Apple published today a new application called Lion Recovery Disk Assistant. Some may wonder if this means the end of Lion DiskMaker, as it seems they share the same function. However, there are a few differences:
- Lion DiskMaker recreates the WHOLE Install disk, while Lion Recovery Disk Assistant only creates an external Recovery HD. Which is fine and dandy, but does not allow to reinstall the full OS. If you need to reinstall Mac OS X with Apple’s tool, you have to download the full Mac OS X installer again after booting on the Recovery HD.
- Apple’s Lion Recovery Disk does not allow to burn a DVD, only to boot on USB, Firewire or SD-Card. Even if I would rather choose USB over a DVD, it’s still nice to have the choice ;-)
- Lion DiskMaker does not work with the latest Mac pre-equiped with OS X Lion. Apple’s tool does allow to create an external boot disk. That’s the best point with Lion Recovery Disk Assistant : it makes using Internet Recovery non-mandatory. However, you still need to download Mac OS X from the Internet if you wish, say, to reformat and reinstall the full OS.
- Lion DiskMaker works in 10.6 and 10.7. Lion Recovery Disk Assistant works only with 10.7.
And for those wondering: a new version of Lion DiskMaker should happen sooner or later, with a few nifty features. Stay tuned :)
Correction: Lion Recovery Disk does not permit SD card as install destination.