What is the best way to sync a Macbook with my Windows computer?

I am interested in buying a Macbook. But I have to have it synced with my windows computer. I am very organized with my computer files, so it should be simple to set up. I need Document, Picture, Music, and Video folders synced between the two.

And with my Music folder it only has my iTunes folder which has all my music files organized and the library in there, so hopefully the two libraries can be synced as well.

Anyone know the best thing to do?

Oh, and does anyone know if it is easy to move my iPod touch from Windows to Mac?

I just got back from the Apple store and purchasing my new MacBook. I was going to have the store transfer my files from PC notebook but you have to leave the computers for 72 hours...that was not an option for me... So the guy talked me into purchasing mobile me... $69/year if you purchase it at the same time as your MacBook. All you do is log into mobile me from your windows machine... upload your files... then log into mobile me from your Mac and drag the folders to your Mac... He demonstrated it and it looks super simple... I am going to try ti tomorrow.. I haven't gone through the mobile me demo yet but you can upload photo albums to share, upload website with iWeb, sync your iPhone or iTouch calendars, etc., etc., etc.....

Kim

yea i think you get 20GB of space with mobile me so you can upload that much at one time then change it out and start over.

I'm not going to go through all the hassle to buy Mobile Me, upload all my stuff, and then download it again. I just want a program to sync all the files.

Just use a External? Borrow from someone!

Lytheil said:

Just use a External? Borrow from someone!

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I have an external hard drive I use for backing up. But I want things synced since I will still be using both computers. I need them to be able to transfer files as soon as they change over the network.

mitts2010 said:

I have an external hard drive I use for backing up. But I want things synced since I will still be using both computers. I need them to be able to transfer files as soon as they change over the network.

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Have you considered purchasing a network-attached storage device (known as a NAS drive) for files that will be shared amongst multiple computers? Although there are different programs that offer file synchronization capabilities, I think this would be far more convenient, safe and effective if you continuously use two or more machines to manipulate your data.

cwa107 said:

Have you considered purchasing a network-attached storage device (known as a NAS drive) for files that will be shared amongst multiple computers? Although there are different programs that offer file synchronization capabilities, I think this would be far more convenient, safe and effective if you continuously use two or more machines to manipulate your data.

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Hmmm....that is a good idea, but if I take my laptop out of my house, my files are not with me. Maybe it would be good to have that central storage, and have the files on each of the computer too, and they both contribute to the central storage.

There are several file synchronization tools out there, but I don't know of any for mac. In fact, while I was searching for you I found this thread: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12587

Unless you want to buy a server, synchronization probably isn't the best method to take. If you're just going to have exactly the same files on both computers, why on earth would you need two computers?
I think the best option would be either to use a NAS as someone suggested or to copy all files over when you buy your second computer, and then use something like MobileMe or a wireless network to send updated files between the two.

christ!, mobile me? uploading and downloading 20gb (possibly more) of data will take forever.

definitely be better off with an external hard drive or i think there's a way of networking them to share files.

Mobile Me will also allow you to host your own websites, sync your calendar, upload photos into photo albums, etc. It is much more than just uploading files...

Kim

mitts2010 said:

I'm not going to go through all the hassle to buy Mobile Me, upload all my stuff, and then download it again. I just want a program to sync all the files.

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