OS X 10.6.8 hints readying Mac App Store for Lion upgrade
updated 01:00 pm EDT, Sun May 29, 2011
Mac OS X 10.6.8 build preps for upgrading to Lion
A third test build of Mac OS X 10.6.8 has surfaced this weekend and produced a discovery confirming Apple's plans to offer Lion through the Mac App Store. New notes added for the release mention that it's intended to "enhance" the store to "get your Mac ready to upgrade to Mac OS X Lion." It's unclear from Florian Schimanke's sighting what those changes might be.
An upgrade path to Lion was anticipated given that Lion betas were distributed to developers and references that had been seen in the past. Until now, however, it hadn't been apparent whether any special changes would be needed. Mac users will most likely need 10.6.8 as a minimum requirement to upgrade to Lion through a downloadable copy and will have to buy a disc if using an earlier OS.
Apple is expected to show Lion at WWDC and may even consider the OS finished or close to it by the time the developer event starts on June 6. The option of a download could not only give users a faster track than waiting for a hard copy but let Apple offer a discounted price for downloaders.
Along with the Lion upgrade prep, the 10.6.8 build notes confirm that 10.6.8 will detect and scrub MacDefender. The patch should also fix random crashes in Preview as well as bolster IPv6 and VPN networking.
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Joined: Sep 2009
i suspect the rumors are true
Apple tried to do a $29 upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard and a $129 for everyone else. But failed when it got out about 30 minutes after release that the $29 disk was a full copy and works for everyone.
They can release Lion as $29 for an upgrade from Snow Leopard and $129 if you want to get a physical disk from the store. Sure a few folks will snatch up SL disks off Amazon to save some money but eventually that will run out.
As for how they achieve it, I see one of two ways. Either it will be a disk image installer that can some how run even with the computer starting up from the hard drive (perhaps by making you restart to go into the locked down installing mode that some of the point releases use). Or perhaps it will download something that triggers the correct response from the Software Update system. I suspect the former is more the style since it seems like they might be wanting to phase out the separate SU system