How to move to new computer without migration assistant?

I am getting a new iMac and need some help with how to move photos, mail, music etc. I am going from iMac power pc to an intel based iMac. I do not have a firewire cable, and am not anxious to spend any more than I already have on computer equipment just to transfer files. Is there a way to move things using flash drives or something to recreate my iTunes library, photo library, mail and such?
Any easy, step by step instructions?
Many thanks in advance,
Jane

Jane C wrote:
It all has me a bit nervous, which is another reason I find myself leaning toward just moving music, photos, calendar, addresses, and some documents manually.
Keep in mind that:
1. You still have to connect the computers together in some way. A Firewire connection is many times faster than an Ethernet one.
2. Kappy's manual migration method specifies copying over a long list of *home folder items* for good reasons. Basically, you should consider your home folder's contents as an interrelated set of items designed to be used together. If you try to pick & choose among them, there is a good chance some things will not work as expected, at least not without more work to (for example) reset user preferences or go back & find missing application support file(s) you neglected to copy over on the first try. This can become tedious & frustrating unless you understand the function of each file.
3. There is very little chance that using Setup or Migration Assistant will cause any operating system 'malfunction' of any sort, & even less of one that this will cause any issues that are more difficult to resolve than an inadequate partial manual migration.

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How to move to new computer without migration assistant?

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