Apple Releases OS X Lion

[vansmith]

Does considerably snappier mean as fast or faster than it was previously with SL?

It's faster than when I just had the upgrade. It's about as fast as SL now. I will admit though that I probably didn't give OS X (Spotlight) enough time to "settle" in after the upgrade but as I said, I didn't want the upgrade.

 

[cwa107]

cwa, will that affect your BootCamped partition / boot up?
I've never done a clean install without wiping the entire drive and starting from scratch on my Mac.

I actually don't even use Boot Camp anymore. I'm all VMWare when it comes to running Windows these days (especially now that VMWare supports the Aero interface in Win7, and now that my favorite games are all available for Mac via Steam).

But I don't suppose it would effect Boot Camp, because you're specifying just the Mac OS X partition and doing a quick format basically.

 

[MYmacROX]

Thanks Cwa, one more newbie question, after I erase the Macintosh Hd partition and choose to reinstall OS X, I insert my Lion disk, correct?

I am curious to know if a fresh install using the Command+R method requires a disc. I forgot to burn one when doing the install and now I'm wanting to do a fresh install just to see if things can get any better. ...not that they're lacking right now.

 

[cwa107]

I am curious to know if a fresh install using the Command+R method requires a disc. I forgot to burn one when doing the install and now I'm wanting to do a fresh install just to see if things can get any better. ...not that they're lacking right now.

No, it doesn't. The "disc" is integrated into the recovery partition.

 

[schweb]

FWIW, both the recovery partition method and the disk install method still require a substantial download for Lion.

 

[MYmacROX]

No, it doesn't. The "disc" is integrated into the recovery partition.

Ok, cool. So if I was to boot into recovery mode and reinstall, it would basically be the same as a fresh install? Then I could bring in all my personal data via my T.M. backup.

FWIW, both the recovery partition method and the disk install method still require a substantial download for Lion.

???

 

[cwa107]

Ok, cool. So if I was to boot into recovery mode and reinstall, it would basically be the same as a fresh install? Then I could bring in all my personal data via my T.M. backup.

That's correct. During the first install, the installer creates a hidden partition for the recovery mode. That partition contains utilities and the full OS X distribution that was downloaded from the MAS. You are doing a clean install on the regular (non-hidden) partition because you're erasing it before you start.

What's really cool about the recovery partition is that this means no dragging our your discs to do an in-depth disk repair or run EFI firmware password. Most of the things you used to need to carry your System Discs for, are now covered in a relatively small partition.

Now, you will lose that partition if you change HDDs, and I think that's what Schweb is referring to - on Macs that ship with Lion, it will need to DOWNLOAD that partition from the Internet in order to kick off the install in situations where the partition doesn't already exist. But that's not the case if the disk and hidden partition are intact.

 

[chscag]

FWIW, both the recovery partition method and the disk install method still require a substantial download for Lion.

The hidden recovery partition is only 650 MB, not near large enough to hold the necessary files to do a complete recovery without downloading the remainder from the App store. I believe that's what schweb is referring to.

Take a look at this article posted by Randy from Computerworld. LINK

 

[cwa107]

The hidden recovery partition is only 650 MB, not near large enough to hold the necessary files to do a complete recovery without downloading the remainder from the App store. I believe that's what schweb is referring to.

Take a look at this article posted by Randy from Computerworld. LINK

Oops, I stand corrected. I'd assumed that the entire disc was contained in the partition because the dialogs from booting off the disc are identical to those you see when booting in Recovery mode.

 

[MYmacROX]

The hidden recovery partition is only 650 MB, not near large enough to hold the necessary files to do a complete recovery without downloading the remainder from the App store. I believe that's what schweb is referring to.

Take a look at this article posted by Randy from Computerworld. LINK

Awesome. Very helpful link. Thanks for that. I think I'll save this project for tomorrow when my wife goes shopping. Give me something to do for a few hrs.
I've never had a fresh/clean install other than the stock Leopard that came with my MBP 3 yrs ago.

 

[chscag]

Saturday is when we're supposed to complete our "Honey Do Lists" that the boss has made up during the week. No fair playing with Lion when you're supposed to be outside cutting the grass. ;P

 

[MYmacROX]

Saturday is when we're supposed to complete our "Honey Do Lists" that the boss has made up during the week. No fair playing with Lion when you're supposed to be outside cutting the grass. ;P

Being unemployed, as I am, every day is a honey-do day. So the weekends are actually a relaxing time for me.

 

[Bob_Stan]

Just got an email from Carbonite saying Carbonite Backup for Mac will not work with Lion. They hope to have a fix in a few weeks.

 

[Doyley]

Voices - me too

I can't get the new 'Jill' and 'Samantha' voices to download. It tells me there's no internet connection. But that's false. Anyone has the same problem...?

Thanks

Yep. Have sent off queries to a few forums (fora?) and noticed others with similar problems. No answers of thoughts yet. Hopefully it's something simple.

Are you connected via wireless/Extreme/similar, by any chance?
M

 

[6string]

Other than those I mentioned .... Safari's radical behaviour when loading, such as randomly opening last window, scroll bar no longer disappearing, losing click to flash, and possibly more that I hadn't noticed yet.
Spent way too much time trying to make it function like SL, which I guess is what people using Macs feel like when they are trying to make it function like Windows.

