Leopard Migration: How It Went Down
Typing this post within the brand new and still shiny Leopard environment, I’m now completely setup and running with the new evolutionary operating system from Apple - OSX 10.5 Leopard.
Leopard turned up two days earlier than I had expected - landing on my doorstep on Saturday afternoon along with a few other goodies. I’d seen many photos of the Leopard software packaging on Flickr in the days leading up to its arrival here in New Zealand, and knew exactly what to expect.
I was impressed right from the word go. The packaging is elegant and simple. Apple has something as simple but important as product presentation nailed down, they know what they’re doing right down to the small details. Leopard was no exception, impressing right from the word go.
Installation
On Friday I wrote about how I planned to install Leopard using the Archive & Install option. That didn’t go exactly to plan..
Before inserting the Leopard DVD I backed up my boot drive to an external LaCie Porsche drive. I made sure my entire home folder was stored safely on the drive just in-case the install went to mush.
I came across the first problem when the Leopard DVD only picked up my Storage drive, I promptly rebooted into Tiger and did a quick search on the Apple discussion boards for this problem. I was relieved to find a few others had experienced the same issue as it was quickly fixed by booting back into the Leopard DVD, opening Disk Utility, and un-mounting the drive. When I navigated back to the install screen, both drives were available for installation.
To my disappointment the Archive and Install attempt went sour, I was presented with a screen where Leopard told me the drive was corrupt and it needed to be wiped before I could proceed. It kicked in at this point that an Archive & Install wasn’t on the cards, Erase & Install was the only way to go.
Although a little disappointed with the option I had to take, the Erase & Install gave me an opportunity to play with Leopard from scratch, and let me properly organize my files in a structured format. Sure - it look a few hours longer than I’d have liked, but all in all, I now have the system running without hitch. I’m thoroughly impressed.
#1
Andre → winnopeg.com
I erased and installed, then re-imported my data using migration assistant. Worked without a hitch.
#2
Dawson → jonester.com
Thats awesome. I still use Windows Vista. Which I do like. But OS X looks awesome but the systems are very expensive, and not as customizable as Windows PC’s and games are minimal.
Also Glenn, I love your blog. But please try to post daily. You only post every 2-3 days. :(
#3
Adam Nelson → www.clunkclunk.com
My sister’s MacBook did the exact same thing where it proceeded with the install, then reported that the Archive and Install failed because the drive was corrupt.
I was paranoid that she had a bad drive, so I fired up Drive Genius from another drive and scanned her hard drive for bad sectors. Everything passed with flying colors.
I ended up doing an Erase and Install on her machine, then using the migration assistant at the initial boot to move her information from the backup I did. Everything worked without a hitch. I don’t know why, but Leopard seems to deem a drive corrupt pretty easily.
My personal MacBook Pro had no problems doing an Archive and Install, though. I’ll probably stick with this install for about two weeks, then do a full Erase and Install and only move over critical information, and install most applications from scratch.
#4
Zak → www.ittechie.org
What is the new OS like?
#5
Katie → soundslikekatie.com
I went with “Erase and Install” as well. I’m really happy with the way everything went, and the installing time was a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be. I’m glad I went with this route. Even though I’ve only had my MacBook since June, I needed this little boost and reason to clean out a bunch of things and start over. I’m sure you’ll have many more reviews on topics related to Leopard to come. Can’t wait!
#6
Loren Morris → www.r3fresh.com
I was planning on doing the “erase and install,” but at the last moment I did “archive and install.”
My Macbook took a hit in hd space, but I guess it’s worth it with Leopard. I’ve got 12 gigs left.
#7
Aaron WatersGlad it went well Glenn. How about a piccy of your new desktop :) ?
Cheers
#8
Chris Vick → vickslife.com
I think I’m the only one who did an upgrade. It went perfectly on both my machines and my friends, too.
(PS- I think the phrase is “from the get go” but it may be different in NZ…)
#9
Technogogo → www.flickr.com/photos/technogogo
Same here… upgraded our 3 systems - each without a hitch. Though saying that, on the iMac something a little odd: the external drive appeared as an “install on this” option, but there was a significant pause before the internal drive appeared. Had me slightly worried for a moment.
I was trying iChat theatre options with a friend last night. All worked very well.
#10
DenisI’ve upgrade Tiger to Leopard and I didn’t have any problem with installing.
No problem with storage. Just about hour and a half and I saw Leopard GUI.
#11
Grant → www.grantmc.co.uk
Good article,
Typo - look a few hours… instead of took a few hours…
In the lastd paragraph
Can’t wait to get leopard myself!
#12
Dustin → www.dustincook.ca
My copy is on the delivery truck now. Can’t wait!
As per my installation method - I’m going too erase and install. It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of cleaning to my Mac and I think it’s time.
#13
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
Excellent! Watch this space for posts on Leopard, one went up last night on Spaces.
#14
Dustin → www.dustincook.ca
Finished installing and moving my stuff over a few hours ago. Thus far I am VERY impressed. The small little features they added are simply amazing and work extremely well. I’m especially impressed with Mail, iCal and Time Machine.
#15
Chris Thomson → christhomsonblog.com
I decided to do an Erase and Install aswell. Mine went fast! About 7 minutes for the disk check, and about 40 minutes for the actual install. I was satisfied with this timing. I still have a bootable backup of Tiger (also on a LaCie Porsche). I’m really liking Leopard (aside from the Twitterrific bugs ;-) )
#16
Blair BeckwithI’ve decided to jump the gun and install Leopard. it’s actually installing on my ‘Book now…