1. Arm Mac Vs Intel Mac
2. Leopard For Intel Macbook Pro

It started out on PowerPC processors but later transitioned onto Intel processors with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) the last to natively support the PowerPC architecture and Snow Leopard (10.6) the last to support PowerPC applications on Intel-based Macs. All versions of Mac OS X that were made to run on PowerPC systems (with the exception of. Download Old Version of Firefox for Mac for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) (Intel). Downloaded the iso image and proceeded to make a Mac OS X bootable USB on windows. To create a bootable media to install Mac OS X leopard on my old macbook A1181. I used imageusb and installed. I was very happy to find this 10.5.4 version which worked perfectly. Many thanks to all.

Tips on 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard(last compatible operating system for G4 867 and above, and G5s), 10.6 Snow Leopard (end of the line for PowerPC applications), 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks,

10.10 Yosemite, and 10.11 El Capitan to 10.14 Mojave.

Arm Mac Vs Intel Mac

Mac OS X Sierra was released on September 20, 2016. A few Macs which came with 10.6 can install Sierra.

Note this tip, and the series of tips from 10.2 (10.2, and 10.3 not mentioned in above links as people must have 10.4.4 or later on an Intel Mac to get to 10.6) to 10.11 I've written here all refer to Mac OS X Client. Server versions of Mac OS X may have different limitations, and the people visiting the appropriate Server forum may be able to answer your questions better about Mac OS X Server.

When determining your Mac model, see this tip to find its age:

I would not downgrade to Leopard without erasing your data first.

Be sure to backup your data first at least twice before installing any operating system. Shut down, and disconnect any peripherals before continuing with the installation. Read the info below to ensure you are compatible. Finally, you may need to use the Startup Manager to boot the operating system when the 'C' key doesn't work in order to get the installer to work or repair the disk before installation if the initial attempt to install fails. To determine if that repair is necessary, post to the forum, and someone will be able to help you to find out which repairs might be necessary.

Java is outdated in terms of security in Mac OS X 10.6. Backup your data and at least update to 10.6.8 if your Mac says it is Intel in Apple menu -> About this Mac. Read about updating to 10.7, and this tip about how to optimize your Java in 10.6 if you are stuck with 10.6.

10.6 retail is available from the Apple Store on http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard (the /us/ in the link may be changed for the standard two letter country code matching the store link). Note: Macs newer than April 1, 2010 but older than July 20, 2011 must use the original 10.6 installer disc that shipped with them to boot 10.6 from CD. AppleCare may have those discs if you lost or misplaced it. To determine the age of a Mac, plug it in the support status search engine, and use the serial number lookup. Using the model name, find the release date of that model on Wikipedia or Everymac.com, and the followup date.

Leopard (10.5) is not to be confused with Snow Leopard (10.6) which are different paid operating systems.

If you are interested in upgrading to Lion you can read this tip, and Mountain Lion or Mavericks, this tip. Note: Mavericks you can update to

for free, whereas both Lion and Mountain Lionyou can not. Lion requires a minimum of 10.6.6 already be installed, unless you have the USB Flash drive for it, and Mountain Lion and Mavericks requires a minimum of 10.6.8. Lion and Mountain Lion have different hardware requirements, but the Apple hardware requirements for Mavericks are the same Mountain Lion.

If you got a machine that came with Lion or Mountain Lion and wonder if you can install Snow Leopard on it, read the bottom of this tip first.

Snow leopard is available free for a limited time from this link if you have Mobileme and need an upgrade path to Lion that doesn't require erasing your hard drive.

Flashback malware has a patch on 10.6.8. Users of 10.6.7 and earlier are recommended to disable Java. For more info read this tip.

Macs that were released new as of July 20, 2011 (the MacBook Pro for instance had no new release until October 24, 2011, and that model's earlier sold models all work with Snow Leopard) or later, will generally not run Snow Leopard unless you follow this tip for Snow Leopard Server virtualization. Other than that, the following statements are true:

All Mac Pros will work with Snow Leopard (10.6.x), and they look like:

The PowerMac G5 towers which look like:

will not work with Snow Leopard. Neither will the ones that are beige, blue, or graphite colored with plastic cases.

