Should I upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion?

nicolesmithweb · Nov 15, 2011

I purchased my first MacBook Pro two months ago, and I was disappointed to learn it came with Snow Leopard and thought I would immediately spend $30 to upgrade to Lion. After reading Lion's reviews online, though, I decided not to. Supposedly Lion is the Mac version of Windows Vista? And as a previous Windows user who upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, I can tell you, Windows Vista sucked! And I was disappointed yet again to hear that Lion sucked like Vista.

After reading more recent updates, it seems that some of the issues that first came with Lion have been fixed, but I don't know enough about these issues to make a decision.

I would like to upgrade to Lion not only to stay current and protect myself from any vulnerabilities Snow Leopard may have, and I would like to use iCloud, however, I don't want to regret my decision.

Can anyone provide me with their own experience and honest opinion? I would really appreciate it.

Also, I LOVE my Mac. Definitely worth the investment. My husband still has a Windows laptop, and it lags so much, even with it being brand new. The only lag I've experienced with my Mac was when I was doing photo editing on large file sizes, but I'm not a photo editor, so this brief moment of lagging didn't bother me.

pigoo3 · Nov 15, 2011

nicolesmithweb said:
Supposedly Lion is the Mac version of Windows Vista?

I'm not sure where you read/heard this...but I've never heard this analogy!

And if someone did write or say that...I would tell them flat out that they're WRONG!!!

If you want to upgrade to Lion go for it. But if everything is fine with Snow Leopard (if you still have concerns about Lion)...and you don't have any sort of "driving force" to upgrade to Lion...then just stay with Snow Leopard for the time being.

But there's really nothing to be concerned about with Lion. If you do decide to upgrade to Lion (and do the download)...DON'T forget to "burn" a Lion "boot disk" (or a bootable USB stick) BEFORE the Lion install!

HTH,

- Nick

BrianLachoreVPI · Nov 15, 2011

Vista definitely "sucked" as you put it. In fact, Vista was the straw that sent me to OS X. I can assure you that Lion is nothing like Vista - it's just an incremental change from Snow Leopard - the perspective on those changes will vary depending on who you ask.

Also - If you bought your MBP new just 2 months ago - I'm pretty sure you can get Lion at no charge.

pigoo3 · Nov 15, 2011

I'm thinking a poll is not really necessary. It's really not a popularity contest. Do it if you want...or don't do it if you don't want. It's a personal choice.

- Nick

dtravis7 · Nov 15, 2011

Lion is NOT the OSX Vista. Not in the least. Vista was a bloated OS that dragged on all but the latest hardware. Lion if anything is a bit faster than Snow Leopard and has a smaller footprint.

harryb2448 · Nov 15, 2011

Two months ago? If it was new contact Apple support explaining you did not receive Lion or a voucher for the free download from the App Store. All Macs sold after the release date back in July cam with Lion installed.

nicolesmithweb · Nov 15, 2011

I bought it from Best Buy, and it was refurbished (returned within someone else's 14 days return period). I also looked into the free upgrade, but I think I read somewhere that had to have been done within 30 days of purchase.

Also, I hope Photoshop CS5 works with the upgrade because I use it daily.

karlos2000 · Nov 15, 2011

Still wishing I stayed with Snow Leopard. Gestures are great, but on the whole Lion sucks.

BrianLachoreVPI · Nov 15, 2011

karlos2000 said:
Still wishing I stayed with Snow Leopard. Gestures are great, but on the whole Lion sucks.

Can you elaborate beyond "Lion sucks"? What exactly is bothering you?

bluethunder · Nov 15, 2011

I think entire operating system updates every 18 months is ridiculous. JMHO. I went from 10.3 to 10.6, and I only did that because I came to need something that wasn't supported anymore on 10.3. I will not be spending any money on Lion. My computer works fine the way it is.

dtravis7 · Nov 15, 2011

10.3 barely even works. Safari will not even go to many sites without error. You can use Firefox but only an old version which has it's own issues.

Andres87 · Nov 15, 2011

if you like speed stay with Snow Leopard

and before I get tons of comments yes I did a fresh install of Lion and I'm using a 2011 MPB

pigoo3 · Nov 15, 2011

bluethunder said:
I think entire operating system updates every 18 months is ridiculous. JMHO. I went from 10.3 to 10.6, and I only did that because I came to need something that wasn't supported anymore on 10.3. I will not be spending any money on Lion. My computer works fine the way it is.

You're way behind the times "big guy". If you think that you can go "cruising" thru "computer-land" running OS 10.3 for the next 5, 10, or 20 years...you're in for a BIG surprise!

By the way...OS 10.3 was released October, 2003...that's 8 years ago! How much time do you feel there should be between OS upgrades/releases?

The reason you had to update to OS 10.6 from 10.3 (because you needed something that was no longer supported in 10.3)...this is one of the main reasons why many people do an OS upgrade.

Many folks are still doing just fine running OS 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6...you don't have to upgrade to Lion if you don't want to. Many folks that do update to Lion...do it for the same reason you upgraded to 10.6...because they needed the compatibility that 10.7 brings for something that they do.

10.7 Lion is a great update...with some great features. Also...the upgrade price for Lion (10.7) is VERY reasonable. Traditionally Apple charged $99-$129 dollars for an OS upgrade...but with OS 10.6 & 10.7...each has ONLY cost $29. Compare that to the Windows OS upgrades (Windows 7) which cost $100-$200...or more!

Apple also makes the upgrade process very easy (one choice)...not like Windows which makes things VERY confusing with what seems to be a "bazillion" different OS packages!

