OS X installation. Basic advice needed...

[hype]

Hi,

Really basic advice needed. I'm currently running OS 9.2.2 and am looking at updating to OS X. My question seems obvious but as a complete newbie to OS X it isn't to me.

How simple will the installation/update be? Will I have to re-install all my software or do anything to my hard drive structure? In other words will I be able to install OS X and restart as though nothing has happended?

I've also been advised not to go for Panther as it is too unstable, is this true?

Thanks in advance!

[perfessor101]

Originally Posted by hype

How simple will the installation/update be? Will I have to re-install all my software or do anything to my hard drive structure? In other words will I be able to install OS X and restart as though nothing has happended?

I've also been advised not to go for Panther as it is too unstable, is this true?

1. Before you do anything at all get a copy of David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition and at the very least scan it from cover to cover. It will save you a lot of grief and confusion. OS X is not a new version of the classic Mac OS it is a completely new from the ground up operating system that just happens to have a look and feel that is deceptively like that of OS 9. But if you try to treat OS X like OS 9 you will quickly become frustrated and angry. It took me about three weeks running the original OS X Public Beta before I found that I hated booting back into OS 9. Now I do not have OS 9 in any form on any of my Macs.
2. The installation is a piece of cake. You will have two options: Erase install after which you will have to reinstall OS 9, all your classic applications, and all your data files and a simple install which will leave everything else pretty much untouched and just install OS X. I would do the simple install myself.
3. Be sure you have enough disk space. OS X takes a minimum of 3 GB for an install and then you need to allow a bare minimum of 15% of the drive capacity as free space to preserve the long term health of the file system. Just remember OS X likes lots of headroom.
4. Before installing, boot from the OS X install CD then on the menu bar go to Install > Disk Utility, select your hard drive and run Disk Repair. If there is an error run it again until there are no errors to correct. When you quit Disk Utility you will be returned to the OS X installer.
5. You can customize the installation. Mainly you want to leave out the un-needed language localization files and fonts not to mention printer drivers you will not be using; but leave BSD Unix in - you may need it later.
6. After the installation completes and the system reboots, open Disk Utility from /Applications/Utilities select your hard drive and run Repair Permissions. Do this after every update or upgrade.
7. After installing Panther run Software update and apply the various updates to get your system up to 10.3.4 being sure to repair permissions after each restart
8. As to the rumor about Panther instability it is absolutely false. I have OS X 10.3.4 running on three machines here and I support several others all running the same version. There has not been a crash on any of these machines. Of course I said the same thing about Jaguar, but I do believe Panther is the more stable version. It is certainly a step faster. Most instability problems in any version of OS X are caused by third party applications, utilities, and haxies that modify the system interface or possibly by RAM modules that are not up to the more stringent requirements of OS X.
9. After you have had OS X up and running for a few weeks post back here for advice on maintaining the health of OS X and the file system. Whatever you do, keep Norton Utilities off of your machine.

[Randman]

BTW, Panther is quite stable and runs faster than Jaguar. Just make sure after you install, to download all of the software updates (and then repair permissions, or re-repair).

[hype]

Thanks for the in-depth reply! That helped a lot. I'll be sure to post again if I have any problems. Fingers crossed...