How should I approach upgrading to Leopard?

[Georgie]

I bought an early MBP and I want to upgrade to Leopard when I comes out. What's the smart way to do that? I keep regular backups (SuperDuper and an external HD) so that's good start I know. I want to do a clean install too. Being new to Macs I got a little carried away and installed a lot of junk software. My system isn't particularly unstable, but I'd still like to start fresh.

So when I wipe the hard drive and start with a fresh install, is it safe to use the Migration Assistant I've heard about, or will it copy over my old programs and crusty config files and all that too. Or am I better off manually, tediously, copying over files from my home directory by hand. That would generally be okay assuming I can drag-and-drop my Aperture and iPhoto libraries. What about iCal and Address Book databases, and how about Mail settings. Those are the slightly tricky things that worry me. What can I do to ensure a smooth transition?

 

[dartzorichalcos]

These 2 links would help.
link 1
link 2

 

[hopejr]

Mail settings, iCal, and Address Book are pretty easy to copy over. They are all contained in the folders ~/Library/Mail, ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook, and ~/Library/Application Support/iCal. I would also advise copying the relevant files from ~/Library/Preferences (notably com.apple.iCal.plist, com.apple.mail.plist, and com.apple.AddressBook.plist).

 

[grapes911]

Step 1: Wait until its actually released so we see what's the same and what's different.
Step 2: Ask again later.

 

[MisterMe]

I bought an early MBP and I want to upgrade to Leopard when I comes out. ...

grapes911 gave you good advice. I will repeat his advice and give you two additional pieces of advice:

1. Don't worry about it.
2. Don't worry about it.
3. Don't worry about it.

It is a good idea to maintain a schedule of regular backups. This has nothing to do with OS upgrades; it is just good computing practice. If you do this, then you have nothing to worry about--ever.

As for OS upgrades, when you get your copy of MacOS X 10.5 in the mail, insert the DVD into your optical drive, boot up, and do the upgrade. When your upgrade is done, restart your computer, and you are ready to work.

The thing that you need to understand is that MacOS X is not Windows. Upgrading MacOS X is not the traumatic experience many users of that other OS experience. Clean wipes are not necessary. Archive & Install is not necessary, either. These are available options if you have catastrophic System failure. Having used System Software/MacOS/MacOS X since System 6.0.3 and just about every commercial release except System 7 Pro since then, I have experienced only about three such failures and they were unnecessarily caused by me.

The takeaway message is that the upgrade to MacOS X 10.5 will be no more dangerous (or complicated) than upgrading from MacOS X 10.4.8 to MacOS X 10.4.9. Don't futz with your System and everything will be fine.

 

[srf4real]

Just post a new thread about waiting for Leopard every Tuesday until Leopard is released , then buy it. Then install Leopard on your Mac.

 

[rdav]

From 10.2.8

I'd like to upgrade an old Powerbook G4 from OS-X 10.2.8
Should I get Tiger 10.4.9 for now and wait for Leopard?
Is there any problem with that upgrade path?
Thanks.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'd like to upgrade an old Powerbook G4 from OS-X 10.2.8
Should I get Tiger 10.4.9 for now and wait for Leopard?
Is there any problem with that upgrade path?
Thanks.

I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work, though I'm almost certain you'll have to do an archive and install, as perfoming an upgrade install from such an old Mac OS X version most likely won't be supported. Make sure you have at least 5 GB free plus the size of your Applications and System folders, at the very least, to store the archived system.

As for the 10.4.9 vs. 10.5 question, I'd wait for 10.5. At the very least, you'll spend less money doing that.