“With the holidays fast approaching, plenty of shoppers are heading toward their local Apple stores with plans to buy a new home computer. Amid all this excitement, it’s worth taking time to consider how to transfer content from the old Windows PC to a shiny new Mac,” Katherine Boehret reports for The Wall Street Journal.

“If you buy a new Mac from the Apple store, staffers there (‘Geniuses,’ as they call themselves) will transfer your files over to the new machine free. This process takes place in the store, though Apple says it generally isn’t a “while you wait” task. If you buy a Mac elsewhere, such as online or at Best Buy, Apple stores charge $50 for this transfer,” Boehret reports.

“This week, I tried yet another method, copying data from a Windows machine over to a new MacBook using a special transfer cable from Belkin International Inc. The aptly named Switch-to-Mac Cable plugs into USB ports on two computers. It came out a month ago and is available for $50 at places like Best Buy and Apple stores,” Boehret reports.

“If you’re moving away from a Windows PC, Belkin’s Switch-to-Mac Cable is one tool that can make this transition easier,” Boehret reports.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Note: An additional tool (US$10) that we’ve found is useful for some switchers is O2M from Little Machines which transfers Windows Outlook email, contacts, and calendar appointments from that old PC to your shiny new Mac. More info here.