Apple to sell Mac OS X 10.7 Lion for $29.99 only in Mac App Store

[technologist]

Do YOU want to boot and install snow leopard to then have to update it to .6 to get the app store installed, then to have to download another 4 gigs to get to lion?

Not particularly. In fact, I'm thinking about sitting this one out, since I don't see any compelling features in Lion for me, personally.

Fortunately, I'd only have to do that in the event of a HD failure. Which is a pretty rare event, knock on wood.

No, they need to be able to make a disc to do a clean install/restore, it's the only way that really makes sense - especially for those of us who want completely clean systems (of which I was planning to do for the next OS upgrade so I'm not running a system that's been through multiple upgrades)

One of the feature is a built-in restore partition.

But I don't believe in the "multiple upgrades" paranoia. Unless you screw up your system configuration in between upgrades, there is usually no penalty in performance or stability to do successive OS X upgrades versus clean-installing the system. I've heard it over and over (mostly from ex-Windows users who re-install habitually every six minutes anyway) but I've never seen it and I don't buy it. I've done straight upgrades with every Mac OS version since Tiger-Panther (obviously, not on the same system) and they've all come out fine.

 

[Nethfel]

funny, my first upgrade from leopard to sl didnt go well and i ended up with a partially functioning system that i ended up having to wipe and reinstall (this was on a mac mini). The upgrade on my mac pro seemed to go ok, except i had to remove some software that wasnt compatible that was causing stability problems.

 

[Stretch]

My biggest issue that I have with the digital download of Lion is no media. "Oh, but it creates a restore partition!"

Yeah, that's going to work oh so well when you don't have a backup and your HDD explodes. How's that restore partition going to work now? There has to be somehow to have external install media and I'll be waiting for the news on that before I get Lion.

 

[chscag]

To be quite honest, I'm shocked that they retained the $29 price. It made sense with SL, since it wasn't really a feature release. But Lion does have a lot of new stuff (at least as much as Leopard had over Tiger).

Even more shocking is the fact that you can download it and install it on all your Macs for just $29.99! In other words, I can download it to my iMac and again to my MacBook. In case anyone missed that, MacWorld Mag mentioned that in a recent article.

 

[cptkrf]

Apple will have to supply a physical media if needed. Sitting on their Infinite Loop street where every machine has a straight DS3 connection, they tend to forget that the rest of the world doesn't. But they aren't stupid - somebody there knows that a good portion of the world is on capped broadband or dialup. In the US the latest figures I have for broadband penetration is about 30 percent, and since that data comes from the government, it is probably more like 15 percent.

Anybody on here believe that they will abandon 70 percent of the US marketplace?

 

[Slydude]

Personally I think I will wait and see what they have in mind. Assuming for a moment that there is no way to create a bootable disc from the Lion download there does seem to be a reasonable path.

Unless Apple provides an easier path here is what I have in mind. This won't be too difficult but I bet we get some support questions about it:

1. Split a hard drive into two partitions.
2. Clone current SL installation to one partition.
3. Install Lion on Mac
4. Clone lion to second partition on the drive.

Theoretically you could cut out the step to create a SL partition but that gives the option of "reverting" easily should you find that Lion doesn't play nice with some of your software.

BTW I know this arrangement might involve purchasing an extra hard drive. But at current prices one could purchase a drive and Lion for what we used to pay for the OS.

 

[RONE]

My prediction is when you download 10.7 from the Mac App Store, you will choose which drive to create the 4GB recovery partition on. Once downloaded, you will then be able to burn the partition to a DVD for your own use.

 

[Chris H.]

My prediction is when you download 10.7 from the Mac App Store, you will choose which drive to create the 4GB recovery partition on. Once downloaded, you will then be able to burn the partition to a DVD for your own use.

I have a feeling your prediction is correct.

 

[bobtomay]

My prediction is when you download 10.7 from the Mac App Store, you will choose which drive to create the 4GB recovery partition on. Once downloaded, you will then be able to burn the partition to a DVD for your own use.

I'll go along with that one also.

If it creates a separate partition to install the restore, have a feeling we're also going to be seeing some folks who's machines are so fragmented that, as with BootCamp, they're not going to have enough free contiguous space to create that 4GB partition. The first time I defragmented mine, I did not have anywhere near that much free space at the end of the partition and that was with 30% free space.

 

[RavingMac]

I'll go along with that one also.

