Migrating from Windows to Apple - I'm worried | FerrariChat

Migrating from Windows to Apple - I'm worried

Discussion in 'Technology' started by 4ARI, Mar 4, 2011.

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  1. 4ARI

    4ARI Formula Junior

    Dec 15, 2005
    484
    Northern, VA.
    Full Name:
    Ron S.
    I'm planning on switching to the "dark side" (apple). I'm running a dell desktop with Windows XP and I'm considering going to an Imac or Macbook. I'm most worried about getting all of my stuff over to the new computer i.e. emails (tons of them), photos etc.

    Any experiences?
    Thanks,
    Ron
     
  2. 4REphotographer

    4REphotographer F1 Veteran

    Oct 22, 2006
    6,197
    Arlington, VA
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    Chris
    I wouldn't be. Go to an Apple store and talk to someone there and they can change everything over for you once you buy your new computer.
     
  3. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    Easy as pie. (Apple pie!!)

    When I made the switch, I had my Windows content on an external 1tb drive. I simply plugged it into the new iMac and started dragging content onto the Mac. Once it was all there, I removed the old 1TB drive, and installed a new FireWire external drive to ask as the TimeMachine device. Within a few hours, the content was mirrored back onto the TimeMachine and in essence everything was running.

    My conversion from PC to Mac was far easier than I imagined.
     
  4. Peter Tabmow

    Peter Tabmow Formula Junior

    Nov 10, 2010
    619
    #4 Peter Tabmow, Mar 4, 2011
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2011
    As an Apple user since 1983 (one-box Mac beta tester in design school!), I can promise this will be the most productivity-enhancing move you've ever made. Let the Apple store crew help you through the process and you'll be asking yourself for the next year why you didn't switch before...
     
  5. 4ARI

    4ARI Formula Junior

    Dec 15, 2005
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    Ron S.
    Many thanks for your comments so far - I'm feeling better.
     
  6. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
    Campbell, CA
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    Ian Anderson
    +1

    There's a ton (some say too much!) of good info on Apples site - Here's a good starting point:

    http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#switcher

    [A little video for "switchers"......]

    Good luck, any Q's it seems there's a pretty willing tech support group here! :)

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  7. Innovativethinker

    Innovativethinker F1 Veteran
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    Aug 8, 2009
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    Mark Smith
    Let me be the Contrarian here.

    The file structure of a MAC will drive you bonkers. If you are used to keeping files and photos in nice directory structures, with sub folders - forget it.

    The mac want to put every photo into Iphoto, and only use other programs to access Iphoto.

    If Iphoto does everything you need, great.

    With the Mac, it is the "apple way" or no way.

    If you have your word files in directories, and sub-directories, you will have problems finding files.

    If you only have a hundred or so files, no problem. If you have thousands of files with many sub-directories - big problem.

    Here is the reason: Lets say you have a directory called "Letters", you have 70-80 letters plus 30-40 sub-directories that further organizes the letters, like "Corporate Letters", "Personal Letters", "Acme Company Letters", etc. etc.

    With the MAC, it does not put directories at the top of the list, it just puts them in alpha order, and the file details you are used to seeing in Windows Explorer aren't very easy to get to.

    I would suggest this: copy ALL your directories and files to an external USB drive, then bring that into an apple store and plug it in, then try to find and use a file like you would normally. If you don't have a problem then you are good to go.

    IMHO, the MACs make great home computers, for business with ten of thousands of documents, not so much.

    Expect to use your mouse allot to constantly re-size and move windows around.

    My $.02
     
  8. 4REphotographer

    4REphotographer F1 Veteran

    Oct 22, 2006
    6,197
    Arlington, VA
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    Chris
    Couple solutions to your problems:

    1. You don't have to use iPhoto, I don't and I have a catalog of over 12,000 photos all kept in folders and sub-folders and I never had a problem doing it.

