I’ve been on the fence for some time about whether or not to pre-order Snow Leopard, and, if I were to do so, which package I should get. There are two options under my consideration.
The first is the $29 Upgrade option. This option requires the user to already have a copy of Leopard. What this means exactly is unclear. It could simply mean that you will need to prove that you have purchased Leopard in order to qualify for purchasing or using the installer on this disc. Given Apple’s lack of serial number tracking for their OS, though, I find this scenario unlikely. More likely is that the upgrade disc will require that Leopard has already been installed on the system, and then the upgrade disc will be used to literally upgrade that install to Snow Leopard. MacRumors even states:
“…the standalone OS X Snow Leopard, priced at $29, will require an existing installation of OS X 10.5 Leopard.”
The second option is the Box Set option. The Box Set comes with iLife, iWork and a full installer for Snow Leopard, and is said to be required if you want to upgrade from Tiger (or, presumably, even older OSes). This option, though, is $169. And, though it remains to be seen, it appears to be the only option available at this time to those looking for a full installer disc.
Since no one is really sure what the final options will be, I’ve been holding off on pre-ordering Leopard, despite the fact that I’d really like to show my support as well as get the disc as soon as humanly possible. But now I’m reconsidering. Again.
I had originally said that the Upgrade option was a no-go for me, that, as a SysAdmin I felt I needed a full install of the OS as, traditionally, there had been much lacking with previous upgrade-style OS discs. (No, I can’t recall offhand what they were, but there’s definitely a red flag in my brain on these sorts of things, and it’s there for a reason.) But I’m starting to think it’s meant to be this way. That is, after reading up on the matter, it sounds like Apple intends Leopard owners to use the upgrade disk, that this is the preferred method of installing Snow Leopard. And frankly, the new installer tricks sound cool enough that I want to use that upgrade disk to check them out, see if they work, and, if nothing else report my findings. Yes, I’m considering it for the blogging potential. Plus, at $29 bucks you almost can’t go wrong.
Here’s the thing, though. Even though I already have iLife, and even though I certainly don’t need — but wouldn’t mind getting — a copy of iWork, I may find myself buying the Box Set at some point anyway. Just to have the full installer. And this makes me really back off the idea of getting the Upgrade option. So, here we are: Cognitive Dissonance City.
What I wish is that Daring Fireball had a pre-order link to the Box Set. I’d almost certainly do that. As it stands now, I’ve just about talked myself into getting both — pre-ordering the Upgrade and then getting the Box Set later.
How sick is that? Yes, I have problems.
UPDATE: Problem solved: Mr. Gruber has a page with pre-order links to all the various possible incarnations of Snow Leopard. I’ll be pre-ordering the Box Set of Snow Leopard today.
UPDATE 2: I have just ordered the Snow Leopard Box Set. I’m assuming this will give me the best of all possible worlds — an upgrade install if I want it, and a full install if I need it. I also just realized that I will, in fact, be upgrading a Tiger system, so having the full, unfettered installer will be a real boon. And having iWork and an extra copy of iLife bundled in won’t be so bad either. So there it is, done at last.
Just a final thank you to everyone who wrote in on this, both in this article’s comments and here. Your input helped with this decision a lot. Thanks!
UPDATE 3: Just to follow up on this, there has been some discussion in the comments — and on the Internet at large — about the fact that the Snow Leopard Upgrade disc actually contains the full installer and that the Box Set is not physically required to upgrade from Tiger, though it is required in order to be compliant with the EULA. While part of me did feel a bit scammed by the vague nature of the pre-order language, I mostly feel quite pleased with Apple’s policies governing OS updates: They are reasonably priced and extremely liberal in the restrictions on how and where they can be installed. Simply put, Apple does not require any sort of serial number input or product activation to use their updates; you buy them and are on your honor to abide by the EULA. Snow Leopard continues this proud tradition. While I do wish there were a cheaper legal option that didn’t require me purchasing iLife and iWork, I’m still, overall, a very happy camper and am looking forward to receiving my Snow Leopard Box Set. In the end, no complaints here.
11 Comments
I don’t know your work situation, but could you preorder the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade and have your employer buy the Box Set? You wouldn’t be legal to use iLife or iWork at home, but if your need for a Snow Leopard full installer concerns work…
Not a bad idea, Patrick. And I have considered it. Not sure they’ll go for the Box Set, though.
-systemsboy
The upgrade version of Leopard have you the full installer… it just checks that you’ve already got 10.4+ installed, but then you can still do a full Erase and Install if you want (or even open Disk Utility and re-partition the drive first).
I assume the Snow Leopard upgrade will be similar.
Thanks for the info. Good to know.
I’m going ahead with the Box Set, though. I just realized that there is at least one Tiger system I’ll need to update. Having the full install disc should be immensely handy in this case.
-systemsboy
Per Walt Mossberg:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20090826/apple-changes-leopards-spots/
“And, for owners of Intel-based Macs who are still using the older Tiger version of the Mac OS, Apple is officially making Snow Leopard available only in a “boxed set” that includes other software and costs $169. The reasoning is that these folks never paid the $129 back in 2007 to upgrade to Leopard. But here’s a tip: Apple concedes that the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $140.”
