Reinstall experience on new air

[agent mac]

Hi,
My 64GB SDD MBA arrived yesterday afternoon (along with my new imac).
When I initially turned it on, it showed approximately 39GB of free Hard Drive space.
Having read so many of the posts here (thank you, all) , I knew that I wanted to reinstall OSX and then use XSlimmer on top of all that.
I followed the excellent instructions in the guide on MacRumors for reinstalling using a superdrive, but step 12 didn't work as advertised for me.
It says....
"12. When the Installer is done with Mac OS X DVD #1, the MacBook Air will automatically restart and eject OS X DVD #1. When this occurs, go ahead and insert OS X DVD #2; YOU MAY NOT BE EXPLICITLY TOLD TO INSERT THE DVD. Insert the DVD and installation will continue automatically for about 10 to 20 more minutes. When installation is complete, you will be prompted to click Continue"
For me, it DID reboot itself, but it DID NOT spit out disc 1, and instead just started with the usual welcome screens and set ups. Kind of worried that I'd done something wrong I manually ejected disc 1 and put in disc 2, but the machine did nothing and just sat there happily wanting me to complete the language choice and the set up. So, very sensibly, I just did the reinstall all over again!!! Exactly the same thing. So I just went with it and completed the set up, and the machine worked perfectly. Being curious, I put disc 2 in the machine anyway, and all that is on there is a pdf file (about nothing) and the Xcode tools file. As I figured I didn't want to use those tools, I just popped the disc out and got on with loading apps. It works fine.
So does anyone know why I didn't need 20 minutes of disc 2? Has apple redone their start up discs so everything you actually need is on Disc1? Or are the Xcode things vital and I just don't know it yet?

The other thing that might be of interest is that having left out ALL the printer drivers, all the languages, iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand, and having installed iWork, Numbers, Keynote, Word 2008, Excel 2008, Powerpoint 2008 and iPhoto, and having updated to 10.5.3, I now have approximately 45GB of space. Oh, and I have also installed Xslimmer and used it....

The machine is fast, silent, and 10 minutes of a youtube video this morning didn't seem to cause any stress at all. I am now proud to be loving my MBA!

 

[trentiles]

I reinstalled OS X when I got my MBA as well. Just to eliminate all the unnecessary stuff taking up tons of HD space. Just like your experience I did not use the second disc either.

 

[Sound Evolution]

I reinstalled OS X when I got my MBA as well. Just to eliminate all the unnecessary stuff taking up tons of HD space. Just like your experience I did not use the second disc either.

What kind of programs or features have the second disk?

Is it wise to reinstall OS-X?

With kind regards,
Bas

 

[agent mac]

I think it is just stuff to let you write code for the mac. If you're not going to be doing that, you don't need it. I think....!

 

[richard.mac]

iLife is on the second install disc. its not vital to install but its fun and useful.

The Developer Tools which includes XCode is on the first install disc. you dont need this but if you want to code for OS X its a must.

 

[mhnajjar]

Agent, how do you like your combination of iMac + MBA? What specs is your iMac?

I have been through 5 Macs this year and I have zero of those now I am thinking of getting both top of the line iMac along with a 1.6 MBA but I am not sure if it would be better than getting a MBP with a 23" ACD.

 

[Sound Evolution]

Dear,

Is it easy to throw away all the printer drivers and languages etc. with new install?

Best regards,
Bas

 

[agent mac]

Agent, how do you like your combination of iMac + MBA? What specs is your iMac?

I have been through 5 Macs this year and I have zero of those now I am thinking of getting both top of the line iMac along with a 1.6 MBA but I am not sure if it would be better than getting a MBP with a 23" ACD.

I'm still at the setting it all up stage, but so far I'm loving it. I have the 3.06 GHz iMac with the faster video card and a 750 GB hard drive. My MacBook Air is the 1.8 SDD version. Added to all that, I have a Wacom Bamboo pen tablet which beats the hell out of a mouse, and some old Hardon Kardon Soundsticks. Oh, and I'm using an Iomega external drive as a back up.

As for using it all, I'm really really happy so far. The iMac is so quiet it's incredible. Compared to my old G5 dual 2Ghz Macpro it's like it's not even on! Next to my old 20" cinema display the iMac also looks fantastic. I have a window behind the computer, and behind where I sit I have some halogen spots, and so far reflections just have not been an issue. I was quite worried they would be....
The only thing that I could complain about is that I have already filled the three USB ports on the machine with my soundsticks, printer and keyboard. But I could set the printer up to run off my airport, and the keyboard gives a spare slot for a USB Drive or a camera etc so it's not really a problem.
As for the Air, that too is great. It's silent and fast, solidly built, is giving good battery life and contrary to many reports on the forums, my machine at least, can happily play repeated YouTube videos without anything untoward happening at all....Maybe having the 10.5.3 update installed before using it helped, or maybe I'm lucky, or maybe the early problems have been ironed out now...?
The only thing I haven't worked out yet is how to synch the machines for shared documents, but I haven't even began to look into that yet! I'm sure it will be OK!
Anyway, hope this helps...sorry it's a bit long.

 

[agent mac]

Dear,

Is it easy to throw away all the printer drivers and languages etc. with new install?

Best regards,
Bas

Hi Bas,
Yes, it is incredibly easy. Just follow the reinstall guide on the forums (under guides..) and it's fool proof. My only glitch was with the second disc as I said in the original post. I know RichThomas said in his experience ilife was on the second disc, but someone else (the second post?) found the same as I did....maybe they've changed something recently. Either way, you can't go wrong, and when I put the second disc in to see what was on it, it was really obvious what it was. I'd certainly do it, and also definitely get Xslimmer. I looked on the 'Iusethat" web site and all the reviews for Xslimmer were incredible.
Good luck.