Moving from a G5 to Intel

I've been using a PowerMac G5 iMac for over 4 years and finally got a new Intel iMac running Snow Leopard. Here's an account of how I moved all my stuff, applications and documents from the old to the new machine. Apple makes it easy using "Migration Assistant". You can invoke the transfer when you first fire up your new computer, or later after you're up and running. The process is almost the same, although if you choose to do it later you cannot migrate from a USB external drive.

When you first fire up a new Mac with a fresh OS installed you are invited to migrate your files from an old computer or external drive. I chose to migrate my files later so I could see that the computer was working satisfactorily. I entered a user name and password and registered with Apple. The choice of user name was not important because when I migrate my user folder later I will have my old user account in addition to the new account. This is not something that Apple makes very clear.

After doing several software updates, including a firmware update, and I'm convinced that everything looks OK, I'm ready to transfer my files using "Migration Assistant" in the Utilities folder. There are several choices. You can migrate your files from your old computer, using Firewire or Ethernet, or you can migrate them from an external Firewire drive.

As part of my backup strategy I keep a clone of my computer on an external hard drive. If you chose to migrate during the initial setup, which I didn't, you can use either a Firewire or USB drive. If you do it later you can only use a Firewire drive. Again, this is something Apple doesn't make clear. You can also migrate between the two computers using Firewire target mode or Ethernet file sharing. Since both computers had 1000BT Ethernet I chose this method. I thought it might be faster than Firewire 400. Incidentally new Macs come with Firewire 800 so you may need an 800 to 400 adapter. The agent at Apple thought Ethernet would be faster, but since it took 5-6 hours with Ethernet I'm not so sure.

Turn on file sharing and open Migration Assistant on both computers. Follow the instructions. I had about 90 GB of files on my G5. The transfer time depends on your connection and the amount of data. It can take a long time so start early in the day or be prepared to let it run over night. When it finishes you'll have your old user account, applications, documents and settings on the new computer. Everything is there. Now the fun begins.

Repair permissions. There seemed to be hundreds to repair.

Not all applications run under Snow Leopard, so you may need to dump or update them. There are several web sites that give compatibility lists, but an easy way is to download the free "SnowChecker.app". It will inventory your applications and compare them to an online database of applications, telling you which are OK, which are probably OK and which are not compatible. It also provides links to the application web sites so you can download compatible versions, if they exist. It's not perfect. It listed a few incompatible applications that I didn't have. I also does not check Preference Panes (in System Preferences) and device drivers.

My old HP laser printer uses AppleTalk, via an Asante Ethernet adapter. AppleTalk no longer works under Snow Leopard. My wife's G5 (Leopard) computer is on our local network so I can use the printer via printer sharing, or buy a new printer or a Print Server.

I have a few programs that require "Activation" so I must go into the old computer and deactivate them before I can use them on the new iMac. God bless Adobe and copy protection.

Don't expect to do everything at once. As you work with the new setup you'll run into incompatibilities. Deal with them as you go along.

Once things are working pretty well, make a bootable backup. You'll need an external USB drive formatted as GUID. Use Apple's Disk Utility to format the drive. GUID is hidden under "Partition".