Can I download OS X Lion when I have OS 10.5.8 without having to get the 10.6 upgrade?

Question

I have a mid 2008 Macbook 13" and I've never done an OS upgrade. I am really interested in Lion tho, so I was wondering if I could upgrade to it, skipping the OS 10.6 (as its 29.99) from my OS 10.5.8. I read horrible reviews about 10.6 as well. If I can't do it, which seems like the more possible answer seeing as I don't have access to the Mac App Store, does anybody else have a better experience with OS 10.6? It doesn't really take a lot to convince me, just a really compelling argument :3
TIA!!

Answer 1

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
Many of the people who post here for the first time are trying to solve specific problems, so that often 'colors' many discussion topics toward the negative experiences, rather than the positive ones.
Are you near the point of wanting to purchase (or perhaps being financially able to purchase) a new Mac?
Are you happy with the performance and appearance of the one you have now in all respects?
How much RAM and free hard disk space you have? Is it worth another $50 to $100 to upgrade RAM and perhaps another $50 to $100 to upgrade your hard disk?
Are there compelling 'must have' features of 'Lion' that are worth $60 to upgrade: $29 to get to 10.6.6 or 10.6.7, then another $30 to upgrade to 10.7 when it is released?
Your total investment is likely to be closer to $200 or $250 if you also need RAM and a hard drive capacity increase, plus the cost of the two OS upgrades, depending upon where you purchase and who does the installation.  But you probably cannot buy any newer MacBook for anywhere close to $300.  I've seen a used mid-2007 MacBook like mine listed at a used system reseller like MegaMacs for up to $500, depending upon condition and OS version included.
I have a mid-2007 MacBook with 4Gb RAM (3 usable) and a 500Gb 7200 rpm hard drive. I haven't experienced major problems with 10.6.x, but I waited to upgrade until last fall (2010) when there were programs I wanted that required 10.6.x: FaceTime for Mac and the Mac App Store, because I live about 30 miles from the nearest Apple Store. I didn't have any upgrade problems, or notice significant performance changes (faster or slower) upgrading to Snow Leopard 10.6 from Leopard 10.5.  I contrast that with my Windows PC days when each new Microsoft Windows generation seemed to need an order of magnitude greater processor speed and hard drive capacity just to run applications at the same 'speed' as what you were used to having on the prior system!
The major benefit of 'staying current' is that new programs are tested-with and developed-for the latest releases of OS X.
And finally, is there someone, perhaps a student, friend, or family member, who could make good use of your current Mac for several more years for writing papers, retrieving email, and web-browsing if you 'gifted' your Mac to them?
Message was edited by: kostby