Switching To The Mac: A Guide For Windows Users

iMac, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

There are plenty of good reasons to consider a Mac. Most of Apple's current desktop and laptop models are shipping with Intel Core Solo or, more commonly, Core Duo processors, putting to rest the longtime stigma of "overpriced and underpowered" that critics attached to many Macs. And the release of new products like Boot Camp and Parallels that let you run Windows on a Mac mean that switching is no longer the one-way street it was a few years (or even a few months) ago -- which makes the idea of moving to Apple and Mac OS X much easier.

Then there's the matter of style. Some PC manufacturers have tried, but none can match the sleek sophistication of Apple products -- and Apple knows it. You can't help but notice a certain glee in the way the company's advertising flaunts its products' superior design.

Once you get past the cute commercials and talking heads, there are some hard facts that you need to know to make an intelligent decision about switching. And, to be honest, there are some things about Macs that will seem a little weird if you do make the switch. We're here to guide the way.

Price

One of the most constant truisms in the computer business is that Apple hardware is more expensive than everyone else's. If all you do is look at price tags, you can no doubt find cheaper products than Apple's -- especially if you dip below the first-tier computer manufacturers.

However, if you compare Apple with first-tier manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, and Toshiba, and you keep the feature sets the same, the price difference is not that great. I've regularly seen cases where Apple was not the most expensive choice, and even when it was, the difference was only a couple hundred dollars when the feature sets were equalized. For example, every Intel-based product Apple makes comes with Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11g wireless networking support, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, Serial ATA drives, and analog and optical audio in/out. Add those features to a bare-bones model from another PC maker and you'll quickly see its price come close to or even surpass Apple's.

Bottom line, you can get a Mac desktop starting at around $600, or a Mac laptop starting at around $1,100, and they'll all have the features I listed above. As in the PC world, the more you spend, the more you get. But those are the starting points for a good, basic computer in each class.

Yes, there are times when a Mac will cost more than a similarly-equipped PC. In that case, why get a Mac? Well, ask a BMW owner why she didn't buy a Dodge. They're both cars; they both get you where you need to go. But the BMW does it with more style and grace, better construction, and more of an "Ooooh" factor. Same thing with a Mac. You get consistently better quality, style, grace, and the instant attention that the Apple logo creates. For more than 25 million people, that's well worth some extra cash. Hardware Differences

Once you decide that the price range of a Mac is acceptable, your next question will probably be about hardware differences. There's a common misconception that Macs require specialized hardware, or even worse, that you can only use Apple hardware with Macs. The truth is, it's easier to list what you can't use with a Mac:

• Devices that use the PS/2 port
• Devices that use a "standard" 9- or 25-pin serial port
• Devices that use a parallel port
• Devices that use a SCSI port
• If you have PS/2, serial, or parallel port devices, you'll need new ones. Yes, you can get USB converters for these devices, but they're rarely worth the effort. If you're talking about mice and keyboards, the converters cost almost as much as getting new USB versions.
• The real issue with using hardware on Macs tends to be drivers, and while this was a real problem years ago, you're not going to see a lot of it anymore. In my own daily use, I have both Kensington and Microsoft mice, multiple non-Apple keyboards, too many types of laser and inkjet printers to count, three brands of digital cameras, an FM-radio-to-USB device, and three different remote presentation devices, all of which just work or have drivers readily available.
• As a rule of thumb, the two areas where you'll have the most problems are extremely low-end hardware, where the margins don't justify writing OS X drivers, or very specialized hardware, where you just don't have enough users on Macs to justify OS X support. For most people, if the hardware connects via USB, Ethernet, FireWire, or wirelessly, you have a 90 percent or greater chance of it just working on a Mac, or of readily finding drivers for it. If you can't, chances are you can find a different manufacturer for that device who does support OS X.
• 
  
