New to iMac (10.4.11) upgrade question

Purchased an iMac from a relative who bought a new iMac. Figured might as well learn about Macs.

Here's what I've got:

Mac OS X 10.4.11
2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRM

I'd like to upgrade it to 10.5 or 10.6. How do I get there from here?

I've seen some replies that lead me to believe I'd have to plop down $129 to get to 10.6 rather than $29 to go from 10.5 to 10.6. What would it cost me to go from 10.4.11 to 10.5 (and could I)???

And it begins.

Thanks,

To upgrade to 10.6, you just go to the store and by the $30 upgrade disc. It will work with 10.4.11.

Leopard discs are hard to find and expensive. I would just proceed directly to 10.6.

I should note that some of the software your relative had on 10.4.11 *may* not work in 10.6. In particular I would strongly recommend buying iLife 09 if you don't already have it. It's $79, or you can get the "Snow Leopard Box Set" which includes SL, iLife 09 and iWork 09 for $129 (essentially getting iWork for $20).

I would also highly recommend getting more RAM. It's very inexpensive and easy to do yourself (slots on the bottom of the machine). Makes a big difference.

Lastly, as you are moving over from Windows I will point you to my essay on suggestions for switchers here, and also suggest you check your library to see if they have David Pogue's Switching to the Mac available for borrowing.

Enjoy!

chas_m said:

To upgrade to 10.6, you just go to the store and by the $30 upgrade disc. It will work with 10.4.11.

Leopard discs are hard to find and expensive. I would just proceed directly to 10.6.

Click to expand...

Except:
Apple says that 10.6 (the $30 one) is for owners of 10.5 and you have 10.4 so they want you to buy the "box set" for $169 I believe, which includes the lastest iWork release. (Pages, Numbers, Keynote)

10.5 discs could be found for $88 US several months ago by calling the toll free Apple Store number found online. By now, they might be out of them. Otherwise, as stated above, they are expensive on eBay and such.

In any case, you need a retail disc, which will be black. The grey discs are machine specific and will not even install on the "wrong" Mac.

So, I'm looking at $129 or $169 to get this box upgraded. Wow. While I understand cost versus value, I'm still surprised it'll be that much. Looks like I'll be running 10.4 for the foreseeable future.

Well, for those who upgraded from Tiger (10.4.x) to Leopard (10.5), the cost was $129, just as it had been for 10.3 to 10.4.

But, there's not a $129 option for upgrading to Snow Leopard. It's $29 if you have Leopard, and $169 if you don't. The box set also includes iLife.

The official word from Apple is here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A

toMACsh said:

Well, for those who upgraded from Tiger (10.4.x) to Leopard (10.5), the cost was $129, just as it had been for 10.3 to 10.4.

But, there's not a $129 option for upgrading to Snow Leopard. It's $29 if you have Leopard, and $169 if you don't. The box set also includes iLife.

The official word from Apple is here: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.)

Click to expand...

Right and this is on another thread on here too. What is Mac-Forums' official stand on the 10.4.x - 10.6.x??

SparkyWatson said:

So, I'm looking at $129 or $169 to get this box upgraded. Wow. While I understand cost versus value, I'm still surprised it'll be that much. Looks like I'll be running 10.4 for the foreseeable future.

Click to expand...

You can use the $30 version to upgrade from Tiger. Apple's official stance is that you buy the Mac Boxed Set at $169 (of course you get iLife '09 and iWork '09 with that as well, so it's not a bad deal). You will need to do a clean install with the $30 version, but that shouldn't be a big deal if you're starting off fresh with this machine. I will tell you that iLife is well worth the money if you intend to do anything like manage/edit photos, edit video, create DVDs, etc.

Quite honestly, if you bought a machine with Windows XP and wanted to go to 7, you'd be looking at $99, so it's not that far of a stretch.

cwa107 said:

You can use the $30 version to upgrade from Tiger. Apple's official stance is that you buy the Mac Boxed Set at $169 ...

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Yes, and there is no official Mac Forums stance?

(The operative word above is can. It's possible, in other words.)

toMACsh said:

Yes, and there is no official Mac Forums stance?

(The operative word above is can. It's possible, in other words.)

Click to expand...

I'm not following.

We don't enforce EULAs. Apple says it's an upgrade for users of 10.5. Fine, but it also works for 10.4. Apple thinks you should buy the Mac Boxed Set, and that's probably good advice because you're likely rocking an older version of iLife that might not play really nice with 10.6. Other than that, there's no need for us to have an "official stance". If it's technically feasible I'll say so, but I always issue the caveat that it's not recommended by Apple.