# Upgrading Mac OS X...but not all the way **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140 "2014-01-18T12:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/1 "2014-01-18T12:51:14Z")
For Christmas, I bought my wife some software she’d been wanting. The problem is, it requires at least Mac OS X 10.7, and she’s still running 10.6.8. No problem, says I. I’ll go upgrade for you. But when I went to upgrade to Mavericks, which is, what, 10.9 or something? - I was warned that a couple of other critical programs would no longer work if I installed it. So what I want to try is just doing a small upgrade from 10.6.8 to 10.7 and see if that will make everything work properly. But I cannot find out how to do that upgrade anywhere on Apple’s website. Nothing exists there except Mavericks. Any suggestions? Being able to do it for free would be a lovely bonus, too, of course. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/2 "2014-01-18T14:05:33Z")
[The Apple Store](http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion). 20 bucks. Interestingly, what they give you is a redemption code to use in the App store, however it doesn’t appear you can just buy it _directly_ from the App store. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/3 "2014-01-18T14:41:01Z")
…And if those “critical programs” are PowerPC based, you can’t upgrade at all, even to Lion. 10.6.x is the last version of MacOS that supports them. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/4 "2014-01-18T14:42:49Z")
**You will have the same problem with 10.7!** The issue is _Rosetta_ - the facility that allows PowerPC code to run on intel machines. The last OS that supported that was 10.6. Upgrading past that breaks compatibility with PPC code. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/5 "2014-01-18T15:00:17Z")
If you really need to run PowerPC programs but still want to use newer software, you can create a partition and have both OS’s, provided of course you have enough HDD space. Step-by-step instructions [here](http://osxdaily.com/2011/03/12/how-to-install-dual-boot-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-and-10-6-snow-leopard/). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/6 "2014-01-18T16:50:02Z")
Bugger. I was hoping to avoid all that, but it looks like it might be the only option. Ah, well. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/7 "2014-01-18T17:07:41Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > **Bugger**. I was hoping to avoid all that, but it looks like it might be the only option. Ah, well. Thanks. Buy into the Apple myth and that’s what you get. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/8 "2014-01-18T17:19:12Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Buy into the Apple myth and that’s what you get. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/9 "2014-01-18T17:30:15Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Bugger. I was hoping to avoid all that, but it looks like it might be the only option. Ah, well. Thanks. Are you sure that the issue is PowerPC programs? If so check up and see if there are any free updates with Intel versions. It’s pretty unlikely that she really has a Power PC program with no Intel equivalent version. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/10 "2014-01-18T17:37:53Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@bob\_2](#): > > Buy into the Apple myth and that’s what you get. GQ is for factual answers. If you want to express your opinion about Apple and its products there are better forums in which to do so. This comes across as threadshitting and is not appropriate for GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/11 "2014-01-18T18:36:42Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Buy into the Apple myth and that’s what you get. What is the Apple Myth? Maybe that’s a question for another thread. But since it’s brought up, as with any operating system, or hell—company even—at some point a company must decide when it must drop support and development of antiquated and outmoded software/hardware. This is the risk taken if you choose to fall out of step with gradual upgrades for anything. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/12 "2014-01-18T19:14:03Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Bugger. I was hoping to avoid all that, but it looks like it might be the only option. Ah, well. Thanks. If you go Finder \> Utilities \> System Profiler and then click on “Software,” you should be able to sort by type and see which applications are Power PC, Universal, and Intel. Any ones that are Power PC will become non-functional in your upgrade to 10.7. Check with the vendor to see if the application is still supported. If it is, there hopefully is an update available. I didn’t really have any problems with upgrading to 10.7, but I don’t really have any legacy apps that I use and I tend to keep up-to-date with latest software revisions. There apparently also is a way to get around the dropping of PowerPC support via Parallels and running a virtualized Snow Leopard server on it, but I don’t quite know the details of it and it’s not something I’ve had to figure out how to do yet. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/13 "2014-01-18T19:53:42Z")
The old software in question is Microsoft Office, of which she is running a very out-of-date version. It would be nice to update her to a more modern edition, of course, and it’s looking now like we’ll have to, but the old version was working fine for what she needed, and we’re dirt poor, so spending a hundred bucks or so to upgrade is worth attempting to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/14 "2014-01-18T20:15:17Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > The old software in question is Microsoft Office, of which she is running a very out-of-date version. It would be nice to update her to a more modern edition, of course, and it’s looking now like we’ll have to, but the old version was working fine for what she needed, and we’re dirt poor, so spending a hundred bucks or so to upgrade is worth attempting to avoid. Depending on your Office needs, you might be able to get away with [Open Office](http://www.openoffice.org/). You can try it on 10.6.8, and if it works well enough, you can continue to run it in whatever you upgrade your OS to. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/15 "2014-01-18T21:47:04Z")
Yeah, I’d probably be fine with that, but my wife gets irritated with different formats and stuff. She had OpenOffice once before due to previous cheapness on my part, and didn’t like it. Getting the actual Office software was a big relief to her. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/16 "2014-01-19T04:09:52Z")
Any chance you work for a company that participates in the Microsoft Home Use Program? If you do, you can get a license for Office:Mac 2013 for ten bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/17 "2014-01-19T20:08:16Z")
I’m a grad student. I’ve got a license for my own computer, but I can’t for hers. It’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-mac-os-x-but-not-all-the-way/679140/18 "2014-01-19T20:41:49Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I was warned that a couple of other critical programs would no longer work if I installed it. Are there upgrades for those programs available? Or Intel versions?