Questions about Switching/Transferring from PC to Mac

[Saint_Blaise]

I am planning to switch from PC to Mac and am wondering a few things:

• I have a close to 32,000 songs in iTunes. Is it likely that Migration Assistant will be able to handle the transfer via ethernet cable without major problems?
• I have about 2.5 TB of files and apps in total that will need to reside on the SSD. The collection might grow by a TB. Will a 4 TB SSD be large enough or do system files take up a lot of space?
• Are OneDrive and MS Office Mac apps sensible and current or are they missing features?
• If you've switched or use both OSes, how long did it take you to get adjusted to the window buttons being on the left side as opposed to the right?
  
  
  

 

[wilberforce]

My thoughts:
Ethernet cable is usually a good method, songs transfer should not be an issue.
"System files" is highly variable, what it includes is a bit of a mystery, and can include snapshots, caches, etc. Right now my system files is 100GB.
I suggest don't fill an SSD more than about 90% else it will slow down, and not enough room for caching etc. If you need more than 4TB internal SSD suggest think about supplementary external storage. An 8TB internal SSD is just not cost effective. Also think about backup plan.
OneDrive and MS Office seem to work OK, but I am not a power user. I don't have a very high opinion of MS Office anyway.
There is a lot more to adjust to than windows button location. Seems frustrating at first, but in several months get used to it. Tip: suggest do not try to force MacOS to behave like Windows, by changing settings and preferences to simulate Windows. Just embrace the MacOS way of doing things, with its pluses and minuses.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

My thoughts:
Ethernet cable is usually a good method, songs transfer should not be an issue.
"System files" is highly variable, what it includes is a bit of a mystery, and can include snapshots, caches, etc. Right now my system files is 100GB.
I suggest don't fill an SSD more than about 90% else it will slow down, and not enough room for caching etc. If you need more than 4TB internal SSD suggest think about supplementary external storage. An 8TB internal SSD is just not cost effective. Also think about backup plan.
OneDrive and MS Office seem to work OK, but I am not a power user. I don't have a very high opinion of MS Office anyway.
There is a lot more to adjust to than windows button location. Seems frustrating at first, but in several months get used to it. Tip: suggest do not try to force MacOS to behave like Windows, by changing settings and preferences to simulate Windows. Just embrace the MacOS way of doing things, with its pluses and minuses.

Thanks for responding! Yeah, the $1000 price leap is steep as hell. I wish there was a 6 TB option.

 

[MBAir2010]

when I purchased a Dell XPS 13" in 2019 I also grabbed a external drive.
everything music, art and movies synced well into the dell!
I did drag and drop everything.
im sure  is better and faster now!

 

[velocityg4]

Windows to Windows migration is bad enough. I’d be hesitant on doing Windows to Mac.

I’d just use file sharing and something like Freefilesync. To copy over the data. Better yet just transfer with an external drive. Formatted in ExFAT.

You want to keep an SSD about 20% free. With 4TB you’ll only have practical use of 700GB after your transfer. If you don’t want to impact performance.

Does it need to be internal? If a laptop. Do you always have to carry it all with you? You could use a NAS with a cloud drive option for stuff you don’t have to have with you. Allowing remote access to all your files. Without high fees for that much storage.

 

[wilberforce]

Thanks for responding! Yeah, the $1000 price leap is steep as hell. I wish there was a 6 TB option.

One of the best value (and very compact) external SSDs is the Samsung T7, ~$150 for 2TB. It is not the fastest external SSD (it is USB 3.2), but generally plenty fast enough, and faster external SSDs (e.g., Thunderbolt 3) are exponentially more expensive, unless you assemble your own.

SAMSUNG SSD T7 Portable External Solid State Drive 2TB, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Reliable Storage for Gaming, Students, Professionals, MU-PC2T0R/AM, Red

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 is the next standard in external storage. With transfer rates up to 9.5x faster than traditional external hard drives and read/ write speeds up to 1050 MB/s1, you can move massive files around with unparalleled ease and fluidity. Its sleek, shock-resistant design is un...

www.amazon.com

Or similar by SanDisk.

 

[ChrisA]

I am planning to switch from PC to Mac and am wondering a few things:

• I have a close to 32,000 songs in iTunes. Is it likely that Migration Assistant will be able to handle the transfer via ethernet cable without major problems?
• I have about 2.5 TB of files and apps in total that will need to reside on the SSD. The collection might grow by a TB. Will a 4 TB SSD be large enough or do system files take up a lot of space?
• Are OneDrive and MS Office Mac apps sensible and current or are they missing features?
• If you've switched or use both OSes, how long did it take you to get adjusted to the window buttons being on the left side as opposed to the right?
  
