Migrating Windows 10 Desktop to Mac Studio

[DaveBlueSky7]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on migrating a large Windows 10 desktop to Mac…

I would prefer only to hear advice from someone who has experience of doing this themselves with a large system (over 700 GB of files, large Outlook etc). And also migrating Abobe files.

I have used Windows computers for many years and plan to buy a Mac Studio and to move everything over to Mac.

I also intend to buy a Mac Book Pro to use when travelling which will store a mirror copy of all files on the desktop.

I have approx. 800 GB of data files (Word, Excel, jpgs, wav, other files types) on the Windows 10 desktop data drive. And many external hard drives with video and photos files.

I use Outlook 365, and run Microsoft 365 for Business.

As well as the Windows 10 desktop I use a Windows 10 laptop that has a mirror copy of all files, including Outlook 365 using local PST files on both machines.

If I change files, or use Outlook on one machine, it synchs those files with the other using OneDrive.

I have over 150 folders within Outlook and the main pst file is 6 Gb in size, with an archive pst file that is 25 GB in size.

As the file organisation of emails is so complex with so many folders (that I am familiar with), I am guessing that I should plan to use Outlook on the Mac Studio rather than migrating all the old emails to Apple Mail?

I also use Outlook Calendar for scheduling meetings and reminders so I am guessing I should plan to use Outlook on Mac for this too

Will the files on the Mac Studio continue to use the existing Windows format? For example MS Word. Or will the formats be converted using the Mac Migration tool?

I also use Adobe Master Suite CS6 on the Windows machine for Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom and Audition.

If I use Adobe CC Master Suite on the Mac Studio, will the migration be reasonably painless of moving the files from Windows to Mac, and also the use of the Mac version of the Adobe programs using the migrated files?

The main reason why I plan to migrate to Mac is to make it easier to work with Video editing.

Looking forward to hearing of any advice on making this migration more manageable.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[avkills]

Based on all of the things you need to migrate, I would not use the Apple tool, but rather do it manually.

Since you have CS6 on the windows side, pretty much everything will need to be updated to the modern file structures. I would scrounge the Adobe community site specifically for your Lightroom data library; that will probably be the biggest pain in the ass to migrate over, other than your email. All Premiere projects will need to be updated to the new format as well, which they should do as you load them. CS6 is just very old, it is going to be a chore for sure.

Microsoft stuff goes cross platform no problem, file formats are the same between macOS and Windows. Provided you are up to date on your Windows box, you shouldn't have many problems unless you have Excel sheets that use macros that only work on Windows.

Not sure what type of email address you have (gmail?, Exchange?, etc etc). If you have an Exchange email it is probably easier to get working right with Outlook on the Mac, however I am curious as to why you are not using the IMAP method for email; it makes migrating and using multiple computers with the same email way easier.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Thanks for your prompt reply avkills!

>>Since you have CS6 on the Windows side, pretty much everything will need to be updated to the modern file >>structures. I would scrounge the Adobe community site specifically for your Lightroom data library;

Do you mean... purchase/rent Adobe Master Suite CC... and install those programs on the Mac Studio. And open each file in order to update to the modern files structures? Or am i misunderstanding what you are suggesting?

I have my own website burrenyoga dot com. So my email is simply dave @ that website. Does that answer your question?

99% of my Excel files are pretty simple and I don't think there are any macros in them.

 

[avkills]

Hi Dave,

Yes you will need to purchase a Creative Cloud license for the new Mac, either monthly or yearly. And yes you will need to open each file up to update to the modern structure (Premiere projects, AE Projects, Lightroom Database file, etc); this normally happens now every single time they do a major update so I've gotten used to it.

As far as Lightroom goes, you might want to launch that first on the Mac, so you can see where it puts the library files, then just copy your library files over from the PC. Just be careful on the install, you will probably want Lightroom Classic which is the "desktop" version of the app. To save space I have my pictures on an external drive; and I just need to make sure I plug that in before launching Lightroom.

Since your email is hosted from your own website, you would probably need to check with the folks hosting it on how they do stuff. IMAP sure makes multiple machines easy; no need to sync files since that kind of happens at the server side and then propagates to all the machines.

The only other weird Office thing that could happen is fonts installed on the Windows machine and not present on the Apple system.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Thanks for all your tips. I had not considered doing the migration manually before this... and will research that further.

Anybody else out there who has done a large Migration like this?

 

[VineRider]

Thanks for all your tips. I had not considered doing the migration manually before this... and will research that further.

Anybody else out there who has done a large Migration like this?

