Leopard in the Wild Today--$99 at CompUSA with E-Rebate--Our Install Tips

Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" should be widely available today or tonight in retail stores and via courier for online orders. Apple's SRP is $129 for a single license or $199 for a family 5-pack.

A reader wrote that CompUSA will have Leopard for $99 single/$169 family with an e-rebate on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, all CompUSA's in San Diego have been closed in an economy move.

We have a retail box copy on order from Apple that should arrive early today.

Leopard's system requirements are lengthy:

1. An 867MHz G4 CPU or better

2. 512MB RAM

3. DVD drive for installation

4. 9GB of free hard disk drive space

5. Internet connection (some features)

6. .Mac service (some features)

7. Large external hard disk drive (for Time Machine)

8. iSight camera or equivalent (for Photo Booth and video iChat)

9. 300Kbps Internet (for Screen Sharing in iChat)

10. Built-in IR and Apple Remote (for Front Row)

11. 1.6GHz CPU for DVD Player

12. Intel processor (for Boot Camp and Backdrop effects)

Leopard will not normally install on a Mac with a slower than 867MHz G4 CPU although hacks may appear later. Will Leopard install on a Mac with an upgraded G4 CPU faster than 867MHz that originally had one slower than 867MHz? The developer releases would not install on our stock 450MHz G4 Cube nor when it was upgraded with a 1.4GHz PowerLogix G4 but we do not yet know about the final release.

Here are our installation tips:

1. Run a disk utility on your hard drive under your current version of Mac OS X to make sure that it is in top shape. Do not run any except Leopard's Disk Utility once Leopard is installed unless the manufacturer has explicitly stated that it is compatible.

2. Clone your current hard drive to an external FireWire (or USB2.0 if an Intel Mac) hard drive to use as a backup or to use for installing your current applications and files like a new computer. You will need a large external hard drive, preferably connecting by FireWire 800 or 400, for Leopard's Time Machine.

3. Disconnect all external devices.

4. Install Leopard. The methods below range from the lowest to highest risk of subsequent problems.

A. "Wipe" your computer's hard drive, install Leopard, re-install your applications from scratch and copy your files from the backup. This will give you the most problem-free installation in return for a bit of time, especially if you have lots of applications. Really consider this option if you have been having any instability problems.

B. "Wipe" your computer's hard drive, install Leopard and install your applications and home folder from the backup using Leopard's Migration Assistant.

C. Use Leopard's "Archive and Install" installation option on your internal hard drive. This may require some minor software re-installation.

D. Remove all haxies and other software that adds things to the system folders or modifies your system files in any way, then use Leopard's "Upgrade" installation option.

E. Use Leopard's "Upgrade" installation option on your internal hard drive. This is the simplest and quickest, especially if you have not been having any instability problems and have not installed any software that adds to or modifies your system folders.

Enjoy Apple's latest and greatest OS! [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]