Going from WIndows to Mac

Joined this forum prior to buying a Mac since I have various questions prior to making a purchase - I hope this is the proper category & thread is OK. I currently own a generic PC which I was forced to buy after my old Dell Dimension's (should I even mention that brand?) motherboard fried out. I am lucky enough to live down the road from a geek shop & computer repair place and they sold me a generic model and I was lucky enough to get them to install the old hard drive onto this current "clunker" I have. So in essence, I have a system with 2 hard drives (i.e., original one is considered a "slave drive").
I did not lose any of my folders or files or images and graphcs stored in specific folders etc.
The old Dell ran on Windows XP Pro and this current "bucket of bolts" had an OEM version of XP Pro installed since I was used to that OS. Prior to buying a Mac, this is where my questions come into play:

#1. From transferring files from this old clunker to a Mac, will I lose
anything Microsoft-related such as my web editor? I use FrontPage 2002
and my trusty old Photoshop 6.0 etc.?

#2. By running Windows XP Pro OEM version right now, will there be any
difficulties in transferring that aspect of it?

#3. Is there a "best" way to transfer info from current computer to a Mac?
I have a Maxtor portable USB drive on hand and could use that, but
since Mac is involved, I'm wondering if a more efficient way exists?
I.e. Cabling them together and configuring something on one system
and then the new machine?

I'm an illustrator and have thousands of 'toons on the hard drives, web pages, invoices etc. I was told this also:

1. Use virtualization. That's using Windows along side Mac OS X. There are a couple of programs for that VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop. It's been shown that Windows actually works faster on a Mac than on PCs. I don't know why. You have to have a version of Windows to install--I think there are even instructions on the web for how to install the version that came pre-installed on your PC.


2. Use Boot Camp. That's the Apple solution, which basically is to partition your drive, install Windows on one partition, and to switch between Windows and Mac OS X, you have to re-boot.

Any insights or feedback on the best way to proceed would be revered. I'd copy those suggestions to Notepad and print out to save in a hard folder for reference purposes prior to making a buy.

I've grown weary of PC platform....by running the old OS you need to protect yourself from the inevitable and in doing so, alot of these programs do auto-updating and system scans which slow your machine down as you're trying to work etc....it's just gotten tiring. Help

Give this a read...it may help with some of your questions/concerns.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...4239-running-windows-mac-switchers-guide.html

- Nick

If you still have the install disk of those two programs then you should be in good shape.

As for the bootcamp install, the disk needs to be Windows XP Service Pack 2.

If it's already on a external drive, then it might be easier just to hook that up to the mac and drag those files and drop them onto the mac desktop or wherever.

I'll just say it here (without messing around with REPUTATION system) Pigoo....THANKS for such a fast response and an informative link. I hope it is still OK to post additional questions on what I browsed in that link when my questions come to mind. I noticed that REP system is a bit fickle and anything that can be abused, I avoid because you can get terminated. Thank you again.

Btw Crimson, I appreciate knowing what you just mentioned about having the
install disks of the two programs I mentioned....I want to clarify then, do you mean my original Windows XP Pro that came with the old Dell Dimension and the OEM version that's currently on this old clunker I'm running?

danno20441 said:

Btw Crimson, I appreciate knowing what you just mentioned about having the
install disks of the two programs I mentioned....I want to clarify then, do you mean my original Windows XP Pro that came with the old Dell Dimension and the OEM version that's currently on this old clunker I'm running?

Click to expand...

Technically you aren't suppose to use those OEM disk for a different computer, so I won't say anything else on that.

It just needs to be Windows XP Pro/Home or whatever and it needs to be Service Pack 2.

If it's an OEM disk from a Dell...besides user agreement or legal issues...I thought I heard that the Dell disks will only work on Dell computers.

- Nick

danno20441 said:

#1. From transferring files from this old clunker to a Mac, will I lose
anything Microsoft-related such as my web editor? I use FrontPage 2002
and my trusty old Photoshop 6.0 etc.?

Click to expand...

As long as you have the installer discs, there's no reason you can't install the software on a Windows VM or on Windows installed via Boot Camp.

#2. By running Windows XP Pro OEM version right now, will there be any
difficulties in transferring that aspect of it?

Click to expand...

OEM versions of Windows are licensed to the hardware they were sold with. For both legal and technical reasons (namely product activation), this is a no-go. You'll need to purchase another copy of Windows, be it Vista, 7 or XP.

#3. Is there a "best" way to transfer info from current computer to a Mac?
I have a Maxtor portable USB drive on hand and could use that, but
since Mac is involved, I'm wondering if a more efficient way exists?
I.e. Cabling them together and configuring something on one system
and then the new machine?

Click to expand...

Probably the best way is to network the two together and pull the files off that way. If there is an Apple Store near you, they can also (free of charge), transfer the data when you buy your new system.