If it creates a separate partition to install the restore, have a feeling we're also going to be seeing some folks who's machines are so fragmented that, as with BootCamp, they're not going to have enough free contiguous space to create that 4GB partition. The first time I defragmented mine, I did not have anywhere near that much free space at the end of the partition and that was with 30% free space.

Bob,
Are you using iDefrag for this (you had mentioned it in an earlier thread)? I downloaded the trial which scans only and was debating buying it.

 

[RONE]

I'll go along with that one also.

If it creates a separate partition to install the restore, have a feeling we're also going to be seeing some folks who's machines are so fragmented that, as with BootCamp, they're not going to have enough free contiguous space to create that 4GB partition. The first time I defragmented mine, I did not have anywhere near that much free space at the end of the partition and that was with 30% free space.

That's a very good point. What OS were you running at the time? I know OSX has always had its own internal 'defrag' that is constantly running, and maybe as it has continued to improve with new iterations of the OS it is able to keep a larger block of contiguous space?

 

[chscag]

iDefrag is a worthwhile purchase being it's only $29.95 and for what it does with regard to removing fragmentation. The best feature is its ability to consolidate free space so that the free space you have on the HDD is contiguous. Which is something that the built in defrag ability of OS X can not do.

 

[Slydude]

Even with the most recent versions of the OS under some circumstances a defrag will be needed. When I built a Boot Camp partition, for example, I needed to defrag my drive. It wasn't fragmented enough for me to notice performance issues but the Boot Camp Assistant complained about not having enough free space. The space needed to be contiguous.

 

[Kevriano]

Apple email just now, Lion £20.99 from the Store. Going to hold off until reviews come in, and I too have reservations about the lack of physical disc. Very cheap if you ask me, I don't see it being a massive leap forward from SL at that price.

 

[ElegantEsthetic]

Has anyone actually watched the keynote?

I, for one, am excited for Lion, especially with Auto-Save and Versions. That's going to be a huge help to all users, but especially to students that have (what seems like) their whole lives on the computer. Add to that the other features like Mission Control, which looks like a compelling reason to finally use Spaces, and the new Mail, and I'll be more than happy.

 

[ezcompane]

Simply put, if I can't clean install it, I won't buy it. I also won't hack it so that I have backup media. I just won't put myself into a situation where I can't boot off install media if needed. I've been around computers far too long to know that when Murphy's Law goes into action, you need bootable media.

My guess is this is Apple's way to do the following:

1. Deter people from upgrading from 10.4/10.5 for a low price.
2. Making it harder/less cost-effective to build a Hackintosh (although this will make piracy sky-rocket).
3. Force people who otherwise wouldn't use MAS to at least register for an AppleID (and therefore a credit card on-file).


Now, don't get me wrong - I love the MAS, I love digital distribution for the OS (can't see why it hasn't been done this way previously) and I'm pleased by the low price. But if they don't have some way to boot off of media to install or troubleshoot, I don't want it! Seriously - this would push me back to Windows.

I definitely agree with this. I've had so many instances where I needed to do a clean install of the OS

 

[Doug b]

Not too much to say about this other than I too will be disregarding Lion if there is no way to do a clean install, period. Going from floppy disks to CD's is one thing (it's still physical), but from physical media to zero media for the sake of backup? Nonsense. There are really great points made in this thread concerning the various ways in which Apple could be alienating a big part of their audience who don't have access to the bandwidth required for such a download, as well as those who don't yet have the ability to even get to the MAS because they're not using the right OS.

I don't need to repeat the rest.. it's all here and very clear.

Doug

 

[Dysfunction]

Apple email just now, Lion £20.99 from the Store. Going to hold off until reviews come in, and I too have reservations about the lack of physical disc. Very cheap if you ask me, I don't see it being a massive leap forward from SL at that price.

It's not a massive leap, hence the LOW price. I will also say that I would not anticipate that a download only sales equates to NO ability to have physical media.

 

[parakeets4ever]

Does the OS X Lion support the Macbook Air?

Hi,
I was wondering whether the OS X Lion supports the Macbook Air?
(I have a Macbook Air 4gb. The newest Macbook Air)
Thank You.

 

[cwa107]

Hi,
I was wondering whether the OS X Lion supports the Macbook Air?
(I have a Macbook Air 4gb. The newest Macbook Air)
Thank You.

Yes, it does. Basically any Mac with a Core 2 Duo processor or better.