Rumor is that Mac OS X Lion — the latest version of Apple's popular operating system — will become available in a few days. While you're waiting for the software to be released, you can get your computer ready.
There's not really much you need to do in order to prepare for Mac OS X Lion, but there is a checklist of things to cover:
- Make sure that you've got at least 2GB of RAM and an Intel processor that is at least a Core 2 duo, i3, i5, i7, or Xeon.
- Make sure that you've got at least 4GB of free hard drive space. Preferably, you should have more space than that bare minimum.
- Update your computer to Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.6 or higher. This is necessary because Mac OS X Lion will only be available as a download through the Mac App Store which was added in that version. (Yes, this does mean you need Snow Leopard to install Lion.) You should be running the very latest version of Snow Leopard, so consider hitting the "Check for Updates" button before installing Lion.
- Backup your files. We can't emphasize enough the importance of backing up your files. Plenty of things can go wrong on an ordinary day, but you're just asking for trouble if you're upgrading your operating system without a backup.
Got all those little things checked off? Great. You can now sit down and twiddle your thumbs until Mac OS X Lion shows up in the Mac App Store.
Related stories:
- New MacBook Air, Lion OS due out next week?
- Report: High-end 'iPad HD' coming soon
- Rumor: Not one, but two iPhones coming in fall?
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.
