Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: Steps to prepare for upgrading

The article provides the best way to prepare for upgrading your Mac to Mac OS X version 10.7 (Lion).

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: Steps to prepare for upgrading Picture 1

OS X Lion has just been released as a Golden Master version for developers, and provides all testing opportunities. As planned, it will be officially released later this month. Unlike previous OS X releases, Apple has made some changes to Lion this time, especially how this version is distributed to users. In addition, the system requirements for upgrading will be somewhat tougher than before.

The first thing to do is make sure your Mac can run this version. Any Mac running Snow Leopard can install Lion, except for the first Mac series that uses Intel's Core Duo and Core Solo processors, including:

• iMac (early and mid 2006)
• MacBook Pro 15 'and 17' (early 2006)
• MacBook (early 2006)
• Mac Mini (beginning and end of 2006)

If your device is purchased in 2007 or later, you may be ready to upgrade to OS X Lion. However, you can check the type of processor on your computer by using the Apple menu, selecting ' About This Mac ' and see the Processor section. If the processor's name has a Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon, your device can be upgraded. If you only see Core Duo (without number 2 in the name), Core Solo, or any PowerPC format, your device won't run Lion.

In addition to asking the CPU to run Lion, you may also need to consider upgrading the machine's RAM to at least 2GB, but it is better to go to 4GB if possible. The Macs produced between 2007-2008 have from 512MB to 2GB of RAM, and the Lion version requires at least 2GB of RAM to work efficiently. You can see how much RAM is installed in the same ' About This Mac ' window, but refer to the machine's documentation to see how much RAM can be installed; Some models can only upgrade up to 2GB of RAM.

Upgrade existing settings

If your existing OS X installation is not the same as previous OS X versions, Lion will not be able to upgrade all. The request for the latest version of this Apple Store application is that you have installed the latest version of OS X 10.6.8. This means that if you are running Tiger (OS X 10.4) or Leopard (OS X 10.5) on an Intel Mac and want to upgrade, you must purchase and install Snow Leopard first and then upgrade to Lion.

Apple still provides OS X Snow Leopard upgrade tool kit for people using Tiger and Leopard, so if you haven't upgraded to Snow Leopard and want to upgrade to Lion, now is the time to buy the upgraded version. Snow Leopard. However, after installing this version, you should review the following points before upgrading to Lion:

Check if PowerPC is used

Snow Leopard and previous OS X versions all have a ' Rosetta ' converter that allows older PowerPC processors to run on Intel Macs. However, this converter is no longer in Lion, so check if there are any programs you use using the PowerPC platform, and upgrade them, or find an alternative program, or just know the chapter. This program can no longer run in Lion. You can test PowerPC applications on the machine by using the System Profiler utility.

Solve existing problems

If your device is slow or unstable, you may have to resolve these issues before upgrading. The basic step is to perform general maintenance, but in addition you may have to remove system add-ons that you don't use, and somehow streamline your machine. Any program that constantly runs in the background (such as the system monitoring utility, notification tool, communication tool .) can cause problems if they are not compatible with Lion.

Upgrade the application

Find the updated versions of the software you are using and install them if available. Developers will probably release improved and upgraded versions of their software to make sure they work in Lion, so if you use third-party utilities and programs, you often remember Check them out for upgrades in the coming weeks, before and after Lion's release.

Option to run OS X 10.6.8

You will also need to upgrade to OS X 10.6.8 before you can use its App Store version. However, when you are ready to install Lion, you need to upgrade to this version. There are currently many obvious issues that can affect your workflow, so you can optionally use OS X 10.6.7 to keep the machine running smoothly. When Lion is released and you are ready to upgrade, you can install OS X 10.6.8 and then install Lion.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: Steps to prepare for upgrading Picture 2
The XServe G5 has a PowerPC chip that can't run Lion.

Make a new installation

One of the most frequently asked questions about Lion is that users can choose to perform a new installation on a newly partitioned and formatted hard drive. This is an attractive option in previous versions of OS X because users get reason and means to get completely new.

Unfortunately, there is not much information about this type of option, so users don't know that they can create a boot disk to install or create a boot disk from the secondary hard drive. In the recent opinion of Steve Jobs, Lion will not be able to install, and instead, users will have the option to use the old Snow Leopard installation disc to wipe the drive, install the OS, and then lift it. Level up Lion. The thing is that this requires a few extra steps to install, including setting up Snow Leopard and then upgrading to version 10.6.8 , by setting up an App Store account, then downloading it. and install Lion.

While these additional steps and the need to use the older version of OS are a bit of a hassle (especially because the upgrade from OS X 10.6.8 to OS X 10.7 is technically not a new installation), for Most people, it may not be necessary to implement them.

Recent debates about OS X Lion often revolve around the issue of recovery partitions (Recovery Partition) that Lion has set up on the boot disk, and whether it is possible to clean up this OS. Apple has not yet officially announced a recovery partition option, but if there is a partition that supports reinstalling the OS, then this and Steve Jobs's proposal will eventually allow you to set up Lion now. from the beginning. Here is the process:

1. Boot with Snow Leopard disk, partition and format the drive, and install Snow Leopard.
2. Upgrade Snow Leopard to version 10.6.8
3. Use the App Store, install Lion.

At this time, installing Lion is an upgrade installation that may not be necessary; however, it will create a new Lion recovery partition, so then you can continue:

4. Boot to the recovery partition (hold down the Option key after listening to the start-up alarm, and select the disk)
5. Delete the disk partition with OS X Lion on it.
6. Install new Lion from recovery partition.

When this procedure is completed, the new Lion installation is considered a new and clean installation. Unfortunately, you'll have to use the Snow Leopard disc to do it, but at least you can set up a clean installation on a newly formatted hard drive.

Maybe Apple will provide the option to create a separate disk, or USB drive, or boot drive partition on a secondary device, but because Apple seems to avoid talking about alternative boot media and not saying For other alternatives, you should save the Snow Leopard installation disc for the Mac you are upgrading.

>> Mac OS X 10.7 Lion interface

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion interface