Gabbs’ Random Thoughts

Alright, so I’ve now had my MacBook Pro for about a week, and I’ve gotten so much done to/on it that I’m just flat out impressed. I’ve got a lot of thoughts that I’d like to put down, but I’ll try to keep things simple.

iTunes

Moving my iTunes library without reimporting. I could have copied over all my MP3 files over to the new MacBook from my home PC, and then just did a discovery with the iTunes application to find all the music again, but I wanted to keep all my ratings, play counts, and other data that is kept by iTunes.
Amazingly enough…I copied over the iTunes folder from my PC to my Mac, and when I started iTunes…EVERYTHING was there. AND …. it all worked. I’m kind of amazed at this, but I’m very happy that this just worked like that.

Adobe Acrobat Reader and CutePDF

I can read PDF files with the Preview application included on OS X. I didn’t need (yet…) to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader. I also can print to a PDF file from any application. SWEET! I used to do this on my PC’s with an application call CutePDF…now its just right there on OS X.

Ahead Nero and MagicISO

I can use Disk Utility, but I think its kinda of lacking in ease of use to burn CD’s and DVD’s. I picked up FireStarter FX, which is Donation-Ware. Pretty good software, and easy to use. I can make CD’s and DVD’s with no problem, AND they are still readable from my PC. I can also make ISO files (or bin/cue if you want) right out of this application. (I’m still looking for an easy way to make ISO’s right from a CD-ROM/DVD though…some of this discs are bootable, and copying the data just won’t work). So I’m planning on throwing these guys a few bucks because I’m real happy with this software.

Daemon Tools

This was some freeware I use to install on my Windows PC’s. It created a ‘virtual CD-ROM’ drive, that could point to ISO files, and present them to the Windows OS as a real CD-ROM. This saved me a lot of headache, because I no longer needed to carry around all of my CD’s…I could just keep a file on my laptop/desktop and get to the data with a click or two. Well….if you double click an ISO in OS X, you can access it right in your Finder (the equivilent to Windows Explorer).

Gadwin Printscreen

I used to use this Freeware on Windows to help me with screenshots. I do a lot of this when writing my documentation, so I like something that can just make it easier than hitting Print Screen, (or now ctrl+shift+F3). I found a lovely Widget that I’ll be trying out called ScreenShot Plus. puts the files where I want them, uses the format that I select, and has different options for whole screen, active window, drag a window, or use a timer (unique….I like this one…).

InterVideo WinDVD

Came with my PC, and eh…it worked, but I never really used it. Playing DVD’s is supported right in OS X, so no new software was needed.

Logitech Harmony Remote

I’ve got an Xbox 360, and was looking for a universal remote, and ended up with this one. Personally, I’ve used a few of these universal remotes, and this is BY FAR the easiest one I’ve ever had to set up (including ‘learning’ commands). Currently, this software does not work with Intel based Macs, but IF I need to change the setting on it before they fix the software, I can always just connect this remote to a Parallels VM if I need to.

Macromedia DreamWeaver MX

I used this a bit on the PC, and figured I’d try to use iWeb on the Mac. Well, I don’t think it will work out, and I may need to shell out the cash for a copy of DreamWeaver on the Mac. We’ll see….

Microsoft Office

So I’ve used MS office for YEARS now. I’m definitely NOT an expert at using all of the many features that were included with the suite. I mean, ok, I know many people use the entire Office Suite together, but I’m not one of those. I figure the most work I do is using Excel for my timesheets and expense reports, Word for keeping track of all my day to day activities in a log, and used Outlook for the calander/contacts/e-mail management. It’s worked well for a while, but I mean….I just don’t use all the features.
OK, so I ended up using Apple Mail, iCal, and the Address Book that are built into OS X to replace my Outlook use. I ended up using some software from a company Little Machines http://www.littlemachines.com/ call Outlook 2 Mac. It cost me $10 US, but worth every penny. I tried doing it for free using freeware, but I just kept missing a couple of things. Using Outlook 2 Mac, I got all my 1-GB of e-mail migrated, all 500 or so contacts, and kept my calender for the last 5 years of appointments (not because I really needed them, but because I could).
For Word and Excel replacements, I use OpenOffice 2. It’s free, and it does the job for me.
OK, now I do use a Parallels Virtual Machine (until VMware releases their VMware Workstation for OS X) to run a VERY limited number of Windows applications for my office, so….I’ve got Word and Excel there as a backup (you know…just in case). Not planning on using it, but IF I have a document from a client that has some kind of issue, at least I’ll be able to get things done in a pinch.

