Moving to a new Mac

[Harvey]

Hello!

Currently I use a 12" PowerBook G4, and am planning to upgrade to a black MacBook with 2 gigs of ram and 160 Gig HD. (Or, maybe the white with 2 gigs of ram and 120 gig HD. Still deciding)

Anyway, I want to know first of all what people think of this upgrade timing.

Second of all I want to know what I need to do in order to comfortably tansfer my software settings.

For example, it would be great if I didn't have to reconfigure Terminal.app to the font style and transparency and whatnot that I like. Not to mention big things like Firefox bookmarks (or maybe I'll be switching to Safari!), my Mail.app settings, and other things.

There's a lot of stuff I'm sure. Is there one particular folder I could just backup that has all of these things in it... That would be nice.

Any advice on how to make this transition as painless as possible would be appreciated!

Btw my current G4 has 10.4 and the new MacBook would have 10.5

[dave-dave]

I would suggest backing up all important files to CD or DVD, or an external hard drive if you have one. Then move them over to the new computer.

I've heard nothing but good things regarding 10.5.

AND

it may be worth it to get One on One from the apple store. For $99 they'll transfer all your files and train you on your new computer on any mac topic for 1 year with personal "one on one" sessions every 14 days.

It was awesome for me.

[icemanjc]

Originally Posted by dave-dave

I would suggest backing up all important files to CD or DVD, or an external hard drive if you have one. Then move them over to the new computer.

I've heard nothing but good things regarding 10.5.

AND

it may be worth it to get One on One from the apple store. For $99 they'll transfer all your files and train you on your new computer on any mac topic for 1 year with personal "one on one" sessions every 14 days.

It was awesome for me.

The problem with them copying files, they copy everything. I would just buy a firewire cable, put the powerbook in target mode and copy whatever you need.

[DeltaMac]

Originally Posted by icemanjc

The problem with them copying files, they copy everything. I would just buy a firewire cable, put the powerbook in target mode and copy whatever you need.

Right! just follow the instructions when you first boot the new MacBook. Very simple, and painless....

[symphonix]

I would just buy a firewire cable, put the powerbook in target mode and copy whatever you need.

Agreed. Firewire target disk mode (along with Migration Assistant) is the Mac's convenience and usability guitar solo and no Mac user should be without a firewire cable for just this purpose. Smartest $5 you'll ever spend.

[Harvey]

Hey guys thanks for the advice! One caveat though that I forgot to mention.

I will be trading in my Powerbook to get the new Macbook. This means I won't have them both at the same time, so I can't use the firewire option. I'm in Japan and there are lots of shops that will buy your stuff in exchange for cash, or store credit (with a bonus) on the spot. They pay good prices too!

Also, backing up to DVD/CD is something I can do. One question I have though, is how to identify which files are important? Things like my documents, my media and stuff I can identify of course, cause they're mine. But I'm not sure where to look in order to spot settings and preferences and things like that. Any help appreciated here!

Hey one more question!

I have checked here.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

But! I heard that Mac World is happening Jan 15th? And it would be smart to wait there, because they may announce something that could make the price of the current laptops drop? For example, if they announce the new upcoming ultralight notebook, then the current macbooks may get cheaper?

Not sure. Just rumors. But... what do you think?

Thanks all!

- Harvey

[Giaguara]

If you don't have a firewire external drive, it might be worth to get - you can use it for backups too.

Copy ALL of your User folder (hd/Users/User).
And if you have saved applications, installers etc outside it, those as well.
User folder contains everything, and you should be able to just copy its content back manually and easily. All contained from music to addressbook data.

[aicul]

Originally Posted by icemanjc

I would just buy a firewire cable, put the powerbook in target mode and copy whatever you need.

As already stated, this is the just the easiest method...