Mac Mini Panther / Tiger Installation Media Question

[ives]

I am considering the purchase of a used Mac Mini (would be my first Mac!). The seller indicated that the Mini came pre-loaded with Tiger, and came with "reboot" disks for Panther as well as a Tiger disk. I am curious what reboot disks are and the significance of having both OSX versions included with the machine even though Tiger was pre-loaded?

If I purchased this machine, I would want to do a clean install (just to see how things work and to make sure I start from a clean slate). Based on what I have described, would it be necessary to install Panther and then Tiger, or could I directly do an erase and install using the Tiger media. Are there any other considerations? I believe all other pre-loaded software has media associated with it so I assume these can be re-installed as well (e.g. iLife, Quicken)?

Lastly, this Mini is only a couple of months old. Is there anything special I need to do to continue the warranty (may or may not choose Apple Care, but I would at least like to have coverage for the first year).

Thanks!

 

[xparaparafreakx]

Well if they said Tiger was preloaded, then you would get a restore disc which when you do a clean install, you get the factory set HD with all the apps. However I thing they are lieing about the Tiger being preload if they have the panther disc also.
If I am right, then your restore disc would be panther. Your would restore your HD with iLife and the Panther OS. Then with the Tiger disc, you would upgrade.
However you can just install Tiger and then go back and install the Apps only from the panther disc. I would rather just install the Panther and iLife 1st then the Tiger

 

[ives]

Thanks for the reply. I guess if the system comes with the restore disk for Tiger, that's the best of possible cases. Otherwise, it seems like a Panther restore disk and Tiger upgrade disk is still a workable solution.

Any thoughts on how to make sure I can continue the existing warranty? Does apple know the date of sale even if it was purchased through a vendor other than Apple?