If I have Mac OS X 10.5.8 can I upgrade directly to Lion without purchasing Snow Leopard?

Yes but only if you have an Intel duo core Mac.

Apple's requirements call for Lion to be downloaded from the Mac App store. The App store requires Snow Leopard (10.6.6) or higher.

Stedman

Sorry no...

Mac OS X Lion System Requirements

In order to install Mac OS X 10.7 you will need:

• Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor

• 2GB of RAM

• Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later with the Mac App Store installed

• At least 4GB of additional disk space to accommodate the download, but more is obviously recommended

http://osxdaily.com/2011/06/07/mac-os-x-10-7-lion-system-requirements/

Might even be 10.6.8 required by latest posts.

Still 10.6 + 10.7 is only $60, that's half what Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, or Leopard costed.

It's not the $60 that's annoying, it's the completely obnoxious upgrade path. So now I have to:

-do a fresh install of snow leopard

-software update to 10.6.8

-restore personal files from time machine

-download the four gig lion install file

-do a new time machine backup

-install lion

-software update

-restore personal files from time machine.

Does that seem overly convoluted to anyone else or is it just me? I've come to expect simple, elegant, solutions from Apple; going through that process for both of my machines is going to take forever, not to mention the the complete waste of resources of downloading a four gig install file twice to two separate machines on the same network.

Nobody knows for sure. All that's been released so far says you must download from the App Store.

But it seems unlikely that there won't be a way to have (perhaps for extra cost) a DVD or USB stick shipped, as many folks in the U.S. and around the world can't handle a 4 GB download.

When Lion is released, more details should be available.

Patience. 😉

-do a fresh install of snow leopard

-software update to 10.6.8

-restore personal files from time machine

-download the four gig lion install file

-do a new time machine backup

-install lion

-software update

-restore personal files from time machine.

While I totally dislike the App Store method...

Why a Fresh Install & all the Restoring?

10.6.x by default does what we used to call an Archive & Install, just new OS, all your personal files & settings are retained, same with 10.7, so it'll be...

1. Install 10.6

2. upgrade to 10.6.8

3. Download & Install 10.7

3b. Make a copy of the download before installing if you have more than one to do.

http://www.x704.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5355&p=64438&hilit=Burning+a+Lion+d isk%3A#p64438

BDAqua wrote:

10.6.x by default does what we used to call an Archive & Install, just new OS, all your personal files & settings are retained, same with 10.7, so it'll be...

1. Install 10.6

2. upgrade to 10.6.8

3. Download & Install 10.7

3b. Make a copy of the download before installing if you have more than one to do

Thanks for the link, I wasn't aware you could burn the install file to a boot disc. I had assumed you'd have to install snow leopard, upgrade to 10.6.8, then re-download the massive install file for every machine you wanted to install lion on. You know, it's kind of ridiculous how little information there is about this considering some reports predict that lion could be released as early as tomorrow.

It would be nice to know if snow leopard is in fact mandatory so I could get my leopard to snow leopard upgrade out of way in advance. If the upgrade isn't necessary I'd obviously just wait until Lion ships and save myself the trouble. In my original post I had assumed that if something went wrong during the lion installation that you'd only be able to recover from a snow leopard time machine backup and not a leopard one; if you can only install from SL --> Lion it would make sense that you could only recover your data from an SL backup, that's why I included an extra "full backup" in my upgrade path.

It's kind of absurd that there's no clear answer to such a straightforward question as "What do I need to install Lion?". Something as simple as "Lion can only be installed from the App store." on the "How to Buy" info page for Lion would let those of us still running Leopard (and those of us who have to coordinate multiple installations) know how to prepare for Lion's release.

mizike wrote:

. . .

It's kind of absurd that there's no clear answer to such a straightforward question as "What do I need to install Lion?". Something as simple as "Lion can only be installed from the App store." on the "How to Buy" info page for Lion would let those of us still running Leopard (and those of us who have to coordinate multiple installations) know how to prepare for Lion's release.

Forgive me, but I cannot fathom why folks are so eager to get Lion immediately.

All new versions of OSs (not just Apple's) have bugs, in spite of extensive testing.

Many 3rd-party apps and peripherals (printers, scanners, NASs, etc.) won't be compatible without upgrades, some of which may not be available for a while.

Unless Lion has something you desperately need, what's the rush just to have to deal with all that?

Unless Lion has something you desperately need, what's the rush just to have to deal with all that?

Totally agree, heck, not only has every initial release of OSX had problems, I can't think of one that ever got "finished" before another new OSX came out & they quit fixing the last version.

In order to get Lion you need last snow leopard version so you need get the cd in store and after do software update to 10.6.7 then download Lion from the mac app store..

Thebestplacehere wrote:

In order to get Lion you need last snow leopard version

We don't know that for sure. There are indications that may be the only option, but Apple has not released a definitive statement yet.

At this time the only way is to go to 10.6.8 to get the APP store to download.

In August, Apple is releasing a thumb drive for 69 dollars which should eliminate the need to upgrade to SL before upgrading to LION

cheers.

It is possible to install Lion over Leopard. See this Macworld article for instructions: http://www.macworld.com/article/161087/2011/07/install_lion_over_leopard.html

While I totally dislike the App Store method..

So do many others.

Apple has decided that Lion will be available on a USB drive next month (with a FULL installer). I would wait for that, or perhaps a DVD coming out later.

Not sure if this has been stated but... YES u do need Snow Leopard (10.6.8) in order 2 upgrade 2 Lion, However if u wanted 2 do a Clean/Fresh install the no u can just install Lion right over Leopard!! lol