That should run pretty good... but you could really use more ram. 1 GB is on the cusp of "just tolerable" in my book.

Yeah, I was only going to ask about the processor as Apple didn't mention RAM, but thought I'd better add the RAM in too - it is pretty low by today's standards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Lion


System requirements
x86-64 processor (Macs with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, or Xeon processor.) [10][14]
At least 2GB of RAM[15]
Latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8), with the Mac App Store installed[10]
At least 4GB of free disk space for downloading[15]
Like Snow Leopard, Lion does not support PowerPC-based Macs (e.g., Power Macs, PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs (G3-G5), eMacs).

Furthermore, Lion does not support 32-bit Intel Core Duo or Core Solo based Macs. Rosetta is no longer available in Lion, which means Lion no longer supports PowerPC applications.

I can't find the ram requirements for Lion on apple's site

I think my wiki post is a rule of thumb.

double what I have?! yeesh.

1 Gig is OK. You'll just be using more virtual memory, which will be only a tad slower when launching apps. Even at 2 Gig (which is what I have), there is considerable VM swapping with apps launching. Once the app(s) are running, I barely notice any speed hits unless I'm switching among memory intensive apps.

The specs say 2G though, I wonder if they'll let you install it if you only have 1G.

I'm wondering how this download only will play out. At 4G there will be quite a few people that will not be able do it, or it will just seem too cumbersome. Apple seems to think everybody should have a big pipe I guess.

For example people with low end DSL connections that are typically around 256-512kbp/s, it will take 20-40 hours at full speed.

Here's a handy site to help calculate how long.