IMac 2011 Lion to Snow Leopard if needed?

Hi all.
I've posted in another discussion about my gradual move over from PC to Mac and the possibility of dual booting but this thought occurred to me. I'm now looking at getting an iMac after using a borrowed mini for a few weeks but finding that multiple monitors/keyboards etc are getting in the way. Plus I need the floorspace the PC is taking up so KVMs and the like aren't really an option.
Anyway, I don't know where Apple are up to at the minute with their hardware/software combinations but if I were to buy a new 27" iMac tomorrow (I'm not: not THAT soon anyway) would it come with Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard installation discs? Would it have Lion preinstalled? If it DID would it come with any discs at all? I believe the recovery partition would handle that part of things (dead HDD notwithstanding) so my suspicion is that no recovery media would be included.
Now, what if I REALLY didn't like Lion or found it had too many problems with my other hardware (I currently have a Lacie NAS drive for example!!) is there any way I could replace Lion with Snow Leopard? Would a retail boxed version, which I think is 10.6.3 have the necessary drivers or at least adequate ones to boot and run Software Update? Would the install disc that came with the MacMini work? My first thought is no it wouldn't. Am I right in thinking the installation discs that ship with a machine are model specific? Would an iMac preinstalled with Lion even be capable of downgrading (we can discuss whether Snow Leopard is a downgrade or not another time)
Anyway, all suggestions welcome as long as they are clean.
Edit before posting: Having said all that if the rotten AppleTV/iTunes keeps losing Home Share connection and kicking me out after 10 minutes of watching a movie then I might just stay a PC user and sell the Apple stuff that isn't working to some unsuspecting numpty. Might just go over to THAT discussion in a minute and add my voice to the ones having issues.......

I suspect the person buying your equipment would be no more a numpty than the original purchaser. Ive been using Lion for some time now and it has frankly no more problems than any other newly introduced software/operating system.
I went through the Windows/PC to Apple a few years ago after much deliberation (and time wasting) I am glad I did it and would not go back. Hving said that I still have a Dell XPS Laptop that is purely used to run Quicken (Windows 7) and nothing else. I could do this with Paralells or bootcamp, but at the moment I see no point. Make the jump to Apple you will probably not regret it. Your wallet might.
My Apple TV works perfectly unless my wireless network is playing up and I suspect Apple cannot do much about that.

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My iMac says I have 10.6.8 operating system now. Problem is I do not know if that is 'Lion' or 'Snow Leopard' ... and I wish to upgrade to 'Mountain Lion'

My iMac says I have 10.6.8 operating system now. Problem is I do not know if that is 'Lion' or 'Snow Leopard' ... and I wish to upgrade to 'Mountain Lion'

That is Snow Leopard.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will receive physical media - DVD - by mail.
Third-party sources for Snow Leopard are:
Snow Leopard from Amazon.com
Snow Leopard from eBay
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store.
Before upgrading check that you computer meets the minimum requirements:
Snow Leopard General requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
2. 1GB of memory
3. 5GB of available disk space
4. DVD drive for installation
5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may
apply.
6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
First, you need to upgrade to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as stated above.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
Before upgrading check that you computer meets the minimum requirements:
Lion System Requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or
Xeon processor
2. 2GB of memory
3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
4. 7GB of available space
5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
Be sure your computer meets the minimum requirements:
Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications.
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
7. Xserve (Early 2009)
Are my applications compatible?
See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps - App compatibility and feature support for OS X & iOS.
Am I eligible for the free upgrade?
See Apple - Free OS X Mountain Lion upgrade Program.
For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Apple - Upgrade your Mac to OS X Mountain Lion.

Is it possible to downgrade an iMac (model no. a1311) that originally shipped with Lion to Snow Leopard-?

Is it possible to downgrade an iMac (model no. a1311) that originally shipped with Lion to Snow Leopard…?

Maybe:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16247806#16247806
If you find Snow Leopard is really required, you may find getting a used or refurbished Mac that shipped new before July 20, 2011 is preferable*:
http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html

Need OS X Lion and Snow Leopard for iCloud functionality but I have a windows bootcamp on my mac. Problem?

I have a windows bootcamp on my macbook. I need to download OX Lion and Snow Leopard so I can . If I do download both programs, will I loose my bootcamp functionality?
Much apprecitive.

In addition to what Kappy suggested, please check your Mac against the hardware requirements of Lion before starting this project.
Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
2GB of memory
OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
7GB of available space
Allan

Upgraded my macbook pro to mountain lion from snow leopard does this mean i can upgrade my imac as well for the same price? And will it mess it up?

upgraded my macbook pro to mountain lion from snow leopard does this mean i can upgrade my imac as well for the same price? And will it mess it up?

