MacOS – Upgrade from Leopard (10.5.8) to El Capitan (10.11) without passing through Snow Leopard (10.6.8)

leopardmacossnow leopardupgrade

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:

✔ my iMac version is listed under the upgradable devices

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

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

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.

Best Answer

My understanding is that if you bring the Mac to an Apple Store they will install it for you. The S/L requirement is to access the store, not as a way to charge you $20. Stopping at a friends house is no different than going to the store.

Keep in mind, moving beyond Leopard, software compatibility may be an issue. I'd research that before making the jump .

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