    2. In your documents you can arrange files by type, this will keep all sub-folders on top and then all your word documents in alphabetical order. Or you could give all your folders a colored label and arrange by label.
     
  9. Innovativethinker

    Innovativethinker F1 Veteran
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    Aug 8, 2009
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    The problem with #1 is I have found that the other apple programs seem to like things in Iphoto.

    The problem with #2 is once you arrange by type, all the folders are at the top, then document files, then pdf files, then whatever, and they are not in alpha, if you want to then sort by date you have to keep clicking around - it is a pain. You can also add a "_" to the first letter of every directory, then it puts them at the top, but hard when you have thousands of directories 4-5 levels deep.

    Google "ftff"

    Macs certainly have some nice features, I own 10 of them.

    I don't want to get into a tit for tat, I simply want to point out the issues I had and suggest to the OP that he tries, with his files, before he buys.
     
  10. 4REphotographer

    4REphotographer F1 Veteran

    Oct 22, 2006
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    Chris
    I hear you, it's simply a different way of doing things and I think for the most part most people can adapt to the Mac way without much issue.
     
  11. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    Mark -

    I kind of see what you're suggesting, but for me it has been an absolute non-issue. I use Picassa (not iPhoto) and it works fine. For a gazillion directories and such, I think it is a non-issue because the search function, or whatever it is called, in the upper right of my screen is astoundingly fast and powerful.

    A good search engine (like Google Desktop on the PC or the Finder thing on a Mac) makes folder organization somewhat irrelevant.

    -Daniel
     
  12. TheBigEasy

    TheBigEasy F1 World Champ
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    Jun 21, 2005
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    Ethan Hunt
    I did this a few months ago... bought a 27" quad-core iMac and I love it.

    I just dragged all my files off my old PC onto an external hard drive, then drug them over to the new mac. Simple as that.

    I don't use iPhoto. I kept all my pictures in the sub-directory folders like they were on my PC. I downloaded Google's Picasa to manage them.. same as I was doing on my PC.
     
  13. dailyferraridriver

    dailyferraridriver Formula 3
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    Nov 12, 2010
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    Erik
    I keep trying and I keep going back to Windows. I agree with Innovativethinker and will go a step further -

    The installation/uninstallation process is strange - the apps create a window that is basically a link between the app and the applications window on your mac. It seems like a no-brainer, but it's counter intuitive to me.

    A lot of things are 'hidden' in plain view without labels for 'style'. For example, to add a new user account, there is no "New" or "Add" - it's a small box with a +. Hovering over the + doesn't say "New or Add".

    Also, applications don't close on their own, they run in the background unless you specifically close it (clicking on the red circle doesn't close it).

    I keep finding the experience very frustrating, especially since Windows 7 is lightyears ahead of XP or Vista.

    All that being said, I own an iPad - an iPhone 4, and several macs - although they all dual-boot.

    Since Windows can be installed on any new Mac - there is no risk of being 'stuck' with Apple now - you can slowly work your way into the new ecosystem.

    Good luck,
    Erik
     
  14. 430man

    430man Formula Junior

    Jan 18, 2011
    489
    Ron... Consider this: You'd be switching platforms anyway.

    The alternative at this point is to switch to Windows 7. Either way you're going to fight the battle of moving your data, emails etc.... No mater which you choose.

    You may as well do it for a better machine.
     
  15. Jedi

    Jedi Moderator
    Moderator Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Mar 18, 2008
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    Try Ubuntu Linux 10.10 on a MacBook... AMAZING!!!!!! Steve Jobs weeps at the improvement....

    :)

    Jedi
     
  16. 4ARI

    4ARI Formula Junior

    Dec 15, 2005
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    Ron S.
    I have run into a major problem. I use Seamonkey as my email software. It is a Mozilla product. According to the guys at the Apple store, they cannot bring in my emails from SeaMonkey. I'll need to move them to outlook first. Trust me when I say that I have tons of emails saved in various folders and they are very important to me relating to my business. I don't mind outlook but I need to now look into whether that's possible or not before I can go to the Imac.
     
