SL or Lion

Lion isn't released yet ... so yes, you will have to wait for Lion.

Have a look at http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/ if you like those improvements you should get it.

As has already been said, Lion is not out yet and the differences can be found on the Lion page on Apple's web site. To address some other questions:

Does the "Retail Copy" of Lion include "iLife 11"? If not, do I need to buy it seperately? Besides, does the "iLife 11" includes all the applications such as the "gray disc" that came with the MBP?

Since Lion is not out yet, it's hard to say for sure what will be included. However, historically, no retail copy of any version of Mac OS X has come with iLife. The gray disks that came with your machine include the version of iLife bundled with your Mac. What version of iLife that is depends on how recently you bought it. I'm not sure what version is on Macs bought today, but you open one of the iLife apps and then choose "About whatever", it should tell you. My copy of iPhoto, for example, shows a window when I choose iPhoto -> About iPhoto that indicates it is iPhoto '09.

So... use SL for now. Don't try one of the Lion betas that are available unless you want to use pre-release software. When Lion comes out, decide based on its price and added features whether it is important for you to upgrade or not. If you don't have iLife '11 already, you will most likely have to buy that separately regardless.

If you just purchased a Mac, it should have shipped with iLife '11. (The version numbers for iLife '11 are 9.x.x, btw)

As mentioned, the OS has never bundled iLife. The actual computer comes bundled with iLife.

Unless you are a techie and want to experience the full pain of a new OS, you'll want to wait for others to run out and install the very latest OS on the day it's released. Check the support forums on a regular basis for a couple of weeks to see where others have had issues, any fixes offered, and any upgrade tips.

There are growing pains for many users who jump to a new OS without waiting for their favorite program to be updated, and the printer/scanner drivers and other external hardware compatibility tests are completed.

I usually wait for a .2 release for my main machines - ie: 10.7.2 - by then I usually know exactly what problems I can anticipate, and what benefits the upgrade will bring.

I always work with a clone when doing the initial upgrade.

EDLIU wrote:

So, should I use SL? Or should I upgrade to Lion?

You cannot use Lion until it comes out this summer, and it will only be 10.7, which means you may experience problems until they come out with 10.7.1, 10.7.2, 10.7.3, etc. Meaning Lion will probably settle down around the fall.

If you want to get real work done now, you use Snow Leopard. Even though 10.6.7 still has bad bugs, it is mostly refined and reliable with many fixes. Unless you like being a tester, you should stick with Snow Leopard until they have gotten the most important bug fixes out for Lion.

I think that right now you should run the most current OS that is stable (OS 10.6.x). OS 10.7 will probably run very well on your new machine after the kinks are worked out. 10.8 will probably come out 1 to 2 years after 10.7 is stable. This cycle for OS X has been going on for a decade.

Each new OS will provide new features and probably speed improvements. They will also bring the usual upgrade requirements for drivers for existing hardware, and compatibility issues with existing programs. These updates will take whatever time the 3rd party vendors choose to take. Some programs or drivers may never come out or get updated for a new OS and you'll either have to find substitues, or keep a copy of the old OS on a bootable drive, or just decide not to upgrade at all.

Run the best stable OS you can for now, and worry about what's going to happen in a couple of years for then.

Except for the lengthy time that WinXP was around (far too long as the work/world was changing), most OS's are upgraded every couple of years. I hear Windows 8 is in development, and Ubuntu Linux 11 is coming out on the 28th of this month. It's not supposed to end.

EDLIU wrote:

Do you think I should upgrade to Lion 10.7.x or just keep using SL 10.6.x?

You already know the answer for today, you cannot upgrade for Lion today.

In the future, whether you upgrade will be dependent on your needs, whether you have an application that requires it, your budget, and whether you believe Lion is sufficiently stable.

EDLIU wrote:

And, does anyone know when there will be a OS X v.10.8.x?

Apple has said nothing, and speculation is banned on these forums. If you want to try, look up Mac OS X Release History on Wikipedia and analyze the spacing between releases.

I personally cannot wait to move up to Lion, but until I get support for my beloved Quicken 2007, Appleworks, and the other software applications which require Rosetta to run in Snow Leopard, I won't. Quicken Essentials is not even remotely close to Quicken 2007 in what it can do, and I refuse to spend good money so that I can give up features I use regularly. All of my household finances are done with Quicken 2007. Appleworks is admittedly less of an issue; I could move to iWork but having used both, I much prefer Appleworks for the purposes for which I use it.

There is no reason I can see why either Apple or a third party cannot issue some sort of Rosetta patch to let those of us without viable alternatives continue to use our software until third party developers like Intuit wake up and get with a Lion-compatible full version of their software.

There are good reasons why Rosetta didn't come over to Lion. For starters, Rosetta is not Apple code. It is licensed from Transitive. Apple would have had to pay for a new license for Lion. In addition, there were some very significant changes between Snow Leopard and Lion which would have involved a complete rewrite of Rosetta.

Apple felt that considering that all of this work would be needed to support obsolete applications, It wasn't worth it.

I would suggest that you would be much further ahead by starting to migtrate over now to the newer appilcations rather then waiting for rosetta to be resurrected on Lion. I think the wait time on that would be the day after you know where freezes over.

Allan

Good advice, Allan. Already looking into Pages. As soon as I find a comparable financial program that is compatible with my Quicken data....

To start Edliu, OS X Lion is worth the 30 40 50 dough because some features SL lacks, like in lion "Spaces" is replaced with "Mission Control." I FULLY recommend OS X Lion, but remember IF you choose Lion to back up you Mac first.

If you'd like to read more about OS X Lion, go to:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/

You may want to try Moneydance. It says it will import Quicken data. I'm thinking about trying it.

However, I'm still stuck on (in other words, in love with) AppleWorks. I have had iWork sitting here in an unopened box for months, but AppleWorks still does what I want and need to do.

Eric's Ultimate Solitaire is another PowerPC app I use every day. So, I'm going to wait awhile for Lion.

Lion may be worth the dough, but to those of us who still need (or want to use) PowerPC applications, it's a no-go. I specifically bought my MacBook Pro in March, figuring it would be the last one with Snow Leopard and PowerPC application capabilities. No regrets; I was right.

For me, I would stay on Snow Leopard. I''ve upgraded from 10.6.8 to 10.7.1 up to 10.7.2 and still a lots of bugs and keep my MBP froze all the time specially using the CS5 and YM at the same time.