  Mighty Mouse, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Since we're talking about hardware, let's talk about the mouse, which is an issue brought up far above its importance. Up until a few months ago, Macs shipped with single-button mice. To get the OS X version of Windows' "right-click," you held down the Ctrl key when you clicked. Apple now ships all its desktop systems with the whimsically named multi-button Mighty Mouse. By default, it's set for the traditional Mac usage, namely the single button. But you can change it to be a two- or more-button mouse just by setting its preferences in the control panel.
• The truth is OS X has always supported multiple buttons. It even supports scroll wheels. I alternately use a Kensington USB trackball with ten buttons plus the scroll wheel, a Microsoft five-button mouse, and the built-in trackpad on my laptop. Any USB two-button mouse with or without a scroll wheel will work on a Mac -- no drivers needed. If you have a mouse with more than two buttons, you'll need drivers for those extra buttons.
• For things like printers, scanners, displays, digital cameras, and digital video cameras, you're going to have to do a bit of looking to find examples that won't work with a Mac. They're out there, but getting less common all the time.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• OS Differences
• 
  Naturally, there are differences in how you interact with Mac OS X versus how you interact with Windows. They're two very different operating systems, and while their respective interfaces have many similarities, certain things will catch you off guard if you aren't expecting them.
• The most obvious difference between the two platforms is what you see once you've logged in. On a Mac, you see the desktop, your boot drive, any USB or FireWire drives you may have attached, the OS X menu bar at the top of the screen, the default Dock at the bottom, and a window opened to your home directory, where you have access to your network, your hard drive, all your applications, and commonly used folders such as Documents, Music, and Pictures.
• 
  The default Mac OS X desktop. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• The menu bar, the Dock, and basic window controls are three concepts you need to know to be able to get around OS X, as they are the Mac's versions of the Windows Start menu, the Taskbar, the Quick Launch bar, and the menus in each application's window.
• The Menu Bar
• 
  
  
  You'll find various system functions in the Apple menu. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Looking at the menu bar, you see the blue Apple menu icon in the leftmost position. The Apple menu is the location for various system functions that never change -- things like Software Update (similar to Microsoft Update), System Preferences (akin to Windows' Control Panel), Dock Options (like Taskbar Preferences), Location (gives you a one-click way to switch between different network configurations), Recent Items, Force Quit (how you, well, force applications to quit if they're locked up or unresponsive), Sleep, Restart, Shut Down, and Log Out.
• If you're thinking the Apple menu is roughly analogous to Windows' Start menu, you're right. As a concept, it predates the Start menu by about a decade, but they both do the same basic things -- with a few differences, of course. Unlike Windows, Mac OS X doesn't put graphics in menus, just text, so they may seem a little sparse at first glance. You also don't access all your applications via the Apple menu; instead you generally launch them from the desktop or the Dock (see below). Finally, the Apple menu is not easily customizable -- in fact, you pretty much have to use various third-party tools to customize it. This can be annoying if you're used to tweaking your interface, but it also means that you always know what's there. Apple tends to care much more about consistency than Microsoft does.
• 
  
