Migration vs. Manual File Transfer for G5 to Intel

[proverbs]

i am giving my c2d mbp to my sis and taking her first gen single 1.8ghz G5. she is a graphic designer, so she has adobe, quark, and a bunch of other apps on her computer and i did a test and moved quark onto the mbp, but it said that it could not run properly because it needed some additional files. she has also accumulated a lot of junk in her computer, but i came to the conclusion that it would be much easier to use migration instead of moving all her apps and files manually.

what do you guys think? and will i have problems since her computer is a PPC and mine is an intel? TIA!

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

Migrate ONLY documents. If you transfer apps you will notice slowdowns on the MBP because the apps are PowerPC designed only. It's timeconsuming but try to find Universal Binary editions of the respective apps on the web. This way you won't have problems.

 

[devilot]

she is a graphic designer, so she has adobe, quark, and a bunch of other apps on her computer and i did a test and moved quark onto the mbp, but it said that it could not run properly because it needed some additional files.

It's timeconsuming but try to find Universal Binary editions of the respective apps on the web. This way you won't have problems.

proverbs, if she's a graphic designer and needs such apps, then I would assume she would have the OEM licensed install discs. In that case, I'd say use those discs to install on the MBP, and then make sure to delete them off her previous machine (or as per indicated by the respective EULAs).

As for what Jiddick suggested, unfortunately, I'm fairly sure Adobe and Quark and whatnot don't offer free versions of their software "on the web," and the Universal Binary versions (dunno about Quark but CS3) would also have to be purchased.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Manually moving the files will be slower, but not by much. If you do do it manually I recommend doing an FTP transfer. It is much much faster than through the Finder.

Otherwise just migrate and leave the computer on for a few hours, doesn't take too long.

 

[proverbs]

so if i do the migrate, then the apps like quark and adobe will not transfer correctly because it is going from a PPC to a Intel??

the cd discs are from her work and she does not have them on hand. she doesnt know where they are exactly, but she said she will look for them. but if she cant find them, there is no other option?

 

[blackstone]

so if i do the migrate, then the apps like quark and adobe will not transfer correctly because it is going from a PPC to a Intel??

the cd discs are from her work and she does not have them on hand. she doesnt know where they are exactly, but she said she will look for them. but if she cant find them, there is no other option?

Quark and Adobe will transfer okay from a PPC to Intel machine -- it's more a question of the system preference files, preference panes, drivers, OS X pre-installed apps like Safari, etc. When I did the PPC-Intel migration from my old PB to my MB, I used the migration program -- and it worked okay, except that I had to spend the next month or so hunting down and eliminating stray bits of PPC stuff until only I'd replaced all of the old PPC pref panes and stuff with the newer Universal ones, and only the things I actually needed to be running under Rosetta were still PPC.

 

[proverbs]

Quark and Adobe will transfer okay from a PPC to Intel machine -- it's more a question of the system preference files, preference panes, drivers, OS X pre-installed apps like Safari, etc. When I did the PPC-Intel migration from my old PB to my MB, I used the migration program -- and it worked okay, except that I had to spend the next month or so hunting down and eliminating stray bits of PPC stuff until only I'd replaced all of the old PPC pref panes and stuff with the newer Universal ones, and only the things I actually needed to be running under Rosetta were still PPC.

ok, that sounds like a pain in the arse. i always heard mac users claim that moving apps is a cinch on a mac because all you have to do is move the folder and you set - but with a Windows PC you would have to move .ini files, etc - but it doesnt seem that different for a mac.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Migration works fine for apps and data 95% of the time.

Unless she has already upgraded to CS3 - the "Apps aren't made for intel" argument does not apply to the Adobe apps, or to MS Office, or to virtually any other graphic design apps. Those that have to be upgraded for Intel, she will need to purchase upgrades for anyway.

Yes, SOME applications will have to be reinstalled. That's a lot easier than ALL applications, plus preferences, plus serials, etc.

 

[proverbs]

thanks for all your responses - but i'm still confused.

my sister has a bunch of files, including a few apps, quark, adobe, and extensis suitcase. i would like to transfer those apps and all her files from her G5 to the mbp. now, she doesnt have the install discs, since they are at her workplace and she has to find them since she installed the programs over a year ago, and never needed to look for the cds. without having the cds - can she move her quark, extensis, and adobe to the mbp - whether using migration or moving the apps manually?

 

[blackstone]

ok, that sounds like a pain in the arse. i always heard mac users claim that moving apps is a cinch on a mac because all you have to do is move the folder and you set - but with a Windows PC you would have to move .ini files, etc - but it doesnt seem that different for a mac.

Having gone through a lot of transitions on both platforms, I do think that -- even with the annoyances of the PPC-Intel transition (which is the only thing that stopped my migration from being totally painless) -- it was still easier than doing the same thing under Windows. After all, the computer did work okay during the month when I was hunting down PPC bits and pieces -- it's just that sometimes, the computer would unexpectedly load something under Rosetta, which would slow things down and eat up memory. Contrast this to trying to migrate all of the settings from one Windows PC work to another PC with different hardware -- a real nightmare, and something that would actually break the functionality of a lot of things rather than merely degrade performance!

 

[blackstone]

without having the cds - can she move her quark, extensis, and adobe to the mbp - whether using migration or moving the apps manually?

Yes, with the caveats mentioned above about having to clean things up afterwards.

 

[proverbs]

ok, then. i guess i will go ahead with the Migration and keep my fingers crossed.