All Apple notebooks labelled MacBook with at least 1 GB of RAM, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air below the screen or will work with Snow Leopard.

Apple notebooks labeled iBook, and Powerbook beneath the screen will not work with Snow Leopard. Note, many of the newer MacBook Airs and MacBook Pro no longer have the label on the bottom of the screen frame, and you have to shut down the Mac, and look under the Mac for its label. Those may only be able to use the aforementioned virtualized Snow Leopard Server.

Mac minis with at least 1 GB of RAM and 4 and 5 USB ports on the rear as shown in the image below:

will work with Snow Leopard.
Those with less than four USB ports will not work with Snow Leopard.

All iMacs that look like:

Will work with Snow Leopard.

From the iMacs which look like:

If they are iMac Intelthey can upgraded to Snow Leopard. To tell if they are Intel, they will have an EMC# on the base which is enumerated 2104, 2105, 2110, 2114, 2118, 2111, 2133, or 2134. All others were iMac G5 and can only be upgraded to 10.5.8. Another distinction is that iMac G5's had mini-VGA ports that looked like:

Whereas White iMac Intels had mini-DVI which looked like:

You can also tell if it is an iMac Intel by selecting Apple menu -> About This Mac. Core Duo and Core2Duo are Intel, whereas the G5 are not.

Notes: G5 refers to the CPU made by IBM for Apple before the migration to Intel CPU in 2006. It was found on iMacs, and PowerMacs. Powerbooks and iBooks maxed out using the Motorola G4 CPU, only to be replaced by MacBook Pros and MacBooks in 2006.. Intel made the CPU found in 2006 and newer Macs, and these are referred to as CoreSolo, CoreDuo, Core2Duo, i3, i5, i7, and Xeon. Don't confuse a G5 for an Intel CPU Mac. They are not the same except in exterior design when it comes to the iMac, and the means to tell them apart is stated above. In 2006, the Mac Mini changed from G4 to Intel CoreSolo CPU. In 2006 the iMac changed from G5 to Intel CoreDuo CPU.

All Intel Macs with sufficient RAM older than March 29, 2010 can take the retail 10.6.3 installer disc. All Intel Macs with sufficient RAM older than August 28, 2009 can take the 10.6.0 retail installer disc. This disc must look like and can't say Upgrade, Dropin, or OEM on it.

It is recommended those upgrading from PowerPC follow this tip:

It is recommended you backup your data at least twice before upgrading any software.

It is recommended you check these listings for compatible 10.6 software from:
C!Net, Snow Leopard Wiki,Macintouch, and Apple's listing of compatible printers and scanners

and Apple supplied updates for printers and scanners:

HP, Ricoh,Canon, Epson, Brother,Lexmark, Samsung, and Fuji/Xerox

Additionally, some Ricoh printers that do not have official drivers have been found to have the resolution documented by this thread:

And Apple's phone support with iSync:

For digital cameras, these RAW formats are supported on 10.6. Note the most recent Mac Mini, iMac, and MacBook Pros

have SD card slots for reading camera media. For all other camera media, Express/34 on 17' MacBook Pro and pre-June 8 2009 MacBook Pros, PCI for Mac Pro, USB, and Firewire card readers exist for all Intel Mac models. Additionally, many multifunction printers have card readers that will work on the Mac. JPEG, TIFF, PNG

are all common formats supported by cameras outside of RAW, though RAW enables you to post process many more features of digital images than the other formats.

To be compatible with the Mac App Store, the Lion updater from the USB Flash drive or App Store, and the Facetime video software in Standard Definition minimum, you'll need the 10.6.6 combo, 10.6.7 combo, 10.6.7 combo with the font update, or the 10.6.8 combo followed by the Thunderbolt update if applicable.

