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[SteveMeister]

...and wanted to transfer all of your stuff over from your old one. User accounts, applications, settings, etc. Think about that for a minute, about the steps you'd need to take.

Yesterday I got a refurbished 20" iMac G5. You know, the newer ones, where the computer's all in the monitor. It's replacing a PowerMac G5 (1.6GHz single processor), which I sold to a friend. Now that I have an up to date PC, I don't really need the PowerMac's expandability, and with the iMac's built-in 20" LCD, I don't have to use a KVM to share a display with my PC.

Anyway -- since the iMac is a replacement, I needed to transfer over all my stuff, which includes my music library and about 4800 photos in iPhoto, financial data for Quicken, a bunch of apps I'd installed such as Firefox (along with bookmarks & extensions for that), and 2 user accounts and all THEIR attendant data.

So I boot up the iMac, and it goes into the first-time setup stuff. What language, what country, etc. And then it asks me if I have an old Mac I want to transfer stuff from. I click "Yes". The setup software then says "Connect the old Mac to this Mac with a Firewire cable". I do so. The software detects it, and says "While holding the T key, reboot your old Mac." I do so. The old mac reboots, and a large Firewire symbol appears on the old mac's display.

The new Mac then says "Firewire connection established", and after a few seconds displays a list of things to transfer over: User accounts, network settings, apps, etc. I can pick what I want to transfer. I elect to transfer it all, and press "GO". Off to work I go.

When I get home in the evening, my iMac is a perfect clone of my old Mac. Same user accounts, same passwords. All my apps are installed & ready to go, and all of the settings are intact. My photos and music are there (although I needed to authorize my new Mac to play music from iTMS and de-authorize the old Mac). Firefox remembers all of my bookmarks and extensions. Quicken remembers all of my financial info & registers. All of the sites I visit that have usernames and passwords? The usernames & passwords are remembered. And so on.

So all I needed to do was clean up the old Mac and I was in business.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share. That's the easiest transfer to a new computer I've ever encountered.

 

[xsarien]

That is rather cool. Moreso that they embedded the transfer sequence into the operating system at that level than the use of Firewire. It's the little things like this that make me appreciate Apple. Stuff that isn't necessarily difficult, but a pain in the ass, is simplified.

 

[robox]

damn you for bringing this up. i'm planning on getting a new compu soon and setting one up is a pain in the ass. although it does mean that everything is fresh and up to date, but a pain in the ass nonetheless

 

[miyuru]

Goddamn that's the coolest thing ever.

Edit: I wonder if spyware and stuff like that could seep into your new Mac as well hey?

 

[gblues]

Goddamn that's the coolest thing ever.

Edit: I wonder if spyware and stuff like that could seep into your new Mac as well hey?

Mac.. spyware.. DOES NOT COMPUTE.

 

[element]

another reason why macs rule.

 

[Manabanana]

Goddamn that's the coolest thing ever.

Edit: I wonder if spyware and stuff like that could seep into your new Mac as well hey?

I wonder if malaria will spread to those with sickle-cell?

 

[gohepcat]

Although I agree that it seems to be done very well on the Mac. Xp does have a files and settings transfer wizard.

Although it would not transfer actual applications over, it would do everything else.

 

[Crow357]

Wow, that is very impressive. Not enough to make me switch, but very impressive.