installing OS X snow leopard

Ok I got my Snow Leopard CD from Apple. As you can tell from some of my prior threads I am not all that knowledgeable about computers PC or MAC, so I thought it would be a good idea to ask what it is I do to install snow leopard dose it tell me when I put in the disk is there anything I should know before I install. Thanks

What machine you installing it on? What OSX is on it now? Do you want an upgrade or Clean install?

Ah..... Good thing I asked now I have version 10.5.8 on a macbook pro 2.4 GHz intel core 2 duo What do I want? I am really not sure I dont even know how a Clean install differs from an upgrade duh I know Please explain if you would

Well a clean install will format and wipe the hard drive clean and this is the preferred option if you have everything backed up such as Time Machine, or on an external drive that has been cloned. Pop in the DVD, reboot and hold down 'C' immediately after the chime until the boot screen comes up, select language, go to Utilities > Disk Utility and erase the drive, to Partition and under options set up as GUID, back to Installer and away you go.

If you want to upgrade, just pop in the Snow Leopard disc, double click, and run .

What harry said. Spot on.

The Upgrade does just that, upgrades your current OS to the new one, but if there is any baggage or issue, they transfer to the upgraded OSX! A Clean install is best if you, like Harry said, have your whole 10.5.8 backed up Via Time Machine so you can migrate over apps and settings later.