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Apple Ships OS X 10.7 Lion 'Gold Master' For July Push

Posted by Soulskill on from the tigers-and-bears-oh-my dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Apple released to developers the 'gold master' version of Mac OS 10.7, known as Lion, in a move that positions the company for a July roll-out. 'With Snow Leopard, Apple's previous Mac OS release, the time between going from gold master status to hitting store shelves was approximately two weeks. However that release required Apple to stamp and produce boxed discs to send out to retail stores. Lion will be the first by Apple to be released only through its Mac App Store as a digital download.'"

7 of 370 comments (clear)

  1. "As a digital download" by Inquisitus · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...as opposed to? An analogue download?

  2. Let me clear a few things up for you all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Posting as AC cause this is NDA stuff.

    1) 10.7 can be burned to a DVD or dumped to a USB Flash Key and installed off of. It does NOT require an existing installation of 10.6.8 to INSTALL. You only need an existing 10.6.8 installation to download it- IF you want to get it from the Mac App Store. The relevant file is called "InstallESD.dmg" and weighs in at around 4GB. It is essentially a restore image of what you would otherwise find on a shipping DVD. It comes with what you get off the Mac App Store.

    2) 10.7 does NOT REQUIRE AN APPLE ID.

    There is NO PROTECTION in 10.7 against piracy. There is NO ONLINE ACTIVATION. There is NO receipt checking through the Mac App Store. For all intensive purposes, it is IDENTICAL to 10.6.8 in that the Mac App Store is just another application in /Applications. The operating system IN NO WAY attempts to verify the legality of your installation, nor does it case.

    You can install, configure, and use your machine WITHOUT creating an Apple ID. It is -TOTALLY- optional.

    3) 10.7 Server does NOT REQUIRE AN APPLE ID. The Server administration bits come as a single app ("Server.app") that downloads and installs Server Essentials, which is basically all the server side stuff (Open Directory, PostFix, etc). This application does NOT attempt to verify the legality of your "server" NOR DOES IT REQUIRE A SERIAL. Just like #2- if you obtain Server.app from some other place, you can install and use it on a Mac OS X 10.7 system without the need for an Apple ID, or even an internet connection after the Server Essentials packages have been downloaded!

    So, please, stop spreading FUD!

    10.7 is identical to 10.6. You can clean install it. You don't need 10.6, except for the initial download (which Apple expects you'll do legally- through the Mac App Store). You do not need an Apple ID for anything (you don't loose functionality).

    The only thing that has changed- is that Apple is going the digital *distribution* route. They have NOT gone the "digital distribution and locked down DRM and online activation" route.

    -AC

    1. Re:Let me clear a few things up for you all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      (Same AC as GP)

      The restore system. InstallESD.dmg contains a bootable version of OS X much like the 10.6 installer. Except things work a little differently now:

      1) The installer is split into two stages. The first creates a recovery partition on your disk drive, and dumps the OS X installer and a nifty repair/utility system to it.
      2) The second stage occurs after the first has completed. The system reboots onto the fresh recovery partition, and restores the operating system off it.

      The difference between a clean install and an install-from-your-existing-system is only the first stage. If you're installing from 10.6.x, then you're running a tool that does #1 under your existing OS and then reboots to perform #2. If you're installing from a USB key or DVD-R, then the bootable system on the disk is performing step #1 for you, then rebooting to continue with #2.

      The installer might just work under 10.5, I haven't checked. Apple says you need 10.6.x to download Lion (which you do). If you already have the Lion *.app bundle saved somewhere else (this is the same bundle that contains the aforementioned InstallESD.dmg file), then you might be able to copy it to a 10.5 OS and run it from there. The only reason why this wouldn't work is if Apple is checking for it and actively denying attempts; or if 10.5 is lacking some runtime component or framework that the *.app installer requires.

      Again, the situation is far more flexible and far less 1984 then people are currently freaking about. The only thing that has changed is the (primary) method of distribution. In fact, given that Server doesn't even need a serial anymore (and doesn't attempt to authenticate with the Mac App Store- that would be stupid), things have gotten considerably simpler (anyone remember the serialnumberd issues in 10.6 where a dual-homed server would see itself and invalidate it's license?)...

      -AC

    2. Re:Let me clear a few things up for you all. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is not criticism. I am taking the opportunity to point this out because it is a pet peeve of mine. So I'm saying this for my own selfish reasons, not in order to criticize or to troll. Anyway:

      The phrase is not "for all intensive purposes". It is "for all intents AND purposes."

      Everybody who did not already know that, please take note.

      Thank you for your attention.

  3. Re:Is XCode included in the download? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Pay attention! Xcode 4.x is free from the Mac App Store if you are running Lion. They said this 2 weeks ago.

  4. That leaves Hughesnet users out. by JohnG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am stuck with Hughesnet, due to living in the boonies. They impose a 425 megabyte limit on my downloads even at the $100 a month plan. The only time it is unlimited is between 2am-7am, which I'm betting isn't enough time to grab an entire OSX distribution. Just getting XCode and the iOS SDK became a race against time once the file hit the 4gb range. I guess I can stay up until 2, then set an alarm for 7 to pause the Mac App Store download until 2 am the next morning. But still, I'd really like to just pay a few extra bucks and have them ship me a DVD. It doesn't even have to come in a fancy box.

  5. Re:Is XCode included in the download? by Shin-LaC · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apple contributed a lot of changes upstream, but they were not merged. At some point, they stopped and decided to focus on LLVM instead.