Apple offering Snow Leopard for free to MobileMe subscribers
Summary: Apple's trying to get users to upgrade to Lion (which costs $30) and in the big picture iCloud, because MobileMe is riding off into the sunset in June.
Macgasm first noticed that Apple has begun offering free copies of Mac OS 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") to paid MobileMe subscribers. The free Snow Leopard offer was presumably initiated to encourage people to upgrade to iCloud before MobileMe is shut down on June 30th, 2012.
Neither my wife nor I -- both long time MobileMe/Mac.com subscribers -- received the invitation. But we've both already made the switch to iCloud, so my working theory is that only MobileMe laggards who haven't yet made the switch to iCloud are getting the invitations.
Regardless of being invited or not, any active MobileMe subscriber can still obtain the offer by going to www.me.com/snow-leopard. Curiously, Apple is fulfilling the offer on old-school boxed DVD media and not digitally via the Mac App Store.
In order to fully switch to iCloud, you'll need to upgrade from OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") to OS X 10.7 ("Lion") by purchasing a digital download for $29.99 from the Mac App Store.
The free cat offer expires on June 15th, 2012.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback
Things aren't looking good
Good thing mobileme was a huge failure
Mobile Me is a raging success
You mean like Nokia?
No, I mean like iCloud
At $30 for an upgrade that will let you connect to iCloud, it should have been a no brainer for people to take advantage of.
Instead they're giving away an OS X upgrade. Why's that?
(Hint - It has nothing to do with Nokia)
William Farrel
Right, Jumpin Jack Flash
I even asked her if she wanted an iPad (for Christmas 2011), but she said she had no use for it, so I didn't buy her one.
Yeah, I sure hate Apple alright.
Sure, I like to have some fun with the Apple [b]Zealot[/b]s, and it's usually using the exact same reasoning, many time the same words, as the ABMer's used. (just to let them know how "silly" they sound)
Many times I have legitimate complaints about Apple's business practices, like how it treated their partners years ago when they just ditched them all once Apple became successful. Other times it's for their treatment of end users of their products so as to not tarnish their image.
I side with Apple when I believe they're in the right, (though that seems to be less time then when they're in the wrong, IMO).
But it's a valid question, isn't it - in the sense that if people where really excited about the concept of the iCloud, they would upgrade their OS for a measley $30 (which is nothing considering their Mac and iPhones cost well over $30) for the opportunity to take advantage of it, right?
So, it doesn't matter at all what they're giving away, it's [b]why[/b] are they giving it away?
William Farrel any proof?
Jumpin Jack Flash, could you please add links
Could you also add the links to the IBM claim, sir? And we do need the entire article, as two sentences from an entire article can easilly be taken out of context to imply something that is not.
As for William Farrel's claim fort and against Apple, much of it was discussed right here.
And I noticed that you did not answer his iCloud question.
:|
Mister Spock
Here's another source: http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm
You mean like XP on netbooks?
It's a three-year-old OS..
What's your point?
Read my response to JJF
William Farrel
Here's why:
There is no upgrade from Leopard to Lion except through Snow Leopard. Rather than making Leopard users pay twice to upgrade to Lion, Apple is smoothing the upgrade path, and saving users $29.
msalzberg
One of the interesting side effects of the rating system...
LOL! JJF, you're a mess
A self assesment JJF?
I'm asking why Apple feels the need to do this, and you bring up Nokia giving 100 back to some phone users?
(But when Apple gives consumers of their iPhone 100 gift card to their own stores for a problem, or rubber bumpers you'll laud it as "look at how great Apple is, whoo-wee! it's not any acknowledgement of an issue, you're a troll")
I never claimed to own a MacBook Pro, nor did I ever say I owned owned an iPhone (My wife does, at my suggestion). I never said I owned an HTC touch Pro 2 (I owne the HTC Trophy, the only WP7 phone that Verzion carried)
So spare me you made up stories and what not, OK? I am always forthright about what I own, and why I own it.
Maybe I didn't get the memo about never critisizing Apple or something, I asked a question in relation to iCloud, and I haven't gotten many an answer, just accusations. If you don't want to answer, just plead the 5th.
But it's typical. One day I noticed that Apple quit reporting activations by end users , instead quoting sales figures (to retail partners?) and I was hit by the same thing from the same people.
Guess it's better to to not answer the questions, just point out the issue with Apple's competitors.
Using the flawed logic in this statement,
This isn't Apple failing with Mac users, this is a case of Mac users that didn't originally want to upgrade from Leopard (or possibly Tiger) to Snow Leopard. and has now turned into a chance to get those people to spend the $30 through MAS to upgrade their systems to Lion. Had Microsoft been in the same situation, you'd be seeing heavily discounted copies of Windows 7.