Migrating from XP to OX... I have questions!

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Okay, after my 20 years on the Dark Side, I have seen the light and ordered a 17" MacBook Pro with the faster (but smaller) 7200 RPM, 100GB disk.



1. I have a bazillion .jpg, .mp3 and .m4a files on my XP (on an external NTFS formated disk). Will my new Mac see those files (can it read the disk)? If not, what do I do to get them on the Mac?



2. Is there a disk image program like Acronis True Image available for the Mac? That program is a real time saver.



3. What is the main email program used in the Mac world? Outlook or something else? I am familiar with MS Office and know that they have ported it over to Mac but I see that Apple has iWork... which I know nothing about.



4. Do I need an antivirus program?



THANKS!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    Oh yeah...



    5. Is there any reason to get a .Mac account?
  • Reply 2 of 39
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    1. I have a bazillion .jpg, .mp3 and .m4a files on my XP (on an external NTFS formated disk). Will my new Mac see those files (can it read the disk)? If not, what do I do to get them on the Mac?



    It should be able to read the external drive. OS X just doesn't have write support. Sometimes people have trouble mounting them but try it first. There are quite a few workarounds if it doesn't mount.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    2. Is there a disk image program like Acronis True Image available for the Mac? That program is a real time saver.



    Disk Utility is a built in disk image tool that handles most types you'd need like .dmg and .iso.



    For cloning drives for backups, you can use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. Time Machine in OS X 10.5 Leopard should be the best solution.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    3. What is the main email program used in the Mac world? Outlook or something else? I am familiar with MS Office and know that they have ported it over to Mac but I see that Apple has iWork... which I know nothing about.



    Everybody I know uses Entourage on Mac, which is part of the Office suite. I personally use Apple's own Mail software but I don't do a lot of emailing so I don't know the advantages and disadvantages of each.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    4. Do I need an antivirus program?



    Only if you run Windows. So far, there are only really proof of concept viruses for OS X that aren't in circulation. If you deal with Windows users though, it may still be handy to get a Mac AV program so you don't pass anything on. There are very few AV packages available but one is ClamXAV:



    http://www.markallan.co.uk/clamXav/



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KINGME


    Is there any reason to get a .Mac account?



    Nope. Unless you need what features it offers but I don't know anyone who has one.
  • Reply 3 of 39
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Oh yeah...



    5. Is there any reason to get a .Mac account?



    You can get a 60 day trail for free. Give it a try.
  • Reply 4 of 39
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Oh yeah...



    5. Is there any reason to get a .Mac account?



    I have one. If you're interested in using iWeb for a web page, .mac is really useful, and is worth the cost to me for the convenience factor. Otherwise, I don't think there's any reason to bother.
  • Reply 5 of 39
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Okay, after my 20 years on the Dark Side, I have seen the light and ordered a 17" MacBook Pro with the faster (but smaller) 7200 RPM, 100GB disk.



    1. I have a bazillion .jpg, .mp3 and .m4a files on my XP (on an external NTFS formated disk). Will my new Mac see those files (can it read the disk)? If not, what do I do to get them on the Mac?



    2. Is there a disk image program like Acronis True Image available for the Mac? That program is a real time saver.



    3. What is the main email program used in the Mac world? Outlook or something else? I am familiar with MS Office and know that they have ported it over to Mac but I see that Apple has iWork... which I know nothing about.



    4. Do I need an antivirus program?



    THANKS!



    Hi KINGME,



    Welcome to Macland. See my post here (#17) for answers to many of your questions



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...15#post1043215



    This site is usuallt pretty good about helping switchers so ask away.
  • Reply 6 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    Thanks for the feedback guys!



    It sorta sucks that all of these operating systems have to use different drive formats. If Apple runs on UNIX and IBM made UNIX computers... and if IBM invented the PC... how did IBM (or whomever) manage to screw the pooch on that one?!



    What I want to do is install iTunes and keep all the music files on Western Digital 500GB Firewire 800 drive. I also want to use that as my scratch disk for Photoshop.



    I just saw on the Apple site that I should be able to connect my Mac to my PC with a LAN cable. I have no idea how easy this is. But if it works, I can format the WD drive to OSX and copy all the music files from my PC to the HD and be done with it.



    Right?
  • Reply 7 of 39
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Thanks for the feedback guys!



    It sorta sucks that all of these operating systems have to use different drive formats. If Apple runs on UNIX and IBM made UNIX computers... and if IBM invented the PC... how did IBM (or whomever) manage to screw the pooch on that one?!



    What I want to do is install iTunes and keep all the music files on Western Digital 500GB Firewire 800 drive. I also want to use that as my scratch disk for Photoshop.



