Chapter 2. Installing the System and Software
If Tiger came preinstalled on your Mac, congratulations. You can probably skip about half of this chapter and move onto the section that covers software installation. However, if you’re upgrading from Panther or another version of Mac OS X, or if you’ve come to a point where you want to (or need to!) reinstall Tiger on your Mac, then these first few sections are for you.
This chapter provides you with the details you need to successfully install Mac OS X Tiger on your Mac. It also has information on how to install other software on your Mac, including ways to install Unix applications.
Preparing to Install Tiger
While Apple’s installer for Mac OS X is pretty straightforward, there are some things you need to think about (quite seriously) before you gut your system and install Tiger. If you have a new Mac that’s fresh out of the box, your slate’s pretty clean. However, if you have a Mac that you’ve been using for some time, you need to think about backing up your existing system, and more important, how you want to reconfigure your system for running Mac OS X in the future.
Backing Up Your Life
When you back up your computer, you’re not just backing up raw bits of data; you’re backing up your life. Why do I put it that way? Well, think about what’s on your computer. Email, bookmarks to your favorite web sites, contacts in your Address Book, your music, pictures, documents, and projects you’re working on, and most important, passwords stored ...
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