  

There is no reason to put music files on an SSD unless you really need them physically on the Mac. The cheapest and easiest solution is to buy whatever size SSD you like and keep the bulk of the data on an Apple cloud service. As long as you have Internet connection, all the data is available just as if it were on the SSD.

The second most easy solution is to place the dta on an external disk drive but then you have to move the external drive aroud with you.

The best solution is a NAS. This is a cloud that you own. Synology" is the Apple os the NAS world. Like Apple you pay a little more but you get ease of use and high quality. The NAS has unlimited storage because you can just keep diing 16TB drives "forever" almost.

I'd start with Apple's cloud storage and see how it goes.

About the external disk. Just take the disk drive from you PC and place it in a USB3 enclosure. Plug it into the Mac. Now all you data is on the Mac and you did not need to copy anything. Later move it to iCloud.

 

[Dochartaigh]

• If you've switched or use both OSes, how long did it take you to get adjusted to the window buttons being on the left side as opposed to the right?

Funny story (hopefully I didn't already tell it here lol). My buddy was a life-long Windows user and he got a Mac, and since he always heard how easy they were to use he refused to google anything or watch a single video to learn how to use it...

Like 5 hours later he calls me up all pissed and asks me a couple question, then finally admits he's been trying to find out how to uninstall a program for literally 2 hours straight, and for the life of him he could NOT figure it out...

He's so used to going to Windows Task Bar > Start > Control Panel > Add / Remove Programs, scrolling down the list to find the program, right clicking "remove/uninstall program", launching the uninstaller program, having to choose exactly what you want to uninstall, having it finish, usually having to google where the hidden files for that program are if you really want to delete all traces of it, then also usually having/wanting to reboot the computer afterwards so you don't have any issues... etc.

I told him on Mac you just drag the program to the Trash... blew his mind lol. Be ready for some "oh, duh" moments of your own... but once you're proficient it's seriously next level. Even down to how Finder works saves me SO much time over Windows (my job requires heavy file management).

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Even down to how Finder works saves me SO much time over Windows (my job requires heavy file management).

Mine does too. Can you elaborate a little bit?

 

[Dochartaigh]

Mine does too. Can you elaborate a little bit?

In Windows Explorer it is IMPOSSIBLE to open up say 5x folders at the same time (in the same window), see all their contents, then select (command+click) multiple files inside MULTIPLE DIFFERENT folders to copy/move/open/etc them.

Windows you would have to have 5x Explorer windows open at the same time, and you could NEVER select multiple folders inside all 5 of those windows to bulk-open/move/copy/etc. them.

The above is something I do, literally, 100+ times a day. Every project needs to be in its own folder per our SOP and FDA compliance (i.e. keeping proper records per job #...and yes, we are audited ~every other year, guaranteed!). Many projects will be linked to each other, so I commonly have to open multiple related jobs at the same time, print/PDF them, copy them, upload them, catalog them in our Agile system, etc. etc. etc.

Also do this on my own personal projects, folders, etc. ALL the time as well. Windows makes it SO much harder (even with the couple/few Explorer add-ons I've tried to get closer to the Mac experience).

 

[Saint_Blaise]

In Windows Explorer it is IMPOSSIBLE to open up say 5x folders at the same time (in the same window), see all their contents, then select (command+click) multiple files inside MULTIPLE DIFFERENT folders to copy/move/open/etc them.

Windows you would have to have 5x Explorer windows open at the same time, and you could NEVER select multiple folders inside all 5 of those windows to bulk-open/move/copy/etc. them.

The above is something I do, literally, 100+ times a day. Every project needs to be in its own folder per our SOP and FDA compliance (i.e. keeping proper records per job #...and yes, we are audited ~every other year, guaranteed!). Many projects will be linked to each other, so I commonly have to open multiple related jobs at the same time, print/PDF them, copy them, upload them, catalog them in our Agile system, etc. etc. etc.

Also do this on my own personal projects, folders, etc. ALL the time as well. Windows makes it SO much harder (even with the couple/few Explorer add-ons I've tried to get closer to the Mac experience).

I've used windows for so long that I can't imagine doing it any other way. I'm glad you have an easier way.

There is no reason to put music files on an SSD unless you really need them physically on the Mac. The cheapest and easiest solution is to buy whatever size SSD you like and keep the bulk of the data on an Apple cloud service. As long as you have Internet connection, all the data is available just as if it were on the SSD.

