Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition

Appendix A. Installing OS X Mountain Lion

If your computer came with Mountain Lion already installed on it, you can skip this appendix—for now. But if you’re running an earlier version of the Mac OS and want to savor the Mountain Lion experience, this appendix describes how to install the new operating system on your Mac.

As you’ll soon discover, the installation process received an enormous, even radical overhaul from Apple this time around. You can’t buy Mountain Lion in a box, or on a DVD; you’re supposed to download it from the Mac App Store.

There are some very attractive elements to the download-only system. For example, there’s no copy protection and no serial numbers to type in. You don’t have to pay extra for multiple copies; your one-time $20 covers as many Macs as you own or control. (In other words, there’s no Family Plan for Mountain Lion.)

Now there’s no disc to hunt down later, when you want to install Mountain Lion again (onto a new Mac, for example). And when you do need a copy again, you’ll download the latest version—10.8.3 or whatever it is—instead of having to install whatever updates have come out since you got your DVD.

(And what if you don’t have a fast Internet connection for downloading Mountain Lion? The world won’t come to an end; read on.)