Using an external hard drive to switch macs

[tipem]

Hi,

I am switching from an iMac to a Macbook. I'll be selling my iMac later. I also have an external hard drive. My iMac and Macbook both have Snow Leopard. So we're good there. With an external hard drive, how do I "switch over" from Mac to Mac? Obviously I won't want to startup from the external hard drive. So just configure Time Machine on my Macbook and restore, just hand-selecting what I want transferred after going through the OS install on my new Macbook?

Both computers have a different version of iWork though. So basically, how can I switch all of my programs/files over to my Macbook without overwriting the iWork-related programs? What's the best way? Hand-select Time Machine files/applications?

Sorry, new to the whole Time Machine deal.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Is there anything you want to keep on the MacBook that you don't have on the iMac? If not, I'd just use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the iMac's drive onto the external and then from there onto the MacBook.

 

[iPhone 62S]

If you have a Time Machine backup on the drive, you can copy all the backed up files to your new Mac.