Mac OS Version Notes

Glossary

• Universal: PowerPC and Intel compatible

Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger"

• Universal
• Requirements:
  • A PowerPC G3, G4, G5 or Intel processor
  • 256 MB of RAM
  • Built-in FireWire - Can be bypassed using a program such as XPostFacto
  • 3GB Hard Drive space
• There are two 10.4.11 images on gala.cs for older macs. One is PowerPC, the other is Intel.
• Notes:
  • The retail DVD of Tiger was PowerPC only, the Intel versions of the OS were pre-installed on machines that shipped with it and can only be re-installed via the restore DVDs that came bundled with the computers.
  • The firewire requirement can be bypassed by using XPostFacto and by directly imaging the Mac's hard drive (usually done via DeployStudio or Target Disk Mode.)

Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard"

• Universal
• Dropped all PowerPC G3 support
• Requirements:
  • Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
  • 512 MB of RAM
  • 9GB Hard Drive space
• There is a Universal 10.5 image for use on gala.cs for older macs.
• Notes:
  • This is the last Mac operating system that supported PowerPC based Macs.
  • The processor speed requirement can be bypassed (if the machine at least has a G4 processor) by directly imaging the Mac's hard drive (usually done via DeployStudio or Target Disk Mode) though it is not recommended due to the lack of proper graphics support on older machines and speed issues.

Mac OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard"

• Dropped all PowerPC support, all Mac OS versions after this are Intel only
• Many features based off of the previous version
• Requirements:
  • See http://support.apple.com/kb/sp575
• 10.6.8 image - 2011-09 - on empire.cs - for imacs only

Mac OS 10.7 "Lion"

• Introduced the Mac App store
• Only available on the Mac App Store, not by retail DVD
• We didn't use this because of AD Binding problems.
• Notes:
  • Introduced FileVault 2 (for full-disk encryption, FileVault 1 only encrypted the user's home folder)

Mac OS 10.8 "Mountain Lion"

• Only available on the Mac App Store, not by retail DVD
• Requirements:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
  • 2GB of RAM
  • Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later with the Mac App Store installed
  • 8GB Hard Drive space
• Machines that have a 32bit EFI will NOT run 10.8 or later!
• 10.8.4 image - 2013-08 - on empire.cs - have both imac and macmini image

Mac OS 10.9 "Mavericks"

• Only available on the Mac App Store, not by retail DVD
• See Mac OS 10.8

Mac OS 10.10 "Yosemite"

• Only available on the Mac App Store, not by retail DVD
• See Mac OS 10.8