Mac Os X Lion Download App Store
The first thing that came to heed when I heard that Apple may seed Os Ten 10.7 King of beasts via the Mac App Store to all users running Snow Leopard: Windows Vista.
The new Apple Os is due out this summer, but the idea of upgrading purely through a digital download does not entreatment to me and I think it spells trouble for Apple tree. Simply equally Windows users found going from XP to Vista, an upgrade to Lion may be more than of a hassle than information technology's worth.
Sure, developers take been grabbing King of beasts on the Mac App Store for months now. But there'south a big deviation between allowing a small group of technically proficient people to do this and opening the process up to the larger public.
Regardless of how solid Apple tree'due south download procedure might be, sometimes you want to use a physical disc to install software. In my opinion, a major operating system upgrade qualifies as ane of those times. Here'south why.
Smells Like Vista
Some people prefer to wipe their hard drives and do a fresh install instead of dealing with potential software conflicts and other pitfalls during an Os upgrade. But if you accept to reinstall Snow Leopard get-go and and so download Panthera leo, the fresh install process becomes a real pain.
But like Windows users who wanted to wipe their hard drives before upgrading to Vista from XP, it sounds like OS Ten Lion users will cease up tied to a double OS installation.
Installs Neglect
At present, I acknowledge, I have upgraded many computers running versions of Windows, Os Ten, and Linux, and I have never run into a problem. Perhaps your feel is the aforementioned, but I bet you know someone who has had an OS installation nightmare.
For that reason alone, the idea of upgrading to Bone X without a physical disc makes me queasy. If your Cyberspace connection fails or the ability goes out in the middle of your installation, it's best to have the new OS on a DVD or USB stick and so that you can reboot and attempt to install again. If not, I guess information technology'due south back to the Snow Leopard disc for you and so another run at Lion.
Refresh Yourself
Believe it or not, even on a Mac yous may find you desire to wipe your hard drive and practice a fresh install of OS X equally your machine ages. You may notice simply find that a fresh install would do information technology some good.
Or what if you decide to run Windows in a Boot Camp sectionalization after y'all've had Lion going for a yr or two? Chances are to make room for Windows you'll have to either defrag your hard drive (good luck with that on a Mac), or tinker with Disk Utility, or accept the piece of cake fashion out and just reinstall OS X. Without a Lion disc that probably means a double Os installation for you.
Boot Army camp
If you desire to run Windows using Kicking Military camp you lot need specific drivers from Apple before Microsoft's OS will piece of work properly on a Mac. About of the fourth dimension yous go those drivers through your Os X installation disc, although you lot tin besides get them from Apple as a download via Boot Army camp Assistant.
Only if you have issues downloading Apple tree'due south Windows drivers — equally I did when I tested the organisation this morning time — I guess you're out of luck, unless you take an OS X installation disc.
Look to Linux
If Apple really does seed OS X Lion as a download in the Mac App Store, I hope the company will offer the adequacy to burn down a disc image the mode Linux distributions do such as Ubuntu and openSUSE. That way y'all get the best of both worlds: an Os X Lion download and a physical copy of the OS as a safeguard.
The downside to that approach is you lot'll take to utilise Deejay Utility to fire your disc, which might scare off the average user. Then again, Apple could create a uncomplicated wizard that burns the disc for you and all you accept to practise is insert the blank storage media when prompted. Peradventure that'due south not as painless as a unproblematic download, simply a major Bone X upgrade via the Mac App Store could requite Apple tree the lion'southward share of tech headaches this summer.
Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) and Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and assay.
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