My first Mac! Impressed...mostly...

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Hi All :)

I'm a LONG time Linux/Windows software/hardware engineer, and am VERY happy with my current hardware setup, but have always been curious about the hype behind the dedication shown by the Apple die-hards. I've always had trouble helping my customers and clients with their Apple-OS based systems (which has saved me a TON of time over the years, actually :D )

I recently was gifted a 2009(10?) 24" iMac from my future mother-in-law who is now mostly bed-ridden and upgraded to a Macbook. I saw the iMac sitting in the corner and asked about it. She said, "would you like to have it?"

Heck yeah! That looks like some fun nerdery about to happen! After she was able to find the power cord and that silly looking little keyboard, I was off and running back to my lab!

I have spent the last week reinstalling and upgrading the OS, I'm now running El Capitan, have installed all of my dev tools and have been very impressed with this machine for being (+/-) 8 years-old.

I've been able to Google pretty much everything I need up to this point, but since it only has a 640GB HD, I have concerns about using the "Time Machine" (seriously, with that name? lol) to rely on for backups.

After searching around for a way to take a permanent snapshot of my current build, with all of the things that I've been installing, I'm a little bit stymied on how to create an image of the current setup.

I have a LOT to learn about OS X and such, so I want a way to get back to THIS EXACT POINT, where it feels like I've done everything right, and I'm very happy with my software and such.

Can y'all help me out with some recommendations about what to use to snapshot my current build so I can quickly get back to it?

Any help is appreciated! I'm hoping that since...you know...Apple/Mac/OS X is so friendly, I won't get a lot of the snarky, "Did you even search, bro?" replies that show up on the Linux and Windows forums...heh...TBH, I'm guilty of some snarkiness myself...

At any rate, I look forward to hearing from the other side of the coin. From what I've heard over the years, this side of the coin is the Republic...although I still think Stormtroopers are pretty cool.

Thanks for the replies!

~Karl, the Mac noob
 
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Hi Karl - welcome to the forum! :) I've quoted some of your own 'snarky' comments below - my responses follow in bold - you've got a lot to learn about the Apple world and glad that you're trying to escape from the 'dark side' (as I did in retirement - got tired of paying Norton for malware subscriptions, among other PC/Windows complaints).

So, let me just address two issues: 1) Time Machine (TM) - requires an external drive, so makes no difference as to the size of your 'boot drive' - the Apple backup app comes w/ macOS and saves your entire HD contents which can be restored; however, TM backups are not bootable; and 2) Bootable cloning software adds another backup security option and most of us here use both - for me, I use Carbon Copy Cloner - hope this helps to answer several of your questions. Stay around, there are some great people here and many use both Apple & Windows machines. Dave :)

“I’ve always had trouble helping my customers and clients with their Apple-OS based systems (which has saved me a TON of time over the years, actually..”

Well, you likely would have wasted less time w/ Apple users than helping Windows users w/ their problems, especially malware.

“…and that silly looking little keyboard… “

The keyboard works fine and there are many alternate choices, like the one my son and DIL use (BTW, he’s a PC IT guy but uses Apple gear @ home).

“….impressed with this machine for being (+/-) 8 years-old…..”

Well, will take a MUCH newer machine to really appreciate Apple technology.

“I have concerns about using the "Time Machine" (seriously, with that name? lol)”

Maybe when you understand ’Time Machine’, your concerns will disappear?

“take a permanent snapshot of my current build”

My comments above about an option(s).
 

pigoo3

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After searching around for a way to take a permanent snapshot of my current build, with all of the things that I've been installing, I'm a little bit stymied on how to create an image of the current setup.

Can y'all help me out with some recommendations about what to use to snapshot my current build so I can quickly get back to it?

RadDave gave you one title of an app that will provide you with a"snapshot" of your current setup (Carbon Copy Cloner)...another is "Super Duper". This will be a fully operational bootable clone/copy/snapshot of your current setup. I preer to put this clone on an external drive of some sort. But you could also do it on a separate hard drive partition of the computer's internal HD.

HTH...and Welcome to Mac-Forums.:)

- Nick
 
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Suggest an external hard drive in a caddy connected via Firewire for you cloned backups. Why even consider using you internal drive. It fails and where are you? Both SD and CCC are bootable from the external.
 
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MacInWin

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I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make daily backups (full clone) of my boot drive. I also use TM with Time Machine Editor (search for it) to schedule twice a day TM backups to a different external drive. I have lost both the boot and backup drive at the same time in my past, so I now use a minimum of two backups, three for more critical business data. Yes, I'm paranoid. But the two backups are for two different purposes--the clone is to get me booted and going again in minimum time if I lose the entire boot drive and the TM is an incremental backup so I can go back to right before I made the mistake and put it back.