    I just saw on the Apple site that I should be able to connect my Mac to my PC with a LAN cable. I have no idea how easy this is. But if it works, I can format the WD drive to OSX and copy all the music files from my PC to the HD and be done with it.



    Right?



    IBM didn't invent the NTFS filesystem, that was Microsoft. OS X has read only access to NTFS but that's useless for what you intend on using it for. I would recommend you backup all your files to another drive and reformat your drive into a more Mac friendly format like HFS+. Photoshop will NOT work with a scratch disk in NTSF format. Neither will iTunes. And honestly, using a Firewire disk is never a good idea for a PS scratch disk. It's not fast enough and if left inactive for too long the drive actually makes PS perform worse since it goes to sleep so often.
  • Reply 8 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    Isn't FireWire 800 super fast? I figured that with such a large drive and with such high speed that it would work great for a scratch disk.
  • Reply 9 of 39
    smaxsmax Posts: 361member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Outsider View Post


    And honestly, using a Firewire disk is never a good idea for a PS scratch disk. It's not fast enough and if left inactive for too long the drive actually makes PS perform worse since it goes to sleep so often.



    Aside from eSATA, name an external interface that is both widely accepted and faster than Firewire 800.



    Mmmhm.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    It sorta sucks that all of these operating systems have to use different drive formats. If Apple runs on UNIX and IBM made UNIX computers... and if IBM invented the PC... how did IBM (or whomever) manage to screw the pooch on that one?!



    I think all these sort of things help the vendor lock-in that big companies like. Imagine companies that have huge databases of storage and want to switch systems. It ain't going to happen easily. I think all consumers long for standardization but as the HD vs Blu-Ray war shows, vendors don't unless it happens to be their own 'standard'.



    We actually already have filesystems that can be used universally like the UDF format on DVDs but the trouble is they lack features or are not stable enough for use with a desktop operating system.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    I just saw on the Apple site that I should be able to connect my Mac to my PC with a LAN cable. I have no idea how easy this is. But if it works, I can format the WD drive to OSX and copy all the music files from my PC to the HD and be done with it.



    Right?



    Yeah, you basically connect to the PC IP address using SMB and access a share that you set up. Then it should mount as a drive. You can read and write this drive even though it's NTFS too because it's done over the network. If there's a lot of stuff, you'll be in for a bit of a wait. If I remember right, I got about 1GB per minute transfer using FW400 and 100MBps ethernet.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KINGME


    Isn't FireWire 800 super fast? I figured that with such a large drive and with such high speed that it would work great for a scratch disk.



    Sure but you already have a 7200 rpm internal drive so I don't imagine the external will be any faster. It still helps cut down fragmentation though. What I would do is benchmark and see if you actually see a difference in performance. If not, I'd suggest keeping it off especially if it's a backup drive. I have seen performance increases using a 7200 external scratch disk on machines with 5400 internals and I can't say I've experienced any issues with the drive sleeping but like I say, if it's a backup drive and your internal comes out the same, you likely won't see much benefit.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    icfireballicfireball Posts: 2,594member
    All major document formats are cross compatible from Macs to PCs. Also, surprisingly enough, Mac OS X complies more tightly with technology standards than Windows because Microsoft likes to (and has enough market share to) do their own thing to a certain extent. There may be a program you can download that will allow for edit of NTSF. If not, you can always reformat to a drive format that is cross compatible.



    Good luck with the switch. It should be very painless, and despite popular misconception in the Windows world, there are a lot of great free applications that do anything your free PC applications can do, and more. Plus, they generally have a better UI as well.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icfireball View Post


    There may be a program you can download that will allow for edit of NTFS.



    There is: check out MacFUSE.



    Amorya
  • Reply 13 of 39
    This shouldn't be a problem. What you'll first need to do is connect it to your Mac, copy all the files from it temporarily onto your Mac. Use disk utility to format the drive as MS-DOS (which formats it to FAT32 so that both Windows and Mac computers can get files from it and put files on it). Be careful when formatting - it will erase EVERYTHING on the drive so make sure you backed up everything first! You could format it as HFS+ as stated previously but then only Mac computers will be able to use it. Best bet is MS-DOS (FAT32). After that's done, just copy all the files back on it from your Mac.
  • Reply 14 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icfireball View Post


    Good luck with the switch. It should be very painless, and despite popular misconception in the Windows world, there are a lot of great free applications that do anything your free PC applications can do, and more. Plus, they generally have a better UI as well.



    Well, I got my Mac last Friday but I have to get a replacement because the metal case was deformed around the DVD device. \



    I'm waiting on my FedEx return labels and then another week of getting my replacement.



    I'm disappointed in the quality of a $2700 machine but I suppose things happen.