10.6.8 has the following security updates: 10.6.8 2013 Security Update 004, 2013-005 Java update (note Java is not current until Mac OS X 10.7.3 from Java.com)

Sometimes when 10.6 is installed, Rosetta, the application that allows PowerPC programs to run will not automatically install. In those situations, you can manually install Rosetta from the 10.6 installer disc. The following quote explains how to install it manually:

Insert the Mac OS 10.6 installation DVD When the DVD is mounted, select “Optional Installs” then “Optional Installs.mpkg”

Follow the onscreen instructions for agreeing to the software license and selecting the hard drive for installation.

In the “Installation Type” step, select the box next to Rosetta from the list of applications presented. Continue the installation process.

After successful installation, a confirmation message will appear.

These instructions appeared on http://forums.printable.com/showthread.php?t=1110 .

As 10.6 is the last operating system that shipped on prebundled discs that come with Macs, it also is the last one that shipped with a prebundled set of iLife applications. To learn which version of iLife may have come on your computer, see this tip. 10.7 and later prebundled Macs did not ship with iDVD, but will have shipped with iPhoto, iTunes, Garageband, and iMovie. If you still desire iDVD, consult with AppleCare.

10.6 has these updates available depending on what you have on your Mac (Combo updates can be applied to any of the preceding versions, where Delta can only be applied to the immediately preceding version):

Which Macs can have Snow Leopard installed, and which can only have Lion installed based on Machine ID (also known as Model Identifier)?

You can find out which gray installer disc came with Macs that can install Snow Leopard newer than March 15, 2010 by reading: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1159. Machine ID is in Apple menu -> About This Mac -> More info (on 10.7 and later the About Window has System Information instead of More info to access the System Profiler) under the hardware section. The 'x' value below can be any number. Older Macs indicated below can use the 10.6.3 retail installer, if not the 10.6 retail installer, if they are older than August 28, 2009. Together with partitioning, the Core2Duo (not CoreDuo, not CoreSolo), Xeon, Core i3, i5, i7 Macs which are Snow Leopard compatible can run both Snow Leopard and Lion, provided they have at least 2 GB of RAM. Partitioning requires an erase of the hard drive. A second internal or external hard drive can boot into a separate operating system on the same Macs. The Macs below which can only run Lion and later, are also known as Lion prebundled Macs. Lion prebundled Macs thankfully can run Windows in virtualization, which would allow them to use the Windows version of software that may only run in Snow Leopard and earlier on Mac OS X. The Macs listed here that won't run Snow Leopard also are not able to use the retail Lion installer USB Flash drive, and must use the instructions onMacworld to create a specialty Flash drive or be cloned onto another hard drive before their prebundled hard drive dies, to be able to restore Lion. Macs below that can't install Snow Leopard directly may be able to do so via virtualization, as described by this tip.

Mac Mini 5,x and later only run Lion and later. Mac Mini 4,x and earlier can run Snow Leopard with at least 1 GB of RAM (that's greater than 768MB of RAM).

MacBook Pro 8,x with EMC#s 2355, 2563, 2564 can only run 10.7 or later, all other 8,x EMC#s can run 10.6.3 or later, and all 7,x can.

MacBook Pro 9,x and higher can only run 10.7 and later.

Mac Pro 5,1 that are not EMC 2629 and earlier can run Snow Leopard. EMC 2629, and Mac Pro 6,x and later can only 10.7 and later.

The 10.6.3 retail installer will only work on Mac Pro 4,x and earlier.

MacBook with no Air and no Pro on the screen as of 11/30/2011 can all run Snow Leopard with at least 1 GB of RAM.

MacBook Air 4,x and later can't run Snow Leopard, while 3,x and earlier with at least 1 GB of RAM can run Snow Leopard.

iMac 12,1 i3 (EMC 2496 on foot, MC978LL/A) can't run Snow Leopard, while the 12,x i5 and i7 can run Snow Leopard, and the iMac 1,1 through 11,x can run Snow Leopard with at least 1 GB of RAM. iMac 13,1 and later can't run Snow Leopard natively.

