Upgrading Macbook Pro to OS X Mountain Lion

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Any idea if upgrading a 2008/2009 Unibody macbook pro 10.5 to OS X Mountain Lion will slow down things, as I cant connect my Nokia Lumia 900 to my mac as the software doesnt support the old OS my mac came with? The zune software doesnt work on a mac so they force you to use Windows Phone 7 Connector, you can download Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac, a sync software at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/apps/mac-connector.aspx to sync music, videos, photos, and to update the phone software however this doesnt work on the OS version I have.


Im thinking iphone 5 for me when it comes out lol
 
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Few more stats about my macbook now that im sitting in front of it rather than on my work laptop:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
OS 10.5.8

Am I better upgrading to Snow Leopard instead, if so whats the easiest route and will I lose all my photos, iphoto software etc?
 
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Soldato
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As mentioned, I think you could do with a bit more memory. Also a SSD disk would make a massive difference. I'm running Lion on a 4GB memory 2009 MBP and its working fine.

You should be able to install over the top without any problems. It would be prudent to do a time machine backup first though just in case.
 
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I have the same MBP (15" Late-2008 Unibody) but with 4GB RAM and an SSD, which runs Lion like a dream. I'd echo the suggestions for a RAM upgrade before you try it, but other than that I wouldn't expect to notice a slowdown. You may find 4GB is the most you can upgrade the RAM to though.

Edit: Ha. Twenty-four hour double post. I'm an idiot, but otherwise my point stands.
 
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I have finally got around to ordering a copy of Snow Leopard to install on my macbook before then upgrading via the app store once this has installed. How easy is it to upgrade the RAM on a macbook? Wheres best to purchase the RAM sticks from?

Spec below:
2008/2009 unibody

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
OS 10.5.8
 
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Soldato
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The MacBook 5,1 does support 8GB.

There was an EFI update on the 5,1 which sorted out some bugs that made it not work correctly. I did this to my 2.8GHz 5,1 when i had it. Wouldn't live without anything less than 8GB in OS X now. I still had a load of page ins and outs with 8GB.
 

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With 4GB RAM, your spec should run ML perfectly fine. Of course, how well it runs will depend on what you're using it for. If you've been happy with Leopard up until now however, I suspect you'll have no further issue once you've got the RAM upgrade.

RE: 8GB RAM / SSD - For clarification, you don't NEED these. But if you have a bit of spare cash, they are options to get that little bit more oomph out of your machine. Be slightly wary with the SSD though, as I've seen a few reports of the SATA controllers/cables on the older MBPs not playing ball with them. Either way, all needless detail for your purposes. I expect a 4GB upgrade will suit you perfectly.
 
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4GB RAM arrived and installed. Also Snow Leopard arrived even thought Apple said it was out of stock and wont be back in until end of Jan. So I installed both last night. Nice and easy and worked a treat, I can finally connect my iPhone 5 to my macbook. Downloaded loads of updates too, amazing how many apps were being held back on my macbook by the old OS. Firefox is now playing game.
 
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I have Mountain Lion on both my MBP and iMac both with standard hard drives but with 4GB Ram and 1 with 8GB and it runs perfectly but an SSD would be more of a luxury touch!

Also just wondering not to steal the thread but since it's related ever so slightly... Im about to format both my MBP and iMac.. they were both purchased within a few months of each other both running Snow Leopard... On an external hard drive I have both Lion and Mountain Lion installers.. Do I have to go from SL to Lion then to ML or would I be able to do it by just installing ML?
 
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Soldato
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You can install ML straight off. That's what I did, bought it through App Store, then restored the .dmg to an USB drive and did a clean install of ML from that.
 
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