Now that Apple has released the gold master for the Mac Lion OS to developers, it is likely that the final product will soon be available for the general public. The Gold Master version is the final build of the OS before the official product release -- which in the case of the Lion will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store, the first OS to do so.

With the Lion coming soon, is your Mac ready for the upgrade? Here are a few things consumers need to know before buying it.

The Mac OS X Lion has slightly different requirements than the Snow Leopard OS, so you need to know if your Mac can even run the upgrade. Apple lists the official system requirements for the Lion OS as a Mac running an Intel Core 2 Duo, i3, i5 or i7 or Xeon processor with 2Gb of memory. If you need to boost your memory requirement, you can purchase a 2Gb upgrade for as low as $30 at any retail store or a 4Gb upgrade for $60. If your processor isn't up to the Lion, then you should think about buying a new Mac Air.

Another requirement for the Mac Lion is that your Mac should be running the Snow Leopard v10.6.6 or later. If you're still using a 2007 operating system you need to upgrade to the Snow Leopard first or the OS Apple released in August 2009. You can buy any licensed copy of the Snow Leopard for $29 for a single-license copy at any Apple store or Amazon.

Business users can upgrade to OS X Lion Server with the purchase of the OS X Lion through Apple or Apple's Business Store. Volume License contracts will be available for $29.99 per license with a minimum order of 20 licenses.

The upgrade will have the extended multitouch support system, full-screen application support, Launchpad and a redesigned mail app, Mail 5. The Lion will also provide users with the option of booting the Mac directly into Safari, which will allow users to browse the Web but not view system files or settings.

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