You can upgrade the iMac for no extra charge - sign into the App Store there, download and install 10.8.
I recommend that you make a backup (Time Machine is probably the easiest method) before you install, and make sure that you are not using any applications that are incomptible with 10.8 (eg Office 2004) - other than that, it should go smoothly.
Matt

Macbook Air with no OSX (Mid 2011) ... cannot install Lion nor Snow Leopard

I have a Macbook Air with no OSX (Mid 2011) ... and I cannot install Lion nor Snow Leopard.
I purchased this Macbook Air 13" and found that the OS had been wiped off. Since then I've been able to get the Recovery Disk Assistant to get me into the Recovery Partition on the MBA... but when I try the "Reinstall Mac OS X" from within Mac OS X Utilities, the download fails after 30 sec. and I get the error message, "Could not find installation information for this machine. Contact Apple Care". This MBA is still covered under Apple's Applecare, but the nearest Apple Store is 3 hrs away and from what I've read, they may not be able to help me.
I know all about Build 11A2063 but cannot figure out where or how to get that.
Also, I've tried making a bootable Lion Drive from my Mac Mini onto a flashdrive, but this too did not work on the MBA (I assume because it isn't Build 11A2063).
I have a huge expensive paper weight with no idea of where to go from here. Any help would be much appreciated.

Where did you buy an MBA without an operating system? Was this from another individual who took the liberty to remove the Mac OS X before selling it to you?
You might try calling Apple customer support and have them walk you through the process, as they can figure out just what version of the OS should be on that machine.
http://www.apple.com/contact

I've just upgraded to "Lion" from "Snow Leopard" which to my surprise does not support "Appleworks" I've used Appleworks for a number of years for all correspondence etc. and need to continue using this software. Do I need to go back to Snow Leopard? d

I've just upgraded to Lion from Snow Leopard and to my surprise it does not support my 'Appleworks' application software. Ihave used Appleworks for all correspondence for six years and need to refer to the files (letters etc.) from time to time. Is my only option to revert back to Snow Leopard?

The reason appleworks no longer runs is because it is a powerpc based application. Since it's end-of-life in 2007, it was never converted to intel architecture, since it was dropped as a supported product. It continued to run on intel machines via rosetta, but OS X Lion formally discontinues all support for powerpc based programs. Powerpc based applications can only be run on OS X 10.6.8 or earlier releases (ones that still support rosetta).
So, it does sound like your best option is to move to iWorks' Pages now - otherwise you will be stuck with an increasingly more outdated operating system. And if you should buy a new machine, it would not run the older versions of OS X anyway, so at some point you have to leave appleworks behind and move on. Seems best to do it now, before Pages perhaps also moves forward to a point where it too may no longer support ancient file formats.
http://www.apple.com/support/appleworks/faq/

Format/Reinstall Mountain Lion with Snow Leopard DVD

I began having problems with software freezing up this morning out of nowhere and decided to do a disk verify on the Macintosh HD partition using Disk Utility. Once it completed it stated I needed to restart holding CMD+R to enter Disk Utility outside of OSX (I guess) to repair some problems that showed up. After doing that, I recieved a message stating that it could not repair the disk, to backup as much as possible, reformat, and reinstall OSX.
I have been using time machine to back up that partition since the beginning. Backups should not be a problem.
So here are my questions:
#1 - Do I only need to select the "Macintosh HD" partition in disk utility and hit reformat?
          Will it even allow me to do that within OSX?
          And will it guide me through the process to reinstall OSX?
#2 - When I purchased the iMac it came with Snow Leopard, but have since upgraded to Lion, then Mountain Lion.
          If I reinstall using the DVD that came with the iMac, will I lose Mountain Lion?
          Or is that attached to my user ID or my Time Machine when I restore?
#3 - I use iTunes - A LOT - Am I going to lose the iTunes database (all my plays, dates, ratings etc...) after reinstalling or will those be safe on my restore from my Time Machine?
I have googled reformatting iMac and read several guides but all this "GUID" stuff is above my head. I just want a clean system like it was when I got it. I use external drives for most of my main storage other than itunes music, which is backed up but remains on the internal drive.
Thank you so much for any help you may be able to give me ahead of time!

#1 should allow that.
#2, no need to reinstall 10.6...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Or restore from the TM backup once the Drive is fixed.
#3, If the TM backup is good you should be fine.

Upgrade - Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard

I have upgraded my iMac to Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard. I have a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard; do I need to purchase this upgrade again, or will the previous purchase hold good for my Macbook Pro?

On your Macbook Pro, assuming it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, you can log into the Mac App Store with the EXACT same Apple ID that you previously used to purchase Mountain Lion for the iMac. In the Store go to your Account's "Purchased Items" list and you should see Mountain Lion listed. Download it from there for Free onto your Macbook Pro.
Hope this helps

Best way to migrate applications from Lion to Snow Leopard?