I don’t think you can use pst files natively with Outlook for Mac. As far as I know you cannot even open them so you should check on this if it’s going to be an issue with your workflow

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

wow.. that could be a problem. I often access Outlook and search for old emails, and prepare new replies when I don't have access to the internet. So I need to have access to all old emails in the pst file on my local computer.

 

[VineRider]

Outlook for the Mac has a legacy mode that will allow you to import PST's. This may not be a good solution however as it would import the mails into your online accounts.

What you may want to consider is using a Parallels Virtual Machine and running a Windows VM so you can run the Windows version of Outlook to access your PST files.

Parallels has a mode called Coherence mode that makes Windows apps seem as if they are running natively in MacOS. I use Parallels and find it a very good solution when you need to run a Windows app that doesn't perform well on the Mac version

Parallels on Mac Silicone only supports the ARM version of Windows 11, so that needs to be considered as well. I am able to run all Office apps without any issues in a Parallels Windows VM and have not run into any situations of apps that will not run on the ARM version, other than antivirus software. Parallels runs the x64 versions of Office without issue in my experience.

 

[ChrisA]

Don't let anyone tell you "just copy them over manually" unless they also can tell you the full path where the files need to go. If they don't know, they don't know what they are talking about.

The easiest way to migrate files is to use the Microsoft or adobe cloud. Put everythuing online and you don't move anything, you just add the new Mac(s) to your account.

Copying things like index and thumbnail files and preferences usually does not work as the Mac and PC files are different. But using their cloud service makes the entire problem disappear because nothing actualy moves.

This is also how you keep a Mac desktop and a mac notebook synchronized. You store the files in a=Apple's iCloud and let macOS worry about keeping all you devices in sync. Apple does a good job even if the notebook as 512 GB or storage and you have 2TB of data. It will keept the stuff you have accessed recently on the notebook and the older data in the cloud and move it round as needed.

So with you could have 1TB of photos and a 64GB iPad and you can still edit all the photos on the iPad. Heck I can access my ENTIRE photo library on my new Apple watch. No kidding

When you start adding video the problem gets even worse as you will not be able to stor everything on the internal storage. I have a lot of data and it is easy to access all of it on my Macs, iPad and iPhone and I don't do anything myself, I just clicked the box that says "let Apple optimize storage and then I pay Apple a few bucks a month for thre space.

 

[HawkTheHusky1902]

Dave,
This will be a bit of a pain for you it looks like.

 

[avkills]

Don't let anyone tell you "just copy them over manually" unless they also can tell you the full path where the files need to go. If they don't know, they don't know what they are talking about.

The easiest way to migrate files is to use the Microsoft or adobe cloud. Put everythuing online and you don't move anything, you just add the new Mac(s) to your account.

Copying things like index and thumbnail files and preferences usually does not work as the Mac and PC files are different. But using their cloud service makes the entire problem disappear because nothing actualy moves.

This is also how you keep a Mac desktop and a mac notebook synchronized. You store the files in a=Apple's iCloud and let macOS worry about keeping all you devices in sync. Apple does a good job even if the notebook as 512 GB or storage and you have 2TB of data. It will keept the stuff you have accessed recently on the notebook and the older data in the cloud and move it round as needed.

So with you could have 1TB of photos and a 64GB iPad and you can still edit all the photos on the iPad. Heck I can access my ENTIRE photo library on my new Apple watch. No kidding

When you start adding video the problem gets even worse as you will not be able to stor everything on the internal storage. I have a lot of data and it is easy to access all of it on my Macs, iPad and iPhone and I don't do anything myself, I just clicked the box that says "let Apple optimize storage and then I pay Apple a few bucks a month for thre space.

This is a strawman argument. How the hell do I know how he (Dave in this case) organizes his files on his Windows machine?

And I have migrated from Mac to Mac manually for many many years without any problems. And I also did not mention anything about preference files; I never move those. Dave is also on Adobe CS6 on his Windows box, there was no cloud storage option available when CS6 was released that I can recall.

iCloud isn't the only way to keep things in sync. Our company uses Dropbox, so the majority of stuff I need between machines lives on dropbox.

And you are coming from a perspective of *always* been in the Apple ecosystem. That isn't going to work in this case until he starts to get settled on his new Mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I have approx. 800 GB of data files (Word, Excel, jpgs, wav, other files types) on the Windows 10 desktop data drive."

A 1tb SSD for the Mac isn't going to be "big enough".
At least not for "future growth".
The Mac OS requires a good amount of "free space" for VM memory swapping, application disk caching, etc.
My recommendation is that you get a 2tb internal SSD -- otherwise, you're gonna have problems "down the line".

