Apple recently updated their iMac line with new insanely thin models that now lack an optical drive just like their newer laptops. I think we’re now witnessing the beginning of the end of a very old technology. It’s about time, in my opinion.
Optical discs are easily damaged and do not store as much data as modern flash drives can. Most software manufacturers now offer download options for nearly everything, and we’re seeing a rise in savvy vendors making use of legal bit torrent sharing to speed the download of their software so you don’t spend all day getting your new programs.
Many of us still have programs that are on physical media that will no longer work on the newer operating systems released by Apple. However, what if you are planning on upgrading your computer but don’t want to lose access to those programs that still actually do work? If these applications won’t transfer with Migration Assistant, you have some obvious options: Let go of the older software, purchase an external optical drive, or use Disc Sharing to hijack the optical drive of another Mac load the software into your new machine.
Another lesser-known option is to convert your physical media to the the ubiquitous modern software delivery tool called a disk image which can be easily moved, mounted, and accessed on any machine.
Step 1) Insert the optical disc into your Mac.
Step 2) Go to your Utilities folder and open Disk Utility.
Step 3) You’ll see the disc listed on the left hand side of the window; select it and then click on the New Image button
Step 4) Select a location where you’d like the disk image to be saved. I recommend a place that would be included in your backup. The one downside to this process is that the image is as vulnerable as any other information stored on your hard drive. The eventual loss of optical drives from computers should stress the importance of doing backups on a regular basis.
Step 5) Wait until the image is created then eject your disc. Double click the image file created by Disk Utility to verify that it opens.
Step 6) Move your copy of Asteroids for OS 9 to your new Mountain Lion-equipped iMac and… (well, of course that’s not going to work, but you get the point.)
You can keep a big software library in a relatively small space this way, and no need for an optical drive for any of it.
On a side note, just to avoid emails saying I’m spelling disc inconsistently as disk, or vise versa, a disc refers to optical media such as a CD or DVD. Disk refers to magnetic media like your hard drive or a floppy disk (everyone remember those?). Some people refer to flash drives as disks as well, though they aren’t magnetic and the word chip would be more accurate.