[NJRonbo]

Been a Mac Pro owner for two months now.

Love my Mac so much that I purchased a MacBook Pro.

Now....

I want to back up all my MAIL/iCal/Address Book settings on
my MAC PRO and move them over to the MacBook Pro.

So the first question is....is there a utility that you can back
all that information up and easily transfer it over to the MacBook?

Once I do that....

What is the best way to continually synch all this information
between the two computers?

I do have a 1-year subscription to .MAC so perhaps that is the
best way for now -- but I'm also interested in alternative ways
should I give up my subscription.

Next....

Generally, with the software that I purchased for my MAC PRO
(and I purchased about $200 worth), can I use those programs
on my MacBook Pro as well? I realize this may differ from program
to program, but I am sort of wondering how many people have had
no problem doing so?

Thanks, in advance, for the help!

[besson3c]

You'll find a lot of answers doing a search of this forum, there have been dozens of threads devoted to backup software.

Also:

- PowerPC based Macs running OS X will run all OS X software except for Intel only applications
- Intel baed Macs running OS X will run all OS X software except for the Classic environment and all applications that run under Classic.

[Macola]

For the first part of your question, you might also consider using Migration Assistant (In Applications::Utilities). It's a lot better than trying to poke around and find individual files to copy.

[JKT]

Just use .Mac and iSync for the distribution of your Mail etc settings and synching. There is other third-party software that can be used, but you might as well ask again in about 10 months time as it will probably have become more advanced by then. As you don't actually need it now, there isn't much point trying it.

Note, iSync does not synchronise messages, only settings for Mail. If you have an IMAP account for your e-mail, then you won't have any problems with keeping your two machines in synch wrt to actual messages, but for POP accounts it will be a pain in the behind. You'll have to set your POP account to leave messages on the server, and then live with the fact that the read/unread/flag status of messages is just never going to be in sync between the two machines.

[JKT]

For your software - it will depend. Many apps will allow you to have two copies of the software (one on each machine) but will require that you do not use both at the same time. Others will require that you only ever have one copy installed on one machine. Whether or not you can run more than one instance of an app on two different machines will depend on how they have been coded (and whether they require activation etc).

[NJRonbo]

JKT,

Just for clarification...

Will .MAC synchronize all my email messages as far as those just downloaded, read, etc?

In other words, if I synch with .MAC on my desktop and then immediately synch again
with .MAC on my macbook, will all the mail be equally displayed on both?

Thanks for all your assistance!

[JKT]

No. .Mac doesn't synch the messages, it only synchs the settings.

If your e-mail is an IMAP account, you won't have to worry about synching (and, if you are using your .Mac account, it already is). If it is POP, then you will have to find an alternative means of doing it which isn't going to be easy.

[Cadaver]

I've not used it, but here's a sync utility that does everything a .mac account can do - without the .mac account.

Mark/Space, Inc. | SyncTogether - Mac Sync Product Preview