"I also intend to buy a Mac Book Pro to use when travelling which will store a mirror copy of all files on the desktop."

My advice (and it's ONLY mine, alone) is to forget about making one Mac "the mirror" of another, and to instead "let each Mac be its own Mac". You can get them "close", but that's about as "close" as I'd get. Remember that "perfect is the enemy of the good".

"Will the files on the Mac Studio continue to use the existing Windows format? For example MS Word. Or will the formats be converted using the Mac Migration tool?"

I don't really use MS Office apps, but I've read numerous postings in which others who do say that there are still some "glitches" that pop up between platforms (as far as some formatting is concerned). Not really much, but it can still happen.

The "Mac migration tool" doesn't "convert formats" (as far as I know).
It just "moves things over" from one platform to the other.
Although... I understand there's a special "migration assistant" for those moving from PC to Mac. Never used it, don't know what it does.

Final thought:
You had better plan on keeping the PC up-and-fully-running for a number of weeks AFTER you have the Mac set up.
I wouldn't try to move everything at once.
Get one job done (MS Word), then move onto the next (Excel), etc.

When you get to that point at which you're getting everything done on the Mac and don't need to "go back to" the PC, run that way for 2 weeks.

If by then you STILL don't "need the PC", then it will be time to take it off the table...

 

[Timpetus]

My advice (and it's ONLY mine, alone) is to forget about making one Mac "the mirror" of another, and to instead "let each Mac be its own Mac". You can get them "close", but that's about as "close" as I'd get. Remember that "perfect is the enemy of the good".

Agree with this, it sounds nice in theory but it's usually best to stick with one main machine and access files on it from other computers as needed. Trying to keep them in sync at all times will drive you crazy.

On that note, I'd actually suggest starting out with just the MacBook Pro and a monitor suitable to your needs for desktop use. The M3 Max is incredibly powerful, and you can upgrade the RAM and SSD with the money you save not buying two Macs. You can also try keeping the Windows desktop and just get a docking setup so you can use the same monitor(s), keyboard and mouse with your old desktop and your MBP when at your desk. I've been very happy with this kind of setup, as it's been a combo I've had for many years. Gaming PC desktop + Mac laptop gives me something to tinker with for cheap and a reliable portable workstation.

 

[avkills]

Any cloud service makes it easy to have synced files across multiple machines. I have some of my dropbox stuff synced to 2 Macs and 1 PC.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Hi Guys,
I have done some more research, and would like to share my plan on how to migrate from Windows 10 to MAC to get your advice.

Firstly, I am currently using OneDrive to store all my normal document files on Windows 10. I use MS Office 365.

These are Word document files, Excel files and also Photoshop PSD files and JPGs.

These reside within My Documents and My Pictures within OneDrive. Total size of files is approx. 900 GB.

I have all my Premiere Pro files on a separate external drive, and will address these separately later.

I am planning to continue to use OneDrive when I migrate to MAC. And also MS Office 365.

And Outlook 365 for email.

So I hope there is some way to simply install OneDrive on the MAC, and allow OneDrive to download all the files locally to the MAC.

I currently use OneDrive to download all files and keep copies of all files locally, as I have plenty of disk space on my Windows Desktop, and will also have plenty of space on the new MAC.

Does this sound like a good way to get the Word Document and Excell files to the MAC?

After all the files have downloaded locally to the MAC using OneDrive, I plan to then try to install Adobe Lightroom on the MAC and point the library location to the Lightroom catalogue file.

Fishrrman made an interesting suggestion to only buy the MacBook Pro and simply use a monitor connected for my desktop use… rather than my initial plan of buying 2 MACs. I had not previously thought of that, and it makes sense to take that route first.

Do any of you have advice on using OneDrive to simply download all the files to the new MAC?

I assume that would mean that I don’t have to use the Migration assistant.

Best Wishes,
Dave

 

[avkills]

Yes on OneDrive. All you need to do is log into your Office 365 account and download and install the apps on your new Mac. You might want to customize the installation if you do not need all of them.

I have never used OneDrive on any of my devices, but will assume it is just like dropbox, so it should work just fine as long as you use the same login info for Office 365 that you did on your PC.

 

[chrfr]

Hi Guys,
I have done some more research, and would like to share my plan on how to migrate from Windows 10 to MAC to get your advice.

Firstly, I am currently using OneDrive to store all my normal document files on Windows 10. I use MS Office 365.

These are Word document files, Excel files and also Photoshop PSD files and JPGs.

These reside within My Documents and My Pictures within OneDrive. Total size of files is approx. 900 GB.

I have all my Premiere Pro files on a separate external drive, and will address these separately later.

