Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Lion Edition

The Standard Installation

To do the actual installation, open the App Store program on your Mac. If you don’t see “OS X Lion” advertised right there on the home page, then you can find it by searching for lion. Click the $29.99 button, and then click again when it changes to say Install (Figure A-1).

Figure A-1. Enter your Apple ID and password when you’re asked for it, and enjoy a hot mug of your favorite beverage as the download begins. If you have a typical broadband Internet connection, expect to wait about half an hour.

When the download begins, behind the scenes, the App Store puts a 3.8-gigabyte program called Install Mac OS X Lion into your Applications folder.

Tip

If you don’t have a fast Internet connection, or if your Internet provider imposes monthly data limits, you might not be thrilled about the prospect of waiting for a 4-gigabyte download. Fortunately, you have two alternatives.

First, you can take your Mac to an Apple Store and use its free, fast WiFi to download Lion (or a friend’s house, a library, a coffee shop...). Second, you can buy a flash drive with the Lion installer on it for $70 from Apple.

You’ll know when the downloading is over, because the actual installer opens up automatically and presents you with the proud animal shown in Figure A-2.

Figure A-2. Your installation ...