Filed under: Switchers, Productivity, Reviews
Migrating to a new Mac - say hello to a Mac Switcher
Well, what better way to introduce myself but to sing the praises of the almighty Mac! I'm Jason Clarke, and I'm brand new to TUAW, although I've been writing over on sister-site Download Squad for a couple of years now. I was also briefly the lead blogger for The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog, until it was rolled into Download Squad. Despite my checkered past, this post is going to be me preaching to the choir, so consider yourself warned.Today was a very happy day for me, because my MacBook Pro that I've been eagerly anticipating arrived. I've been a very happy Mac user since I received my first MacBook, about 4 months ago. Now, receiving a new primary computer for me has always been somewhat bittersweet; the excitement of the new machine is always offset by the pain of migrating from the old one.
When migrating from and old to a new Windows machine, I would always plan for two days of hell, followed by two weeks of minor (and sometimes major) aggravation when some utility that I needed in that moment had yet to be installed or configured. I had heard that Macs have a migration assistant, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Find out what happened (as if you don't already know) after the jump.
Well, tonight I connected the two machines via a FireWire cable, and let the Migration Assistant do its thing. At first I was a bit put off by the four hour estimate to copy 60 GB, however, that quickly dropped to under two hours. To be honest, it was a loooong two hours, since neither machine was available to me during the process. You know, it can get a bit like watching a pot waiting for it to boil.
But the moment of truth came when it had completed. I dutifully turned off the "old" Mac as I was told to do, but I could barely contain myself from scoffing at the very idea that I might not need it further tonight. Then I let the MacBook Pro boot up. Hey, it knew my name and contact info already. Hey, it had my profile picture already set. Hey, that's my desktop wallpaper. Holy #$^*, all of my startup utilities are dutifully starting up, and my dock is identical to what it was on my MacBook!
That was all well and good, but are any of these programs actually going to work? I launched BonEcho (the Intel-Mac optimized version of Firefox), and was blown away to see all of the tabs that I had left open using the TabMixPlus extension opening up here on the new machine!
Other than needing to install keyboard and mouse drivers for my (gasp) Microsoft keyboard and mouse, I have yet to find anything that doesn't just work. I'd like to accuse all you long-time Mac types of keeping this secret from Windows users, but the truth is that you have been telling us, and we haven't wanted to hear it. My biggest fear when getting my first Mac was that I didn't want to become an elitist Mac snob - they drove me crazy. But now I realize it's not their fault; when your computing platform is so noticeably better than Windows, it's hard not to get a bit full of yourself. Just ask my family, friends and co-workers. Really.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Rob said 10:06AM on 8-30-2007
You've been using a mac for 4 months? GTFO. This isn't amateur night. TUAW has really gone downhill.
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Marco said 10:12AM on 8-30-2007
Any tips from going to a pc to a mac?
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Jon said 10:15AM on 8-30-2007
Prime example of elitist snob at post #1 there ;)
It was good to hear of your experience with the migration assistant because I had been a Windows user for a long time before I switched to the Mac. I have had several Macs now but some of my habits are still firmly set in the Windows camp. Each time I just re-installed the software, re-set my preferences - exactly the way I would have done in Windows, which is precisely why I switched to the Mac in the first place. I guess I'll use the wizard next time or, better yet, swap the hard disks over.
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Cynthia said 10:22AM on 8-30-2007
I really appreciate your perspective. I got my first mac - also a macbook pro - in March. It does feel a bit as if Apple had a big secret, but really, I just never believed a computer could be this good and user friendly.
Glad you are here as one of the new bloggers. Hopefuly comment #1 was meant tongue-in-cheek.
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Quix said 10:30AM on 8-30-2007
Rob = troll.
Welcome aboard, Jason. I think you'll find the "elitist Mac snob" stereotype mostly an exaggeration by bitter, ignorant Windows users (I also use Windows, so I'm partially bitter, but not ignorant...).
Though there are a handful of people like our friend Rob...
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Johnny Thrash said 10:35AM on 8-30-2007
Microsoft keyboard and mouse!!! HERESY! :P
I had been a Windows user since Windows 3.0 when I switched in January last year. I don't ever care to see Windows again.
It's so nice to have a machine that boots up in (count them) 13 seconds and is ready to roll. My Windows machine at work takes 6 minutes!
{cheers} Welcome to the world of "It just works!" Here's to never turning back!