  The Application menu changes depending on which application is active. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Just to the right of the Apple menu is the Application menu, which provides access to basic functions for whichever application is active, including Preferences, Services, "About" information, and quitting the application. The Application menu changes based on the active application, which can be a little jarring until you get used to it.
• This brings up a rather confusing difference between the two operating systems: In Mac OS X, an application's controls don't reside in the viewing or working window; they reside in the Application menu at the top of the desktop. In Windows, the window is the application -- it has all the application's menus, toolbars, and the document space you're working in.
• Take a look at Firefox, for example. In Windows, all the application controls (File, Edit, View, etc.) are within the Firefox window itself, whereas on the Mac these menus are not in the actual Firefox window, but in the main menu bar at the top of the desktop.
• 
  Note how Firefox' main menu is above the Firefox window in OS X.
  Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• One of the most confusing manifestations of this difference for Windows users is that in Mac OS X, closing a window is not the same as quitting the application. In Windows, if you have a single Word document open, and you close that window, you've also quit Word. In Mac OS X, if you close all your Word windows, Word is still running in the background. To truly quit Word, you pull down the Word menu at the top of the desktop and select Quit -- or just use the keyboard shortcut, Cmd-Q. (The Cmd key, a.k.a. the Apple or Cloverleaf key, is analogous to Windows' Alt key.)
• This is neither better nor worse than the way Windows does things, just a different way to deal with applications and windows. Although it's confusing at first, you'll find it completely natural after a few days. (OS differences continued ) The Dock
• 
  Like the Taskbar and Quick Launch bar in Windows, the Dock is a repository for running applications, minimized windows, and any frequently used applications, files, or folders you care to keep there. The Dock can be fairly minimal, as it is when you log on to your Mac for the first time:
  The default OS X Dock. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Or, you can have a rather large dock with dozens of applications, folders, and whatnot in it. Below is the standard Dock configuration I use to get me through the day. Here it's broken into three rows to fit on the page; normally it stretches all the way across the bottom of my 17-inch PowerBook screen.
• 
  As you add items to the Dock, it automatically resizes to accommodate them.
  Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• The Dock indicates which applications are currently running by putting a small black triangle under the icon. If you don't want the Dock in the way all the time, you can set it to autohide, or you can keep it on the left or right sides of the screen.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• Window Controls
• 
  Mac OS X windows are similar to Windows' windows, but just different enough to bring you up short at first.
• Instead of having the Minimize, Maximize/Restore, and Close buttons in the top-right corner, you have Close, Minimize, and Zoom in the top-left corner (Red = Close, Yellow = Minimize, Green = Zoom). Close and Minimize behave the same as in Windows, except that when you roll over the Close button, you'll see either a •, signifying a document with unsaved changes, or an x, indicating that all changes have been saved.
• Zoom is one of those Mac-isms that doesn't have an analogy in Windows. It's not a maximize button. It can act like one, but if you expect it to all the time, it won't. More precisely, it toggles the window size from the current size to some other size, and back. This can be the size of the current document in the window, the full size of the screen, or a size you chose earlier. It's hard to explain, but with some experimentation, you'll figure it out. The only way to manually resize a window in OS X is by dragging the bottom-right corner.
• 
  The top portion of a Microsoft Word window, showing the Close, Minimize, and Zoom buttons in the top-left corner and the "badge" to the left of the document title.
  Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• The name of the window is always centered in Mac OS X, not on the left as in Windows. The icon next to the window name does more than help you see what the window does. That's actually a "badge" and has a number of functions. If you have unsaved changes in the document, the badge will be faded out a bit. If you click, hold, and drag the badge, you can move or copy that document between folders, or drag it onto an e-mail message as an attachment. Cmd-clicking the badge will give you the full file path of the document.
• Beyond these basics, Mac OS X has several whizzy new ways to navigate, including Spotlight, Exposé, and the Dashboard. You can find out about them, along with other new bells and whistles, at Apple's OS X site. Applications
• 
  Software is the main area where the Mac comes up short. There are simply more applications available for Windows than for Mac OS X. That's less of an issue with the new Intel Macs (I'll get to this in a bit), but it's still there.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• Many of the most commonly used software products, such as Microsoft Word and Excel and the Adobe Creative Suite run natively on Mac OS X. While there is a version of Microsoft Office for Mac OS X (Office 2004 to be precise), it doesn't have the same breadth that the Windows version has. The Mac Office suite consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage, an email/PIM/Exchange client. Access, Visio, Project, and all the rest are missing. (There used to be Mac versions of Outlook, Project, and FrontPage, but they were put to rest years ago.)
