Upgrading mac mini from 10.4.11 to 10.5.6 and higher

Dream Druid · #1 September 9th, 2009, 01:59 PM

I have a mac mac mini 07 how do I upgrade from mac 10.4.11 to 10.5.6 and higher I do not have any of the mac cat family installed phanter or tiger or mobile me I simply wish to instal i Life 09

Thank you for your time

DeltaMac · #2 September 9th, 2009, 05:02 PM

Your 10.4.11 is the OS X version known as Tiger...
To upgrade, you need to purchase an OS X 10.5 or higher.
You can also purchase a Snow Leopard Box Set, which includes both iLife, and iWork in addition to Snow Leopard.
You also end up with a bonus of more free space on your hard drive. Mine got over 10GB of space back after the upgrade to 10.6

Dream Druid · #3 September 9th, 2009, 05:51 PM

Thank you for this information just to clarify I can do two things either buy a whole new mac mini with i life 09 or get the Snow Leopard Box Set ?

Dream Druid

ElDiabloConCaca · #4 September 9th, 2009, 06:48 PM

You can do two things to upgrade your existing Mac mini:

1) Purchase a retail copy of 10.5 Leopard and install it.
2) Purchase a retail copy of 10.6 Snow Leopard and install it.

You must pay for any "major point" upgrade. Any time the number immediately following the "10." changes (as in 10.4 to 10.5), you must purchase the upgrade. Any "minor point" upgrades (the numbers that follow the major point, like 10.4.8 to 10.4.9) are free and available through Software Update.

Purchasing a new computer will not allow you to upgrade anything on your old Mac mini. The software that ships with a new Mac computer will be incompatible with your old Mac mini, and even if it were compatible, the license agreement prevents you from installing the OS on two Macs from one set of CDs/DVDs. The rule of thumb is one retail copy equals an installation on one Mac. If you have two Macs, purchase two copies.

The Family Pack is different -- it allows you to install on up to 5 Macs that are located in the same household with one DVD.

iLife came separate from 10.5 Leopard, and must be purchased separately, but came with the Leopard Box Set (if I recall correctly, that there was a Leopard Box Set). iLife comes with the Snow Leopard Box Set, but not with the $29 Snow Leopard Upgrade set.

Dream Druid · #5 September 9th, 2009, 07:08 PM

I have purchased i Life 09 and realised my mistake is their any way I can purchase the snow leopard that is in the mac box with out buying the mac box ?

DeltaMac · #6 September 9th, 2009, 07:20 PM

Yes, Snow Leopard is available separately.

Dream Druid · #7 September 10th, 2009, 02:26 PM

I contacted the mac help line and found out I have to get leopard not snow leopard and they did not have any leopards in stock so I will have to search for a leopard if you know where I can buy one on line that would be great even better if I can download it.

What I am rally after is just a movie system that is some what better than i Movie and mac compatable

again thank you for your time and knowladge

Dream Druid

nixgeek · #8 September 10th, 2009, 10:37 PM

THat doesn't make much sense considering you have an Intel-based Mac mini (especially if released in 2007). I wonder if this person that gave you this information misunderstood you and thought you wanted the $29 copy of Snow Leopard, which supposedly requires an already-installed copy of Leopard. According to Apple, if you get the Mac Box Set you can perform a full, clean installation of Snow Leopard without having to have Leopard already installed. Plus, this way you would get the iLife Suite and iWork included.

And no, you can't legally download Leopard or any retail verson of OS X. It's also against the forum board rules to discuss such things. Best to purchase the Mac Box Set for your Mac mini and you should be set, unless you feel that you need a newer Mac mini with Snow Leopard preinstalled.