  17. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    I went from SeaMonkey to Gmail. There is an export/import for it. Once everything was up in Gmail, you could quite easily download it to whatever mail client you like --- or just use Gmail.
     
  18. anotherguy

    anotherguy F1 Rookie

    Feb 22, 2004
    2,591
    Or install Parallels or VMWare on a Mac and run both as needed. I use the mac os for managing most of my personal files and the Windows XP install (it's the disc I had sitting around) running at the same time for most of my business stuff as I am significantly faster in word and excel in Windows then I am on a mac. Anything internet related is done under the mac os.

    My macbook is a much, much better piece of hardware than any PC laptop I have had since my last IBM made Thinkpad back in 2000 or so. It feels more substantial and higher quality overall. Being able to run both operating systems with ease seals the deal for me.
     
  19. b-mak

    b-mak F1 Veteran

    I did this years ago and haven't looked back.

    iPhoto rocks my world.
     
  20. Schimpf

    Schimpf Karting

    Jul 20, 2005
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    CO
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    Schimpf
    or pay someone to install Mac OS onto your 'PC' laptop (dual boot or VM)
    Apples hardware is too much (i5/i7 costs) unless your buying 5-7yr old C2D architecture.

    Also try Bento if you want custom organization...it's work like everything, but works & its nice
     
  21. Mondog1

    Mondog1 F1 Rookie
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    Jul 27, 2006
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    #21 Mondog1, Apr 8, 2011
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2011
    I regret buying my Macbook Air!
    If anybody is looking to buy, i'm selling.

    I HATE not being able to properly load a lot of website I use for work. I tried using Chrome, Firefox and a old version of IE all to no avail. The only way I could ever get these websites to load properly was by using parrells and then XP and IE. The snobs at the apple store said that these websites are old and out of date. BS!!! It's hard to believe that every website I have problems with is old and out of date. F Steve Jobs!!!

    Stay away from the cool aid. Stay with MSFT(where websites actually work)
     
  22. MikeZ_NJ

    MikeZ_NJ Formula 3

    Dec 10, 2002
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    Mike Z.
    Unfortunately, it's because some "web developers" have no idea how to develop websites. The vast majority of websites on the Internet will have zero problems on a Mac. That said, almost all of the government/military websites I have to visit are seemingly designed exclusively for IE. I have a Netbook that I use for those sites just so I don't lose my sanity.

    As a web developer, it blows my mind that some websites don't have cross-browser compatibility at this point in time. You almost have to go out of your way to build a site that doesn't work in the same way on Mac vs PC, IE vs FF vs Chrome. It's ridiculous.

    So, yes, your websites are old and out of date... but I completely understand where you're coming from. :(
     
  23. TheBigEasy

    TheBigEasy F1 World Champ
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    Jun 21, 2005
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    Ethan Hunt
    +1

    I work for a web company and with every version of every site we build... we test on ALL browsers (including outdated versions).
     
  24. 410SA

    410SA F1 Veteran

    Nov 2, 2003
    8,511
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    A
    The structure of Mac OS is essentially UNIX. Clean and simple.
    Windows is convoluted anyway you look at it. 7 is a huge improvement over XP and Vista but still not intuitive like a Mac.
    UNless you have dedicated software running on Windows only, you will find the transition easy. And if you must have windows capability, it will run on your Mac.

    The few naysayers here are the same people who bemoaned the change from Bias Ply tires to Radials and the switch from Hand Crank starters to Electric starters. They eventually disappear in the natural order of things.

    With regard to software in general, a few years from now most software and data storage will be remote, stored in the cloud, and devices that access the software and content will be simple, small and mostly voice driven by natural language.
    So all your photos, files, documents and software will live on a server farm in North Carolina or Kansas or Montana and you won't need to worry about it being stored on a fragile object in your hands or on your desk.
     

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