• Thus, for many applications you either have to use Windows (more about that on the next page), or you have to find a similar product that runs on a Mac. If you just need a basic database and you're not tied to Microsoft Access, for instance, then FileMaker Pro is a solid performer. If you need a diagramming tool, Concept Draw and OmniGraffle can both read and write Visio XML files quite well.
• On the Web browser front, as long as the site you're visiting doesn't require Microsoft Internet Explorer due to the use of ActiveX controls or other IE-only technologies, you're fine. Mac OS X ships with Apple's Safari browser, and it's a solid performer. For those sites that don't work well in Safari, try Mozilla Firefox.
• 
  Apple's Safari Web browser. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• For e-mail, the Mac provides a plethora of choices. Every Mac ships with Apple's Mail application, which handles POP, IMAP and very limited Exchange connectivity. If you don't like Mail, then for standards-based e-mail, you have Mozilla's Thunderbird, the POP-only Mailsmith from Bare Bones, and stalwarts like Eudora.
• 
  Apple's Mail e-mail program. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• If you need Exchange functionality, then your best bet is Microsoft Entourage, which ships as part of Microsoft Office for Macintosh. This is an Exchange client that also does POP/IMAP/News. It is not, however, a Mac version of Outlook. The interface and feature set of Entourage is quite a bit different. If all you need is basic Exchange connectivity and Public Folders, Entourage will work fine. If you need Outlook's workflow features or plugins, neither Entourage nor any other Mac product is going to work for you.
• Mac-Only Apps
• 
  There are, of course, applications made specifically for Mac OS X, and some of these are included with your Apple computer. For instance, the iLife suite helps you manage your digital music, photos, and movies; create DVDs; and record music, while Front Row turns your Mac into a media center. New macs also come with handy-dandy little applets called widgets -- a weather tracker, calendar, dictionary, address book, and so on -- that sit on your desktop, ready whenever you need them.
  iDVD, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Software Performance
• 
  There's a lot of PR spent on which platform runs various applications faster. This is one of those "spin it until it says what you want" kind of things. A two-second speed advantage to scrolling through a hundred pages in Word is not a realistic performance measurement. (Who manually scrolls through that many pages?) If the system performs the tasks you need at a speed you like, it's fast enough. If it doesn't, then it isn't. The rest is all marketing wonkery.
• When it comes to games, on the other hand, the Mac and OS X are not going to make you happy. While there are good games available for OS X, the truth is that if you want the best, newest games, you need Windows running natively, not in emulation. Luckily, this no longer means you can't get a Mac, as native Windows speeds are now attainable on Apple hardware. See the next page for details.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• Running Windows On A Mac
• 
  With the Intel-based Macs, switching to the Mac is no longer as traumatic as it once was. Thanks to Boot Camp from Apple and Parallels Desktop for Mac from Parallels, you don't have to leave Windows behind. With Intel-based Macs, you have two ways to directly run Windows on your Mac at native or near-native speeds.
• Using Boot Camp
• 
  If you need as much speed as possible, or 3-D acceleration, then Boot Camp is the answer (see our review). It's a dual-boot solution that allows you to boot your Mac into either Windows XP SP2 or Mac OS X. You get full-speed, full-compatibility Windows, because you're booting into Windows, just like you would on a PC. Boot Camp provides the drivers you need for the hardware. You can run games, video software, CAD, whatever, and you'll get the same speeds you would on any PC with similar hardware, RAM, and hard disk specs.
  Boot Camp lets you choose Win XP or Mac OS X as you boot up.
  Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• There are three main issues with Boot Camp. First, it's a beta, so there's a good chance that it will go south and take both your Windows and OS X installations with it. If Boot Camp crashes during a switch, for instance, or setting the boot partition, it could force you to reinstall both operating systems. Second, running Windows on your Mac opens it up to all the same dangers Windows faces on a PC. You'll have to take the same malware prevention steps that you'd take on a Dell or HP machine.
• Finally, while getting data from the Windows partition to the OS X partition is easy, getting data from the OS X partition to the Windows partition can be tricky. The Windows partition can be set up with either FAT32 or NTFS file formatting, both of which OS X can read. NTFS is superior and almost certainly the format you want to use, but OS X can't write to it -- it can only write to FAT32. And Windows can't read or write to OS X's native file format, HFSX. There are two possible solutions. First, you can use software that allows Windows to read HFSX, or you can use a USB thumb drive, USB hard drive, FireWire drive, or network share to move data about. Using software to read HFSX partitions is the most convenient, but that also can open up the HFSX partition to being vulnerable to Windows malware. Until OS X can natively write to NTFS, this is going to be a bit of a headache no matter how you look at it.
