Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5 8 To Snow Leopard Free

I have an iMac(Early 2009) running Leopard (10.5.8). Now I want to upgrade my OS to El Capitan (10.11).

The situation is this one:

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  • If you do download and install Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can continue to obtain combo updates all the way through Mac OS X 10.6.8 through Apple Support, and they should still be available through the Software Update mechanism on the older Mac OS X release as well.
  • Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5 8 To Snow Leopard Free Download How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab.

✔ my iMac version is listed under the upgradable devices

10.5

✘ MacOSX 10.6.8 is required to be installed (due to Mac App Store introduction) on the iMac

I'm not a lawyer however my take on it is when OS X became a free upgrade it was dependent on having at least Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher so IMO if you do not own a copy of Mac OS X 10.6 or higher then the legality is questionable and I'd say dishonest at the lease. That said, what your asking is doable.

Official solution (or what I undestood reading Apple website)

  • buy the DVD of Snow Leopard (10.6) from online Apple Store and install it on 10.5.8;
  • update the OS until 10.6.8;
  • use the App Store to download and install El Capitan.

Said that, after some search, I found this macworld article showing alternative methods to upgrade from 10.5.8 MacOSX version to a more recent one. This reading brought me to another solution:

Alternative solution

  • use a Mac of a friend of mine which runs El Capitan to download El Capitan from Mac App Store;
  • create a bootable usb stick from it;
  • use it to do a clean install on my iMac (erasing all disk content before choosing the HDD in which to install El Capitan)
  • configure my iMac creating my Apple ID

Questions

  1. Will solution 2 work?
  2. Is solution 2 legal?

Note

Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5 8 To Snow Leopard Free Download

The linked article hit my questions' topics but I did not deeply understand nor the configuration of the Apple ID on the fresh installed El Capitan nor the legal aspects of the solution.


Choose About this Mac from the Apple menu and check the processor.

If it's a Core Duo Mac, click here, install the DVD, and run Software Update.

If it's a Core 2 Duo or better Mac, upgrade it as if it was a Core Duo Mac, and once done, if desired, open the Mac App Store and try downloading Yosemite. If you get told it's incompatible, go to the online Apple Store and order a download code for Lion 10.7.

After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements. Snow Leopard General Requirements. Mac computer with an Intel. Mac Os X 10 5 Leopard free download - Apple Mac OS X Mavericks, R for Mac OS X, Apple Safari, and many more programs.

Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5 8 To Snow Leopard Free Download

Mac OS X 10.7 and newer don't support PowerPC software such as Microsoft Office 2004. If you upgrade the OS, back up the computer first.

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Mac Os X 10.5.8 Update

Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5 8 To Snow Leopard Free Download

Apr 7, 2015 1:53 PM

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