I have now rolled back to SL, and it feels good to be home.

Lion.... pfff, more like Little I LOVE DOLLS (try hard iOS device)!
Seriously, reverse scrolling? What were they thinking if you're not using a touch screen?
As far as making the OS more efficient, a complete fail.

 

[schweb]

Other than those I mentioned .... Safari's radical behaviour when loading, such as randomly opening last window, scroll bar no longer disappearing, losing click to flash, and possibly more that I hadn't noticed yet.

First, Click2Flash still works if you're using the extension, as you're supposed to be. Apple deprecated the type of plugin architecture non-extensions use with Safari 5. With Safari 5.1 they completely blocked it for security concerns. The extension continues to work just like it did before, I'm using it now. But you may want to avoid Safari 5.1 on SL also if you don't want to use Extensions.

The rest of your Safari complaints are personal preferences, which of course are valid to have if you feel that way. I will say that some of those complaints are easy to work around if you check out the preferences.

I have now rolled back to SL, and it feels good to be home.

Really, you rolled back? I mean you haven't said anything about doing that the last 3 days.

Just kidding, how did you do it? Just restore from Time Machine? Could be helpful for others who are looking.

Lion.... pfff, more like Little I LOVE DOLLS (try hard iOS device)!
Seriously, reverse scrolling? What were they thinking if you're not using a touch screen?

You know that's a preference right? Took 3 seconds to open System Preferences and uncheck the box

As far as making the OS more efficient, a complete fail.

Think many people would disagree with you on this one.

In the end though, it's your choice based on which system you like best. Enjoy Snow Leopard.

 

[6string]

Thanks for your focussed input as usual schweb

 

[cwa107]

Other than those I mentioned .... Safari's radical behaviour when loading, such as randomly opening last window, scroll bar no longer disappearing, losing click to flash, and possibly more that I hadn't noticed yet.
Spent way too much time trying to make it function like SL, which I guess is what people using Macs feel like when they are trying to make it function like Windows.

I have now rolled back to SL, and it feels good to be home.

Lion.... pfff, more like Little I LOVE DOLLS (try hard iOS device)!
Seriously, reverse scrolling? What were they thinking if you're not using a touch screen?
As far as making the OS more efficient, a complete fail.

I can certainly understand that - and there are a lot of changes that don't immediately seem all that useful over and above what 10.6 offered. But there's a good deal of under the hood changes too. I also like some of the foundation Apple laid for future apps - and although I was skeptical about making my Mac work more like an iOS machine, I have to say that given some time to fully digest the changes, most are for the better.

And it doesn't hurt to do a clean install either - that seemed to make a big difference in terms of performance.

Last night, I read through the entire Ars review of 10.7 (quite a long read, but extremely comprehensive) and I have to say, it gave me a new appreciation for what Apple's done here. Aside from some questionable GUI changes (particularly the leather-bound look of iCal and Address Book), I think this is a solid release and certainly worth the $29.

If you haven't already read the Ars review, I highly recommend it:

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review

 

[6string]

Thanks cwa for your constructive feedback, and I will give that a read, not only for knowledge, but since you went to the trouble of replying in such a manner and providing that link

I did perform a straight upgrade, but seeing the speed, tried a clean install, even though seeing a little better performance, it was still lagging compared to SL.
I can't argue that the cost of the upgrade wasn't next to nothing, but for me for now, it really was a downgrade.
I've never liked the iOS devices, in fact, sold my iPhone within months of getting it, and quite liked the separation between the PCs and those devices.... catering to a broader spectrum, but I guess those days are gone.
I will have no choice to get used to it with my next Mac laptop purchase, but I'm of a mindset, "if it ain't broke!"
It wasn't broken, and regardless of how some may target me opinion, I have no doubt whatsoever that I'm not alone (even if I do ruffle certain people's feathers).

 

[cwa107]

Thanks cwa for your constructive feedback, and I will give that a read, not only for knowledge, but since you went to the trouble of replying in such a manner and providing that link

I did perform a straight upgrade, but seeing the speed, tried a clean install, even though seeing a little better performance, it was still lagging compared to SL.
I can't argue that the cost of the upgrade wasn't next to nothing, but for me for now, it really was a downgrade.
I've never liked the iOS devices, in fact, sold my iPhone within months of getting it, and quite liked the separation between the PCs and those devices.... catering to a broader spectrum, but I guess those days are gone.
I will have no choice to get used to it with my next Mac laptop purchase, but I'm of a mindset, "if it ain't broke!"
It wasn't broken, and regardless of how some may target me opinion, I have no doubt whatsoever that I'm not alone (even if I do ruffle certain people's feathers).

I think member technologist was definitely right on the mark when he started using the line in his signature that read "To see the future of the Mac, look at today's iOS". You can pretty much bet that the two product lines will continue to converge both in terms of software AND potentially hardware - especially at the low-end with the MacBook Air.

Do I like it? No, not particularly. But clearly Apple has a vision and is executing on it - and if past history is any indicator of the future - these changes will be for the better. It may not tweak my "geek nerve", but then, so many times in the past I've resisted change only to find that what wasn't clearly evident at the beginning of a transition ultimately resulted in a better experience when the product came to maturity.

I do think we're at somewhat of a crossroads, but I have faith that Apple knows exactly what it's doing and when the paint dries on the canvas, it will be a masterpiece.