• Editor's Note: For a first-hand account of the daily Boot Camp experience -- including tips for making the Windows and Mac sides work together -- see "The Joys Of Dual-Booting."
• Using Parallels
• 
  If you don't need absolute speed or 3-D, the other option is virtualization -- running more than one operating system on a single computer at the same time. Currently on Mac OS X, the only option is Parallels. It works by creating virtual machines (VMs) that use the hardware on your Intel Mac to run Windows, Windows Server, Linux, Solaris, or even OS/2 in their own sessions. You get near-native speed, and you don't have to reboot to use it. Just start up the VM, and off you go. You can have multiple VMs and run them one at a time or simultaneously.
  Parallels lets you run Win XP inside a virtual window on OS X.
  Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• This is a great solution for folks who need applications that run only on Windows, but who don't need 3-D acceleration or the kind of speed that games need. So while you wouldn't want to try to run Halo in a VM, running Access, Outlook, WordPerfect, or Visio in a VM works smashingly. Data transfer is easier with a VM solution, via shared folders that both the VM and OS X can read and write to. You don't have to reboot to use Windows, and while the Windows VM itself is vulnerable to malware, it's much harder for that malware to escape the VM "sandbox." Still, you should take proper precautions to protect against malware.
• As with Boot Camp, Parallels is still in beta. However, the release candidate version was just made available, and at Parallels' rate of development, I wouldn't be surprised if the final version was out by the time you read this. If it is still in beta, be extra vigilant about backing up your data regularly. Mac Security
• 
  Since I've brought up Windows malware a couple times, it's a good place to talk about security. If someone were to ask me directly, "Is Mac OS X more secure than Windows?" my answer would be a qualified yes. If what you mean by "more secure" is "Can I use OS X out of the box and be secure with less work than with Windows?" then yes, Mac OS X is more secure than Windows. If you mean "Is Mac OS X harder to infect than Windows?" then I'd have to say yes to that as well. If you mean "Is Mac OS X immune to malware and security breaches?" then no, it's not.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• One thing that is critical to keep in mind when comparing Mac OS X to Windows XP is that while both operating systems make the user an administrator by default, "administrator" means very different things on the two OSes.
• In Windows XP, administrators have no restrictions on what they can do. They have unlimited access to the system and the Windows Registry without providing any kind of authentication. This is convenient for the user, but it means that malware has unfettered access to the system, unless anti-virus/anti-malware software stops it. It is possible to run as a more restricted user in XP, but because of the way many Windows programs work, you have to be an administrator to install or run some software. So most Windows users run as administrators all the time, leaving their systems wide open to malware.
• The Mac OS X version of an administrator can do a lot without restriction, but there are certain actions they can't perform and system directories they can't touch without providing their user name and password. This means users can still run programs and install software; they just have to authenticate first. It's a bit more inconvenient for the user, but it makes it harder for malware to silently infect your system. (There is an unrestricted administrator account known as root in OS X, but the login for that account is disabled by default.)
• 
  Authentication windows keep some malware from running rampant through your system. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Of course, if you download a program that turns out to be a Trojan, and it asks you to authenticate it, and you do so, OS X won't save you. Mac OS X is exactly as vulnerable to Trojans as any other operating system out there. The solution is to make sure you use software only from a safe source. One of the best for Mac users is VersionTracker, a well-known aggregator of software for the Mac. To get software put on VersionTracker, the developer has to register. That keeps people from using it to distribute malware, as it's easy to track down the software's source.
• Remember, too, that application malware such as Word macro viruses are a danger on Mac OS X as well. (If you can't get work done, the fact that the OS is happily ticking has little benefit.) A good anti-virus/anti-malware utility, such as Virex from McAfee, Sophos Anti-Virus, or VirusBarrier from Intego, is always a good idea, especially if you have to exchange files with Windows users.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• Choosing A Mac
• 
  Apple has a simple product line. If you want a laptop, there are two basic models: the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. If you want a desktop, there are two lines that are built around Intel processors: the Mac mini and the iMac. (Also in Apple's consumer desktop lineup is the Power Mac G5, but it's not Intel-based so we'll leave it out of this article. Apple has yet to announce the Intel follow-on for the G5.)
• With only five products to look at, it's really simple to figure out which one you want. If, however, you want the nigh-infinite number of configuration options you get from companies like Dell, you're in for a disappointment.
• 
  