Lastly, here the Macs that are compatible with 10.6.3 retail avialable from the Apple Store based on Model Identifier:

iMac 11,1 and older

Mac Mini 3,x and older

MacBook 6,1 and older

MacBook Pro 5,x and older

MacPro 4,x and older

MacBook Air 2,x and older

Macs that fall between those criteria must use the 10.6 installer that shipped with them to install 10.6.

* The release names Early and Late can be gotten by plugging the serial number of the machine in

Tips on 10.2 Jaguar, 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard (End of the line for PowerPC Macs), 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.9 Mavericks,

10.10 Yosemite, and 10.11 El Capitan

Note: this tip, and the series of tips I've written from 10.3 to 10.9 all refer to Mac OS X client. The server edition may have different limitations. Please ask on the appropriate Server forum if you are interested in Mac OS X Server.

Mac OS X Sierra, to be released September 20, 2016 is the first Mac OS X not compatible with Macs that run Leopard, however is compatible with some Macs that were released with Snow Leopard. A new tip discussing Sierra will be linked on the Snow Leopard and later tips. There are some Macs that came with 10.4 that can install Mac OS X 10.11.

When determining your requirements for the operating system, see this tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6413 for your Mac model and age.

Be sure to backup your data first at least twice before installing any operating system. Shut down, and disconnect any peripherals before continuing with the installation. Read the info below to ensure you are compatible.

Not many will be updating directly from Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier to 10.5, but those who are should read this article on firmware updates.

Finally, you may need to use the Startup Manager to boot the operating system when the 'C' key doesn't work in order to get the installer to work or repair the disk before installation if the initial attempt to install fails. To determine if that repair is necessary, post to the forum, and someone will be able to help you to find out which repairs might be necessary.

Leopard (10.5) is not to be confused with Snow Leopard (10.6), which are totally different paid operating systems.

Leopard For Intel Macbook Pro

Flashback affected users in 10.5 can now rejoice. Apple has released a removal software, and patch for 10.5.8 on Intel Macs.

PowerPC users may generally not be a target, however, to be on the safe side, it still is recommended you disable Java. If you must install Java on 10.5 because you have a PowerPC Mac that only supports 10.5.8, the latest Java for 10.5.8 tip explains how to optimize your Java for 10.5.8. Otherwise if you have an Intel Mac, read how to upgrade to 10.6.8, which supports a better Java, although still not the latest Java.

Also don't install any software from a website not belonging to a vendor, unless recommended by people on the forum.

Ask first if uncertain.

Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) was release October 26, 2007. Some deciding to upgrade to Leopard, may benefit more from upgrading to Tiger first until all their applications have been upgraded. Use this tip to learn how. 10.5's 10.5.8 update is the newest operating system available for PowerPC Macs (G4 with 867 Mhz, 1Ghz or higher, and G5) that meet its requirements. Some G5 towers run better with this firmware update when installed before updating the version of Mac OS X that shipped with them. 10.5 is available occasionally by calling Apple online store's phone number, even though the website does not show it. Many want to upgrade to Leopard because of i-Devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) bought saying iTunes 10 or later is recommended. To check if that really is required, look at the i-Device requirements section of this tip.

If your Mac is Intel, and running 10.4.11 or earlier, and meets the hardware requirements of 10.6 (Snow Leopard) , a less expensive upgrade solution is to upgrade to 10.6 directly. No need to upgrade to 10.5 unless your software won't run in Snow Leopard. And even some newer Intel Macs, can install 10.7 (from 10.6.6, or USB Flash drive version of 10.7 on an erase and install), and the newest can install 10.8 or 10.9 from 10.6.8. Use aforementioned 10.6 & 10.7 links to determine which might be better for you.

