Copying data and settings from old to new computer?

[Michael Schuerig <michael@schuerig.de>]

I'm getting a new computer in the next few days and, of course, I need 
to move my data from the old to the new one.

In the past, I have simply copied copied ~/.kde, but I hope to find 
another way, this time. Over the years, quite a bit of cruft has 
accumulated in that directory and I'd like to get rid of that. Besides, 
KDE has grown beyond its own directory and puts data in, e.g., ~/.local. 
-- Is the safest solution to copy /home in its entirety and sort out the 
cruft manually?

Also, as I'm moving from 32-bit to 64-bit, I'm concerned if all data 
formats are compatible? Specifically regarding data stored in Akonadi's 
MySQL and Virtuoso databases (are there SQLite databases around, too?).

So, I'm wondering, whether there is an "official" way of copying data? 
What's been working for others on this list?

Michael

-- 
Michael Schuerig
mailto:michael@schuerig.de
http://www.schuerig.de/michael/