Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How will YOU install Leopard?
- Thread starter thesdx
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sorry to quote myself but I'm new to Mac, not computer-savvy so I was just wondering if I've got the right idea about this topic.
Not quite ...
Read this: Archive and Install
I'll probably do an Upgrade on my iMac since it's new and runs well now. On my MacBook Pro, I'll do an Archive & Install.
With Archive & Install, none of your third party applications will be placed in the new system applications folder. They will be instead preserved in the archived folder of your old system. You will manually have to move them yourself or like me, reinstall from their original disks.
Apple hasn't said yet what options will be permitted for installing Leopard. I have heard some gossip that they where having trouble doing an "Upgrade" installation. My assumptions are based on Tiger. I do believe as in past system upgrades, it will be a snap campared to any Windows installation!
Read this: Archive and Install
I'll probably do an Upgrade on my iMac since it's new and runs well now. On my MacBook Pro, I'll do an Archive & Install.
With Archive & Install, none of your third party applications will be placed in the new system applications folder. They will be instead preserved in the archived folder of your old system. You will manually have to move them yourself or like me, reinstall from their original disks.
Apple hasn't said yet what options will be permitted for installing Leopard. I have heard some gossip that they where having trouble doing an "Upgrade" installation. My assumptions are based on Tiger. I do believe as in past system upgrades, it will be a snap campared to any Windows installation!
That's not true. Archive and Install places 3rd party applicationsin the same directory of all the other applications. What they would preserve are the old system files, which are safe to delete. However, there is a slim chance that some might not be able to move over, which I've encountered personally. But 9/10 times everything is more or less preserved in the same state and manner.
That's not strictly true either... unless you mean Applications inside the Previous Systems folder. Then, you are correct.
That is if you don't save user and network preferences, your installed applications that are non-Apple, and your Users folder get moved to the Previous System folder along with the previous operating system.
If you check all boxes then everything go through smoothly.
Oh really? I've done Archive and Installs before but I had no idea that if you checked the Preserve Users and Network Settings box, your third-party applications would also be preserved. Thanks. (Not like this helps me any in getting 3 Macs ready for Leopard - one will be clean installed, one had to go through a complex hard drive partitioning process to dual-boot Tiger and Leopard due to lack of Classic support in Leopard, since I still use Classic on that PowerPC Mac, and the third one will be upgraded, only because it belongs to another family member, instead of me.)
Oops!
I was wrong.
I was going on faulty memory from the last time when I went from Panther to Tiger. Now that I think about it, the issue I had was that I had all my iTunes files and iPhoto files stored in the "Shared " folder so that all accounts could access the same data. Archive & Install did not place these files in the new "Shared" folder.
I was wrong.
I was going on faulty memory from the last time when I went from Panther to Tiger. Now that I think about it, the issue I had was that I had all my iTunes files and iPhoto files stored in the "Shared " folder so that all accounts could access the same data. Archive & Install did not place these files in the new "Shared" folder.
I have everything backed up to an external. All the other apps on my computer I can just download online (ex. firefox, audacity, etc.) or use my install discs, So I think a clean install would work for me.
So an Archive & Install is essentially the same thing as an Erase & Install except that an Archive & Install creates a new folder with the contents of your previous SYSTEM folder.
Correct?
Upgrade is the same as Archive and Install because they both do the same thing: Preserve your personal stuff and just replace the system files. The reason why it is called upgrade is because you are changing the operating system. In the future should you run any problems and decide to reinstall Leopard again, you would not see this 'Upgrade' option anymore, it would be replaced by 'Archive and Install' instead.
The only options you really have when installing leopard is: Erase and Install or Upgrade (Archive and install.)
Great! Makes sense!
What are your (speaking to everyone here) experiences with performing an Upgrade vs. the Clean Install? I know there are always going to be those die hards that won't do anything but a clean install, but we aren't talking Windows here, we're talking Mac, so with that said, what have your experiences been?
Honestly speaking, the success rate of Archive and Install is very high. The first time I used this option I was pretty apprehensive as well, since Windows never had this feature. But ever since I started doing this on more macs, I have never been disappointed. The only time I would not suggest doing an Archive and Install is when your current OS is experiencing problems or slow downs.
I would strongly recommend users to do an Upgrade as opposed to Erase and Install if you have lots of stuff on your mac. Trust me, transferring the stuff back manually may not be as difficult as Windows, but it is tedious and time consuming.
Alternatively for those who are worried about compatibility problems with 3rd party applications, you can try cloning your system over to an external HD using SuperDuper!, then install Leopard in the ext HD to see if everything works for u.
Yes you can, but like I mentioned above, it is going to be very time consuming. And not all programs can be imported over, some might require you to reinstall them again using the installer CD, i.e. Photoshop.
I am not sure what kind of 'Settings' you are talking about, but you can transfer over your preferences and mail folder, inside your library.
i think i've changed my mind. i just realized i'll have only had my new iMac for 3 months when leopard arrives at my door! it's the previous 24" version and it runs great. i have everything cloned but, i'm going to go with an upgrade and check it out for a while. if i have any issues i'll do a clean install.
i was a pc tech for way too long before i traded in my stressful job for a new one and the peace and mind of OS X. so i'm hoping that when it comes to OS upgrades, apple is less stressful. this will be my first.
i was a pc tech for way too long before i traded in my stressful job for a new one and the peace and mind of OS X. so i'm hoping that when it comes to OS upgrades, apple is less stressful. this will be my first.
Ditto. Which is what I voted for. But, I'll also be buying a new Mac Pro whever Apple updates them so it will have Leopard pre-installed. Though I'll probably gut it and re-install to get rid of all those extra languages and printer drivers.
I've cleaned up an existing 500GB HDD, I'll format that as the new OS disk and slap the Tiger HDD in another drive bay then I can install fresh but upload all the emails etc. at install. Then I'll leave the Tiger in-situ for a while before deleting to ensure I haven't missed anything.