Upgrading From SnowLeopard

ervzman wrote:

...

I got lots of apps including AvidMediaComposer, Adobe CS, etc...

Check here for compatibility of 3rd party Software you may be using... Also note that Rosetta is no longer supported in Lion and Mountain Lion...

http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

You should also consider more RAM... Get the Maximum you can for your Mac...

It is important to get the Correct and Matching RAM

See Here > OWC RAM > http://www.macsales.com

The above site also has videos on how to Install RAM should you need it...

ervzman wrote:

Is it ok to go from Snow to MountainLion?

If your Mac supports it...

Upgrade to Mountain Lion

ervzman wrote:

I'm now backing up my home folder, and maybe the apps too.

Before attempting any Major Upgrade...

get yourself an External Hard Drive... and create a Bootable Clone Backup of your current Hard Drive...

By far the easiest way to make such a Backup, is to use something like

SuperDuper http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

or CCC http://www.bombich.com/

That way, should anything untoward happen during the Upgrade,

you will NOT LOSE ANYTHING.

(Get an EHD that is at least equal to your current Drive...)

Very nicely said AnaMusic. 🙂

SuperDuper doesn't copy the RecoveryHD partition of 10.7 or later, so that could be a problem later with a older machine with no Internet Recovery ability, but for Snow Leopard it's not a problem as it doesn't have a RecoveryHD partition.

CCC does copy the RecoveryHD partition for restoring, so if the OP continues to use CCC on a later OS X version they are in a better position with CCC if their boot drive dies.

The external drive clone needs to be blank or soon to lose all data, a powered drive (not port powered) and formatted in Apple's Disk Utility > 1 Partition, Option: GUID and OS X Extended Journaled as the format.

Then the cloning software can clone and the external clone will be hold option/alt key at boot time, bootable for restoring Snow Leopard back to the internal drive (entire internal drive erased first to delete hidden partitions/ rest GPT) or simply used to boot from if one needs Snow Leopard.

Most commonly used backup methods

Since you have a Mac Pro, it's likely best to install Snow Leopard on another internal drive, then upgrade to Mountain Lion and try it out first.

Or make a CCC clone to another internal drive, option/alt boot from it (needs a different drive name) and then upgrade 10.8 on that and see how it goes.

With a lot of third party software, upgrading to 10.8 is going to be rather expensive and fustrating.

ervzman wrote:

Hello,

I'm ready to upgrade and I need some help. Some questions to make sure:

I got lots of apps including AvidMediaComposer, Adobe CS, etc...

You will need to either:

• Upgrade your PowerPC apps to Intel versions, or alternative apps, if available;

• Install Snow Leopard into a new partition on your hard drive or an external hard drive and "dual-boot" into SL when you want to run your PowerPC apps; or

• Install Snow Leopard Server ($20 from 800-MY-APPLE telephone orders only) into Parallels 8 ($79 retail; cheaper if shopped on the internet) and run your PowerPC apps concurrently with Mt. Lion:

[click on image to enlarge]

You can move Music/Movies/Pictures to an external drive and then link them back to you user account.

Yes, copy them. Depending on the program, you'll need to update the location of the files so the program can find the files. For example iPhoto or iTunes, you'll need to tell the program where the files are now located.