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bennydesign said 10:38AM on 8-30-2007
well, all i can say is :
welcome to the family
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djfred said 10:42AM on 8-30-2007
Yeah, I just switched from MB to MBP a couple of weeks ago and the process couldn't have been simpler. Years of PC to PC transfers that differed only in degrees of hellishnessmade me expect the worst but 2 weeks later everything works to a T including the entire Adobe CS3 Suite and about 80 bajillion interconnected work files and I've (almost) completely lost my feeling that something must be wrong someplace because transferring computers isn't really this easy.
PS Welcome to TUAW and ignore Rob. Holier than thou fanboys like him really get on my nerves. We get it, you started with an Apple II in 87 and your faith has never wavered.
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phil said 10:46AM on 8-30-2007
Whereas the migration assistant is a great tool, I have found on more than one occasion that if your old mac had any quirks that you could not get rid off, they travel to the new mac as well. Also, any adobe creative suite products installed have given me issues. I have found that it's a better in the long run to do fresh installs of everything and transfer preferences over to retain user/pass data. my 2 cents
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Aron Trimble said 10:47AM on 8-30-2007
As an added bonus / switcher tip / what have you... If you use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! to maintain a clone of your system, you can use an external HD for the migration as well. I pleasantly discovered that on accident and I am so glad that I did!
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Insect Inside said 10:54AM on 8-30-2007
Personally I welcome new and old reporters. New users often bring a new perspective, and highlight things we take for granted, or issues we are in denial over. Welcome to TUAW, and ignore the muppets.
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Angela said 11:12AM on 8-30-2007
Welcome to the Switchers Club!
Some old geezers just can't handle change.
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Ari B. said 11:18AM on 8-30-2007
Welcome aboard!
I'm also a recent switcher, having bought a MacBook back in May of '07. I still use my Windows desktop for some things, but that's been trailing off more and more lately.
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William McDaniel said 11:29AM on 8-30-2007
Using Macs and Windows since 1984. I'd like to extend a welcome to OS X.....It is a nice ride.
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Billy said 11:36AM on 8-30-2007
Hey there
About 3 weeks ago I upgraded from a macbook to a macbook (haha - yes, its not a typo), and went through the same experience you just described. I've been talking to all my friends about it since... Some of them don't get the gravity of it because they haven't spent the two days of hell moving everything across in windows.
I even notified my clients beforehand that there might be some downtime on developing their sites due to setting up a new machine. Not so, Apache with PHP and even Symfony were all there and working, and working nicely. My only drawback was that I went through it alone, next time, I'm going to invite some people to watch... urm, is that a bit over the top? :)
Welcome to TUAW by the way - love what you guys do.
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quandmeme said 11:54AM on 8-30-2007
Jason, I am a longtime Apple watcher and saving up to switch when Leopard is released. I am looking for a wiki or web site to help switchers like me find applications equivalent to what's available for Windows. Helpful users have helped me find equivalents for MS OneNote and Norton Ghost, but now I'm looking for a replacement for Amicus Attorney, shouldn't there be a wiki out there for this? You interested in starting one if there isn't?
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Jonathan Badeen said 11:46AM on 8-30-2007
I've tried this on two different computers, both going from ppc to intel. Both times I had terrible luck. Everything transferred fine but the new computer would run like a g2 (yes i said g2 for emphasis). Both times I ended up throwing all of the users files into a folder, put them into a newly created account, and deleted the old and then everything worked smoothly. Unless I find otherwise I will personally never use the migration assistant for my computers
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Stripes said 12:07PM on 8-30-2007
One thing to double check, go to system preferences and make sure you display resulition didn't transfer.
My wife's did & she ran her MacBook Pro display at the "wrong" resultion for like a year and just discovered it last week. "It's so clear now!"
I guess not evey setting _should_ transfer :-)
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Theo said 12:01PM on 8-30-2007
To Phil and Aron
Phil you're so right. I recently changed my PowerBook Hard Drive, then i connected my old hard drive to the Powerbook that had the new hard drive (via firewire) and imported everything...
Great ?
NO
I had problems ever since and i regret. My powerbook never had any problem before i did this import stupid stuff. Neither carbon copy cloner nor Superduper wanted to back up my files because they were all corrupted after the import! Yewwww
So yesterday night i re-installed everything from scratch and since then it works like a charm.
So yeah, importing from an older computer or HD is cool... if it works...
I wont import again. Apple is great, i'm on a mac since age 15 (so more than 10 years) and i love Macs, but imports are not perfect.. yet.
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Leonard Nimrod said 11:57AM on 8-30-2007
Cons:
• Adobe and MS Office products tend not to transfer well.
• You still can't use USB 2,0 for the Migration.
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