I'm an illustrator and have thousands of 'toons on the hard drives, web pages, invoices etc. I was told this also:

1. Use virtualization. That's using Windows along side Mac OS X. There are a couple of programs for that VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop.

Click to expand...

It depends. If you want the skinny, check out this thread:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...4239-running-windows-mac-switchers-guide.html

It's been shown that Windows actually works faster on a Mac than on PCs. I don't know why.

Click to expand...

This is a myth. If you want, I'll get into it deeper, but this is mostly fanboy-perpetuated BUNK.

You have to have a version of Windows to install--I think there are even instructions on the web for how to install the version that came pre-installed on your PC.

Click to expand...

I believe both Parallels and VMWare come with a program to encapsulate your existing Windows install and port it over to a VM, but I have no direct experience with it.

2. Use Boot Camp. That's the Apple solution, which basically is to partition your drive, install Windows on one partition, and to switch between Windows and Mac OS X, you have to re-boot. [/COLOR]

Click to expand...

Again, I would refer you to the thread I mentioned previously. It addresses all of these topics in detail.

Any insights or feedback on the best way to proceed would be revered. I'd copy those suggestions to Notepad and print out to save in a hard folder for reference purposes prior to making a buy.

I've grown weary of PC platform....by running the old OS you need to protect yourself from the inevitable and in doing so, alot of these programs do auto-updating and system scans which slow your machine down as you're trying to work etc....it's just gotten tiring. Help

Click to expand...

Sounds like you're ready to try something new. Just be prepared to hang up your Windows hat and put your Mac hat on. The two OSes are different and you'll need to keep an open mind to ensure your satisfaction with the switch.

My advice... make the switch, ride the waves, and you would be one of the very few that switched back, if not the first..;D

Welcome aboard

Great insights and much appreciated from each of you. Btw Sur3mac, I intend on "riding" some waves...I've grown weary of this OS and all the maintenance required....the Norton360 keeps inadvertently doing system back-ups if I'm not using it all the time and the system bogs down to the point where it takes the OS a while to speed back up and not allowing instant access to software or folders or even email when you're accustomed to speedily zipping around your desktop.
All your answers that are itemized in such a way CWA107 are fantastic. I need to actually bookmark this thread on my desktop! Well, it seems all very clear and pretty easy to interpret and understand. By rereading backwards, I think my main and ONLY concern is the actual OEM version of Windows XP Pro currently running on this old clunker then. In essence, if I still have the very first version of Windows XP Pro on CD that came with the old Dell Dimension and would that not be enough to completely transfer everything from this old unit to a new Mac? Curious....

Additionally, I am in a sparsely populated region of upper midwest. There are PC sellers and PC repair places, but no Mac sellers. I am wondering if they allow newbies to post URLs to their websites to familiarize you with what I do...?

danno20441 said:

if I still have the very first version of Windows XP Pro on CD that came with the old Dell Dimension and would that not be enough to completely transfer everything from this old unit to a new Mac[/COLOR]? Curious....

Click to expand...

From what I understand, Parallels and Fusion can encapsulate your existing Windows machine into a virtual hard disk file that you can transfer over to your Mac and then boot that hard drive in a virtual machine. If that's true, there's no reason you have to purchase another copy of Windows - that would only be necessary if you wanted to install Windows via Boot Camp.

Additionally, I am in a sparsely populated region of upper midwest. There are PC sellers and PC repair places, but no Mac sellers. I am wondering if they allow newbies to post URLs to their websites to familiarize you with what I do...?

Click to expand...

You might be surprised. Unless you're in some godforsaken place like Bismarck, there's probably an Apple Store or Apple reseller within driving distance. Check here:

Apple - Store Locator

Hey CWA, that Apple store locator helped....I'm in the far north region of Michigan in the U.P. (Yooperland) and found this place. Who are supposed to be an Apple authorized service provider. So maybe my planned "transition" may go as planned. I'm a bit miffed yet about this:

#1. currently running a system that has an OEM version of Windows XP Pro
#2. Since I'm running two hard drives (one being a "slave"), I want to be
absolutely certain I can use the original disk of Windows XP Pro
that came with my old Dell Dimension 8200 and not have any transition
or reconfiguration problems with a new Mac - I mention this based on
what you mention above: "Parallels and Fusion can encapsulate your existing Windows machine into a virtual hard disk file that you can transfer over to your Mac and then boot that hard drive in a virtual machine"

This current OEM I have running, is my only concern . . .

By the way, here's what I do.

dell disk

I could be wrong about this
if you set up with the dell xp cd you may hit trouble with boot champ installing the right drivers, as the dell disk with be looking for hardware that is installed in your PC, which you wont have added to your mac.

The reason I say this is that i put a bigger hard drive in my dell and did a new install of xp from the dell setup disk that came with the computer and it would not see the hard drive . use a standard xp cd and it worked fine.

just some thing to think about or someone else can add some other views

What if I use an alternative to Boot Camp?