Live Blogging My OS X Leopard Installation On MacBook Pro.

(Editorial note: This is the first of a series on installing Mac OS X: 10.5, Leopard. This article tells you, step by step, minute by minute, what to expect when you install Apple’s new OS X: 10.5/Leopard. How long to expect each step to take, from inserting the install DVD to a brand new operating system. Especially helpful if you’re a bit nervous or inexperienced, or just want to know what to expect along the way. Part Two discusses how to “tweak” your new installation of Leopard, to increase productivity and comfort. Later, third-party freeware and shareware opportunities will be discussed.)

I bought my MacBook Pro in the middle of June. I had planned to wait until OS X - 10.5/Leopard, was released, but when it was delayed, I got impatient and went for it. I love to play with freeware and shareware, so I format my hard drive a few times a year, usually every four months or so. I actually enjoy it, because I get the chance to start 100% fresh, and add functionality that meets my current needs. I still have and use my three-year-old PowerBook G4, which is limping along thanks to the known-issue of one of the two memory slots not working. Apple knows about it, but since the G4 is out of warranty, I haven’t bothered to get it fixed. So I’m running OS X - 10.4.10 on the PowerBook, with only a half-gig of RAM, which kind of sucks, but it also forces me to install only the apps I can’t live without.

I spent much of the day formatting the hard drive on the MacBook Pro. Nine hours from start to finish, with the 7 pass security option. I like a really fresh start. This Apple article will explain how to format your hard drive securely.

INSTALL OF 10.5: Once you’ve inserted the install DVD and rebooted, clicked on “English” as the main language, the screen says, “Read the following information before you install Mac OS X.” When you click the “more information” button the first sentence reads “For more information about Mac OS X, visit this website: www.apple.com/macosx.” I find it a bit humorous as most people don’t have another computer to do that on.

As with all Mac installs, there is usually an “options” button, to click but they always put it over to the left, so most people who instinctively click “continue,” don’t see it til it’s too late. Always, always, always click the options or “customize” button. For example, the “additional fonts” option is defaulted to yes, install. It’s 140 MB for font support of Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Cyrillic, and seven other languages. If you think you might need them, go for it. But most people will not need it. Uncheck the ones you won’t need. Next, language translations is 1.9 GB (yes, gigabytes!) I cut half of them out, and saved 1 GB. The less data on your hard drive, the less time the OS spends looking for data. Less data = faster.

Next, the install app checks the install DVD for consistency. This takes a long time (why?) so it’s a good time to look through the “Welcome to Leopard” book that comes in the DVD package. (It’s nice that Apple continues to include the Apple logo stickers in their software packages. I can’t imagine anyone uses them, but it’s a nice piece of nostalgia.) I’m going to network my MacBook Pro with my PowerBook G4. I think it will be a huge productivity opportunity for me. I generally find myself with twenty open Safari windows, (with a ton of tabs!) and many other apps running, and things just start to slow down. Now I’ll be able to spread some of the other apps around. The Leopard book wastes no time getting in a plug for .Mac (dot Mac.) I subscribed for three years, and it was pretty much worthless. Now that there’s some meat in it, like a better backup system, Time Machine, and “Back to my Mac,” I will probably hand over the $100. Way over-priced!

Twelve minutes and I’m still stuck in “checking the install DVD”; 40% complete. This is longer than any install I have ever done. Getting nervous!

OK, eighteen minutes, 65% complete. Almost there!

Still going through the Welcome book. “Spaces,” the multiple desktop windows (small ‘w’) feature looks good. The new stationary idea in Mail looks stupid. Outlook Express started that like 10 years ago. And this was my first complaint with 10.5 when Steve Jobs introduced it in January (feels like a year ago.) There is absolutely greater functionality in Leopard, but there is too much focus on glossy and pretty. I love glossy and pretty, but I also love fast, and glossy and pretty detracts from processing speed. I’m hoping Apple’s struck a good balance.

I am extremely curious about the “Notes and to-do items” addition to Mail. I miss terribly Microsoft Outlook. I had been using it from the start (Outlook ‘97.) I know I could buy Parallels, buy Windows, and buy Outlook, or Microsoft Office, and run them on my MacBook Pro, but the cost would be enormous.

OK: 28 minutes, 95% complete.

