iMpressive

Say what you will about Apple — and some of you clearly have quite a bit to say — sometimes they really get things right. Apparently all new systems come equipped with a startup feature that allows first-time users to transfer the entirety of an old hard drive (including user settings) to the new machine. It took me about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, to transfer 70 GB of files seamlessly, and when I was done my MacBook was like a tiny, perfect replica of my old PowerBook, all the way down to the number of unread RSS feeds and the clutter on the desktop. That’s like a week of my life that I’ve just saved.

Good thing, too, ’cause Daylight Savings totally broadsided me yesterday.

So far the MacBook seems like smooth sailing, although it’s kinda sad to see Classic apps I’ve carried with me across ten years of systems suddenly afflicted with a horrible CENSORED icon due to the Intel changeover. Farewell, Quark; goodbye, Spectre; adieu, Fontographer. (But don’t worry… I’ll secretly keep you around until someone whips up a Classic environment emulator.)

Incidentally, the Intel switch marks the third and most violent system-level changeover I’ve suffered in 13 years of Mac ownership. Confidential to Steve: this is the last time I’m putting up with this crap. Stick to OS X on Intel for the next decade or I swear I’ll… uh… something drastic. Honest.
One of the grim Classic icons in action:


NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Also, the first thing the computer does on startup is take a portrait of the user for the login screen. Naturally, I put my best face forward.

19 thoughts on “iMpressive”

  1. Does it import Outlook Express data to Mail? I’m afraid of reinstalling all my software on my old iMac. Just feels like too much of a chore.

  2. Spectre VR, with the green wireframe tanks? Man, whether that’s what you were talking about or not, it just sent me into fits of nostalgia. Now I want to track down Cosmic Osmo or Spaceship Warlock or something.

  3. Spectre VR, yes. It’s not really that good in retrospect but man… at the time, it was pretty amazing to see real 3D on my LCIII.

  4. I think I was playing it on a IIsi. Man, those were some days. Probably not the days, but those were some days.

  5. Okay, I have to ask for a screencap of the terrible “CENSORED” app icon you’re talking about. I don’t have an Intel Mac to see it on and I’ve always thought that all of Apple’s OSX-era icons are gorgeous, IMO.

  6. For emulation, you might get some mileage out of Basilisk II: http://basilisk.cebix.net/

    There’s an OSX port, which is linked from that page. It’s basically a virtual machine, so you won’t be running old programs straight off your desktop, but using System 7.5 again is part of the fun. It requires a Mac ROM image, which you’re technically supposed to provide yourself. I don’t know if the image from a newer machine would be compatible at all, but surprisingly enough you can find software under copyright on the Internet anyway.

  7. Dean: Good Usenet App
    If you’re willing to drop $25: http://www.panic.com/unison/

    Jeremy: 3 out of 4 family members agree
    Apple nailed it with using target disk mode to transfer all relevant user data from your old machine to your new one. It may not be fast (by objective standards), but it’s pleasantly painless. I’m glad your experience was an enjoyable one.

  8. for some reason that pictures screams “Ponkotsu Roman Daikatsugeki Bumpy Trot” to me…

  9. tonite, tomm and i came to the conclusion that possession of a servbot is the badge of an elite group of game writers, signifying a highly refined level of pretentiousness =)

  13. I have two Fishboys on top of my fridge, which are ten times dorkier than any Servbot. Bah.

    DFS.

  14. Is anyone else trying to figure out what “-oilet Kids” are?

    Oooh, Kids! That reminds me, Kid Pix! Man, best Mac app ever.

  17. Er, that sounds a little more xenophobic than I intended. I should clarify, the Jaded Old Nerd has +10 resistance to Japanese internet memes, Flash cartoons, Molyneaux hype, and all sorts of things. We don’t just hate Japan.

  18. Whatever, I just watched the news today when this kid was testifying before congress about how one of the Pentium 4 designers abused him sexualy and stuff. I don’t remember the name of the Intel designer dude, but it’s in the kid’s testimony before congress. The Internet is still a horrible thing to happen to humanity and Intel is the mark of the beast. Use AMD! Pedophile free… so far.

  19. Fontographer! That sparks even more nostalgia in me than Spectre VR. It makes me yearn for the simpler yet more complicated days of hashing images out in photoshop, and then having to compress them and make them websafe with good old Debabelizer.

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