Worth getting Leopard?

So, I have been on tiger for a year and its brilliant. My dad asked me what I wanted for xmas. I told him the leopard operating system. He plan's to get it soon but after hearing about the shed load of problems I am not convinced that I want it.

Has anyone got leopard? How is it?

I have a Mac with a 1GB of RAM. It runs really well. Will I need more ram for Leopard to run as smoothly?

Can I upgrade my installation or have I got to do a fresh install?

Basically.. will it lead to a happy xmas or a miserable xmas.

I don't mind waiting for it if there are problems that still need to be ironed out. Is it worth getting this xmas or should I wait till summer time?

Has anyone got leopard?

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LOL! Do you even know which forum this is?!

Anyway, on a less serious note, I would say go for it. I've (and most of my mac friends) have been using Leopard with almost no problems. Most of the bugs you hear about are mostly ones you will never come across.

As for installing, yes, you can either upgrade, or do a fresh install. I would say go for a fresh install if your mac is over 6 months old. Otherwise an upgrade is fine. However, if you are upgrading make sure you don't have "Application Enhancer" installed as it will result in a BSOD after the install.

1GB RAM - Fine. Leopard generally runs faster than Tiger.

Merry christmas it will be, I guarantee this.

Remember to backup before you do this cause you never ever know what's going to happen. In fact, backup even if you don't do this, cause you never ever know...

goobimama said:

However, if you are upgrading make sure you don't have "Application Enhancer" installed as it will result in a BSOD after the install.

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I have this, well it in my system prefrences. How would I go about deleting it. I don't remember even installing it. I'm asking cause I can't find an app file for it.

[edit]I answered my own question here.

I think it is worth it, but the only thing I don't agree with in the replies in the 1GB RAM being 'fine' and Leopard being faster than Tiger. I think 'OK' or 'acceptable' would be better words.

I honestly think to get the most out of Leopard, you need 2 gigs of RAM, but I guess it depends on what you use your machine for - certainly iPhoto, iMovie etc love the extra RAM.

10.5.2 is rumoured to be in the pipeline for very early next year.

10.5.2 is rumoured to be in the pipeline for very early next year.

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Well that's a little vague isn't it

Anyway, as for 1GB being sufficient, I will stand by it. Of course, 2GB is recommended, even I use 2GB. But for most tasks, 1GB is 'sufficient'.
Sufficient here meaning if you can't upgrade your RAM, that shouldn't stop you from upgrading to Leopard.

Leopard in most areas is faster. Networking is spiffy. Finder is fast. Spotlight is superduper fast. Spaces is fast. Checking your documents with Quick Look is fast. I don't know about benchmark figures like maybe a photoshop filter might be a second slow on Leopard than on Tiger, but overall the system responsiveness and working with the system as an overall is faster compared to Tiger.

As for App enhancer, just remove the preference pane from...somewhere in System > Library > Preference panes or something like that. Or App enhancer has released an update which allows for a clean Leopard upgrade...

OK thanks guys. I don't have an external hard drive to back stuff up. Would it be OK if I transfered my files to a windows system then transfered them back?

How much is a decent external hard drive?

Finally what does a gig of RAM cost. The apple website prices are extortionate. I have 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Does anyone know of good and cheap places to get more?

Oh hang on, I just found this site.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-088-CR
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-034-GL

Any idea if this RAM would work with my iMac? Any idea of how many RAM slots the iMac has? I still haven't worked out where the RAM plugs in. I will need to dig out my manual.

goobimama said:

Well that's a little vague isn't it

Well that's a little vague isn't it

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Rumours often are. ;D

goobimama said:

Anyway, as for 1GB being sufficient, I will stand by it. Of course, 2GB is recommended, even I use 2GB. But for most tasks, 1GB is 'sufficient'.
Sufficient here meaning if you can't upgrade your RAM, that shouldn't stop you from upgrading to Leopard.

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Well in my mind sufficient and fine have very different meanings, especially in the computer world. A 1.ghz G4 is sufficient, a 2ghz Core Duo is fine. ;D But I do agree with what you say above, and of course it depends on how the machine is used.

Leopard in most areas is faster. Networking is spiffy. Finder is fast. Spotlight is superduper fast. Spaces is fast. Checking your documents with Quick Look is fast. I don't know about benchmark figures like maybe a photoshop filter might be a second slow on Leopard than on Tiger, but overall the system responsiveness and working with the system as an overall is faster compared to Tiger.

Click to expand...

The interface definately feels quicker, but in benchmarks, Leopard is shown to be slightly slower on anything other than 64-bit Intel chips (i.e. anything below a Core2Duo). Also, quicklook and Spaces do benefit from the extra RAM.

Without confusing the OP too much, I think the upgrade is worth it. Leopard is great, definately a good step up from Tiger. So for a christmas present, go for it!

@Perad: You need to get laptop memory. Your specifications should be "200pin | SODIMM | DDR2 | 667Mhz". The ones you mentioned are for desktops and will not fit in the iMac slots.

Try something from this page: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=936

And yes, Apple's rates are insane...

@Buddha: Peace

people who have found bugs in leopard are usually the people who are doing everything in there own power to find bugs. in casual everyday use of leopard it will run perfect

Hi,

WRONG Skiwyte !

I just wanted a simple upgrade.

I have tried everything. Upgrade and erase. Archive and install. Wipe my drive and start again.

I have a new Alu Imac that came with Tiger installed. My "old" white Imac with Tiger never locked up,... flickered or needed a reboot.

This Alu Imac DOES! Reminds me of my dreaded Windows PC. OUCH !

Since Leopard I have been plagued with problems.

The only feature worth upgrading for is Time Machine and that does not work.... using my external WD firewire 800 hard drive.

My advice:-

Wait a good long time before installing the Leopard. He bites !

And his spots are not very different from a Tigers stripes.

Oh yeah.... I am not doing anything in my power to find bugs.

Just using my Imac. Hoping it will just work like my white Imac with Tiger did.

SidTurbo

Well you will always find a rat among the many working models, doesn't mean that the system is bad. Just as almost every .1 update has made forums clogged with complaints, that doesn't mean that everyone is having them. Most people are satisfied with Leopard. I'm sure there must have been quite a few with serious issues, but that 'lot' is still less than the 2million+ that are running Leopard...

goobimama said:

1GB RAM - Fine. Leopard generally runs faster than Tiger.

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back in may i bought my macbook with tiger..... upgraded to leopard last month.... took the best part of 3 hours.

there are things brilliant in leopard however i have noticed it takes twice as long to boot up and the same to shut down.

decided with 'SPACES' i need another 1GB of memory to avoid the slow down.... any suggestions as the local apple shop can't do it till after the xmas rush?

One thing I noticed about Spaces is that many of the iLife apps like iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband have horrible slowdowns. Just these apps. Otherwise I've had absolutely no slowdowns with Spaces.

Though I still don't understand it. Leopard is definitely faster than tiger in my case. Bootup is like 20 secs. Though I don't really care about boot/shut timings cause my Mac is most of the time ON.

As for your RAM, just search at your favourite online store for "SODIMM 200pin DDR2 667Mhz RAM" and you should be fine. You might have to get 2x1GB cause the RAM in your macbook will be 512x2. Installation is dead simple, and can be done at home...