| Sunday, June 13, 2004 |
12:16 - Hey, that's cheating!
http://techgoesboom.com/archives/2004/06/10/g5_and_1034_system_migration_feature.php
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One of the pieces of Mac OS X Panther In a Snap (link in the sidebar) that I was most pleased with was the step-by-step illustrated documentation of the process by which you can transfer your data from your old Mac to a new one you've just bought. It was probably the longest such procedure in the book (the whole volume is nothing but about 200 numbered and illustrated procedures for accomplishing various tasks), and certainly the least intuitive and most in need of documentation. It involved mounting computers via AppleShare, issuing recursive copy commands via the Terminal, changing ownership and permissions, creating and deleting user accounts, and re-registering with iSync to restore your contacts and other info from the .Mac server. It was big and ugly, but it did work. I was pretty proud of it.
And then... and then just look what Apple did!
 
Aarrrgh!
It kicks in automatically during the Setup Assistant process when you first take your machine out of the box; all you need is a FireWire cable, and your old Mac's data is transferred over in fifteen minutes to an hour, with no fuss and no muss.
Ah well—I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. OS X 10.3.4 (for the newest G5s only, as of today, but sure to be added to all new Macs soon) not having this feature is of benefit only to my fragile ego, and to Microsoft (whose Files and Settings Transfer Wizard actually predates this, but is nowhere near as smooth or complete). This is something Apple has needed, and in a form that makes this formerly ugly and error-prone process as polished as the rest of the OS experience. It's been a wart on an otherwise supermodel face, and one that everyone just sort of politely didn't talk about. Now there's no need for throat-clearing discomfort.
Good show, Apple. I doff my self-esteem to you.
Via Kevin.
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Brian Tiemann
