In fall of 2008 I acquired my Macbook and it was rather love at first sight. Fast forward (almost) exactly four years later and the love goggles have worn out. This thing is slow, so slow, and has a passion for locking up during minimal web-surfing sessions. I try to keep very little stored on the hard drive (I use an external for most things) and I've done a RAM upgrade before.
While a buggy computer is certainly cause for gripe, it's not exactly a rock and a hard place situation. However, with Apple's insistence on releasing an updated OS about once a year, my basic functionality has gone nearly out the window. The majority of programs that I'd like to use require at least 10.6, and sadly my computer is running 10.5.8. In my Windows user mindset I think, "No problem. Just grab a more recent version of the OS and off I go", but Apple has other plans.
I prefer both Mac and Windows. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and each offer different types of satisfaction and use. For instance I love being able to dig into a Windows machine to fix a problem. With Macs, I love that all hardware works seamlessly together without various company's incompatibility concerns. I absolutely prefer the price point of a Windows machine, and I cannot ignore the visual appeal of Apple products. Apple haters be damned, they are undeniably visionaries.
So shiny. So sleek. [source]
I find myself quite trapped with my Macbook though, given my "ancient" OSX version. I'd love to pop onto the Apple website, purchase Mountain Lion and solve my program compatibility issues. But, no. Apple doesn't want to make it that simple. Mountain Lion is purchasable online only through the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store does not exist in 10.5.8. I need OSX 10.6.6, an update of Snow Leopard, which cannot be purchased from Apple online. That's right, the software necessary to run Mountain Lion is not available on the Apple website.
Now, I find myself asking, nearly yelling with passion, why Apple would prevent me from obtaining an update. This situation isn't exactly user experience at its finest. Additionally, even if I were to get my anxious hands on a disc version of Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8), it would not install on my system. Why, you ask? Because one of the the requirements of 10.8 is that the computer already be running 10.6. It's a vicious circle.
This picture should have been a circle graph that I made, but I haven't reinstalled all
of my programs since wiping my machine a few days ago, so I'm improvising here!
[source]
I believe that I should be able to get a few more good years out of this laptop, and I also believe that Apple should facilitate that. I'd love to know why Snow Leopard is no longer obtainable through the great wide internets. I'm willing to pay for the update, for goodness sake! And, as evidenced by multiple requests for help via Google search, so are many others who are so out of the loop* as to still be running 10.5.8.
Dear Internet, what would you suggest? Do I simply need to deal with the "Genius" bar at an Apple store? What if they laugh at my early 2008 body? I don't think I can handle the technological humiliation.
-MJ
*This is a joke directed at Apple, not users of 10.5.8. They must think that we're out of the loop or computer challenged for waiting "so long" to upgrade.
2 comments:
I have a disc version of Snow Leopard.....somewhere. I may be able to dig it up.
That would be helpful! :D
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