The second most easy solution is to place the dta on an external disk drive but then you have to move the external drive aroud with you.

The best solution is a NAS. This is a cloud that you own. Synology" is the Apple os the NAS world. Like Apple you pay a little more but you get ease of use and high quality. The NAS has unlimited storage because you can just keep diing 16TB drives "forever" almost.

I'd start with Apple's cloud storage and see how it goes.

About the external disk. Just take the disk drive from you PC and place it in a USB3 enclosure. Plug it into the Mac. Now all you data is on the Mac and you did not need to copy anything. Later move it to iCloud.

Is the Apple Music app smart enough to download "cloud" music that is not in the Apple Music cloud or use the Apple Music version if the external disk is disconnected?

 

[IncreasinglyFrustrated]

I told him on Mac you just drag the program to the Trash... blew his mind lol.

Eh... not to be too picky, but this isn't the greatest advice. It's better to use something like the (100% free) AppCleaner app for removing installed items. Just like in Windows, deleting an application [folder/bundle] doesn't delete everything. Another unintended benefit is that AppCleaner resets many time-limited trials.

 

[splifingate]

Highest hurdle I had to learn how to jump was--while using Windows, Linux and OS X Mac OS at the same time (on the same desk (with different keyboards))--the opposition of Command and Control (e.g., Command-c vs Control-c).

It's merely muscle-memory at this point in time.

You'll appreciate the window controls.

I don't do a lot of music stuff, and I've only ever used Office for Mac (have 2021 right now).

about 2.5 TB of files and apps in total that will need to reside on the SSD

That's a lot of stuff to, er, stuff onto (I presume) your sole internal storage space.

What Mac are you going to purchase?

'solid-state' storage on newer models use nvme gum-sticks, or proprietary chip units, offering voluminous 2TB, 4TB and 8TB options. The price-point for those options is voluminous, also

I use an aftermarket 2TB nvme in my Monterey desktop: Mac OS occupies just over 15GB, Apps occupy ~50GB, and System Data clocks-in at just over 100GB. I have a *lot* of stuff stored in addition, yet I still have ~1.5TB of free space available. I use this for short-term work.

I have two spinning HDD in my MP, with about 14TB of long-term material. There's also about 30TB of longer-term material on the Synology NAS in the other room. I forget, now, exactly just what floats on what cloud. I save a lot of things

Most of what is not used day-to-day is stored in these external spaces. Backups are extremely important/helpful/useful.

All that being said, you'll adapt just fine to the switch

My current fight is between the on-screen 'keyboard' of iOS and that of iPadOS (*grr*) . . . *sigh* . . . you'll find plenty of things that frustrate you in any OS.

Have fun!

 

[pmiles]

I switched from PC to Mac back when OSX was first released. Stayed in the Mac ecosystem up until November of 2022. So I've switched two and from the two. All of my Macs were MacPro desktop models. I switched to the Mac because I was fed up with the Windows OS at the time. I still required access to Windows for some of my applications, so bootcamp basically sealed the deal for me. I literally had to replace just about everything at the time to make the switch so it was a costly transition in more ways than one. Don't get me wrong, it was worth it at the time.

My recent return to Windows was also because I was fed up with the OS and the fact that everything was basically being soldered to the board. The transition back to the PC was far less expensive overall. Again, for me, it was the right decision at the right time.

Here's the deal about storage... get used to the idea of external storage. You will always need more storage. Anyone who suggests 2TBs is all you will ever need also subscribed to the idea that 640KBs was all the ram you'd ever need from back in the day.

Everyone tells you that you only need x amount of RAM on these ARM Macs... these are the same people replacing them for the next generation ARMs as soon as they are announced. Reality is, everything requires more over time, not less. History has shown that to be true... even with the ARM Macs. If you only every needed x amount of RAM, then why build a new one with more RAM? Because it needs more. You can't add RAM later... you can only replace the device. Hard truth.

While I have never been a fan of Windows, I find that I can accept it more this time around than the current MacOS. It has become more of an iOS than a desktop OS over the years. Which is fine, just not my cup of tea anymore.

Typing this from my PC... on the plus side, Apple recycled my old Mac Pro and display for free.

 

[satcomer]

That is why Apple made back inlay and still they're called Migration, Assistant. connect to PAC to the same kind of post, preferably USB C!

 

[MarineBand5524]

Thanks for responding! Yeah, the $1000 price leap is steep as hell. I wish there was a 6 TB option.

You can buy a sweet USB-C 4TB lacie on Amazon for 140.00

I have my Photo's and music library on there as well as my time Machine