  Mac mini, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• When it comes to choosing a desktop Mac, there's an obvious difference that can help you decide which model to get: the display. The only Intel Mac that doesn't have a built-in display is the Mac mini. It's designed for people who want a Mac but already have a display, keyboard, and mouse that they don't want to get rid of. While the mini gets tagged with a "low-end" classification, it's not a dud by any means. It's got a good, fast CPU, a good motherboard setup, and solid graphics. Plus it's tiny -- only 2 inches tall and 6.5 inches on each side. You can put one almost anywhere, and it won't take up a lot of space. For the price, it's a heck of a machine.
• 
  
  iMac, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• If you want an Intel desktop with a better video subsystem than the mini provides, then you're getting an iMac. The iMac is a great machine with a built-in 17- or 20-inch flat-panel display. This doesn't mean you have to dump your existing display -- you can use both at the same time. If you have the desktop space for two monitors, give it a shot. It's remarkably addictive, and using two monitors with Mac OS X is as effortless as can be.
  
  Here's a quick chart comparing the key specs of the mini and the iMac:

• Neither the iMac nor the mini allows you to upgrade things like the video subsystem or the optical drive, but for most users, this isn't an issue.
• 
  
  MacBook, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge and to launch image gallery.

• Choosing between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro is trickier than deciding between desktops, as the differences are more subtle. The most obvious one is screen size. The MacBook has a 13-inch screen, while the MacBook Pro comes with either a 15-inch or a 17-inch screen.
• If you need a card expansion slot, then you'll have to buy a MacBook Pro. If you need FireWire 800, then you'll have to buy a 17-inch MacBook Pro. If you want a black or white laptop, then get a MacBook, as the MacBook Pros are both aluminum gray. (Rumor has it that because of their plastic polycarbonate cases, MacBooks get better Wi-Fi reception than MacBook Pros, which have metal cases -- but I can't confirm that.)
• 
  
  MacBook, courtesy of Apple. Click image to enlarge/launch image gallery.

• Notebooks always come with their own display, of course, but if you have an existing display you'd like to keep, then go ahead, keep it. The MacBook Pro can drive displays as big as a monstrous 30 inches, while the MacBook can drive up to a 24-inch display.
• Apple has a great matrix that can help you decide between notebooks at its online store. Transferring Data To Your Mac
• 
  So, you've picked the Mac you want to get. Now you have to get the data off your old PC and onto your Mac. There are two main considerations: data and settings. Data is easy but tedious, settings are harder and even more tedious.
• Switching To The Mac
• 
  
  • Price
  
  • Hardware Differences
  
  • Operating System Differences
  
  • Applications
  
  • Running Windows On A Mac
  
  • Mac Security
  
  • Choosing A Mac
  
  • Transferring Data To Your Mac
  
  
  • Image Gallery

• If you bought your Mac at an Apple Store, or live near one, you can have this done there. It most likely won't be free, especially if done outside of a new purchase, but if you don't want to mess with it yourself, the Apple Store or some other third party is the way to go -- especially if you have a lot of custom settings you have to migrate over.
• If you want software to do this for you, then Move2Mac from Detto Technologies is your best bet. It handles data and settings for most users quickly and fairly easily. It's not going to automatically get everything, but it will get most of it.
• Doing it yourself can involve everything from burning your data to a CD/DVD on the PC and then copying it onto the Mac, to using portable USB hard drives, to using a network share point that both systems can access. No matter how you slice it, this is going to be tedious at best. See "How to transfer data from a PC to a Macintosh" on the Apple site for more information.
• Probably the biggest pain of all is e-mail. Outside of Move2Mac, getting e-mail settings over automatically is almost impossible. Moving e-mail data can be really easy or really tedious. If you're using IMAP or Exchange and you either have no local mail data or can temporarily move all your local mail data up to the server, then it's pretty easy. Get all your local mail up on the server, point the Mac at that server, and suck it all down onto the Mac.
• If you're an Exchange user and have large .pst files that you can't move up to the server even temporarily (and by "move up" I mean move the items in the .pst file to the Exchange server, not just copy the .pst file itself), then your best bet is Paul Berkowitz's Export-Import Entourage scripts, available on VersionTracker. However, these scripts won't transfer messages. With those, you'll have to persuade your Exchange administrator to give you a temporary quota increase, or move the messages over in chunks to your Mac.
• Another option is to get a .Mac account -- you can sign up via the .Mac preferences in System Preferences. This will cost you $99 but give you a gigabyte of space that you can use for IMAP mail. Once you set up the account, then just move your e-mail up to the .Mac IMAP server from within Windows, and bring it all down to your Mac. If you have a very small Exchange quota, this is worth looking into.
• Unfortunately, there's nothing that's really going to read a .pst file on the Mac yet. Every utility I've seen to do this only exists on Windows. Like I said, moving e-mail is either dead simple or astoundingly painful. Luckily, you only have to do this once.
• For more information, see "Mac OS X Mail: How to import email from a non-Macintosh computer" on Apple's site.
• John C. Welch is a long-time system administrator and Mac writer currently living in Kansas City, MO. In addition to writing, he's a regular speaker at Macworld Expo. He can be reached at [email protected].