Getting the MacBook attached to our PC network was easy enough, although I had to do it with ethernet cables. The setup is a little different, and not straightforward to a PC guy, but it only took me an hour or so even counting the false- and mis-steps. The transfer of files was also quite fast over the ethernet connection. All of my music and photographs took longer than anything else, I suppose. I did not take my big databases. They are part of a different project, during which I will move all my Oracle and SQL Server work to MySQL on local Linux servers. Nor did I take my raw digital video from the camcorder. So the transfer of files went quickly and without a hitch.
I was slightly worried about trying to export and then import all of my Outlook information to their various new homes on the Mac. A little searching and I found a marvelous application called O2M (Outlook to Mac) from LittleMachines.com. The program costs an entire ten dollars and almost certainly save days of anguish in getting this job done. Just turn it loose on Outlook and it builds files for each of the Mac applications that you'll be moving to. Then move them to the Mac and import them. It is entirely painless and the program is highly recommended.Next, I reformatted my 320GB Western Digital Passport USB drive for use with the Mac, which was also not a problem. I am not yet using Apple's Time Machine. The Mac forums are full of problems with Time Machine. I only have about 85 gigabytes of files on the Mac at this point, anyway, so I am just backing up the whole disk and keeping the last two versions, leaving room for my daughter's new MacBook files. The files on the PC network are set to back up automatically to other workstations weekly using Acronis, so they are taking care of themselves.
On Monday – Final thoughts on the move.
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