- Nick

nicolesmithweb · Nov 15, 2011

The comments and poll are literally 50/50. $30 is definitely reasonable, but I would hate to lose compatibility with any of my applications, particularly Photoshop.

Also, say I did upgrade... Should I do a clean install or just do the upgrade? I read somewhere that always upgrading can cause the computer to run slower.

Decisions, decisions!

pigoo3 · Nov 15, 2011

nicolesmithweb said:
The comments and poll are literally 50/50.

Yeah...I was going to mention that earlier. Many times when you ask a "bimodal question" (2 choices)...and if there's not a clear or obvious choice between the two...you end up back where you started (making the decision on your own)...since many times you'll end up with close to a 50/50 split in a poll!

Like I mentioned earlier. If you have a "need" to upgrade to 10.7...then do it. If you don't currently have a need...than stick with 10.6 until you have a reason to upgrade.

- Nick

cwa107 · Nov 15, 2011

nicolesmithweb said:
The comments and poll are literally 50/50. $30 is definitely reasonable, but I would hate to lose compatibility with any of my applications, particularly Photoshop.

Also, say I did upgrade... Should I do a clean install or just do the upgrade? I read somewhere that always upgrading can cause the computer to run slower.

Decisions, decisions!

I would have a look at the features of Lion and see if any of them appeal to you. When it was first announced, I remember feeling pretty apathetic about it, but I ended up buying it on release day.

It's not awful like Vista was, but it certainly isn't worth the $30 IMO. There's a number of trivial new features and a few that are more than a bit counter-intuitive, but still very little that is of great benefit to the average user.

If you absolutely must have some of the iPad-like eye candy, go for it. But otherwise, I'd say save yourself the $30.

pigoo3 · Nov 15, 2011

cwa107 said:
It's not awful like Vista was, but it certainly isn't worth the $30 IMO.

Hey big guy...aren't you being a little hard on Lion??

I totally agree that Lion may not have much in the way of new features (my wife has Lion on her MacBook, and I have Snow Leopard on all of my Intel Mac's)...and when I use her computer I have to look kinda hard to see the differences (they're there, but pretty subtile in most cases). But still...$30 isn't too bad.

Here's kind of a "crazy" theory. Given the changes/improvements in Lion (or lack of)...maybe the release of Lion was Apples way of "testing" how the whole "downloadable" OS change would workout. And if there were any "bugs" with the process...they would iron things out before possibly a more "major" release such as OS 10.8 (with a higher price tag).

- Nick

cwa107 · Nov 15, 2011

pigoo3 said:
Hey big guy...aren't you being a little hard on Lion??

I don't think so. I realize that the last $30 upgrade wasn't a feature release, but it sure did improve performance and it introduced foundational improvements like Grand Central and OpenCL. To me, Lion is just a slew of experimental tweaks to the UI, most of which aren't a natural fit given the desktop metaphor that OS X uses.

It also takes away a good bit of functionality from some of the most useful aspects of OS X, like Expose and removes entire features like Rosetta and Front Row.

And I'm not even talking about the trivial stuff like stripping the color out of the UI, making it look drab and boring.

I totally agree that Lion may not have much in the way of new features (my wife has Lion on her MacBook, and I have Snow Leopard on all of my Intel Mac's)...and when I use her computer I have to look kinda hard to see the differences (they're there, but pretty subtile in most cases). But still...$30 isn't too bad.

It's not bad compared to the $129 I spent on Leopard... but then again, it really doesn't offer the kind of substantial and useful updates that Leopard did over Tiger.

Here's kind of a "crazy" theory. Given the changes/improvements in Lion (or lack of)...maybe the release of Lion was Apples way of "testing" how the whole "downloadable" OS change would workout. And if there were any "bugs" with the process...they would iron things out before possibly a more "major" release such as OS 10.8 (with a higher price tag).

- Nick

Nah. I think what you're seeing is Apple's way of stating its intentions for future Macs loud and clear. I wouldn't be surprised if Lion wasn't the final version of OS X until iOS is ready to replace it.

bluethunder · Nov 15, 2011

pigoo3 said:
You're way behind the times "big guy". If you think that you can go "cruising" thru "computer-land" running OS 10.3 for the next 5, 10, or 20 years...you're in for a BIG surprise!

By the way...OS 10.3 was released October, 2003...that's 8 years ago! How much time do you feel there should be between OS upgrades/releases?

The reason you had to update to OS 10.6 from 10.3 (because you needed something that was no longer supported in 10.3)...this is one of the main reasons why many people do an OS upgrade.

Many folks are still doing just fine running OS 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6...you don't have to upgrade to Lion if you don't want to. Many folks that do update to Lion...do it for the same reason you upgraded to 10.6...because they needed the compatibility that 10.7 brings for something that they do.

10.7 Lion is a great update...with some great features. Also...the upgrade price for Lion (10.7) is VERY reasonable. Traditionally Apple charged $99-$129 dollars for an OS upgrade...but with OS 10.6 & 10.7...each has ONLY cost $29. Compare that to the Windows OS upgrades (Windows 7) which cost $100-$200...or more!

Apple also makes the upgrade process very easy (one choice)...not like Windows which makes things VERY confusing with what seems to be a "bazillion" different OS packages!

- Nick

Did you or any of the other clowns ripping on me read my post closely enough to see where I'm using 10.6 and I no longer have 10.3? You put a lot of effort into replying, and for what.

dtravis7 · Nov 15, 2011

Careful with the name calling. It's not allowed here.

You came here and put down Apple for the newer versions of OSX. 10.3 is way old and not even useable for any serious user.

Should I upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion?

nicolesmithweb

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BrianLachoreVPI

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dtravis7

harryb2448

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Andres87

pigoo3

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nicolesmithweb

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cwa107

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