Welcome to the Mac world. You'll need to "forget" some windows stuff: things like antivirus software, worrying about maintaining the OS, etc. Just enjoy the Mac.

One thing might be worth mentioning. In general, the new "name" for the OS from Apple is macOS, but that started with the latest version of macOS, Sierra. Prior to that it was OS X (pronounced "Oh-Ess-ten"). You'll see both mixed and we aren't pedantic about it, but it could be confusing for a noob.
 
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Prior to that it was OS X (pronounced "Oh-Ess-ten").

Well! You learn something new every day here. I've been calling it Oh-Ess-Ex all this time. But then I used to pronounce Yosemite like 'Marmite' until I know better. Guess it's the Yorkshire in me :)
 
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With so many words being mispronounced by vast swaths of the population, it's of little import whether you pronounce the "X" as Apple intended, or the way it feels most comfortable to you.
 
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Frankly, I started with OS-ten, then shifted to OS-Ex just because it's easier to say. Most people don't know why it's OS-ten, anyway, so at this point it's all pretty useless. When/if Apple released macOS 11, we'll have to deal with it, I suppose. Shifting to macOS over OS X may be the step they needed to take to get to 11. Remains to be seen.
 
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Well Guys - we can discuss pronunciations of OS X, but our OP has failed to respond at the moment - still waiting for a return post - :) Dave
 
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Sorry guys, has been a crazy busy couple of days at work. I appreciate all the replies :)

On the upside, I've managed to work almost two days in a row from the Mac, only having to revert to my Linux and Win machines when things got really sticky.

As near as I can tell, I need to attach an external drive to this machine. I believe I have a 1TB iomega sitting around here somewhere, which at the moment has all of my iTunes media on it. Probably will have to dump onto a win machine and reformat it for the mac.

I picked up a full-size, aluminum mechanical keyboard with blue LEDs and a proper set of keys :D. Then I installed BetterTouchTool and Karabiner to get all the keyboard and mouse buttons working like I need them to. I now have proper Home/End CTRL-C/CTRL-V/etc. keys set up on the keyboard, and forward/back paging for my 3rd and 4th mouse buttons. Woo!

I'll have a look at Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper, as the Time Machine looks like it is incremental and would eventually cycle off my initial build image.

Being honest, I've been saying, "oh-ess-ex" the whole time, but will see if I can remember "oh-ess-ten". When Eleven comes out, I think I'd probably end up biting my tongue trying to use "oh-ess-ex-eye", so that should make the switch easier :D

Still getting used to the OS. I discovered Mission Control by accident, and was pleased. Multiple desktops is something I've been enjoying on Linux for years. I chuckled when Windows finally smooshed their version into place recently.

I have also been playing with my hot corners a bit, but keep forgetting what they do, so when I drift the cursor into a corner and something pops up, it startles me. Linux has that as well, but after playing with it for a bit, I abandoned it because I run multiple monitors and Synergy across platforms.

I was pleasantly surprised by the notifications sidebar, that has been really useful for keeping track of recent Email, Skype and Slack messages. I was also surprised to see that Skype for Mac is a lot more polished than Skype for windows, which is kind of ironic.

Again, thanks for all the responses, was fun to log back in see some enjoyable catch up.

~Karl
 

chscag

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One thing might be worth mentioning. In general, the new "name" for the OS from Apple is macOS, but that started with the latest version of macOS, Sierra. Prior to that it was OS X (pronounced "Oh-Ess-ten"). You'll see both mixed and we aren't pedantic about it, but it could be confusing for a noob.

Not sure that's right Jake. Most folks say that Jobs named the version of OS X after his combining of the original Mac OS (thru OS 9) with NeXT, hence OS EX not OS 10. So I believe the correct pronuciation is in fact OS EX not OS TEN. Read below from Wikipedia:

In 1997, Apple acquired and merged NeXT, allowing Jobs to become CEO once again, reviving the company at the verge of bankruptcy. Beginning in 1997 with the "Think different" advertising campaign, Jobs worked closely with designer Jonathan Ive to develop a line of products that would have larger cultural ramifications: the iMac, iTunes and iTunes Store, Apple Store, iPod, iPhone, App Store, and the iPad. Mac OS was also revamped into OS X (renamed “macOS” in 2016), based on NeXT's NeXTSTEP platform.
 
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MacInWin

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I got the idea from an article on another Apple fan site where a senior engineer retired from Apple gave that description. As I said, it's not important, just part of the "lore" about Apple. The "X" may well have come from NeXT, with the added twist of being an update from OS 9, so it works both ways.
 

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