Also check to make sure you are using the retail installer, unless your Mac came with some version of 10.5. The retail installer looks like

and came in 10.5(.0 on October 26, 2007), 10.5.1 (November 15, 2007), 10.5.4 (June 30, 2008), and 10.5.6 (December 15, 2008) releases. It does not say Upgrade, Dropin, or OEM. These are the only 10.5 discs that will work with PowerPC Macs, and are the first retail releases that will work with Intel Macs that came with 10.4.11 or earlier. If your Mac is older than 10.5.6 you can at minimum use the 10.5.6 release. As long as it meets the requirements below, and is older than the date of those releases, it can use all of them. Macs newer than December 15, 2008 must use either the installer disc that shipped with them, or Snow Leopard installer. The disc that shipped with Macs with 10.5 is increasingly more difficult to find, and matching it up with a Mac, though this article can help identify which one it may be.

If installing on a hard drive for the first time, remember it is important you pick the correct formatting.

This listing on Macintouch covers Leopard incompatible software.

If part of your installing Leopard is bringing over data from a PowerPC Mac to an Intel Mac follow this tip.

Apple has a listing of compatible printers, phones with iSync, and compatible RAW photo formats for 10.5.

For Leopard you need

867 Mhz on a single processor or faster (1 Ghz and higher are faster).

256 MB of RAM (preferably 512MB of more based on arbitrary experience).

9 GB of hard disk space (arbitrary experience adds another 15%) free.

Macs newer than August 28, 2009 can't run Leopard, and require a minimum of Snow Leopard.

Mac OS X 10.5 is the earliest version of Mac OS X that will run iTunes 10. This is necessary for numerous i-Devices (iPad, iPhone, and iPods). To find out which require it, see this article

Should you require only iTunes 9, and are running a minimum of 10.4, backup your data at least twice, check in Apple menu -> About This Mac if you have a G3, G4, G5 (which is PowerPC), or Intel Core (which is Intel) make sure you are running 10.4.11 PowerPC or 10.4.11 Intel (depending on the aforementioned processors), and download iTunes 9.2.1. If you came here from running 10.3.9 or earlier read this tip on upgrading to Tiger first. The only reason you should upgrade to 10.5 is if some other software is required. The newest iTunes for PowerPC on 10.5 can be found here:

Note upgrading from an older Mac with only USB 1.1, one also has to consider only a few iPods were reasonably fast with those older Macs, or could get

power from them while connected.

Dual booting Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.5, check this tip:https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1757

Classic is not compatible with 10.5. 10.4.11 on a PowerPC Mac (G3, G4, or G5) or earlier is needed for Classic. Intel Macs do not support

Classic at all.

Boot Camp is only available on Intel Macs with 10.5 and higher. For more on this limitation, see Does any version of 10.5 offer Boot Camp for PowerPC Macs?

Time Machine backup software first appeared in 10.5

You have several options of installation which are explained here: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2209

10.5 has these combo updates which can be installed after backing up your data, and dismounting and disconnecting any data peripherals:

10.5.1, 10.5.2, 10.5.3, 10.5.4, 10.5.5, 10.5.6, 10.5.7, 10.5.8

which some software may require as a minimum to be compatible with. 10.5.8 though is the only one where the most current security updates are available.

Combo updates may be installed on the same operating system version which was updated with Software Update, or the Delta update, to ensure no components are missing, as well as any version of 10.5 that is older.

All of which I recommend you backup your data at least twice before upgrading, and have sufficient disk space to install, and all your third party applications and drivers are known to be Leopard compatible, and after backing up your data you dismount and disconnect all but Apple keyboard and mouse and if there is an external display, that too. And just before you install repair permissions.

Note: Tiger introduced Spotlight, and that has been the available search engine ever since, that also controls the results under Finder's Find File. If you don't like Spotlight, these alternatives exist if you are only searching for the files by name or other attribute not contained within the file's content:

http://www.devontechnologies.com/products/freeware/ - EasyFind

http://www.osxbytes.com/ - iFileX (note the MacUpdate link provided on osxbytes page has a Malware advertisement for MacKeeper, do not download).

If any of the above terms confuse you, ask on the Discussions board what they mean, and one of the people who knows will gladly assist you.