Mac OS X 10.7 Lion to be Distributed Through Mac App Store
The upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will be distributed primarily as a download through the Mac App Store. This information comes from AppleInsider, who says the following:
The Mac App Store… will become the de facto method for obtaining the Lion upgrade, people familiar with the matter have revealed. Users will be able to upgrade instantly without the need for physical media by purchasing Lion through the Mac App Store.
Distribution of Lion through the Mac App Store for all users is not too surprising considering it’s the primary method for developers to download and install the Developer Preview releases. This is not to say that a corresponding DVD installer will not be released alongside the digital distribution. Last month, a placeholder for a Lion installation DVD showed up on German Amazon, and there continues to be a possibility that Lion will also appear on USB installer keys for MacBook Air and Mac Mini Server users.
Mac OS X Lion is expected to make a significant appearance at WWDC 2011 in early June.
[…] Lion Server through the App Store wouldn’t be too surprising considering the consumer-level Lion will be installable through the Mac App Store too. stLight.options({ publisher:'fe5e0a84-1fac-40de-8014-9f89fc1cbe6a' […]
I’ve played with the dev preview and a clean install will be mandatory. 2nd, when you install lion, it creates another partition with the setup files kinda like a recovery partition. As for the reason for release via Mac app store, I believe it has to do with apple’s stance on a green company.
I too have HUGE concerns with bandwith caps being imposed by AT&T and others, this is really not going to work.
I REALLY hope i get a free copy for my new iMac…
I also wonder how they will handle system restore and reinstallation, but I am confident Apple will figure it out
Maybe you buy it through the app store to a USB drive and install that way? Or you get a coupon for a disc copy too from the Apple store and vise versa.
What are you supposed to boot from if you somehow bork your system? I don’t mind the switch from DVD to USB-stick, but installing an operating system via download is asking for trouble.
Of course, it is possible that Lion will contain a utility to create an emergency boot disk. Wait & see.
i don’t want a download! first it takes long depending on network speeds, and second its nice just to have a disk and you get apple stickers LOL.
WWDC is only 4 weeks away, it will be out very soon. I’ve used the new dev build a little bit and I see it as an upgrade similar to complexity as moving from 10.5 to 10.6, some refinements and new features but not worthy of a hefty price tag. Based on this, $29 or $49 seems reasonable, and paying less for a download would be most appropriate.
I agree with Landoo….
You might also think about some of us that have internet data caps to consider….
Just a thought ?!?!
What if you want to do a clean system install? Or what if something goes wrong and you need to boot from a disk? You can’t do that with App Store installers. Apple must find a way to address this before releasing an update this way.
I quote Landoo. I want a fresh install, not an update.
Ok, I could shrink the Snow Leopard partition, install Lion on a new one, and then delete SL and expand the Lion to fill the empty HD space, but WHY all this mess?
I don’t think I want it. I’ll reserve judgment until I play with it at the Apple Store, but so far, I don’t like the changes. I’m usually the one getting the new OS on the first day… but not this time.
Hooray, much easier way to install things than a DVD, but surely a DVD will still ship.
I don’t think we will see a Lion USB installer though except as a restore device, and I would be that will replace all DVD’s by the time Lion is shipping.