Even though Apple suggests Mac users without Leopard buy the $169 Mac box set to get Snow Leopard, anyone can purchase the $29 Snow Leopard disc and install Snow Leopard in its entirety without having already installed Leopard.
This means the $29 Snow Leopard DVD isn't an "upgrade" at all; it's the full-on Mac OS X operating system for 30 bucks. (Something we missed yesterday when we told you how to prep your mac for Snow Leopard and have since corrected.)
I suspected this was the case, since it is with the developer build I'm running, but The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg confirms it's true for the final release as well:
For owners of Intel-based Macs who are still using the older Tiger version of the Mac OS, Apple is officially making Snow Leopard available only in a "boxed set" that includes other software and costs $169. The reasoning is that these folks never paid the $129 back in 2007 to upgrade to Leopard. But here's a tip: Apple concedes that the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $140.
So if you're jumping from Tiger to Snow Leopard, you saved $129 bucks never purchasing Leopard and you can save $140 skipping the box set. Guess being a late adopter does pay off.
Snow Leopard Reviews: Speed Boosts and Subtle Improvements (for Cheap) [Smarterware]
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