This evening, probably around 20:00, Apple will release the fifth version of the operating system dedicated to iDevices. iOS 5 brings over 200 new features for iDevice owners and starting today you will all have access to what some have been testing for more than 4 months. Before the release of iOS 5, Apple released iTunes 10.5, a new version of the program that must be installed to update to iOS 5. If you need an unlock, DO NOT update to iOS 5 and you can read in this article why is it not good to update yet.
Returning to the preparations, to be sure that iOS 5 will not in any way affect the information available in your devices, you must make a backup of everything you have now in the terminals. To do this, install iTunes 10.5, connect your iDevice to the computer and on the right side in the Devices menu you will have it listed. By right clicking on the device you will choose Transfer Purcahses, you will log in with your Apple ID and all the applications purchased from the App Store will be automatically transferred to iTunes. By performing this step, you ensure that you have all the applications saved on your computer and that they will be reinstalled after you update to the new iOS 5.
After transferring the applications, right-click on the same device and select the option Backup and iTunes will generate an automatic backup for the device. This backup will be installed automatically after the update process to iOS 5 is finished and together with it you will have installed all the settings/applications that you previously had in iOS 4. By performing these two steps you will ensure that everything you had in terminal is available on iOS 5 after you decide to update.
For those who have applications/tweaks from Cydia, the problem is a little more complicated because there is no jailbreak solution for iOS 5. You can save your tweaks and applications, but I don't think there's any point in doing this because many of them aren't compatible with iOS 5, so they're useless. It is best to reinstall everything after you update to iOS 5 and you will then see what works and what doesn't.