Microsoft RDP

Here’s a usefull utility to get a ‘remote’ display of some other Windows Server (XP, 2000 can also support RDP). No loss here…The software is available native for OS X, so I can go on using it.

Microsoft Visio

Well, I use Visio for documentation of datacenters, networks, servers, some project flow, and I only use it at work. Since there is no equivalent for OS X that I know of…I have to run this application in the Parallels VM.

Firefox

I’ve stopped using Internet Explorer a while ago…I’m not really sure how long I’ve been a Firefox user, but I tried to use Safari. A couple of things I liked better about Firefox, so I just downloaded and installed it. Easy switch. Just imported all my bookmarks from my old PC.

PuTTY

In Windows XP, there is no native utilities to make SSH connections to remote devices (servers, switches, routers, SAN arrays, etc), so I use to download this utility and use it all the time. It is freeware for Windows. BUT since OS X is native *nix under the covers, the functionality I needed is right in OS X from the beginning. I did end up missing a couple of features that you just can’t get from the command-line (saved sessions so you don’t have to keep typing your connection information all the time), so I found iTerm and can get most of what I need through that.

Quicktime

I only use QuickTime once in a while, but I consider it worth $30 US. I did have to get a new key to work on the Mac, but that was pretty painless.

Symantec Antivirus

well, for now…don’t really need it on a Mac, but that may change someday….

VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client

A Windows only application that I use on a daily basis. This software manages VMware ESX Servers in the datacenter, and is required application.

VMware Workstation and Parallels

Both companies make great Virtualization software. Right now, I’m using Parallels, as VMware hasn’t released their Workstation for OS X just yet. I’m biased to VMware (as I have been using this for quite a few years), so I’m being up front. I use Parallels right now so that I can use my Windows specific software for work (but as you can see, that list is VERY small right now).

Windows Media Connect

Once again, I use an Xbox 360. I use to stream my my MP3 collection, photos, and such from my WIndows XP desktop at home. I found some lovely software called Connect 360 that plugs into iTunes and streams all my MP3s, photos, and video (the video has the same limitations for formats as Windows Media Connect on Windows XP). $20, and worth it.

WinSCP

Here’s some software I used to use on Windows XP so I could securely copy files over to *nix based systems in bulk. It’s freeware, so I used it extensively. I can do this natively from the command line in OS X, but I may end up trying out Fugu.

Winzip

We’ve all used this in Windows to open archives, but now Windows can open these natively. I use to use this to make Zip files every so often with the Eval copy. Now, the ability to create and extract Zip files is native to OS X, so no problem there.

My Companies Custom Applications

Since these are specifically written for Windows XP, I must use the Parallels VM to use these applications. Can’t work around it.

Now that’s a lot of reading already, so I’ll chime in again later with my general praises of OS X at another time.

So now comes the fun part, right? Gotta figure out how to do all the things that I’ve got to do on a Mac that I do in Windows. Well, the snag is, I’m still in preparations mode, as my Mac has yet to arrive. I’ve been researching lots of things to help me in my trasition, and this time, I’ll be writing about moving my iTunes library from Windows XP to OS X.

So here’s the situation. I have a 55-GB music library. I’ve ripped all of my 900 some odd CD’s, and have them as MP3s on my computer for the last 5 years. I have an iPod which I carry around my whole CD collection around on. I don’t currently use it for pictures, videos, contacts, or calanders, but that will change as I move over to OS X. The MP3s currently reside on my computer, ‘The-Doctor’.

