Today I received my copy of Mac OS 10.6 (I refuse to call any Mac OS by their animal names). Last night I backed up my Media Center iMac using Carbon Copy Cloner so i could have a full copy of my old configuration in the even the install causes problems. I like to wipe my computer before installing any OS. Previously I was never happy with the left over bits of the old OS when upgrading any Windows OS. I know I have read that the Mac OS upgrade is seamless but I am still not 100% convinced. I have used the migration wizard to move my apps and configurations from one mac to another when upgrading but that was between like OS’s (10.4 to 10.4). I do selectively copy the configuration files and “Application Support” files in the Library, but generally I start from scratch. That unfortunately requires a bit of effort.
Since I read that several programs that I rely on are not fully compatible with 10.6 I decided to try out the new OS on my media center machine before trying my main computer. The last time a new Apple OS came out I backed up my macbook using CCC and just booted back to the old OS when I needed applications that wouldn’t work with 10.5. This was a pain, but the price I paid for upgrading the day the software came out. This time around I think more of the programs I use are supported but there are a few key ones that are keeping me from taking the plunge on my main computer.
The install on my media center went well. I have what I believe to be all of the apps I use on it setup. The only glaring exception is the screen saver I like Fliqlo does not seem to work. Other than that everything else seems OK. I wanted to try the iMac I use for a media center first since it doesn’t have anywhere near as many applications on it than my main machine. So far that was a good decision. I am in the process of copying back a few remaining media files but I think the new OS install was a success.