Switching machines

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Switching from MBP to iMac....

Purchasing 21" iMac in

3.....


2.....


1.....


From iShop (local apple dealer)... not going through webstore now.

Will be loaded with Snow Leopard with free upgrade to Lion

Question... is it best to migrate my laptop software/apps etc to the iMac and THEN upgrade to Lion? or vice versa?
 
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chas_m

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Good question!

After thinking about it, I'd recommend migrating your stuff FIRST using Migration Assistant. THEN I'd say you should test at least a few apps to make sure everything came over okay (Migration Assistant has a stellar track record in this regard, but it never hurts to test).

THEN I'd say you should make at least a Time Machine backup, preferably both that AND a bootable clone backup (using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner). This would be the same advice I'd give someone who was staying with SL as well. You'll also want to boot from the clone to make sure it works as well.

Next, I'd suggest researching your most-used apps to make sure they'll continue to work in Lion -- the overwhelming majority should have no issue if they are up-to-date, I've been VERY pleasantly surprised by some older software I have that had no issues, but there are some packages that have issues and some older stuff that simply won't work at all (Rosetta dependent, etc). Roaringapps.com is a good place to start that research.

Finally, at this point I'd buy and download the Lion upgrade, make a backup of the installer for future burning to DVD or USB stick, and upgrade to Lion. I'm making this sound like a much bigger deal than it actually is, but backups are ALWAYS a good idea no matter what.
 
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Thanks for a great response.

I thought I would ask the apple guy when I bought my iMac and this is what he said.....

Wait.......
Download Lion but don't install it for a few weeks yet..... let the quirks and bug fixes get released and then do the upgrade.

But I really like your approach. It seems more viable. Perhaps I can download Lion (because it'll be free) but I won't install. I'll use Migration Assistant and see how things flow for a while. (is this a free program?) I have superDuper (somewhere)

My most used apps are only Photoshop and Lighroom.... I also use Cocktail. Those are the top 3 besides the basics, safari, mail, iTunes, Chrome, Firefox, SnapzPro which I have but barely use these days. OH and Frontrow for watching my movies on the 42"....
 
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Oh forgot to mention I did download NeoOffice because I refuse to run Microsoft Office... pffft! So I dunno how well that'll work. I only have it for household budget layout thingie...
 
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chas_m

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I'm on record here as not being a big fan of the free Office alternatives because they are (IMO) un-Mac-like and fugly. Having said that, I recently gave the three main alternatives (OpenOffice, NeoOffice and LibreOffice) a spin for a class I was going to teach.

If I recall correctly, I booted NeoOffice out of the lineup because the new "mandatory donation" for 3.1 or whatever version they are at, and the "mandatory donation" of $100 to join the forum. The Office alternatives (any of them) are worth $30, sure, but this is quasi-legal IMO and the forum fee is just plain stupid.

I personally prefer iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). $49 for the whole suite or $20 per app from the Mac App Store. You might download a demo from Apple's website and give it a spin.
 
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I don't use it .... truly.. only got it for a spreadsheet and had "heard/read" good things. I doubt I'll maintain the budget spreadsheet. LOL!! Just slack like that. I paid a $10 donation... it works, it runs. Perhaps I'll leave it off my iMac and just leave it on my MBP.

If I need to run anything like that of sorts, I'll check out iWorks but not before then.

Thanks for the update.
 
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chas_m

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You're right, it's $10 not $30. My bad.

Still, they forced it on people. Not cool. Again, totally worth the money, but I don't like hijacking.
 
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Yeah didn't like that it says Donation and forced to pay it. That's NOT a donation.

Loving the iMac.... and I was impatient with Lion. :\ installed it! Running great. works with my 2+ programs flawlessly....

Just not liking that the finger scrolling is backwards on the magic mouse. Can that be reversed? Gonna have a look.

Cheers mate!
 
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You should be able to disable natural scrolling in system preferences. I know this is the case for the trackpad at least.
 
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Yep, found it.... but I don't think it's "natural" when it's natural the way it's been for the past..... ohhh.. how many years? LOL!!
 
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LOL! You have a point. Though on a trackpad it's not THAT bad. I've gotten more or less used to it.
 
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I'll have to work on it.... got the trackpad but for now, just using the mouse.
 
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chas_m

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"Natural" scrolling is the correct term (watch yourself using an iPad or iPhone and you'll see why), but "what we're used to" scrolling on the Mac works too. My brain doesn't seem to have any trouble switching back and forth, but if I turn on natural scrolling I get used to it in an hour or so. Some people have more trouble (different wiring on the brain), some people have less.
 
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Ok, problem....

My MBP laptop was hooked up to our 42" so we could watch movies/tv shows downloaded from iTunes. now granted, these are downloaded to an external drive so if it's not plugged in (via USB) then "file can't be found". Hooked up to the tv from laptop required 2 cables, one for the picture (big blocky thing with 2 screws on each side & a sound wire).

Now that I have my iMac, there is no place to hook up the big blocky thing for picture. So I'm guessing this will be just a single cable for both picture and sound? What sort of cable is it? Will it be an HDMI cable?

Second, if I can't get the iMac to mirror onto the 42" screen, how can I share the external HD?

I'm currently watching my Season pass of Bones from the laptop (via USB ext HD) but I want to muck around with my photos (also on the USB ext HD)... any chance of being able to share?

Also (problem 3): I was going to partition my iMac's drive and just store my photography on the drive but I'm getting errors creating the partition. "Can't verify something...." I tried 3 times.

I think I would prefer to share the external... as that is my Time Machine drive AND storage (photos/documents/music/movies etc)
 
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chas_m

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Now that I have my iMac, there is no place to hook up the big blocky thing for picture. So I'm guessing this will be just a single cable for both picture and sound? What sort of cable is it? Will it be an HDMI cable?

Can be.

The new "small blocky thing" is called MiniDisplayPort (you also have Thunderbolt I believe, which will also do the job, but it's even newer and cheap accessories aren't yet available for it).

Anyway, you need to located a MiniDisplayPort to HDMI connector that *also carries audio* (should say so in the specifications). That should be all you need.


Also (problem 3): I was going to partition my iMac's drive and just store my photography on the drive but I'm getting errors creating the partition. "Can't verify something...." I tried 3 times.

Get back to us on this when you can quote the exact error message. You may need to "zero out free space" before the partitioning can happen (live partitioning of the same drive you're booted from REQUIRES contiguous space).

I think I would prefer to share the external... as that is my Time Machine drive AND storage (photos/documents/music/movies etc)

As cheap as drives are these days, I'd recommend you use the external just for TM and get another external (actually two if necessary) -- one for the media stuff, the other to back up the media stuff (as you describe it, you don't currently have a backup for your media).
 
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Ok, well, I might just have to go that route. (more hd's) I think I would prefer to keep the laptop as my tv/movie viewer because I can close the lid. Not possible with an iMac.

Just found out my laptop remote also works for my iMac... too funny!

I have a western digital 1tb but I misplaced the usb cable. :L Gotta be around here somewhere....

And I think I'll pass on partitioning iMac... for now... a girl CAN change her mind ;)
 

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