[TheNewSteve]

As soon as the semester is over, I'm sending my PowerBook back to Apple to fix issues ranging from screen brightness inconsistencies, latching issues, power connector issues, logic board issues that will only let me use one of my 512 MB RAM sticks, etc...
Recently, however, other things have begun to crop up...
Safari will crash fairly frequently- this ALWAYS happens if I select the "Downloads" window or if I click one of the finished files in this window. I cannot open iMovie at all.
I have heard that there is a virus/trojan horse thing. I don't really use iChat ever, so I don't think it would have got in through that.
How can I tell, or should I just back everything up and let Apple deal with it?
Also, I am running Panther, so if I backed everything up onto my external hard drive and they sent me the most current 15" model as a replacement (seems very likely with all of the issues mine has, but if they got it to run great again, that'd be fine, too), which is the MacBook Pro, it's running a newer OS... can I transfer my programs and files and everything to the new OS, do I start the new machine over running my old Panther machine's identity and then upgrade it via the backup discs the new machine would come with, or do I just start clean over with the new computer (could I still use my old iTunes library on the external HD? Should I just move programs like Sibelius and everything that's not stock to run from that HD and then I could use them from that seamlessly with the new machine... maybe)?
The only thing I don't get about the MacBook Pro is why they axed the FireWire 800 connection, which is what I currently use for my external HD... I suppose it won't make a big difference for iTunes, which is the main use for that drive.
Thanks, I really appreciate any answers or advice, since my whole machine could be in jeapordy...

[Typhoon14]

No, it is not a virus. There are only a couple non-propogating viruses in existence for OS X, and those are generally just simple erasure scripts. To get one, you would have to receive it, launch it yourself, and enter your admin password. Sounds like a bad disc directory to me. DiskWarrior is your friend. With all the issues your machine seems to have, it could also be hardware related though.
Regarding your second query. First off, Apple is not likely to send you a new MacBook. They'll replace what needs replacing with stocked parts. Pretty much the only way to get a whole new machine is to invoke Apple's "lemon" policy, which requires the machine to have repeat problems requiring multiple repairs within a certain period of time. If, by some miracle, Apple were to give you a new machine, it would come preinstalled with Tiger. The first time you booted, the migration assistant would allow you to transfer data and settings from another machine. Since you would not be likely to still have the old machine in your possession, this would not do you a whole lot of good. Fortunately, it's not terribly difficult to just move your data from your backup drive to the new machine. In any case, you would certainly not be able to load your old Panther, as Panther will not run on x86 CPUs.

[TheNewSteve]

Thanks for your reply. As I said, I'm not expecting a new top o' the line 'book, but mine used to be, so if they can get it running great again, that would be great.