I have an even better install hint.

In addition to customizing, always do a clean install (preserving Users).

On my friend's relatively new iBook with the out-of-the-box upgrade install, it took about 3 hours, maybe more. On my 12" PowerBook, everything but the languages clean install, 30-45 minutes. On a 15" DVI PowerBook, same thing but without X11, about 30-45 minutes.

Yes, it does take more HD space, but the speed makes it worthwhile. I think for some reason Panther also does a better job of preserving things. I seem to remember needing to reinstall Photoshop 7 after Jaguar, but after upgrading to Panther everything has worked flawlessly.


On a completely random note, does anyone have any idea why I've seen more black squirrels this year than I've seen in the entire rest of my life?

I think you mean archive and install; you can't preserve users on a clean install, because you have to wipe your entire drive. You'd also be guaranteed to have to reinstall Photoshop (and everything else).