Setting up a new mac in SL or install Lion straight away?

[wackymacky]

What do people think will run smother when getting a brand new Mac:

Setting it up with a new account on startup, then upgrading to lion, then migrating accounts/data/apps from a (snow-leopard) time machine backup

Or

On the initial boot up, using setup assistant to drag the accounts across from the backup, get it all kosher in Snow Leopard, then download and install Lion.

 

[blevins321]

I'd actually do the third option:

Run Snow Leopard to download Lion. Then make the bootable USB installer using the DMG file in the downloaded package. (Apple's method only makes the recovery partition downloader, so use the DMG you already have). Then boot from the USB and install Lion clean with no upgrading.

 

[talmy]

Yes, no matter what else you do (and saving the installer DMG first is a good option) a clean install seems best. Plenty of reports here about bad performance after doing an upgrade being fixed by blowing it all away and doing a clean install. I'm considering doing the same myself on one of my systems that really seems to be hurting after the upgrade probably because it has cruft lingering around since Tiger.

 

[robgendreau]

Yes, no matter what else you do (and saving the installer DMG first is a good option) a clean install seems best. Plenty of reports here about bad performance after doing an upgrade being fixed by blowing it all away and doing a clean install. I'm considering doing the same myself on one of my systems that really seems to be hurting after the upgrade probably because it has cruft lingering around since Tiger.

I disagree; people here often do clean installs because they've had problems even before Lion, whether they realized it or not. Many more of us do the regular install with no problems whatsoever.

And in any case your new mac is already a clean install; it has nothing but the Apple default system and free applications. If it comes with Lion, just migrate from the backup straight away. If SL is on it then I'd do whatever it takes to get the free Lion installer and then format the disk and run a "clean" Lion install (instructions somewhere here). I'm not a fan of clean installs unless you have to, and going to Lion directly before you migrate just seems simpler and wouldn't cost you that much time.

Rob