Mac os x lion

Hi,
I was going to buy a 21.5" iMac tomorrow, but just browsing the apple website and mac forums and have only just realised that OS X Lion is coming this summer!

As it's literally just a few months away, is it advised I wait for Lion? If I don't wait, is it easy to upgrade the os? (this is my first mac). Is going from snow leopard to tiger, just like vista to 7? is it completely different of just minor tweaks?

Many thanks

IMO dont wait until Lion comes out bc honestly no one has any idea of exactly it will come out, but yes it indicates that it will be this summer.
Once it comes out  has made it a easy process to install a OS so to answer that, YES it is easy install.

So all in all dont wait bc if you need the iMac now get it now.. If you can wait until Maybe it comes out soon you could be waiting a while

Im sure its a TYPO but going from SL to Tiger (Lion you mean) will be completely different. Go to apple site and have a look at there preview of lion . . . . . It goes down the iOS interface way.

Mac OS Lion Preview
Mac OSX SnowLeopard Preview

Cheers

Lion (OS X 10.7) will be a major upgrade from Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6). See:
Apple - Mac OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview Sports Host of New Features
iOS on the Desktop: Hands-On With the OS X 10.7 Lion Preview — NewsGrange

If things are as they have been for past major upgrades, it will be dead easy to move from Snow Leopard to Lion. However, it is also likely to cost about $130 for the upgrade disk.

Should you wait for Lion?...do you need a new Mac now? There is no telling precisely when Lion will be released.

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
___________________________________________

Sorry, yes I did mean lion - not tiger!
I'd love to get it tomorrow, but I know as soon as lion is available - I'll want it. What have os update prices been in the past? If it's under £100 I don't mind. But if it's £100+ that's going to taint it slightly as forking out £1,300 for an iMac is a lot (well for me it is).
On a side note, say for instance a year after lion is released, will it fall in price?

Sorry randy b. Singer... You managed to post before I replied!

Minimadj said:

On a side note, say for instance a year after lion is released, will it fall in price?

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Nope, at least it's never been that way for any OS update previously.

From TattooedMac's link:

We’re taking our best thinking from iPad and bringing it all to the Mac with Mac OS X Lion, available in winter 2011

Click to expand...

It's going to be a long wait, I would buy the mac now.

Larry H

I reviewed the preview of Lion. It looks like the controls system is based on swipe and trackpad. On my Mini, I use a mouse and keyboard. I have never been comfortable using the mouse trackpads on any laptop and use a regular mouse even on my laptops.

Will there be any real benefit to Lion if the swipe and trackpad functions are not used? Can Lion be controlled with a regular mouse?

Larry H

Larry H said:

From TattooedMac's link:


It's going to be a long wait, I would buy the mac now.

Larry H

Click to expand...

That is from the Aust Store. This is the SS from the US store, but if the Winter prediction is true we should see it in about 3 months time

If you are in need of a computer, it's faintly ridiculous to hold off somewhere between 5-9 MONTHS in order to POSSIBLY save $130 (ps. at current exchange rates, Lion would be priced around £80, add in Apple's usual penalty for not be a Merkin and it's likely to sell for £99).

Mac owners tend to fall into two camps: must upgrade on first day of release, and those who wait two to six months to "get the kinks out" of any new software release. I can't justify denying myself a Mac for half a year or more just to get Lion -- particularly when you KNOW there will be a "bug-fix" release a few weeks later.

Bottom line, as I've said here before: waiting for the "next big thing" which is "just around the corner" is generally* a fool's errand. You're going to have this machine for years -- just buy what you need when you need it and don't worry about it. By the time you're ready to replace the Mac, there will be a MUCH better "next big thing" already out several times over. IOW, *having* a Mac (particularly if you use it to do anything productive or profitable) is being ahead of the game over *waiting* for a Mac. IMO.

* the exception to this rule is if Apple has made it clear (ie, not a rumour, but an actual announcement) that a significant upgrade of a product is coming in the next week or two, as they did with the iPad 2.

TattooedMac said:

That is from the Aust Store. This is the SS from the US store, but if the Winter prediction is true we should see it in about 3 months time

Click to expand...

Um ... isn't Australia's winter in what we North Americans call the summer months? So we're talking about the same time frame.

But three months is probably QUITE unrealistic nevertheless -- for starters, Apple *never* releases a major new OS without giving the developers a head start, and the WWDC is in mid-June. I think, particularly looking at Apple's history, that there is VERY LITTLE chance of Lion coming out before late August, maybe even early September. That is why they are being cagey about the use of the term "summer" ("winter" in the southern hemisphere).

chas_m said:

Um ... isn't Australia's winter in what we North Americans call the summer months? So we're talking about the same time frame.

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Well i did call 3months until winter right. Where in the 3 months after that is anyones guess. I know about  releases, but as i said they say winter and too me winter is in less than 3 months and that is why i bought it up.

