Oct 20

Getting Your Mac Ready For A Mac OS 10.5 InstallationWhen installing any new operating system for either the Macintosh or the PC, there is a good rule of thumb to follow.  The first item to check is the system requirements.  If your personal computer does not have the CPU, speed, RAM, disk drive support or hard drive space, then it’s a good idea to start the upgrade in those places.

Check System Requirements 

If a system meets or beats the minimum upgrade requirements for Mac OS X 10.5, that is below, move on to the next paragraph.

  1. CPU: Intel, PowerPC G5, PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster)
  2. DVD-ROM drive to read install DVD
  3. 512MB of RAM memory (minimum)
  4. 9GB of available hard drive space (minimum) 

For those Mac users that have purchased their computer or computers within the last few years, just checking the items above off of the list will take no time at all.  Other users on a budget, will want to make sure their CPU speed meets or beats requirements and have enough hard drive space.  The main computer component needing review in any new system install is to have enough RAM so the system can boot up.  After over 10 years of upgrading systems for clients, the end result almost always requires more RAM than what was installed from the factory.

Update Software Applications To Newest Versions

There are several software programs that are either free or that cost a minimal amount that check installed program versions and then offer what is upgradeable.  Mac OS X 10.5 will include a new set of program requirements so checking for available updates is a great idea to keep things working.  If the system has a lot of shareware installed that alters how icons look, dock changes or other helper applications, check with the developer sites on 10.5 Leopard compatibility.

Lastly, check for available system updates for what is running on the Mac now.  Commonly, if the Mac runs well with the newest updates for the system it’s currently running, then the next version upgrade will go well.  This is to be used as a suggestion and not a rule.

Backup System Data, Personal Files

The easiest and least complicated way to backup is to image the entire hard drive.  This process may take more time but it ensures a way to recover from a botched upgrade.  This can be accomplished with an additional internal hard drive or an external one.  I recommend an external hard drive with USB 2.0 and FireWire.  FireWire was the old standard to boot a Mac with if a version of Mac OS X was installed to help with a restore.  This way, a user could boot up from the external hard drive, restore the Mac from a disk image, then reboot on the internal hard drive and try the upgrade again.

There are two good programs to back up a Mac running OS X to a disk image file.  The first is SuperDuper! which costs about $30 USD and Carbon Copy Cloner which is donationware.  A disk image is a single file sometimes measuring gigabytes in size, that has a bit by bit copy of what was installed on the hard drive.  The file will not contain empty space on a hard drive so it should not fill up all of the back up storage space.

What’s nice about the disk image back up method is that if the option is selected when backing up, the file will include a fully bootable system.

As first reported on the 9th Mac OS X 10.5 Leopardwill be released on October 26th.  The Mac OS 10.5 release marks a place in time that a lot of Mac fans have been waiting for to happen. Via Tuaw.

2 Responses to “Getting Your Mac Ready For Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Requirements & Tips”

  1. Apple Releases Leopard The Next Operating System For The Macintosh » The Macintosh Wizard And PC Tech Blog Says:

    […] that are not finding the upgrade process so pain free.  It is recommended to follow the steps to prepare your Mac for Leopard before installing any new operating […]

  2. Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.1 Software Update Released For Intel & PPC Macs » The Macintosh Wizard And PC Tech Blog Says:

    […] changes and most of them for the better.  Be careful when installing be sure to refer back to my backup your Macpost before proceeding. Via […]