I am planning to continue to use OneDrive when I migrate to MAC. And also MS Office 365.

And Outlook 365 for email.

So I hope there is some way to simply install OneDrive on the MAC, and allow OneDrive to download all the files locally to the MAC.

I currently use OneDrive to download all files and keep copies of all files locally, as I have plenty of disk space on my Windows Desktop, and will also have plenty of space on the new MAC.

Does this sound like a good way to get the Word Document and Excell files to the MAC?

After all the files have downloaded locally to the MAC using OneDrive, I plan to then try to install Adobe Lightroom on the MAC and point the library location to the Lightroom catalogue file.

Fishrrman made an interesting suggestion to only buy the MacBook Pro and simply use a monitor connected for my desktop use… rather than my initial plan of buying 2 MACs. I had not previously thought of that, and it makes sense to take that route first.

Do any of you have advice on using OneDrive to simply download all the files to the new MAC?

I assume that would mean that I don’t have to use the Migration assistant.

Best Wishes,
Dave

First, it's just "Mac" rather than "MAC."
OneDrive will sync your files over to the Mac without any problem at all. You'll want to be careful about keeping your Lightroom catalog on OneDrive. Adobe doesn't recommend it even though it should work. However, if OneDrive frees up space you can corrupt the catalog file. (This is not something specific to OneDrive on Mac- the problem can still happen on Windows.) The details vary depending on whether you're using what's now called Lightroom Classic or just regular Lightroom which is the newer app and is better suited to using Adobe's own cloud system.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Thanks Guys, ...and also for the right name "Mac"
Sounds like getting the files to the new Mac should be straight forward using OneDrive.

I am still using an old version of Lightroom 5.

And hopefully Outlook 365 will also be straight forward to move my Outlook mail to the new Mac.

As I may also use a Windows computer in the future, I read elsewhere that OneDrive might be better than iCloud.

Does anybody have personal experience of moving Outlook 365 to Mac (large Outlook files of approx 5 GB OST file, and approx 16 GB separate Outlook archive PST data file) ?

Best Wishes,
Dave

 

[chrfr]

Thanks Guys, ...and also for the right name "Mac"
Sounds like getting the files to the new Mac should be straight forward using OneDrive.

I am still using an old version of Lightroom 5.

And hopefully Outlook 365 will also be straight forward to move my Outlook mail to the new Mac.

As I may also use a Windows computer in the future, I read elsewhere that OneDrive might be better than iCloud.

Does anybody have personal experience of moving Outlook 365 to Mac (large Outlook files of approx 5 GB OST file, and approx 16 GB separate Outlook archive PST data file) ?

Best Wishes,
Dave

You will not likely be able to run Lightroom 5 at all on the new computer. I believe parts of the installation process are 32-bit code which can't run in recent versions of macOS.
If all your mail is still in Microsoft 365 it'll just sync over when you sign into Outlook (or the Apple mail app) on the Mac.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Thanks for the headsup about Lightroom 5.

If anybody has personally setup Outlook... especially using a local PST file in addition to the OST file, that would be great to hear of your experience.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on migrating a large Windows 10 desktop to Mac…

I would prefer only to hear advice from someone who has experience of doing this themselves with a large system (over 700 GB of files, large Outlook etc). And also migrating Abobe files.

I have used Windows computers for many years and plan to buy a Mac Studio and to move everything over to Mac.

I also intend to buy a Mac Book Pro to use when travelling which will store a mirror copy of all files on the desktop.

I have approx. 800 GB of data files (Word, Excel, jpgs, wav, other files types) on the Windows 10 desktop data drive. And many external hard drives with video and photos files.

I use Outlook 365, and run Microsoft 365 for Business.

As well as the Windows 10 desktop I use a Windows 10 laptop that has a mirror copy of all files, including Outlook 365 using local PST files on both machines.

If I change files, or use Outlook on one machine, it synchs those files with the other using OneDrive.

I have over 150 folders within Outlook and the main pst file is 6 Gb in size, with an archive pst file that is 25 GB in size.

As the file organisation of emails is so complex with so many folders (that I am familiar with), I am guessing that I should plan to use Outlook on the Mac Studio rather than migrating all the old emails to Apple Mail?

I also use Outlook Calendar for scheduling meetings and reminders so I am guessing I should plan to use Outlook on Mac for this too

Will the files on the Mac Studio continue to use the existing Windows format? For example MS Word. Or will the formats be converted using the Mac Migration tool?

I also use Adobe Master Suite CS6 on the Windows machine for Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom and Audition.

