Mavericks (OS X 10.9) is here! And just like Lion (OS X 10.7) and Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) before it, getting Mavericks is as easy as downloading an installer from the Mac App Store—a few clicks (and some patience) is all it takes to install OS X 10.9 over your existing copy of Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard (or, if you’re brave, even Leopard). But that doesn’t mean you should make the jump without any preparation, or that there are no important decisions to make along the way.
As we do with every new version of OS X, we've installed Mavericks more times than we can count in order to put together a comprehensive guide to installing the latest Mac OS. In the articles below, we cover the requirements for running Mavericks; the things you should do to get your Mac ready; and the download process. We walk you through the actual installation; recommend some post-install tasks; discuss some upgrade challenges; and help you decide if a "clean install" is for you.
We've also got instructions for creating a bootable Mavericks installer drive, as well as for installing Mavericks over Leopard (OS X 10.5)—provided you have the appropriate license to do so. (We’ll be adding Mavericks-specific articles on OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery, so stay tuned.) With this guide, you should be able to make the transition to 10.9 painlessly.
Read on for descriptions of, and links to, our Mavericks-install articles.
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