anything I asked of it.

The initial post only mentioned issues with 10.5...so logically...an OS upgrade to at least 10.6 would make sense (just $19.99). There was no mention of the "OS upgrade goal" being all the way up to OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion).

If you've been using OS 10.5 up to this point...what's the rush to get all the way up to OS 10.8 (no "must have" need was mentioned above)? It will only cost $19.99 to get to OS 10.6...and another $19.99 to get to 10.7 (10.7.5). So a total of about $40 bucks. A new computer (if a new Mac-Mini) will cost at least $599.

But if your goal is to upgrade to at least OS 10.8...then it would seem that a new computer may be necessary.:)

The next wall I will hit is the tiny size of the hard drive. Well, I've hit it already.

The newest Mini has a 1TB hard drive. That's what has me salivating, not the new OS.

You definitely don't need a new computer for this. You can certainly install a new 1 terabyte hard drive into your current Mac-Mini.:)

- Nick
 
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Ok guys, given all of the helpful info above, I might consider an upgrade to SL. But, when I did a search on Apple's site for SL, "snow leopard software purchase" came up, so I picked that. All the "hits" were Mavericks (top choice) and Lion. Why do they make it difficult? I'll have to dig deeper when I have more time.

And 1GB of RAM will be enough for SL, won't it?
 

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Not really that hard - if wanting to purchase something...

When you go to Apple's site - click the "Store" link first - then search for Snow Leopard - you will get results from the "store" where it will show up as the top hit.

If searching from the main Apple page - you're going to get a ton of hits for SL - typically the newest &/or highest ranked pages first.
 
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You are correct...Mountain Lion (10.8) is officially not supposed to be able to run on this computer (unless there's some sort of work-around). 10.7.5 (Lion) is the max. OS.

But...your specs say the Mini has 1gig of ram. So to run Lion (10.7) it's supposed to need at least 2gig of ram. Max. installed ram can be 4gig...but as with many Apple computers of this vintage (MacBooks and MacBook Pro's)...only around 3.25gig is addressable.
..............
- Nick

O' Wow.. Didn't realize that system was that old. Would have thought it would at least had 2-4GB of ram upgradable to 8 or so and able to run Mavericks.. /hmm I really hate that..

Guess its time to upgrade to a newer model. Newer models sadly already being a year old..
 

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Ok guys, given all of the helpful info above, I might consider an upgrade to SL. But, when I did a search on Apple's site for SL, "snow leopard software purchase" came up, so I picked that. All the "hits" were Mavericks (top choice) and Lion. Why do they make it difficult? I'll have to dig deeper when I have more time.

It's really pretty easy (enter "Snow Leopard" into the Apple Online Store's search field):)...but regardless...here's the link to purchase Snow Leopard:

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.)

And 1GB of RAM will be enough for SL, won't it?

Yes...Snow Leopard requires 1gig of ram (more would be better).:) But give it a try with 1gig, and see how things go.

I wanted to mention one other thing. You indicated that your hard drive is getting full. One nice little bonus with upgrading to Snow Leopard (10.6) from Leopard (10.5)...is you get back some hard drive space. The 10.5 install takes up around 20gig...the Snow Leopard install takes up about 10gig. So you get about 10gig back.

This may not be a whole lot...but on a 75gig hard drive...10gig back is a pretty good chunk!:)

- Nick
 

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O' Wow.. Didn't realize that system was that old. Would have thought it would at least had 2-4GB of ram upgradable to 8 or so and able to run Mavericks.. /hmm I really hate that..

Guess its time to upgrade to a newer model. Newer models sadly already being a year old..

Yes...this is a fairly old Intel Mac-Mini (from 2007). Technically...the Official Apple max. ram for this Mac-Mini is 2gig. But like many of the Intel based Mac's...it was found to actually be capable of more. Like I mentioned above...4gig of ram can be installed. But because of the architecture/EFI of this model...only 3.25gig of the 4gig is addressable. It's like this with other MacBooks & MacBook Pro's of similar 2007 Vintage.

The first Mac-Mini capable of 8gig of ram...was the "Early 2009" Mac-Mini (basically the model that came after the model mentioned in this thread).

- Nick
 
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Not really that hard - if wanting to purchase something...

When you go to Apple's site - click the "Store" link first - then search for Snow Leopard - you will get results from the "store" where it will show up as the top hit.

That was quick. My first search led to a dead end. Remember, with Leopard, I've had no reason to get familiar with Apple's web site. I probably didn't even notice the Store button yesterday.

I'll probably make the move on this next month. The link to how to set up Spaces was the clincher.

Since Leopard has been my only OS X version, I've haven't upgraded since going from OS 8 to OS 9. All I know about it comes from what I've read here and on other forums.

I'm assuming that if a newer version of Safari comes along for the ride, all my bookmarks will be protected. Likewise, a newer iCal would just pick up everything I've done and make it available without skipping a beat.

I purchased iWork '08 discs after my 30 day trial had been expired for, oh, about 5 years. From what I can remember reading, that version does not qualify me for a free upgrade.
 
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Y........But because of the architecture/EFI of this model...only 3.25gig of the 4gig is addressable. ......
- Nick

Always thought that was a windows issue, didn't realize it was on the hardware side. Up until last year I was using AMD and Linux..
 

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Always thought that was a windows issue, didn't realize it was on the hardware side. Up until last year I was using AMD and Linux..

You got it. Exactly the same thing you find with Windows computers of similar vintage. I guess Intel hardware is Intel hardware. I think that I was working with a Dell D620 laptop (or a Dell laptop model close to that)...and it fell into this category.

Officially this Apple computer is supposed to only be capable of 2gig of ram...so even 3.25gig (or there about) is better. But of course the full 4gig would have been awesome.:)

I have a couple "White" Intel iMacs that fall into the same category.

- Nick
 
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Since Leopard has been my only OS X version, I've haven't upgraded since going from OS 8 to OS 9. All I know about it comes from what I've read here and on other forums.

I'm assuming that if a newer version of Safari comes along for the ride, all my bookmarks will be protected. Likewise, a newer iCal would just pick up everything I've done and make it available without skipping a beat.

I purchased iWork '08 discs after my 30 day trial had been expired for, oh, about 5 years. From what I can remember reading, that version does not qualify me for a free upgrade.

Right?
 

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That's right, iWork 08 unfortunately does not qualify you for an update to either iWork 09 or the new Mavericks version. You couldn't run the new version even if you did get it for free, at least until you get rid of your ancient Leopard.... :p
 
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That's right, iWork 08 unfortunately does not qualify you for an update to either iWork 09 or the new Mavericks version. You couldn't run the new version even if you did get it for free, at least until you get rid of your ancient Leopard.... :p
But if I buy a new Mac with the latest OS (10.10?) I'll get the latest version of iWork too.

Thanks for the reply to part 2 of that post. For anyone else who wants to reassure someone who doesn't do this very often, if at all, here's part 1 again...

Since Leopard has been my only OS X version, I've haven't upgraded since going from OS 8 to OS 9. All I know about it comes from what I've read here and on other forums.

I'm assuming that if a newer version of Safari comes along for the ride, all my bookmarks will be protected. Likewise, a newer iCal would just pick up everything I've done and make it available without skipping a beat.
 

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But if I buy a new Mac with the latest OS (10.10?) I'll get the latest version of iWork too.

That's right, buying a new Mac regardless of which version of OS X it comes with gets you the new iWork apps. However, if you're used to the older Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, you'll need to get accustomed to the new versions. Apple did a re-write on all three. Lots of complaints especially about Pages: no scripting, some features have been removed, etc.
 

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