If I use Adobe CC Master Suite on the Mac Studio, will the migration be reasonably painless of moving the files from Windows to Mac, and also the use of the Mac version of the Adobe programs using the migrated files?

The main reason why I plan to migrate to Mac is to make it easier to work with Video editing.

Looking forward to hearing of any advice on making this migration more manageable.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

I hate to be that guy asking this question, but why are you making this move? I know that you said you want to make it easier to do with video editing. But, you're using CS6 versions of Adobe apps (most of which probably can't even install on an Apple Silicon Mac even with Rosetta 2 in place). You'd basically have to move to newer versions of Adobe apps which, barring specific video codec support, function the same in Mac as in Windows. You're also dealing with things like .pst files which Outlook for Mac historically has not really handled (that's more of an Outlook for Windows element).

If what you want to do is supplement your Windows setup with one Mac used solely for video editing (and assuming you're really doing this for extended ProRES support that you don't get in Windows), that'd make a lot more sense. But wholesale switching your ecosystem doesn't seem to make sense, given your situation.

 

[DaveBlueSky7]

Hi Yebubbleman
I expect to upgrade my Adobe apps to CC versions. I will be doing a lot of video editing and Macs seem to be much better at this than Windows. And also integrate better with iPhone and iPad which will help with social media posting etc.
I am hoping to just have 1 Mac-Book/laptop that I travel with that can handle all my mail (I have been using Outlook for many years and it is huge... with over 300 folders) so will want to use Outlook on the Mac-Book/laptop. And also be able to do video editing when travelling.
I am hoping there is some way to import my archive.pst file into Outlook on the Mac... possibly in some form of Archive format. But have not found anyone with personal experience of doing this.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi Yebubbleman
I expect to upgrade my Adobe apps to CC versions. I will be doing a lot of video editing and Macs seem to be much better at this than Windows. And also integrate better with iPhone and iPad which will help with social media posting etc.
I am hoping to just have 1 Mac-Book/laptop that I travel with that can handle all my mail (I have been using Outlook for many years and it is huge... with over 300 folders) so will want to use Outlook on the Mac-Book/laptop. And also be able to do video editing when travelling.
I am hoping there is some way to import my archive.pst file into Outlook on the Mac... possibly in some form of Archive format. But have not found anyone with personal experience of doing this.

I'm not sure what kind of integration between iPhone and iPad that you're looking to have with macOS that you can't have with Windows. Social Media apps exist on Windows (Messenger and WhatsApp are the only ones I know of that have native macOS apps). Otherwise, it's "Continuity" features (opening the Mac equivalent of the app you were just using on your iPad and being on the same spot). Not sure those niceties are worth all of the other hassle you're about to embark on. And without merging your .pst files back in with your online mailbox, you are not going to have a fun time getting the data from them onto Outlook for Mac.

Macs USED to be WAY better for video editing. Now, the only things that set them apart from PCs for video editing are specific Apple ProRES codecs that you can't get for Windows (you can get some of them for Windows, but not all of them) and Final Cut Pro. If you're not specifically needing those things, then there is no superiority that the Mac has over a Windows PC for video editing. Otherwise, Adobe Premiere Pro is the same on both platforms (though, you will have faster performance if you're using an NVIDIA GPU as CUDA is still faster than Metal).

Again, if you have a very specific use case that negates all of this, it might make sense. Similarly, if you're having your Mac replace ONE PC, rather than your whole non-iPad computer portion of your ecosystem, that would also make more sense. But switching on the premise that it's better (for a thing that it doesn't actually sound like it's necessarily better than) and interoperability between iPad+iPhone and Mac (which isn't as substantial, nor quintessential as Apple would have you believe) sounds like a mistake in the making. But that's just my two cents. You do you!

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"These reside within My Documents and My Pictures within OneDrive. Total size of files is approx. 900 GB."

If you have 900gb of "files", then you had better get a Mac with at least a 2tb drive.
1tb "ain't gonna make it"...

 

[avkills]

Macs USED to be WAY better for video editing. Now, the only things that set them apart from PCs for video editing are specific Apple ProRES codecs that you can't get for Windows (you can get some of them for Windows, but not all of them) and Final Cut Pro. If you're not specifically needing those things, then there is no superiority that the Mac has over a Windows PC for video editing. Otherwise, Adobe Premiere Pro is the same on both platforms (though, you will have faster performance if you're using an NVIDIA GPU as CUDA is still faster than Metal).

It isn't that much of a difference any more if you look at the top spec M3 Max. Of course price wise the PC is going to be cheaper in the long run, so there is that. But this is also a comparison of a laptop vs desktop parts. PC looks weak in this light.