Why not just copy over the files to the Mac, and then use iTunes to discover the files I’ve copied over? Well, I spent about 2.5 years rating all my music while traveling to customer sites. I did this so that I could always have ‘my favorite’ songs with me on my 20-GB iPod (which FINALLY died and was replace with an 80-GB model after 3 years of abuse), and so that I could figure out what I like to listen to a little more. So now that I’ve got 7000 songs rated, and some history about play counts and last play dates, I’d like to keep that information (not only that, but I pride myself on having kept all my metadata correct, and have tested this to the nth degree). If I just copied the files over to the Mac, and imported those songs, I would lose the ratings and play dates and times that I’ve been keeping track of.

So in planning my iTunes migration, I backed up the files that make up my iTunes directory on my Windows machine. Not the MP3’s, as those are already backed up, but the ‘iTunes Library.itl’ and ‘iTunes Music Library.xml’ files (these files make up the iTunes ‘database’. I moved my ‘iTunes Music’ folder to a different directory so that I could do some importing/exporting with the software and not ‘damage’ my MP3 files and their metadata. After the backup of those core files, which contain all the important data about my MP3 library, I’m ready to explore my options for moving around my MP3 Library. I deleted the files left in my iTunes Music folder, and that gives me a clean iTunes database

So I went into my iTunes preference (found under the Edit pull-down menu in Windows) and looked for some settings to tweak to see if there was anything to help me migrate my data. I found something in the ‘Advanced’ tab’s ‘General’ tab. I do NOT have the ‘Keep iTunes’ Music Folder Organized’ check box ticked. ‘I’ want to keep my folders organized (long story, but being anal retentive, I like to have all my Opeth albums under Opeth, not have some songs under Opeth, and some under Opeth & guest Star…). More importantly and relevant to the discussion, is the 2nd checkbox, ‘Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library’. I put a tick in this checkbox to enable the feature and try it out with a SMALL subset of my data. I import the band 311, and some of my compilations (namely Star Wars Soundtrack, Raiders of the Lost Ark Soundtrack, and Judgement Night Soundtracks) because these compilations have ‘Various Artists’, and mulitple artists in their metadata. I was very happy with the results…it kept all the 311 albums under the 311 band folder…it kept all the soundtracks under the ‘Compilations’ folder and did NOT seperate or break them down by ‘artist’ which could have been a mess. the Judgement Night soundtrack has 11 songs, and they are all co-operative efforts between rap and metal bands, so the ‘artist’ metatag has 2 entries, like Biohazard & Onyx. The problem I had was that I lost ALL of my ratings, and other information that I use in iTunes (but all the metadata was right at least). Time to try another way. I clean out my iTunes directory structure, and try again.

So…under the iTunes ‘Advanced’ pull down menu, I found something interesting…’Consolidate Library’. This is actually what solved my problem…I think…
So before adding music to the fresh and clean library, I cleared the ‘Advanced’ tab’s ‘General’ tab, ‘Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library’ setting. I added the same subset of music. I then went to teh ‘Advanced’ pull down menu, and did a ‘Consolidate Libray’ action. It stated…
‘Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes Music folder. This cannot be undone.’
Not being concerned at this point about losing data, I clicked the ‘consolidate’ button.

The result was perfect. It maintained the directory structure I spent so much time creating…with NO issues! This leaves me with some ideas on how to migrate my MP3 data, the metadata, as well as the iTunes database with all its information. I’ve got the plan, so now, to see if it will actually perform in the way I expect it to.

The plan is to do the following…I plan to change the default ‘iTunes Music Folder Location’ to point out to my network share out on ‘Tardis’, do a ‘Consolidate Library’ action, and let all my music copy out to the network share. I’m expecting that when I move the iTunes files (the itl and xml files) over to the Mac after the ‘Consolidation’ to the network drive, that the files and their metadata will be absolutely fine.

Results will be posted…

I plan to keep this up on MY MySpace page as a blog as well, so for those of you interested, click the link above, and check out my page.