>Does anybody whether there is a difference between:
>A: Wipe and install followed by Migration assistant, and
>B: Archive and install?

A will employ Migration Assistant which will move some things and not others. There's no telling what Apple has coded/decided not to migrate until you find things missing.

B on the other hand leaves all your local stuff alone and on the HD and simply moves aside the old system and replaces it with the new one. I believe there's an option for the Installer to keep the old system in a folder with an appropriate name like "Old System folder".

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Regards... Barry Sharp

That is pretty much what I knew already. Let me rephrase: Is Archive and Install the same as a clean install + copying the User folder from a backup? Or does it create a new user folder and merges the old folder into it (as the Migration Assistant does)?

My computer has thousands of personalized settings, maybe 50 applications requiring an installer to run and another 150 which might work via drag'n drop. I have at least a dozen of command-line apps that I will have a hard time remembering how to install them, or even remembering that I have to install them (not even speaking about finding the installers).

I might test the upgrade route first before spending time on figuring out what the Archive and Install or Migration Assistant route missed out.