Switching from windows to mac os

Move your data from a Windows PC to your Mac

Use Windows Migration Assistant to transfer your pictures, documents, and other data from a Windows PC to your Mac.

Windows Migration Assistant transfers your contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more from a PC. It migrates this data to the appropriate places on your Mac. After migrating data to your Mac, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content that you download from the iTunes Store.

If you’re migrating from one Mac to another Mac, follow the steps to move your content to a new Mac.

Before you begin

To prepare for a smooth migration:

• Make sure that Windows is up to date. Migration Assistant works with Windows 7 and later.
• Make sure that you know the name and password of an administrator account on your PC.
• Connect your Mac and PC to the same network, such as your home Wi-Fi network. Or connect an Ethernet cable between the ports on your Mac and PC to create a direct network connection. Some Mac models require an Ethernet adapter, such as the Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter or Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
• If you’re using Microsoft OneDrive on your PC, follow Microsoft’s instructions for uninstalling OneDrive before continuing. You can reinstall OneDrive after migration is complete.

Then use the check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC to make sure that your Windows hard drive doesn’t have any issues:

1. Right-click the Start button, then click Run.
2. Type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt opens.
3. At the prompt, type chkdsk and press Enter.
4. If the utility reports that it found problems, type the following, where drive is the letter that represents your Windows startup disk, such as D:
5. Press Enter.
6. At the prompt, type Y , then restart your PC.
7. Repeat this process until the check disk utility reports no issues. If the utility can’t fix every issue that it finds, you might need to have your PC serviced. Then migrate your data to your Mac.

Move your data

This section guides you through migration, post-migration, and what to do if the steps don’t work for you.

How to move your information from a PC to your Mac

1. On your PC, download and install the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant, based on the version of macOS on your Mac:
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Big Sur
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Sierra and High Sierra
   • Windows Migration Assistant for OS X El Capitan or earlier
2. Quit any open Windows apps.
3. Open Windows Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
   
4. Start up your Mac. Setup Assistant automatically opens the first time you turn on your Mac. If you’ve already set up your Mac, open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
5. On your Mac, follow the onscreen prompts until you get to the migration pane of the assistant. Select the option to transfer your information “From a Windows PC,” then click Continue.
   
6. When prompted, enter an administrator name and password.
7. Click Continue to close any other open apps.
8. In the migration window on your Mac, select your PC from the list of available computers. Then wait for the PC to show the same passcode that your Mac shows.
9. When both computers display the same passcode, click Continue on your PC and Mac.
10. Your Mac scans the drives on your PC to build a list of information to migrate. When the scan completes, select the information that you want to migrate to your Mac and click Continue. Learn about some of the data that you can transfer.
    

You can watch the progress and estimated time remaining on both the PC and your Mac. They tell you when migration is complete.

After you move your data

When migration completes, close Windows Migration Assistant on your PC. Then log in to the new user account on your Mac. The first time you log in to a user account migrated from your PC, you’re asked to set a password. You can use the same password that you used on your PC, or create a new password.

After logging in to the user account that you migrated, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content downloaded from the iTunes Store.

If you have issues moving your data

• Quit all open apps on your PC, then try migrating your content again. For example, you can press Alt-Tab to choose an open application, then press Alt-F4 to quit it.
• If your PC doesn’t appear in the Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant window on your Mac, make sure the computers are connected to the same network. You can create a network by connecting a single Ethernet cable between your Mac and PC. If that doesn’t help, check for firewall software on your PC and turn it off. After migration completes, you can turn firewall software on again.
• If Migration Assistant doesn’t open on your PC, turn off any antivirus software on your PC. Then try to open Migration Assistant again. After migration completes. You can turn that software on again.
• If you still can’t migrate your information successfully, you can use an external drive or file sharing to manually copy important data to your Mac.

What data can I transfer?

Migration Assistant lets you choose the data to move to your Mac. Here’s what moves over for specific apps and data types:

Email, contacts, and calendar information
Email messages, email-account settings, contacts, and appointments move based on which version of Windows you’re using and which accounts you have.

Outlook 1
Data from 32-bit versions of Outlook in Windows 7 and later move as follows:

• People move to Contacts 2
• Appointments move to the Calendar app
• IMAP and Exchange settings and messages move to the Mail app
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Live Mail
Data from Windows Live Mail in Windows 7 and later moves as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Mail
Data from Windows Mail in Windows 7 and later (excluding Windows 8) move as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2
• People move to Contacts

Bookmarks
Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Safari for Windows, and Firefox move to Safari.

