In another life, I worked in an Apple Authorized Service Center and spent my days fixing Apple computers (the equivalent of a Genius at an Apple Retail Store). I still like to keep up with my Apple tech knowledge, and talk regularly to a very good friend who runs an Apple service center at one of the largest universities in the country. After having Snow Leopard for three days and going through the upgrade process a few times now, I wanted to share a few things to ensure you have a great Snow Leopard experience.

Backup First! – You should never perform any operating system maintenance without a proper backup. Grab a drive, do your Time Machine backup, and verify that it was successful before installing Snow Leopard. This way, if something does go wrong you still have all of your stuff.

Plug it in – If you’re upgrading a laptop, plug it in! You definitely don’t want your battery going out on you in the middle of an upgrade.

Be Patient – The upgrade process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, so be patient. Your computer will reboot by itself in the process and return you to the login screen when it is finished.

If something does go wrong… …Do not panic! Snow Leopard has quite a few safeguards built into the upgrade process so that if it does fail, it will most likely be able to pick up where it was. The last thing you should do, though, is try and do a fresh install, as it could wipe out your hard drive. If you have a problem, stop, take a deep breath, and call 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273) or visit your local Genius Bar.

We’ll have a similar post in October of some quick things to remember for everyone upgrading to Windows 7, so be sure not to miss it!