Moving from PC to new Mac...please help

Question

Two questions:
1. To move my entire itunes library (which is currently synced with my ipod) from my old PC to my new Mac, is everything I need to do listed in this article? Again, I am trying to figure out how to rebuild/move my current itunes library from PC to Mac.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329?viewlocale=en_US
2. Can someone please tell me how I can make sure that everything that is on my iphone right now (contacts, text history, photos taken with iphone, music, etc) will remain there when I go to plug in my iphone to my new Mac for the first time? I am unsure as to what to do to make sure that I don't delete information from my iphone when I connect it to the new Mac for the first time....make sense?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! I am eager to become a full fledged Mac user but am scared to death of losing my itunes library as well as my current iphone contents when I make the switch......

Answer 1

allthingsapple,
1. Basically this article is accurate, however if you are only referring to the iPod on your iPhone as the means of transferring your music, this will not work. This is because the iPhone cannot be placed into disk mode. Instead you would need to use other storage media, such as an external hard disk drive. On the last step instead of copying your music folder to your iPod, you will be copying it to the external drive.
In the section titled "Is all the music together?", step 6, if you are running iTunes 8.0.2, you should follow these steps to consolidate the iTunes Library: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesWin/8.0/en/15329.html
In addition to these steps, to save your playlists, I would recommend following this article to export your .xml file from your old computer, so you can import it on the new one: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesWin/8.0/en/15271.html
2. Information like music and photos (with the exception of camera roll photos) will be deleted once you choose to sync those items from the new computer. The above steps will take care of your music, but you would need to take the extra step of moving your photos from your old computer to your new one using the external hard drive.
iPhone and iPod touch: Syncing and merging data
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1296
For all other data, you can first make an iTunes backup on the new computer. To do so:
- Disable automatic syncing in iTunes Preferences on the new computer (click iTunes next to the apple in the top left, choose Preferences, then choose the Devices tab).
- Connect your iPhone and when it appears in iTunes, right click on it under Devices, and choose "Back Up".
- Once the backup is complete, you can safely sync all your other data to other programs on the new computer, like iCal, Safari, Address Book, etc.
Hope this helps,
Raleigh