Here’s how to get your Mac ready for the imminent release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Now that Apple has released to developers the golden master of Lion (Mac OS X 10.7) — typically the final non-public version before the official release — speculation is mounting as to when the next major version of Mac OS X will hit the street. But the golden master signifies something more important on a practical level: It’s time to start getting our Macs ready for Lion.

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Apple is advertising Lion as the easiest-to-install version of Mac OS X yet, and that may be true. But there are still a few things you can do right now to ensure that your Mac is ready for 10.7 when the update finally arrives.

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What you need
To install Lion, you need a Mac with a minimum of 2GB of RAM and one of the following Intel processors: Intel Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7, or Xeon — early Intel-based Macs with Core Solo or Core Duo processors aren’t compatible. You can determine your Mac’s processor and the amount of installed RAM by choosing About This Mac from the Apple menu and looking at the Processor and Memory lines, respectively.

The list of Lion-compatible Macs includes most models released since late 2006. However, Macs with 4GB or more of RAM will surely run Lion better than those with only 2GB, so if your Mac currently has less than 4GB, I recommend upgrading to at least that much — and ideally even more, as you’ll see benefits in many computing tasks. A word of advice here: If you don’t buy your RAM directly from Apple, be sure you get RAM that’s specifically designed for use in Macs. Some third-party RAM that’s not up to Apple’s specs will cause problems when you upgrade your OS. Most reputable vendors will make it clear which RAM they offer is made specifically for Macs.

It’s also a good idea to have at least 10GB (and preferably more) of free space on your startup disk. The Lion installer image itself is almost 4GB, plus you need some room for temporary files. In addition, some of Lion’s new features mean you’ll need more “everyday” free space than you did under Snow Leopard. (If you need to free up some space, utilities such as WhatSize and GrandPerspective can help you figure out what’s filling up your drive.)

Apple’s system requirements also state that “Some features may have additional system requirements.” We’re assuming Apple is referring to graphics cards, as some graphics-heavy features require more horsepower than the oldest Lion-compatible Macs provide. It’s safe to say that the better your graphics card and the more dedicated memory it has, the better Lion will perform.

Finally, there’s also a software requirement for installing Lion: Your Mac must be running Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later. The main reason for this requirement is that Lion will be available only via the Mac App Store, and the Mac App Store debuted in Mac OS X 10.6.6. In addition, Apple recommends that you have the very latest version of Snow Leopard (10.6.8) before installing Lion, so be sure to check Software Update for any available updates (see “Pre-install checks”).