Can only hope

I'm going to guess Lion won't be out until very end of Aug at the earliest if it doesn't slip into a Fall release. Given that they just started beta testing, I can't imagine it coming earlier, but who really knows.

Minimadj said:

Sorry, yes I did mean lion - not tiger!
I'd love to get it tomorrow, but I know as soon as lion is available - I'll want it.

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I always recommend that users wait a few months after a new major upgrade to OS X is released before purchasing it and installing it. That allows other users time to find all the bugs, and Apple time to release an update or two to squash those bugs.

For instance, there was a major bug in both OS X 10.4.0 and OS X 10.5.0 that caused some users to lose data on their Firewire hard drives.

Waiting a few months also gives folks time to write articles detailing what applications need to be updated for the new OS, and it gives developers time to come out with updates to their applications for the new OS. This helps you to avoid being without mission critical applications without an update available.

With Snow Leopard, it was a while after it was released before there were updated drivers for many printers and scanners available. (Despite the fact that many new drivers came with the OS.)

Minimadj said:

On a side note, say for instance a year after lion is released, will it fall in price?

Click to expand...

Apple products are just about never discounted while they are still current and being sold as new. You might be able to qualify for an educational discount if you are a student, though.

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
___________________________________________

Well funny enough, when I saw OS X Lion on Apple's website, I also noted the new MacBook Pro. I read about it all and one of the main interests I took was in 'Tunderbolt'.
So I clicked the 'Learn more about thunderbolt' to find out more. When I had this interesting discovery...
Perhaps new iMac hardware?
Apple - Thunderbolt: Next-generation high-speed I/O technology.
Its just that the top picture of the iMac looks a little different to the current outgoing iMac - so thought perhaps Apple are bringing out an all-new iMac.

I've been reading the previews of OS X Lion and I really think the next iMac is going to have a touchscreen - so if its in the pipeline, as I've waited this long, I may as well wait a little longer if new hardware is a few months away. I'm in no dyer need for an iMac. I've already got a windows desktop and windows laptop - would just like an iMac.
So. do you think a new iMac is on the way - and is this it?

Minimadj said:

I've been reading the previews of OS X Lion and I really think the next iMac is going to have a touchscreen ...

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What makes you think this...just curious.

- Nick

Minimadj said:

So. do you think a new iMac is on the way - and is this it?

Click to expand...

A new iMac is *always* on its way...eventually.

The next one can be expected anytime, based on past release dates/cycles for the iMac. See:
Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

Do I expect that the next iMac will have a touchscreen? No, I don't. Apple uses a Magic Mouse
Apple - Magic Mouse - The world
that responds to gestures, but I think that Apple thinks that desktop computers otherwise work best with mice.

Well I was watching youtube reviews and previews of os x lion - but just re watching it says that touch screen macs aren't coming
But just that it has a slider so opposed to clickable buttons to switch between views.

The app store with screens and the ability to possibly slide between screens of apps.

I got the impression that it might be on the cards, but who knows - now you've pointed out about the magic mouse + gestures, I see that you're probably right and that there wont be a touch screen. Ah well, was just throwing it out there!

Minimadj said:

Its just that the top picture of the iMac looks a little different to the current outgoing iMac - so thought perhaps Apple are bringing out an all-new iMac.

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Actually, that is a picture of the current shipping iMac. But yes, at some point Apple is going to add Thunderbolt to the iMac, sooner rather than later I would guess.

Apple does not update Macs on a set timetable the way they do, say, iPhones, but I have noticed that late spring TENDS to be when updates happen.

That said, the "next" iMac will likely have VERY LITTLE different from the current model apart from Thunderbolt. Just a refresh rather than a major update would be my guess (though I could of course be wrong).

I've been reading the previews of OS X Lion and I really think the next iMac is going to have a touchscreen

Click to expand...

Steve Jobs personally went a great deal out of his way to demonstrate how foolish an idea this would be, so no I don't think we'll be seeing that happen in the foreseeable future. Besides, they already solved this "problem" with the Magic Trackpad.

I'm in no dyer need for an iMac.

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FYI: it's "dire." I'm not normally a spelling police type, but just for your future reference I thought you'd like to know.

So. do you think a new iMac is on the way - and is this it?

Click to expand...

As someone else said, a new iMac is ALWAYS on the way. Apple is already working on the successor iMac to the one that hasn't even been released yet RIGHT NOW.

If you're very keen on Thunderbolt, then it's probably worth it to hang on till early June and see if my prediction comes true. Otherwise, I'd get one now -- they retain their value very well so there's not much risk in buying now and upgrading (if warranted) later.

The best features coming in lion, for me at least are a) resolution independance, and b) trim support. Once we have these features ill also be adding a MBP to my arsenal and ditching the Windows laptop.