Operating system update

Hello,

I have had the same mac for 3 years. My current software version is Max X 10.6.8. It's been a while since the automatic system update has popped up on the screen but I wasn't concerned too much. Recently I wanted to download some apps from the app store such as evernote but the same "error" has come up it said that i need the OS X 10.7.4 version. When I try to manually search for the system update nothing comes up.

What am I doing wrong? I don't consider myself as a computer specialist.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Snow Leopard is 10.6 and the last update for that is 10.6.8. Lion is 10.7 (an entirely different version of OS X that is not a free upgrade) and it got up to 10.7.5 before Mountain Lion 10.8 (another paid upgrade) came out and it's up to 10.8.3 right now.

Updates within a particular OS are free, but jumping from 10.6 to 10.7 to 10.8 is not.

10.7 Lion is not available within the US Mac App Store only 10.8 Mountain Lion is for $19.99. If your Mac is within the past 3 years, then it likely can be upgraded to Mountain Lion.

Please tell us a bit more about your Mac and we can go from there..

Thank you for your reply Raz0rEdge.

I bought my Mac in April 2010 and it is as you've said a Snow Leopard. Does it have to have particular specs in order to be upgraded to Mountain Lion? And how can I check if it could be upgraded

Also, does this mean that most of the apps on the market now, are for 10.7.5 and over?

Maybe Evernote is a Version that NEEDS 10.7 for you to download it via MAS. (EDIT : It does say 10.6.6 in the description so) but uyou can DL it form the link below

Run Repair Permissions via Disk Utility and see if that help, or run Oynx to do the same.

Go to https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/27456/evernote and click the Download button and you will get Evernote for SnowLeopard.

Cheers

Please look at the Supported Models section at Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications. and your Mac is likely supported.

Now minmum RAM requirement for Mountain Lion is 2GB but if you have 4GB or more, you should be fine. Mountain Lion is available for purchase from the App Store and once downloaded will go through the installation to upgrade your machine..

A few things to keep in mind before you venture down this path. 1) ensure you have a good backup of all of your data right now before trying the upgrade, 2) Lion dropped support for all PowerPC applications and Mountain Lion and all future versions of OS X will hold that trend. So if you have any applications that are just PowerPC-based right now they will no longer work. So take a look at your current applications and make sure they are Intel-based or Universal applications..

From what I've seen most applications usually require 10.6.8 as the base requirement, but perhaps now that Lion and Mountain Lion have been out for a while, app developers are getting lazy and don't want to test on Snow Leopard and are pegging the minimum to Lion..

TattooedMac said:

Maybe Evernote is a Version that NEEDS 10.7 for you to download it via MAS. (EDIT : It does say 10.6.6 in the description so) but uyou can DL it form the link below

Run Repair Permissions via Disk Utility and see if that help, or run Oynx to do the same.

Go to https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/27456/evernote and click the Download button and you will get Evernote for SnowLeopard.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Thanks TattooedMac.
On the App store it says that applications such as Evernote require 10.7 or higher. [EDIT: it does say 10.6, my mistake, yet there were some other apps that I wanted which were requiring 10.7]

Thanks for the website link that you gave me. I've never heard of the website though, is it part of apple ? or independent ?

Raz0rEdge said:

Now minmum RAM requirement for Mountain Lion is 2GB but if you have 4GB or more, you should be fine.

2) Lion dropped support for all PowerPC applications and Mountain Lion and all future versions of OS X will hold that trend. So if you have any applications that are just PowerPC-based right now they will no longer work. So take a look at your current applications and make sure they are Intel-based or Universal applications..

From what I've seen most applications usually require 10.6.8 as the base requirement, but perhaps now that Lion and Mountain Lion have been out for a while, app developers are getting lazy and don't want to test on Snow Leopard and are pegging the minimum to Lion..

Click to expand...

I have 4gb ram so it should, as you say work. If I do decide to go for an upgrade, is there a way back to SL 10.6, should I need it?

I don't think I have any PowerPc based apps so I should be fine.

Also, most of the utility apps such as evernote that I've wanted to download require 10.7 a bit of shame to be honest, for the older Mac users...

Thanks!

kondi17 said:

Thanks TattooedMac.
On the App store it says that applications such as Evernote require 10.7 or higher.

Thanks for the website link that you gave me. I've never heard of the website though, is it part of apple ? or independent ?

Click to expand...

MacUpdate is an independent site that tracks Mac applications, there are numerous similar sites out there and these predate the Mac App Store. So you can get apps from the developers site, places like MacUpdate or if they are available from Mac App Store.

The benefit of doing it through the Mac App Store (MAS) is that any updates to the store will trigger a request to update your local copy as well.

kondi17 said:

I have 4gb ram so it should, as you say work. If I do decide to go for an upgrade, is there a way back to SL 10.6, should I need it?

I don't think I have any PowerPc based apps so I should be fine.

Also, most of the utility apps such as evernote that I've wanted to download require 10.7 a bit of shame to be honest, for the older Mac users...

Thanks!

Click to expand...

There is no support for graceful downgrade built into OS X. The only way to go back to an older version of OS X is to use the original OS X media, erase the current OS X installation (and by virtue of that all your data) and then do a clean re-install..

Unless you have specific apps that need Snow Leopard or are running a Mac that is the bottom end of the requirements to run the newer versions of OS X it really is a good idea to upgrade since technology and updates march on. By all means you can stay at at particular version of OS X as long as you keep all your current applications static as well and don't upgrade them..

So the problem is systemic as opposed to just an Apple problem..

Thanks mate, your advice is much appreciated!