I just ordered the new Mac mini (2011).
As a PC user, I am new to Mac in general. (And I no longer will be using my old PC.)
On the new Mac mini, do I just log in on iTunes? Will it know my account.
And what about my iPhone?
My music and songs?
What are the general guidelines on going about this?
Please help or recommend me to a site for this transition.
Help please. Thank you.
Depending on how large your iTunes library is, this is what I would recommend doing since I found it to be the easiest way to move libraries between computers.
1) Find your iTunes library folder using Windows Explorer. It's most likely in the music folder.
2) Copy the entire iTunes folder to an external drive (if you don't have one large enough, forget about the guide). The drive should be formatted as FAT32, but double check to make sure.
3) When you get your new computer, start up iTunes and allow it to set everything up.
4) Close iTunes.
5) Inside the Music folder on the mac, you'll find a folder labeled iTunes. Delete everything in the folder.
6) Plug in your external drive to the mac mini. Open the iTunes folder on the drive, and copy the contents (excluding the root iTunes folder) to your iTunes folder on the mac.
7) Once the copying process has finished, open iTunes. Depending on the size of your library, iTunes may take a while to compile the library.
8) Once iTunes has compiled your library, log into your iTunes account and you'll be set to go.
I've found doing it this way preserves things like playlists and keeps your iTunes library organized like it was on your last computer. You may need to clean up some playlists labeled Movies, TV Shows, Books, et cetera, since iTunes may make those when compiling the library. Since I choose to organize my main library by the date the content was imported, keeping those dates in tact was a big deal for me.
The only thing is, with iPhones anyway, I think they might be formatted differently when used on windows. Make sure you have back ups of all your pictures, contacts, and calendars on your phone before plugging it into your new computer just to be safe.
Unless something changed with the latest version of iTunes, this method should work. I don't have Lion yet, however, so I can't say for sure.