What? That’s just totally bizarre. Why is Apple insisting you buy the Box Set when you apparently don’t need to? And why is Mossberg basically recommending that you rip off Apple by getting the unofficially sanctioned disc for Tiger upgrades? That’s crazy, as is this entire pre-order upgrade process. I wish all this had been made much clearer. Now that I’ve shelled out the dough for the Box Set I feel a bit ripped off. Oh well. I guess now I have iWork. Goody.
How annoying!
Thanks for the info.
-systemsboy
Here’s more along the same lines from Macworld:
http://www.macworld.com/article/142423/2009/08/snow_leopard_review.html
“Apple continues to rely on the honor system for Mac OS X. Not only does Snow Leopard not require the entry of any serial numbers, but the standard version of Snow Leopard is a bootable “full install” disc that doesn’t actually check for the presence of Leopard in order to install. This also means that if, at a later time, you want to wipe your hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard, you won’t have to first install Leopard and then run a separate Snow Leopard upgrade on top of it. (That sound you hear is a thousand IT managers sighing with relief.)”
Looks like we guessed wrong, people. The $29 disc is, in fact, the full installer.
It seems a little shady for Apple to not have come right out and said that. Now I feel like I was tricked into buying iLife (which I already paid for) and iWork (which I don’t really need) just to get the Apple sanctioned disc. It’s a $140 difference. I feel scammed.
I may go cancel my order.
-systemsboy
In the comments to the above-mentioned article:
http://www.macworld.com/article/142423/2009/08/snow_leopard_review.html#commentsjump
Dan Frakes, MacWorld editor, agrees that there should be a Tiger disc that doesn’t require the purchase of iLife and iWork:
“[quote name='rab777hp' date='26 August 2009 - 06:11 PM' timestamp='1251335470' post='753708']
That just SUCKS, there is no reason why anyone should have to pay extra money to get software they don’t want.[/quote]
I agree. While I can understand why Apple doesn’t want to sell the $29 upgrade to Tiger users — given that they didn’t pay for Leopard — I’d like to see a Tiger upgrade with just the OS.”
But I think what bothers me the most about all this is feeling like I was misled.
Grr!
-systemsboy
Okay, I’m over it. I mean, let’s be honest, I can think of at least two computers I’ll be installing this on, and one of them is a Tiger machine. Apple’s been damn liberal with their OS installers and I have to admit I’ve taken advantage of that fact on many occasions. For once I’ll go ahead and pony up the dough. Overall I’m probably still coming out ahead.
-systemsboy
I’m sure that Apple knows exactly how many Macs were sold with Tiger and how many copies of Leopard were sold. They probably weighed it against:
- Customer inconvenience of a multi-stage reinstall of Snow Leopard
- Customer frustration with purchasing the “wrong” piece of software
- Going with a serial number system
and probably know how much money is left on the table if people buy the $29 upgrade disc. I guess rereading this:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html
Leopard is _not_ part of the general requirements, and looking at this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MAC_OS_X_SNGL
“… the Mac Box Set is the best way to upgrade your Mac experience, especially if you’re still using Mac OS X Tiger.”
Nothing in there about requiring Leopard. FWIW the WWDC 2009 slide says “$29 – Leopard Users”. I suppose you could chalk it up to the Family Pack always being an honor-based package, or maybe chalk it up to someone at Apple post-WWDC saying “An upgrade disc isn’t worth it. Just make it a full installer.”
Note I’m not trying to defend myself or Apple, my crystal ball interpretation was wrong too.
- Patrick
Patrick,
Yeah, nothing was ever explicitly stated, which is the problem, I think. Everything I’ve asked and complained about is due to confusion caused by the vague language used by Apple and their affiliates. Here’s one example, from the Upgrade disc purchase page:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MAC_OS_X_SNGL
“Snow Leopard is an upgrade for Leopard users and requires a Mac with an Intel processor.”
Here is another example from the Amazon page:
http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1251398870&sr=8-1
“Please note, that only Apple OS X Leopard users are eligible for the Snow Leopard upgrade. Tiger & earlier OS users will need to purchase either versions of the upgraded Mac Box Set.”
Couple this with the fact that, historically, Apple’s Upgrade-branded discs did in fact require an existing install of the previous OS, and you could be easily led to the conclusion that the Box Set was the only way to get the full install disc, which is the conclusion we all came to. I don’t think that was an accident.
I will say this: I am generally very happy with how Apple handles OS upgrades. Even in this case I could very easily go change my Amazon order to an Upgrade disc, but in the end I feel that Apple’s general fairness more than makes up for the slightly scammy way they used the language in the pre-release literature.
They did so in a way that made me *feel* cheated. But when I honestly look at the situation, I’ve not been cheated at all. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, where OS upgrades are concerned, I’ve been allowed a great deal of leeway, and in the software biz that’s a rare and excellent treat.