Hello! own a mid 2011 MacBook Pro and upgraded to Lion back when it came out. I've now realized that Lion and CIFS network drives don't get along well. I want to downgrade back to Snow Leopard. I didn't have any Time machine back ups or anything like that so I believe I have to do a fresh install, this shoudln't be a problem as I have a 6 TB FreeNAS box to back everything up to. My question is about software. Most of the software I have on my computer is free, but some of it, namely the Adobe Design Suite Standard, Quickbooks, and a few other photo/business related pieces of software have been purchased. Is there any easy way of reinstalling them? I guess what I'm asking is, how can I back up my software? Maybe a better question is how do I uninstall software in such a way so that when I reinstall it later it won't give me an error saying the serial number has already been used.

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.
You will need to reinstall your third-party software.

I recently had my Imac repaired and had snow leopard and now I cannot get Icloud?

I recently had my Imac repaired and had snow leopard and now I cannot get Icloud?

To use the features in iCloud you need to upgrade to 10.7.3 (Lion).

Lion or Snow Leopard - that is the question

We have an Imac that is just over a year old. We are trying to decide whether to switch to Lion from Snow Leopard.
We have an ipod, ipad and we just got two new iphone 4s. I think my main reason for switching will be to use the new features of the iphone 4s. I have not seen too much positively written about the lion os.
Does anyone know where i can go to see reviews on lion othere than these forums?

Here's a start for you:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/07/mac-os-x-10-7.ars
To get more, just type "os x lion reviews" in google and get all you want.
I didn't bother with reviews myself. I just made a clone of my Snow Leopard startup disk and went ahead and purchased and installed Lion just after it came out. To me, the best review is how the OS works for me, not what others say about it. By cloning my main drive and going ahead with the installation, I can safely try it out for myself. I've been using it for quite some time now and personally I do like most of the new features. There are some that I don't use but that's the case with all OSs I've had for the last 25 years on Macs.
So my advice is give it a try after you've backed up your stuff. $30 is not much to risk if you don't like it compared to what the earlier systems have cost. BTW, reading these forums is very useful but remember you are reading mostly posts from people who have had problems. The majority of users probably don't have these problems. And DO notice that the loudest protests are coming from those that have NOT taken the precaution to back up their SL stuff first. Not very wise.
Rick

I have a Mac Pro with four hard drives. I currently have Lion installed on one hard drive. I want to have the option to boot from either Lion or Snow Leopard. How can I do this?

I have a Mac Pro with four hard drives. I currently have Lion installed on one hard drive. I want to have the option to boot from either Lion or Snow Leopard. How can I do this?

It's best to install Snow Leopard on one of the three remain drives without an Operating System.
You can then install the applications you need from the original media. Create a User Account using Setup Assistant.
Do you want to migrate User Accounts from the OSX LIon boot drive, or are you keeping the User Accounts separate?
Dual-booting just requires holding the option key during startup and selecting either Lion or Snow Leopard.

Re-installing iLife onto Lion from Snow Leopard

I have a MacBook Pro (Early 2011), which had Snow Leopard on it and came with iLife installed. I've installed Lion onto this machine (initially from the app store, but I had to re-format and re-install). My question is: How do I get iLife back onto Lion?
I've looked in the app store, however on iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band the button doesn't say "Install", but rather "Accept". Pressing this prompts me to put in my password, and then says "Future versions of this app can be downloaded from software update." However, software update has no new updates. How do I get these back?

Stick the disk in as I mentioned to you above.......
If you can't find it there in a folder, then you lost it...
You could buy iLife 11 on Amazon.com for about $18...
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MC623Z-A-iLife-VERSION/dp/B003XKRZES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=U TF8&qid=1329937219&sr=8-1

Is it possible to install Lion on the second hard disk on my Mini (2010) Snow Leopard Server, and switch between Lion and Snow Leopard? I like those voices Lion has in speech.

Is it possible to install Lion on the second hard disk on my Mini (2010) Snow Leopard Server, and switch between Lion and Snow Leopard? I like those voices Lion has in speech.

When baltwosaid NO emphatically, that was described as CORRECT ANSWER. Ditto in the caeses of the radically different answers from Camelotand Matt Clifton
Could it be that CORRECT ANSWER needs better defining by Apple?
That apart, yes, switching might involve rebooting. About the voices, well, I was the other day adding voice to a commentary in a video I was working on. There's only American English accent in SL — Lion I believe has British ones as well.
Why not, I wondered, try to install Lion purely for academic interest, maybe with an SD card (Sandisk Ultra II, 16GB) as Tom Nelson says is possible at http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/ss/Perform-A-Clean-Install-Of-Os-X- Lion-On-Your-Mac.htm

IMac 2011 Lion to Snow Leopard if needed?

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