    One thing to note for everyone out there wanting to buy a new computer online... if you change ANYTHING from the default settings (like I changed it from the larger, slower drive to the smaller but faster 100GB drive) it becomes a "CUSTOM" computer and then you can't return it or take it in to an Apple store for replacement. I didn't see that clearly spelled out anywhere and the top of the order page even encourages you to "Customize Your Mac").



    Needless to say, my first "Apple Experience" (as one AppleCare clerk expressed it) has not been as happy as my last 10 "Dell Experiences".
  • Reply 15 of 39
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Ya, bad Apples do occur. Question, why did you purchase it toward the end of the life cycle?
  • Reply 16 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MajorMatt View Post


    Ya, bad Apples do occur. Question, why did you purchase it toward the end of the life cycle?



    I just bought the thing last week. I have no idea when the next version will be out.
  • Reply 17 of 39
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Well, I got my Mac last Friday but I have to get a replacement because the metal case was deformed around the DVD device. \



    I'm waiting on my FedEx return labels and then another week of getting my replacement.



    I'm disappointed in the quality of a $2700 machine but I suppose things happen.



    One thing to note for everyone out there wanting to buy a new computer online... if you change ANYTHING from the default settings (like I changed it from the larger, slower drive to the smaller but faster 100GB drive) it becomes a "CUSTOM" computer and then you can't return it or take it in to an Apple store for replacement. I didn't see that clearly spelled out anywhere and the top of the order page even encourages you to "Customize Your Mac").



    Needless to say, my first "Apple Experience" (as one AppleCare clerk expressed it) has not been as happy as my last 10 "Dell Experiences".



    Bummer! Good, important feedback though for this forum, Thank you.



    Long term, you'll be a happy camper. No more countless hours spent receiving endless Windows security & OS updates, anti-virus updates and file scans, anti-spyware updates and file scans, no more hours of de-fragging, no more fighting a death-dual with Control Panel Add/Remove Programs with one that will not uninstall, no more MS telling you that it must scan your drive to make sure that you have "Genuine/Trusted" software installed, etc. etc. etc.



    Check out all the free and cheap APPs that make the Mac such a pleasant computing experience. Here are a few of my favorites (other posters might add theirs): Path Finder, Carbon Copy Cloner (probably will be obsoleted by Leopard), iClip, Papers, HandBrake, 1passwrd, Paparazzi, Firefox and of course iTunes.
  • Reply 18 of 39
    icfireballicfireball Posts: 2,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KiNGME View Post


    Well, I got my Mac last Friday but I have to get a replacement because the metal case was deformed around the DVD device. \



    I'm waiting on my FedEx return labels and then another week of getting my replacement.



    I'm disappointed in the quality of a $2700 machine but I suppose things happen.



    One thing to note for everyone out there wanting to buy a new computer online... if you change ANYTHING from the default settings (like I changed it from the larger, slower drive to the smaller but faster 100GB drive) it becomes a "CUSTOM" computer and then you can't return it or take it in to an Apple store for replacement. I didn't see that clearly spelled out anywhere and the top of the order page even encourages you to "Customize Your Mac").



    Needless to say, my first "Apple Experience" (as one AppleCare clerk expressed it) has not been as happy as my last 10 "Dell Experiences".



    I've never had a bad hardware experience from Apple. When my sister's laptop broke down, they said it would take up to 2 weeks to fix. We got it backed, fixed and perfect a little over 24 hours after we had shipped it to them.



    On the other hand, the eMachine I bought completely choked: after a year and a half the hard drive, CPU & Motherboard, and Power Unit all broke.



    And yes. You should have waited to buy. MacBook Pro is due for a hardware upgrade... as well as a software upgrade soon (Leopard).
  • Reply 19 of 39
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Days Since Update of Macbook Pro =160

    Average Time (in days) between updates = 182



    Most new comers to the mac platform dont realize apple doesnt increment things gradually like processor speed, ram, hard drive space etc over the course of the year. Apple instead elects to update everything at once at about half a year intervals. It's not a rule, but apple seems to prefer this approach.
  • Reply 20 of 39
    kingmekingme Posts: 70member
    I thought that the 17" was fairly new. Oh well.



    Dell does a really good job of never making you feel that you "missed the boat" because no two systems are ever the same even a week apart. They have all these specials and so many options that you could never replicate an order from one week to the next.



    That said, the eMachines are JUNK. So are the low end Dells. They use cheap (not just inexpensive) components and their quality is low. We bought about six cheap Dells a few years back and two had to have their motherboards replaced (everything is integrated into the motherboard so if one thing goes bad it all goes bad).



    I returned my Apple yesterday so they should have it tomorrow. Let's have a group hug and prayer meeting so that Apple updates their specs this morning and I am first to get the next gen 17"!
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