Mac OS X v10.5, Mac OS X v10.6: When to use Time Machine or Backup to back up data

If you have Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard and are a MobileMe subscriber, you may be wondering when to use the Backup application or Time Machine to back up your important files and data. The answer depends on which files you will be backing up and where they will be backed up.

Note: You should not back up any data outside of your Home folder with Backup (see this article for more information). Time Machine can easily back up files outside of your Home folder.

Time Machine

Time Machine can be used to back up your entire hard drive automatically to Time Capsule, another hard drive, or a network volume. For more information on Time Machine, visit this page.  

Time Machine does not back up to iDisk or CD/DVD.

Backup application

Backup can perform scheduled backups to your MobileMe iDisk, another hard drive or network volume, or CD/DVD. 

Which should you use?

Depending on what your desired backup strategy is, you can use either method, or both. For example, you can use Time Machine to back up your entire hard drive to a Time Capsule, and/or Backup to back up your contacts and calendars to your iDisk.