I just purchased an iMac 27 for the purpose of syncing to my MacBook. Can you provide tips on the best way to do this? Some folks have mentioned MobileMe, but I am keen on ChronoSync as I want to basically clone the two machines so that I can work on either one and have the same files at my fingertips. Note: My email accounts are set up on IMAP so I hope this helps with the sharing.
Thanks in advance for any advice. I think this might be a good topic for your v-cast. :)
— Brian
Syncing files is not something I advise. If you have a small set of documents, then using MobileMe's iDisk or DropBox is a great way to store them "in the cloud" rather than on a single hard drive.
But if you tried to keep the files on two Macs in sync, you would run into issues. For instance, say you edit a Word processing doc on your MacBook. Then you close the lid. The new file is on your MacBook, but it never got a chance to sync with your iMac because it went to sleep. Now you go to your iMac and start working on another part of the document. Then you realize your changes aren't there from the first edit. Now you have two versions and have to work at merging the changes.
Or, suppose you decide to edit a video. A few minutes of work could produce gigs of data in that case. Now your network is tied up in transferring those documents back and forth. Make a tiny change and the files go again.
A better way is to take things on a case-by-case basis and work with some files on your iMac, and some on your MacBook Pro. Use file sharing between them to get to any and all of your files easily.
As for email, IMAP is the way to go. In that case your email is really on the server, not on either Mac. Syncing is not an issue.
Brian,
I keep the files synced on my IMac and Macbook pro. I use Windows live sync to do this. You must have a hotmail or windows live email, but if you wish to do this, I would check this program out. There is an older version you can access here: http://bit.ly/bWIfLh
Or you can access the Beta (which I would recommend using): http://bit.ly/bhiI8x