** Why upgrade at the same time as OS move? Consolidated application testing. The new environment only has to be tested once and it is tested thoroughly so there is minimal probability of problems after go-live. This was preferrable to us rather than having to go through all the effort of upgrading to 10g on an old, slower box and having to optimize and troubleshoot everything there, add RAM to support the needs of 10g, and do full application testing only to repeat all the optimization and testing again when moving to AIX. ** LMTs? Again, why not do it all at once as long as it's well tested? I'm not a masochist - if I can consolidate/eliminate work, I do (especially if it's after hours). ** Cleaner dictionary? Check Metalink for the bugs that only affect 10.2.0.3 data that was upgraded from 8i - sure glad that I don't have to worry about those! That's only one (maybe two) examples, but I'm sure there are more. I don't have any examples of "dirty" dictionary data - it just seems to me that it would be cleaner, less fragmented, etc. to just start with a nice dictionary in the new version. Why not? ** How will I tell which change caused the bug? By troubleshooting as usual, and by thoroughly testing the new environment prior to go-live to detect any bugs before it's too late. ** Question for you Why NOT use exp/imp? You act like it's evil. The only reason I can see not to use exp/imp is if you are under time constraints that are tighter than the amount of data you need to upgrade. Regards, Brandon Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message or attachments hereto. Please advise immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet email for messages of this kind. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of this company shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l