“You can turn dates in your emails into iCal events.” Hooray!! Really. This is huge, and one of the thing I miss most about Outlook is dragging an email onto your Calendar, setting up an appointment, and having all the info right there.

OK. Thirty minutes. 99% complete, and I just now saw the “skip” button. Oh well!

Done. Thirty one minutes to check the install DVD. Way too long. I’m running with 4 GBs of RAM on a 5400 RPM, 160 GIG harddrive.

Now we’re in the actual install part. I am co-authoring a book, and my friend and writing partner and I have been using Skype video and recording our weekly sessions. The new iChat has “video effects such as backdrops.” So, I could use a photo as a backdrop, and wouldn’t have to worry about how tidy my office is! Nice.

Four minutes into the install and the time remaining says “about 53 minutes.” Not happy about this. Very strange, and I don’t remember any previos install taking this long. (Maybe it takes long so you’ll be sure to read the “Welcome to Leopard book”?)

Now it says an hour and 8 minutes…Ok.

Better. 10 minutes into the install, and it is estimating 29 minutes remaining.28 minutes into the install, and it estimates the time remaining to be 4 minutes.

It kind of feels like it’s hanging near the end…

Whew! 33 minutes total to install Leopard. Now I’m clicking restart and am excited to see the new “Welcome to Leopard” movie. Corny, huh?

OK. the sound from the movie is corny, too, but the movie is awesome! And the setup talks to you! You have to wait a minute or 2 but setup is VoiceOverable. Try it - it’s cool! (It’s actually designed for those who use assistive devices, like the sight-impaired.)

Setup is pretty straightforward. They are really hawking the dot Mac thing. I’m skipping and NOT using my iTunes ID. It really bothers me that you have to enter your personal info during registration, including a phone number. And I’m unclicking the “stay in touch!” option.

You’ll want to look pretty for your new photo(booth) ID. It takes your picture and uses it as your ID icon. I’m skipping signing up for dot Mac. The next screen offers you a free two-month trial for dot Mac. If you choose the .Mac trial option, know that ALL of your Dot Mac apps will be configured for Dot Mac. You cannot go back and opt out. Sneaky. I really don’t like that. You would have to start the install from the beginning to change your dot Mac selection.

Setup takes 5 to 10 minutes. Wow. Brand new desktop. Software update starts up a minute after the new desktop appears. Update! Seriously. And run the Software Update app several times, until it tells you there are no more. (There is only one update right now on 10.5, but it was just released. There will be more!) But first, I’m running the “optional installs” app, which for some strange reason includes Address Book, iCal, iChat, iTunes, Mail, Oxford Dictionaries, Safari, and X11. No need, as they’re already installed. It’s pretty much just another opportunity to install those files which I discussed at the beginning, like Additional Fonts. But remember for later, if you ever need them, they are easily accessible from the install DVD.

The new desktop is amazing. Notice the new shaded grey border of the Finder window, the Apple Menu icon looks 3D hollowed out/concave, Spotlight has a refined icon, but, as others have complained, the menu bar has lost its rounded corners. The system font looks lighter too, though it could be I changed mine in 10.4.

I love the “devices” category and the new finder sidebar. And “search for” is right in the sidebar. Great idea. Hating the new folder icons, and will change those toot sweet! (I’ll show you how in a later article.) The Dock (I hate the Dock) looks good, but it really feels like I just bought a new computer! It’s that different.

Now the work begins.

Part Two: So, I’ve Just Installed Mac OS X: Leopard. Now What Do I Do? (And How Do I Get My iLife Apps Back?)

---

You may also be interested in:
Chris Pirillo’s Top 100 Mac Apps, And Other Leopard Goodness.
MAC OS X: When Will It Grow Up?
iPhone, AppleTV: MacWorld Keynote Wrapup. Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ive, and Apple Rule!

---

Elsewhere…
Apple has released their own downloadable Leopard Guided Tour.
From Apple: Installation Options: Archive & Install vs. Erase and Install.

---

I welcome your comments, or, feel free to email me. Why not take a look around? If you like what you see, why not add me to your blogroll? Or, subscribe to my RSS feed? Or both. Thanks.

---

Tags: 10.5, customize, Install, Leopard, OS X, PowerBook, puppy, Spaces