Mac OS upgrade policy?

You will usually only recieve a discount if you purchase a computer after Tiger or whatever Software apple announces but has not actually released for shipping yet.

I have never purchased a retail copy of the Mac OS but I believe they come with an upgrade ability as well as a full install.

since apple has said tiger will be the last uprgrade for a few years i'm wondering if they'll do like a "10.4.5" that will be equivilant to what os 10.1 was to 10.0, perhaps maybe a free upgrade or a smaller like 30 dollar upgrade.

MacOS X 10.4.5 will be a free update to MacOS X 10.4.4 just like MacOS X 10.3.5 was a free update to MacOS X 10.3.4.

To answer the original question: Apple has a long standing tradition of offering people who have purchased a product inside a certain window updates for a small fee ($20 including shipping is normal) through a program cal "Up to date". Typically this is within about a month of the shipping ate of the new product. For example, if the rumors are true and 10.4 will be announced on the 1st, and shipped on the 15th, then someone buying a computer today would be eligible.

This is no guarantee, and Apple has played with the timing some, so you can't depend on that, but it is a good rule of thumb.

Actually, if that's what you're planning to do, I'd wait till late June, personally - unless of course you HAVE to have it between now and then. That way you get the benefit of seeing the hardware and software updates offered at WWDC. The powerbooks might get an improvement there. If you wait it'll ensure that you have Tiger already installed instead of having to buy the update disk and you might have a better computer. Of course, it's all of matter of need. \

But yeah, Apple does generally offer a discounted update in a certain time window before and after the release. To be absolutely safe though, I'd wait till the announcement to see what that policy is going to be.

... also, the copy you receive would be an update only. You'd have to have OS X already installed on the machine (which you would anyway) to install it. Some of the people that switched to Panther via purchashing "Retail Installs" from people on eBay got burned by this. They bought what they thought was a retail install, hoping to install it over their old 9.2 systems, and then it didn't work.

Hope that helps a bit,
Good luck!

You can do that, but you're going to have to pay for Tiger.

Apple will offer $20 upgrades, but it will be for those who purchased a computer, with Panther, after Tiger comes out.

Uhhhh. When did they say that? They said they were going to slow down a bit but a few years?

And no, I don't think you will see an update like that again. Apple owed those of us that bought 10.0 the free 10.1 update. All the other big updates IMO have been well worth the payment.

I've never done a transaction like this, as well (but have been curious). So is that what these product cards that come with your Apple computer are for? If you are within a certain time window, you can use these cards to get a discount, or are they for something entirely different? ...and then if these cards have been sitting around for a while, they are useless?

Sure. This is not a problem. As I said, you'll have to buy Tiger, but you can upgrade without problem. I'll be upgrading my Powerbook to Tiger, as soon as I can get it in my hands.

Not really, especially if you are buying a new computer (sounds like your background is mostly Windows). Unless you have a whole bunch of Mac applications you are just waiting to install on this thing - that may break with a new OS (highly unlikely) - it shouldn't matter.

And if not, you can always wipe the new computer and install the new OS fresh.

I have never upgraded OS's on the mac platform either. I know on windows it was perferable to format the computer when doing a major upgrade like from Win98 to XP.

Do people perfer to do a fresh install when they upgrade to the OS? I know I was a format nut with my windows machine and reformatted every month but I havn't reformated my apple since I have had it and its been very odd.

So fresh install or upgrade?

You do have a third option when installing MacOS X: Archive and Install. It moves your system folder to the side and then installs a new one, and migrates a number of the System preferences (like the network stuff). You keep all of your user folders and Applications.

I have run into a few problems from time to time with this (corrupted Utilities), but nothing big.

Hmmm ... I'm beginning to see your concerns here. Okay, the first thing you need to understand is that an Apple OS "update" is completely different from a Windows update. You would get a Tiger upgrade CD in this scenario, but the CD you'll be getting will only be valid on machine that already have a full OS X install already on them. For example, with Panther, Apple sent update CD's to people that bought machines within a certain period of the release date for a reduced cost. These CD's were not "retail installs" in the strictest sense because they wouldn't let you install on top of Mac OS 8.x or 9.x, you had to have some version of OS X installed already for it to work. As far as I know, this is the only thing that separated them from the retail install CD's that you'd buy off the shelf in the Apple store. So, you're technically "upgrading" the OS, but doing so by putting a clean install of Tiger over everything.

The transition from 10.2 to 10.3 was pretty seamless for most people. A few kinks here and there with the initial release, as is always anticipated, but for the most part, not a lot of problems. The only real concern you should have is whether or not developers have updated their software for Tiger, but you'll find a lot of stuff still works without having to update, making OS X very friendly.

I would personally wait for the announcement so you can hear the update policy just so you don't get screwed. Tiger will install nicely over Panther, so no worries - that's just from personal experience doing the upgrade thing from Jaguar to Panther with an update CD. I sure someone else can offer you a technical explanation as to why this is possible ... hope that puts your mind slightly at ease...

I've not experienced anything that would let me believe you have anything to be concerned about.

...and welcome to this side of the Force.

This train of thought is very different to someone coming from the windows world... it is hard for me to comprehend.