   Making us aware of possible problems with the release of Lion Jim Hamm explains, "While reading a blog about the coming upgrade to OS X Lion, here's what one blogger had to say about the upgrade only being available via download:
   'While the issue of distributing Lion to people who don't have adequate bandwidth is one thorny and important problem, I also expect the strain of Apple's servers to be excessive as millions of people flock to download the upgrade the first few days it's available. Which will mean a torrent of complaints about failed downloads. I think Apple is walking into a large hornet's nest here. It's hard to imagine they are unaware of the matter, but as yet they've not acknowledged it publicly. This could turn into a debacle that would dwarf the Mobile Me roll out. In which case, Apple will have once again been too cute - and too smug - for their own good.'
   Jim goes on to offer his opinion, "I must say I agree with his/her comments. It seems to me it would be much better if Apple offered, in addition to the download, the option to purchase a CD for the Lion upgrade, and charge a slightly higher price for it. On the download side, Apple could spread the load on their servers a bit by saying if your last name starts with A thru D, for example, your download window is July...to July...Then E thru H it is July...to July..., and so on.
   "How long will it take to download 4GB of data (the approximate size of OS X Lion)? That depends on several factors: the speed of your internet connection; the load on your ISP network; the load on Apple's servers; et al? As an example: nominally I have a 10 Mbps connection speed. However, I was watching the download speed of the upgrade I did to OS X 10.6.8 and iStat Menus (in my Toolbar) only showed a download speed of approximately 1 Mbps, and that fluctuated around. So, my download time may range anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on what assumption of download speed I use.
   Jim concludes, "It seems to me that many Mac users are not going to be happy with that download scenario. I'm not happy about it, and I haven't even started the process...(grin)...I hope Apple doesn't stub their toe big time on this upgrade."