Upgrading from Tiger to Leopard...

[shenanigans]

Upgrading from 1x G4 Mac Mini with Tiger to 1x Intel Mac Mini with Leopard.

I have a number of old programs on the cloned drive I have just backed up that I wish to drag over to my fresh install of Leopard.

My plan is to move iLife, Photoshop and various video and audio programs accumulated over the years. The programs open on the fresh install of Leopard straight from the external drive but I want them on the new drive.

My question is, do I drag the items in the OLD library into the NEW library and then drag the program files across? Will they know when opened that they need to find their setting within the library or am I underestimating the whole process here?

Any help would be appreciated - I've used Superduper to clone the drive. My original thought was to hold the option key and boot from the cloned drive and then clone it back over the Intel Mac. For some reason, holding the option key did not boot it from the external drive so, in light of that and a rethink, I thought a fresh install would be better to de-clutter.

Thanks in advance,

Ian

 

[velocityg4]

Since the drive is cloned just use Migration Assistant. It will bring over all users, files, applications and settings.

Though since it sounds as if you have been using Leopard I do not know how much Migration Assistant can still bring over.

As for dragging programs over it all depends on the program. Some can just be dragged over others will have to be reinstalled (which is preferable). Most settings will be in your old User's Library folder then in Preferences. Others will be in the Application Support folder within the User Library. Yet others can just be in the Library folder such as Thunderbird. Yet other programs may also have stuff stored in your hard drives Root Library.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Some applications, mostly shareware/freeware-type applications like Adium and Coda, can be copied by simply dragging the .app file from one computer's Applications folder to the other. They will lose their settings in the process, but that can usually be rectified by copying ~/Library/Application Support/appname and ~/Library/Preferences/com.developername.appname.plist from one computer to the other. Adobe CS and most Apple apps can't be copied in this way. You'll have to run the Photoshop installer again. Now, the Mac Mini should have shipped with the latest version of iLife preinstalled, so you should only need to copy your iPhoto and iTunes libraries. Apple has support articles on the subject.

Velocity is right. It sounds like you should have run Migration Assistant when you first got the computer. I suggest backing up any important/changed files and using the computer's restore disks to do a fresh install of Mac OS X. Once that's done, you can run Migration Assistant and copy all of your files and settings automatically.

 

[shenanigans]

Thanks for the help!

Migration assistant is currently 1.75 hours from completion. As I've done a fresh install of Leopard, I'm guessing I've lost the old iLife... We shall see in a few hours )


Thanks again,

Ian

 

[BlueRevolution]

Why would you need the old iLife? All of your libraries and such will be copied over. As far as I know, you can't have two versions of iLife installed at once.

 

[shenanigans]

All works lovely. My next question will be regarding the old 1.5ghz PowerPC G4 Mac Mini and it's fully loaded 1GB RAM...

Considering the guides on turning an old G$ into a media server, I have had issues running things full screen with shearing and poor FPS in the past. I'm clearing the thing down totally but wonder if it's worth reinstalling a fresh 10.4.11 Tiger or a Leopard installation.

It will be being used for small email/ web browsing (youtube, etc), playing DVDs (any way of unlocking the region coding!?) and iTunes.

I don't envisage a problem but I would like it to be capable seeing that I cannot extend the machines memory any more than it is...

Thanks in advance,

 

[BlueRevolution]

It can do all of those things just as easily in Tiger as in Leopard. It shouldn't have much trouble running either operating system.

It's unfortunate that Plex doesn't run on PowerPC Macs. I have fantasies of setting up a cheap Mac Mini + Plex as a superpowered TV.

 

[shenanigans]

So, do you recommend a fresh Tiger install or should I give Leopard a go? I know leopard needs more system resources to run but I also understood that it ran things faster anyway?

Tiger or Leopard

What do you reckon?

Oh, and cheers for the help!!!

 

[BlueRevolution]

It really depends on the computer. Machines which just barely meet the system requirements will run more slowly, but most computers should run faster thanks mostly to the improvements in Spotlight.

Most current apps still support Tiger, but a few, like Adium and Keywurl, recently dropped Tiger support. It's really up to you. Personally, I'd say Leopard is the way to go.