After a five week wait I got the call last night from my friendly Apple Mac sales guy to tell me that my new PowerMac had hit the shores of Australia and that it would be ready for me to pick it up this morning.
So this morning I trotted into the Apple store and took delivery of my new blogging toy tool.
I’ve spent a good part of the day today in set up and transferring mode. My Powerbook was operating at capacity and it’s been quite the task getting everything over, reinstalled and configured the way I need it. It’s amazing how I’ve taken for granted the workflow that I’ve established for my blogging. I’m also keenly aware of just how many sites I have to enter passwords to that I’d had set to automatically login for me.
Even to get this post up and running has been quite the task – getting the photo edited to a managable size meant installing Photoshop again, getting it online I had to re-install ecto (when meant finding the password – thanks Adrian from ecto for rescuing me).
But I’m getting there. I’ve still got 30 gig of files to transfer across but I think I’ll be back up and running with my normal blogging activities tomorrow now that email, web browsers, IM clients etc are all installed and working.
Now I just need to get used to using a full sized keyboard and mouse again (I quite liked my trackpad) and find a way to get my headset mike working so I can Skype chat and I’ll be cooking with gas.
As for the new system – I got a Power Mac G5 Dual 2 Hz with a 250 GB hard drive, 2.5 GB of memory, AirPort and Bluetooth with a 23 inch Cinema Display.
To say it’s zinging along at a rate of knots that leaves the Powerbook for dead is an understatement. The screen is a work of beauty. After working with 15 inches previously (and 12 before that) I’m in heaven. It’s quite amazing to see my blogs with more than just the header and first few lines of text showing and to also have IM and email windows open on the one screen. I’m already planning how to get myself another screen :-)
23 inch Cinema Display + 23 inch Cinema Display … wow!!!
WAW congrats !! Am still waitin for the new imac … and btw the apple store link is broken, it work only for u.
Congrats daran!!!
You got real monster now ;)
When migrating to a new OS X machine I’ve always done the following. Create a temporary, admin account on the new computer making sure to use a different user machine than on your old computer. Logged in as the temp admin user on the new computer create a new admin account with the same username as you had on your old computer. Delete all of the files within the home directory of your new user account on the new computer.
Copy all files from your user folder on the old computer into your user folder on the new computer. Repair permissions. Restart the new computer and login as your regular user account. Repair permissions. Delete the temporary account. Then go about installing any applications.
Doing this all of your application preferences will be retained because they are stored in the Library folder in your home folder. Also if you use the Keychain application all of your user/pass information will be retained. Calendar data, addressbook data, etc… all of those goodies come across. This works best when moving from the same OS version on both machines.
Nice! Congrats.
I gotta ask tho, didn’t the Migration Assistant do the whole job?
I got a second monitor for my 15″ Powerbook last week and it’s the best thing. It’s only a 17″ but improves productivity having the extra real estate. So for those who can’t afford a 23 inch display, think about a 17″, it will help. I’ve got mine arranged with the montior above the laptop so I effectively get one tall screen of 1280×1878 pixels. Very good for proof reading long posts!
Have fun Darren!
Congrats on the upgraded system Darren –
It sounds super-sonic!
You state, “The screen is a work of beauty. After working with 15 inches previously (and 12 before that) I’m in heaven. It’s quite amazing to see my blogs with more than just the header and first few lines of text showing and to also have IM and email windows open on the one screen.”
Indeed, I’m quite sure it’s a wonderful change, but –
Please remember when it comes to formatting and page layout, lots of us are still viewing pages through that 15-inch screen –
Have a great day!
Decided against the Migration assistant as there was so much of how the Powerbook was set up that I wasn’t happy with that I decided to start from scratch and only bring across what I actually want. There’s something satisfying about a clean ish) slate.
Darren
I’m impressed that you have a desk big enough to fit it all on!!
As for passwords, have you never tried http://www.roboform.com (or http://www.roboform.com/?affid=flas1 for those who don’t mind affiliate links).
The basic version is free and I can’t see how an affiliate marketer could do without it (I’ve got over 300 passwords in there!)
Anyway, keep up your good work. I follow your blogs with great interest and wish I had the discipline to do what you do.
Good work
JON
Don’t get too close to that screen, Darren, you might fall into it!
Nice specs – maybe when I’ve made a few more £ I will be able to invest in one.
Ditto Jeff – make sure you get some constraints put on those browser windows. I don’t relish viewing a blog desgined for 1920 x 1200 :)
Oh man, Roboform on my wife’s PC is so irritating. I’d never put it anywhere near my Mac…
Quite happy to let Keychain do what it can and record the rest securely.
Congrats, Darren.
Now I know the real power behind problooger.
It sounds like you do not have a .mac account. Just for the simplicity of remembering your passwords for websites on multiple computers, IT IS WORTH IT! I love it.
That’s a great bunch of gear, congrats! I’m just wondering if most of us will get the chance to get gear that great for problogging. :)
2.5 gigs memory…only five times what I have
That *is* a nice rig. I want to get a Mac, but not until they’ve made the switch to Intel CPUs (the first is rumored to be the iBook in January).
Not sure what model I want, though. The laptops sure do look nice, but I tend to use them as if they were a desktop (I don’t move around much), so maybe the new iMacs or powermacs…
Or maybe the new iBooks with Intel chips will be pretty fast and useable as a desktop replacement (with USB mouse, keyboard.. maybe extra monitor and hard drive).
I still have a few months to think about it.
Very nice setup – very jealous.
Running XP Pro, would love to make the switch to Mac, but so much software that cost so much money makes it a head decision to stick with PC for the moment.
I feel you pain at having to set everything up – it used to be a fun challenge to wipe my machine and rebuild it, but these days, way too much setup to consider it – just keep adding memory and harddrives as the need arises!
That screen is lush, don’t think my desk would be able to fit it in somehow!
[ http://www.scoobyphotos.eclipse.co.uk/photographs/misc/desk.jpg ]
Dave
Awesome setup Darren. almost like the setup I have here at work except it’s 2 G5’s. You’ll find that it makes a great space heater too. I’m not kidding either.
I have a PC setup at home, but I get the best of both worlds, keeps my chops up working with different platforms although I just inherited a G4 from my work for free which runs Tiger like a champ.
Have fun!
Great set up Darren but automatic log-ins are a potential nightmare.
If someone steals your computer and knows what they’re doing they can cause you some serious trouble.
And Jon – here is one affiliate marketer who does quite well without Roboform or TypeitIn to manage my login codes :)
Perfect setup and congrats! My 15″ PB G4 and 20″ cinema are just like a slice of heaven! I put my PB on an iCurve (look it up, Darren, and use your old PB as a dual monitor with your cinema display) and have 35″ of wonderful real estate. The widescreens are awesome, and your 23″ is also HD, unlike my 20″, lucky you. :)
Ok… I’ll be the one to ask the obvious question that no one else is asking….
How much power does it take to run Photoshop, a web browser, a text editor and some blogging software?
I’ve got a Desktop with dual 17′ monitors, a 3ghz processor with a gig of Ram. It’s great for video and audio editing… but I can “blog” just as fast on my 1.2ghz celeron laptop.
But don’t let my logic fool you… I’m dripping with envy… not much over your mac… but THAT DISPLAY IS SWEET!
yeah – it’s a bit of overkill for 85% of what I do on it John.
It’ll be handy for my video editing thought and give me room to grow :-)
I love you too Sandy
Hey it’s never overkill. Computers have a habit of using their available resources. Who knows when Darren might launch into more graphics or sound (don’t know if you’re a musician) intensive work? More processor power is NEVER a bad thing.