Before Upgrading to Mountain Lion

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Mac OSX Mountain Lion ever since all of its awesome features were first introduced in February. Now that Apple has finally released its next major version of their operating system, I’ve got a couple of suggestions that I’m hoping will save you some of the woes I’ve experienced in the past.

Just in case there are some of you that are in the dark about the great new features that are included with this upgrade, check out this video.

1. Familiarize yourself with the basics.

This update is available as a download from the Mac App Store for only $19.99 and should only take about 30 minutes to install. You’ll need to make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements required for the upgrade. Most Macs that were sold in the last few years will qualify, but Apple has tightened up the requirements a bit compared to those eligible for Lion.

Here are the general system requirements that Apple has listed:

• OS X v10.6.8 or later
• 2GB of memory
• 8GB of available space

Apple has also listed these models that support Mountain Lion:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
• Xserve (Early 2009)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

Unfortunately, some of these great new features (such as AirPlay Mirroring), are only available on models sold in the last year. I’m pretty upset about this! (While I have a new iMac at work, my personal Macbook Pro is an early 2008 and is quickly approaching ragamuffin status.)

To find out the exact specs of your Mac, click on the Apple in your menubar, then “About this Mac” and click the “More Info…” button. The About this Mac overview window will show your model and release date, as well as the amount of memory installed to compare with the basic requirements. (Click the Storage tab at the top to see if you have enough free space.)

2. Check to make sure that all of your favorite applications are compatible with Mountain Lion.

This is an area that I regretfully know quite a lot about. Last year, I was so eager to install Lion as soon as it released that I didn’t bother with this step. Unfortunately, this meant that I would spend months dealing with glitches in Photoshop and all of my other Adobe CS4 products. Now that Apple and Adobe have finally worked out the kinks to make these programs run smoothly on my machines, I will not be diving in so quickly to my Mountain Lion upgrade. I recommend checking on an App Compatibility Table like this one that I found on RoaringApps.com which takes only a few moments to verify your app collection.

3. Make room for Mountain Lion! 

While this upgrade only requires 8GB of hard drive space, it’s probably a good idea to make some additional room if you’re running low. This can be easily accomplished by sending useless applications, temporary files, and any other random space-wasters to the trash bin. If you’re still left scratching your head as to how you’re going to make room, I’d recommend considering dropping some of your music and movies from your iTunes. Since your purchases are conveniently stored in iCloud now, your computer no longer has to be the hub that holds your entire music library. You can also use cool applications like AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, or OSX’s own built-in Disk Utility to get your hard drive ready.

4. Backup all of your important files.

While it may not be the most fun thing to do with your time, routinely backing up your documents, media, and designs is such an important thing. Whether you have an online cloud service like Dropbox or just a simple external hard drive, be sure to backup your files before you upgrade. I have some close friends who were devastated when they lost all of their files on an OS upgrade. Don’t let that be you!

I hope that these tips help! Hopefully, you won’t face any anxiety with your upgrade to this operating system! Let me know how it goes!

Sources: http://www.apple.com/osx, http://www.gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/technology/gadgetbox/how-prepare-your-mac-mountain-lion-908579

Image: Apple.com