K10k OS X TIPS

Our good friend Brad wrote us these helpful guidelines for when
installing OSX:

I'm not going to tell you that OS X is perfect,
that font management kicks ass, that it never ever crashes, that some
programs simply do not work as well as they did in OS 9. I'd be lying.
Apple's marketing is ahead of the truth, and that's really the tip of the
iceberg. I set up Macs for a living, and a lot of my clients are designers.
They buy new systems and I set them up a certain way that works best for
designers. I'm a designer only by hobby, but I set up my Mac the very same
way. I rarely get a call from a client saying that OS X is acting up or
isn't working at all. I want to share with you how I set my machines up in
hopes that you will benefit from it and will give OS X another chance.
Forgive me in advance if you already know some of this stuff. I'm just
trying to help you out, not be a condescending OS X zealot. I think there's
a lot wrong with it, but there are many more reasons to switch from OS 9 for
most people.

1) By all means, do not, under any circumstances, install software or use a
machine out of the box. Apple's default setup, partitioning, etc are screwy
and almost always do more harm than good.

2) Backup all of your data with Retrospect (to a file on a FireWire drive is
the best way to go).

3) Backup all of your data with Retrospect again (if possible). If you don't
have enough extra drive space for a second backup, make sure you verify your
backup in Retrospect).

4) Start up from the OS X disc and run Disk Utility.

5) Depending on the size of your hard drive, you'll want to partition your
drive into at least 5 partitions. Sound excessive? It's not. Trust me.
You'll thank me later.

Partition 1 = 10 GB (OS X will go here)

Partition 2 = 3 GB (OS 9 will go here. You can make it smaller or larger,
depending on your OS 9 dependency. FWIW, I just did a clean install with a
1GB OS 9 partition)

Partition 3 = 2 GB (You should name this 'Fonts HD' or something like it.
This will serve as your font repository for use with Suitcase or Font
Reserve. I suggest Font Reserve, simply because OS X is sensitive to corrupt
fonts and Suitcase does not check integrity.)

Partition 4 = 1 GB (You should name this 'Scratch HD' or something like it.
You can make it larger if you feel the need, but 1 GB should be just fine.)

Partition 5 = Whatever is left over (Use this as a storage partition)

6) Install OS X on the first partition.

7) Install OS 9 on the second partition and configure it to run as slim as
possible. If you need to, make a separate startup set for OS X in Extensions
Manager that just has the bare essentials.

8) Make sure your startup disc is set to the OS X partition and then
restart.

9) Install all of your applications fresh. It's a pain, but it's essential.

10) Install any new apps onto your OS X partition (unless they are classic
apps).

11) Make sure any applications that utilize scratch discs, are using your
Scratch HD.

12) Put Your fonts on the Fonts HD.

13) Restore anything you need to from your Retrospect backup.

14) Enjoy OS X


For those who are trying to install OS 9.2.2 on their new G4 Tower Macs
(Dual Optical Drive macs), or doing a restore of any sort (short of doing a
re-install of the OEM OS X 10.2), take a look in any of the Software Restore
CDs.

There is an invisible directory called '.images' which contains the
replacement images for all sorts of things, including the OEM OS 9.2.2
required for booting the new mac properly.

Copy the files to the appropriate location and you're good to go.


A couple of other things to add, subscribe to the Dr. Mac email list.
It's one email a day with great hints and software tips..
His site is also searchable and has a wealth on info. The guys that run the
site are the old pros and write books and stuff. The last thing is feel free
to give out my email address, if people want to contact me with
questions.