System settings
Language and location settings, and custom desktop pictures move to System Preferences. Your web browser homepage moves to Safari preferences.

Pictures
Photos and other images move to your home folder. You can then add them to Photos, or open Photos and let it search your Mac for photos to import.

iTunes content
Migration Assistant transfers your iTunes media as follows: music to the Apple Music app, videos to the Apple TV app, podcasts to the Apple Podcasts app, and audiobooks to the Apple Books app.

Other files
Migration Assistant also moves these files:

• Files from the top-level folder of the currently logged-in user’s home directory
• Non-system files located in the Windows or Program Files folders
• Top-level folders located on the Windows system disk and other attached disks

1. Migration Assistant doesn’t support 64-bit versions of Outlook. You can manually migrate Mail, Contacts, or Calendars from Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 by signing in and entering the content on your Mac manually.

2. Migration Assistant transfers only the Mail or Contacts data that belongs to the logged-in Windows user. To transfer data from another user account, use Migration Assistant again while you’re logged in to another Windows account. Each time you migrate, your Mac creates a new user account.

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The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Switching from Windows to OS X

Making the switch from Windows to OS X can be a pretty daunting task, especially if you’ve grown up using one system for your entire life. But migrating across to OS X doesn’t have to be difficult. Given the range of Mac programs now available and the better compatibility with existing Windows peripherals, such as mice and keyboards, it is a lot easier to do than it used to be, especially since the switch over to Intel-based systems.

I ditched Windows for Mac nearly 2 years ago (mainly because of Apple’s generous education discount) and I have to say, I’ve never looked back since. Obviously, this is my personal preference, but I find Macs so much easier to use and less «clunky» than Windows. So, for all those of you wanting to switch over to OS X, I’ve compiled a comprehesive guide on how to migrate your documents and settings over to your Mac and make the transformation as smooth and painless as possible.

Step 1: Forget All the Rumors!

There are plenty of rumours flitting around that may swing you towards not switching over to a Mac. Of course, opinions are strongly divided between Windows and OS X users, but I can tell you now that most of these rumours are wrong, so don’t let yourself be swayed by them.

One of the main reasons people hold back on switching to OS X is the lack of compatibility with Windows, however this is mostly untrue. Most common Windows programs have a separate Mac version and a lot of external peripherals (such as mice, keyboards, external hard drives and monitors) are fully compatible with OS X.

There are often very good (and sometimes better) Mac alternatives to Windows programs

There are often very good (and sometimes better) Mac alternatives to Windows programs and since the switch from the PowerPC to Intel architecture several years ago, Macs have been able to run Windows either virtually or via a separate partition using Boot Camp (more on this in a separate tutorial).

Step 2: Back Up All Your Files

Before undertaking such a big task I cannot emphasise enough the importance of backing up your entire Windows hard disk drive (especially your personal documents), preferably onto an external hard disk. In order to ensure complete compatibility with OS X, make sure your drive is formatted in the FAT format (NTFS, the default file system for Windows, does work with OS X however in read-only mode – if you want to write to an NTFS-formatted drive you’ll have to use a third-party software solution such as NTFS for Mac from Paragon).

You can backup in two ways:

1. Copy your entire Windows partition (usually C:\) across to your external HDD.
2. Use a proprietary backup solution (a couple of recommended ones are Cobian Backup and FBackup – both of which are free) or the built-in backup facility in Windows.

Another point worth mentioning is how to backup your e-mails, calendars, contacts and so on, which may be saved on your computer. Most email is stored on a central server, so when you’ve completed the switch you can just log into your favourite mail program, set it up with your account and sync your mail immediately, however if you want to sync your calendars and contacts, then this can sometimes be a little trickier.

Most email is stored on a central server, so when you’ve completed the switch you can just log into your favourite mail program, set it up with your account and sync your mail immediately.

You can use Apple’s default iCloud offering (which also has a Windows version as well) to sync mail, contacts and calendars in Outlook 2007, however, I personally wouldn’t go for this option as it can be a bit temperamental. A great (and free) option is fruux (which I reviewed recently on Web.AppStorm) which imports all your existing contact and calendar data onto their servers and allows you to keep it in sync with a number of different devices.

