Is it true that Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard with updates ?

I read on another forum that Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard with updates. If a person checks for updates it says the software it up to date when it is not.

I added memory to 4GB and upgraded to Snow Leopard. I have read here that a clean install prevents a lot of problems, but doing a clean install is beyond my skill level.

I have a back up external hard drive, but I have no idea how I would transfer the data back to my internal hard drive if I wipe it off for a clean install.
I have a back up external hard drive in case my system would crash and I could take it to the repair center to re-install my files .

IF Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard it appears I will need to upgrade again to Mountain Lion.

Where do I go from here ? Is a clean install critical or can I just download Mountain Lion from the App store? Do repair centers do clean installs of OSX?

I am just a tad frustrated with Apple right now. When I bought my computer in 2007 I specifically asked the manager how far back Apple supports their operating systems. At that time I was told they only stopped support the very first ones they released. Now it appears they are only supporting one previous OSX
Thanks
Barbara

Barbara,

All the updates for Snow Leopard should be available on support.apple.com/downloads. Go to Mac OS and Software and you will begin to find them as you go back in time. The last one before Lion was probably this Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update v.1.1, however you might want to find a 'combo' updater to make sure you are bang up to date. I'll see if I can find it and post a link.

Provided your specs are up to date, your next option would be to upgrade to Lion or indeed ML as you suggest though whether you can jump that far with an incremental upgrade I'm not sure.

In the meantime can you post your current version of Mac OS please, you will find this by clicking the Apple icon on the menu bar and choosing 'About this Mac'?

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I lost my log in twice and the site is loading very slow for me tonight.

I have an iMac with 4Gb of memory running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. I got all the updates after I installed Snow Leopard. I have 224.13 available free space on my hard drive and 2.73 GB of free memory

What I read was going forward Apple will no longer support Snow Leopard with future updates
Here is the article I read .
Mac OS X - The Mac Security Blog

Thanks
Barbara

I just fired up Snow Leopard and some updates were there for it. That is all I know.

Hi Dennis,

I just wrote a lengthy reply and it just got lost...I'm having some weird things happen with Safari on the forum (subject of another post).

In brief there have been several security updates and a software related update posted on Apple Downloads this year alone for SL so it's still supported.
Barbara's specs look good provided the iMac is mid 2007 so I was suggesting that she go the App store route after doing the usual back ups and Repair Disk permissions etc etc

You have badly misread the article, and I can easily disprove this contention:

Apple issues new Lion, Snow Leopard Java updates | MacNN

That's from 20 days ago.

What the article ACTUALLY says is that Apple is no longer issuing updates of any kind -- even security updates -- for PowerPC machines. That is true, but the last PowerPC machine rolled off the line over six years ago and never ran Snow Leopard (which is Intel-only).

The article makes it VERY clear that they are speculating regarding Snow Leopard with the use of terms such as "likely" and "presumably." You just needed to read the article a bit more closely, though they are guilty of jumping to conclusions as well.

I have no idea how much longer Snow Leopard will receive updates, but it hasn't been dropped yet -- in fact, in checking this as I wrote this post, I discovered that Apple released a Security Update for Snow Leopard all of SIX DAYS ago. Security Update 2012-004 (Snow Leopard)

I read on another forum that Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard with updates. If a person checks for updates it says the software it up to date when it is not.

Click to expand...

So, as we've already established, this simply isn't true.

IF Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard it appears I will need to upgrade again to Mountain Lion.

Click to expand...

If your machine is eligible for the upgrade, this would be a very good idea. There is no need to do a clean install, and it costs $20.

I am just a tad frustrated with Apple right now. When I bought my computer in 2007 I specifically asked the manager how far back Apple supports their operating systems. At that time I was told they only stopped support the very first ones they released.

Click to expand...

Either you misinterpreted what he said, or he was lying. Apple first released an operating system for the Mac in 1984. They first released OS X in 2001. Neither of those are supported any more of course.

What he MEANT to communicate is that Apple tends to support older versions of OS X for several years after release, and perhaps he meant (at the time) to say the first generation of Intel machines (which as true at the time). While Apple TENDS to drop full support after about 3-4 years (or two paid OS revisions, whichever comes first), security and other app updates do tend to continue for some time afterwards. Snow Leopard was released in 2009 (just over three years ago, in fact) so it is now on "security and compatibility updates only."

As for your hardware, you can reasonably expect any Mac you buy new at any point in time to be compatible with the latest OS for a period of about four years, sometimes longer. My 2007 BlackBook came with Leopard in 2007 when I bought it, but was compatible until Mountain Lion. I could be running Lion on it (in fact, I am) and it's still getting updates of all sorts so I would say it is still fully supported and I expect that to remain true for another year or so.

Thank you chas_m . This is the reason I asked if this article was true. Just because something is on the Net doesn't make it fact

When I called Apple to ask how much memory my computer would allow I was told it is a Mid 2007 iMac . I gave the rep my serial number. The man said it would take up to 4GB of memory ( which I bought and installed) and it will support Mountain Lion.

So it looks like I am in for another few hours of downloading. I got the free upgrade to Mountain Lion from Apple for my Son & daughter- law's new iMac and it took hours to download and install it. I had one call to Apple Care during the procedure and it seems the servers are over loaded with all the people downloading Mountain Lion

Since I got Snow Leopard my mail has frozen up on several ocassions. It is so frozen it won't even force quit. Hopefully Mountian Lion will correct that.

It is not the $20 it is just that I won't use all the bells and whistles on Mountain Lion. I have a desk top wired iMac and I don't have a cell phone nor any other gadgets that need to sync with my computer.

Thanks again.
Barbara

Is your iMac the Aluminum one from mid to late 2007? If so and if you buy RAM from OWC, you can put in 6GB into that Machine. I should know as I own that same iMac. 4GB runs ML ok but 6 could not hurt!

Barbara Jay said:

T I got the free upgrade to Mountain Lion from Apple for my Son & daughter- law's new iMac and it took hours to download and install it.

Click to expand...

Free? I'm pretty sure that it hasn't been free to go from Lion to Mountain Lion. Perhaps it's a terminology thing. Upgrades are almost always for sale. Updates are free.

OOPS I misspoke.
My Son & Daughter-in-law bought a new iMac the first part of September. It had Lion on it and they were given a code for a free upgrade to Mountain Lion.
It was not an update but an upgrade --Sorry

The misunderstanding is all on me. I get it now. They bought a new Mac with the "old" OS on it, so Apple gives away the upgrade rather than changing the OS on their inventory prior to selling those Macs.

Barbara Jay said:

I read on another forum that Apple no longer supports Snow Leopard with updates. If a person checks for updates it says the software it up to date when it is not.

Click to expand...

I just updated a machine running Snow Leopard with updates Monday night.