How I migrated from Windows to Mac OSX

Mac OSXJust recently I decided to buy myself a new laptop and after a lot of consideration and discussions with my CFO (yes, that’s the misses) I let Barry Schiffer convince me I needed a MacBook, for a brief moment I looked at the MacBook Air but I went for the MacBook Pro because it has a Retina display which apparently is a useful feature when you have to stare at your screen the whole day long.

 

The reason that I decided to go for a MacBook was quite simple, I wanted something with a high resolution and I wanted a long lasting battery time, although I could have gone with any other modern laptop, tablet or phablet I felt like it was a logical step to make as I already owned an Ipad and an Iphone.

I went ahead and bought a 13″ rMBP with 256Gb SSD and 8Gb Mem, the VGA to thunderbolt adapter, the Ethernet to thunderbolt adapter and the Apple Magic Mouse.

With the following specs and almost 8 hours on a fully charged battery I fulfilled the wish-list I had

Model pixels per inch pixels per cm pixels per degree Resolution
MacBook Pro 13″ 227 89 79 2560×1600

Before I finally migrated I made a list of functionality I was using and tried to fill it with apps for my Mac:After getting the MBP I quickly realised that this machine was so much better than the laptop I got from my employer I made a plan to migrate from my (Company owned) Windows 8.1 laptop to my (privately owned) MBP. My employer provides us with a decent laptop, it has great specs but the build/ material and the way I want to use a laptop aren’t the best combination. Luckily my employer doesn’t mind bringing in BYOD and supports it whenever it is possible.

Work related tooling:

Functionality Solution Licensed
Remote Desktop Management Royal TSX vExpert
VPN Integrated in Mac OSX Integrated
Type 2 Hypervisor VMware Fusion vExpert
Office Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac Company owned
Follow me data Synology CloudStation Privately owned
Instant Messaging Microsoft Skype Freeware
Instant Messaging Microsoft Lync Company owned
Notes Microsoft OneNote Company owned
Text Editor Sublime Text 2 Freeware
Screen Recording Reflector Privately owned
Screen Dumps TinyGrab Freeware
Password Database KyPass Companion Privately owned

Utilities:

Functionality Solution Licensed
Application Removal AppCleaner Freeware
Memory Management Memory Clean Freeware
Display Management Display Menu Privately owned
Disk Management OmniDiskSweeper Freeware
Audio/Video VLC Freeware

What stood out?

One of the apps that stood out to me was Royal TSX, the licenses I got via the vExpert program gave me access to the Windows version (Royal TS) and the Mac OSX version (Royal TSX), both versions use the same configuration file. With that configuration file stored in my CloudStation folder I can use the same file on all of my systems and if I make a change the file gets updated so all my settings are in sync.

The CloudStation application was really helpful too, as I had a 128Gb OneDrive subscription and more data than I could store on OneDrive I had to go for another solution so my Synology came to the rescue and offered follow me data via CloudStation.

And lost but not leasts I was really surprised by Microsoft OneNote, on my Windows laptops it was one of my most frequently started applications and the Mac version is so much like the native Microsoft OneNote.

What’s missing?

The only thing I’m really missing and why I’m still using a Windows 7 based VM is Microsoft Visio. From the tools I’ve tested there is nothing that can be compared to Visio (although I’m open for suggestions!).

What I would like to see is the new release of Office for Mac, there were some rumours about Office for Mac 2014 launching somewhere Q3/Q4 2014 but there’s no sign of any update and hopefully the native Lync client is upgraded too because I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the native Lync client (esp. in combination with Office 365).

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Kees Baggerman

Kees Baggerman is a Staff Solutions Architect for End User Computing at Nutanix. Kees has driven numerous Microsoft and Citrix, and RES infrastructures functional/technical designs, migrations, implementations engagements over the years.

12 comments

  1. Bas van Kaam says:

    Totally agree, let’s hear it for Visio for Mac!

  2. Erik Bakker says:

    You can get visio in Microsoft’s remote App Preview and launch it via RDP on you mac. visio stencils can then be accessed through one drive 🙂

  3. Nice article Kees, More or less the same reason i switch to Mac. Good to see that you are also using more or less the same list of programs i am using.

    And also agree with you Bas.. Visio for Mac… Fingers crossed…..

  4. Why arent you using CTRL SHIFT 1/2/3 or 4 for screen dumps.

    Found some useful apps on your list:) thanks!

    • k.baggerman says:

      I’m still using those but with tinygrab I can instantly upload my images and share them via email instead of sending a high res picture.

  5. Tim Arenz says:

    For Visio have a look at OmniGraffle (https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle). Its a really cool app for creating diagrams and in the PRO version it also supports import/export of Visio files.

  6. Nice write up! I don’t think the MAC Network VPN option support OpenVPN which is what I’m using. I bought a really nice VPN Client called Viscosity. I like Sublime 2 as a text editor. I can’t say as though my MAC has completely replaced my PC as of typing this but I love the portability.

  7. […] I migrated from Windows to a Mac This is a short article about how someone switched to a Mac and was happy.  He does list a bunch of the tools he used to […]

  8. Interesting article. I’ve often idly thought about a transition to MBP but haven’t yet been able to cross that justification line. Quick note for you, Sublime Text 2 is not a freeware application. It’s free to evaluate but requires a license to continue using.

    • k.baggerman says:

      You’re right: “Sublime Text may be downloaded and evaluated for free, however a license must be purchased for continued use” But somehow it still runs unregistered after a couple of months here.

  9. Paul Nunumete says:

    Useful write up, Kees! My former colleague Robert Versteegh attended me about your blog-site.
    One month ago I also switched to MAC, no regrettes and still happy!
    The employers PC is now getting dust and I’m almost ready to bring it back.
    I’m also considering to say goodbye to all my Windows PC’s and laptops, hello Apple!
    Your list is also very usefull and some stuff I already installed and intensively in use.

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