The setup program is really simple to use and it works across pretty much all your devices (you can even use it to sync your mobile devices as well). However, the free account only supports up to 3 separate devices.

Step 3: Migrate Your Documents and Settings

Although moving all your documents and settings across to your new Mac may seem like a daunting task, it is actually fairly simple thanks to the range of software out there on the Internet. There are plenty of proprietary applications to help you to this but I find one of the best (and cheapest) is Apple’s own Migration Assistant, which can be downloaded from their website.

Migration Assistant will import virtually every element of your PC onto your Mac.

Migration Assistant will import virtually every element of your PC onto your Mac, including your desktop background, any e-mail accounts and contacts in the address book (though it is a good idea to back them up using an online service such as fruux described above), bookmarks into Apple’s Safari (though if you are using the new version of Chrome, this is often not necessary) and a lot more.

You’ll need both your PC and your Mac running on the same network (either wireless or wired) for the assistant to work. I am also assuming that your Mac is running the latest version of OS X as well (Lion) for the migration (if your Mac is running Snow Leopard then the setup program is slightly different):

1. Before you begin, make sure you run Software Update on your Mac (by going to the Apple logo in the top left and clicking on Software Update to make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date software installed) and preferably on your Windows PC as well via Windows Update.
2. Make sure both computers are on and connected to the same network. Open up Migration Assistant on your Windows PC and click on Continue.
3. Head over to Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant on your Mac. The program will ask you how you want to transfer your information; click on From another PC then on Continue.
4. You will probably at this point be prompted to enter your username and password for your Mac (which you set up when you first bought it) — go ahead and do so (Macs require a password input for most activities, including installing some new software and modifying certain bits of the OS).
5. In the next screen that appears, select the option From another Mac or PC then click on Continue.
6. You will be prompted to quit all running applications (no application may be running whilst the transfer is in progress).
7. Once you’ve quit all the running applications, you should select your PC from which you want to migrate (it should be detected via its name on the network) and wait for the passcode that is displayed on your Mac to appear on your PC, then click on Continue.
8. Select the relevant information on your PC which you wish to migrate over to your Mac, then click Continue.

Step 4: Getting to Grips With OS X

OS X is designed for simplicity, but there are a few quirks about it that take some getting used to if you’ve just migrated from Windows.

Installing Applications

Most Mac apps come in the form of a disk image (with the file extension .dmg) which has to be “mounted” (anyone who has previously used Linux will be familiar with this) before it can be used. To mount a disk image which you’ve downloaded from the Internet, simply double-click on it and the mounted image will then pop up on your desktop.

With most Mac apps, to install them, you simply drag the application’s icon into your Applications folder, where it will copy and install. To uninstall it, simply drag the application into your Trash can (though utilities like AppCleaner do a more thorough job). The same applies to unmount a disk image, just drag it onto your Trash can where an eject symbol pops up. Some larger apps (e.g. Microsoft Office and Photoshop) have the traditional installation program though, just like in Windows.

The good thing about the App Store is that it’s easy to scout out the top Mac apps in a load of different categories

Another way to find and install applications is via the Mac App Store, which has been a feature of OS X since the Lion release. You’ll need an Apple ID (which you set up when you first boot up your shiny new Mac) and you’ll have to provide your credit card information to iTunes to purchase anything (even if it’s free). The good thing about the App Store is that it’s easy to scout out the top Mac apps in a load of different categories and it’s also a good way to discover new software.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You’ll find after using OS X for a couple of hours that the keyboard does take some getting used to. Although Mac keyboards are laid out pretty much similar to Windows ones, there are a few irregularities that are worth mentioning.

Most key commands that were performed using CTRL (Control) in Windows are performed using the Command key (with the ⌘ symbol). So copy is simply ⌘ + C, paste is ⌘ + V and so on. Also note that Macs don’t have the Alt Gr key, instead they have two Option (⌥) keys. There’s a very useful (and free) Mac utility called CheatSheet which gives you an overview of all keyboard shortcuts for a variety of Mac applications.

Step 5: Start Using Your Mac!

Once you’ve migrated all your documents and settings over then it’s time to start using your brand shiny new Mac! We’ll be bringing you further tutorials, including a complete introduction to OS X for newbies as well as how to run Windows on your Mac, ensuring the best of both worlds!

Please feel free of course to share your comments and thoughts about this tutorial, especially if you’ve already made the switch from Windows to Mac or you are planning to!

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