“In the first head-to-head comparison of trying to accomplish a task with Mac OS and Vista in this series, the new Windows operating system fell flat on its face. Migrating from an XP installation was halted by repeated failures of the Windows Easy Transfer application when used with a network connection and a so-called Easy Transfer Cable ($49 from Belkin, which was useless),” Mitch Ratcliffe blogs for ZDNet.
Ratcliffe reports, “It took almost a full day to successfully move 5.6GB of user settings and documents to a Vista system. The Mac, by contrast, took less than an hour for migration of 60+GB worth of user settings, documents, and, unlike the Windows utility, the moving of applications from an existing Mac OS X install to a new one.”
“Given that Windows systems depend so heavily on application software to add functionality, it is a mystery to me why migration of applications would not be a keystone of acceptable user experience for the Vista Windows Easy Transfer application. Ah! But the problem is that Microsoft doesn’t really want you to move your applications. Instead, it wants you to buy new ones from Microsoft, so none of the tools in the OS make it easy to move an existing installation (you can move application settings, but not the applications themselves). Really bad user experience,” Ratcliffe reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Tiger Setup Assistant makes it easy to upgrade when you buy a new Mac. Copy over all your saved settings, files and folders at the speed of FireWire. More info: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/setup/
Ready to end the suffering? Info and tips on migrating from Windows to Mac here: http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/migrate/
Related articles:
Forbes: ‘Windows Vista utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of tune’ – February 09, 2007
Wow: Microsoft’s Windows Vista already hacked – February 09, 2007
Computerworld: Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – February 08, 2007
Windows sufferer spends six hours trying to ‘upgrade’ to Vista, says: ‘I should’ve bought a Mac’ – February 07, 2007
Windows Vista woes push BBC News editor to regret never having ‘defected’ to Apple Mac – February 06, 2007
Bill Gates unhinged with Apple envy; Microsoft on path to become high profile casualty – February 06, 2007
Apple takes dead aim at Microsoft’s Windows Vista in latest ‘Get a Mac’ ad (with video) – February 06, 2007
Digit: Don’t buy Vista; Microsoft may be driving millions to stick with XP or move to Apple Mac – February 05, 2007
Bill Gates has lost his mind: calls Apple liars, copiers; slams Mac OS X security vs. Windows – February 02, 2007
TIME Magazine: Microsoft’s Windows Vista ‘an embarassment to the good name of American innovation’ – February 02, 2007
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007
Those unfamiliar with Apple’s Mac OS X may be impressed with Windows Vista – January 29, 2007
Digit: ‘Microsoft’s Windows Vista may be the best reason yet to buy an Apple Mac’ – January 29, 2007
Pioneer Press: Windows Vista shows ‘Apple is an innovation engine; Microsoft, not so much’ – January 29, 2007
Windows Vista disappoints, so get a Mac – January 29, 2007
Microsoft emails reveal serious Mac OS X Tiger envy – January 26, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista could be an opportunity for Apple – January 26, 2007
CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007
Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007
Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: ‘Looks, Locks, Lacks’ – December 14, 2006
Unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista, Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard will create no new jobs – December 12, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista is basically Microsoft’s version of Mac OS 9.3 – October 11, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Trvth…
My mind barely has the power to pull the skin off rice pudding, so I doubt if its anything at my end.
MDN failed to mention another source of irritation with the Vista way of migrating: THE USE OF A PROPRIETARY CABLE! (Belkin’s Easy Transfer Cable)
Aren’t most computers equipped with FireWire now? If you buy a FW cable, it remains useful afterwards for other purposes.
Why did M$ fail to rely on established standards? tsk tsk tsk
“The wow starts…”
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…when you get your first Mac
Wow, why do people put up with that company???????
The ow starts now… very nice, wish I thought of that.
Yea, I tried Microsofts version of a migration utility. What a joke. Certainly does not work at all! I used the Mac migration utility helping customers at a corporate site upgrade there OS from Jaguar to tiger. Worked perfectly just as this article says. Gotta love the Mac, it just works as advertised.
MacDaddy:
I wonder if all the PC users who have been casually supporting friends and family will draw the line at supporting Vista since it is so much more time consuming? Having to pay for support may encourage the PC users to suggest they buy a Mac!
Use Transfer Assistant hundreds of times. Few errors, but at a guesstimate, I’d say it’s been successful 95% of the time.
Apple Genius®
It’s amazing that “migrating” from Windows XP to Windows Vista is so difficult. How is this possible? Can Microsoft be that incompetent?
From the sound of it, it may actually be easier to migrate from Windows XP to Mac OS X than from XP to Vista. Someone should do that comparison. Obviously, this would be an “old machine to new machine” migration (of user data and settings) instead of an upgrade to an existing installation, but it would be interesting. I’ll bet the Mac wins.
You can’t move the apps?!?!?! HA!!! Totally unbelievable. When is the madness going to end and people are going to say enough is enough?
Truly sad.
Excellent idea, ken1w!
Go to the original article and look at the photo gallery comparing the migration process on the Mac vs. the PC. It is hilarious how HORRIBLE the process is on Winblows. It’s like a crap shoot as to whether the thing will finish or not.
Freakin’ hilarious!
Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
Apple, CAPITALIZE ON THIS!
Tell the PC world IT’S EASIER TO SWITCH TO MAC THAN TO VISTA!!
Everyone in MS’s entire Windows division should be fired. But please God let them all keep their jobs; they’re doing so much for Apple I’d hate to see them go.
You can’t move the apps?!?!?! HA!!! Totally unbelievable.
Apple’s hands aren’t exactly blood-free here.
Remember when Classic went away, unsupported on the Intel Macs?
“Remember when Classic went away, unsupported on the Intel Macs?”
And thank god for it! Classic needed to die – it was in the works the whole time. It was a technology that was intended as a stopgap measure for the transition to OS X. 5 years is a long enough transition, in my mind.
You can continue to use Macs that are compatible with Classic for many years, if you need to.
Windows power users love that their Windoze machines don’t work. They feel important spending hours a day keeping them running. It makes them feel like the have bigger wieners.
Alec it right; they need the ego boost because they are stuck with Micro$hafts
If Microsoft wants to beat Apple at its own game, all it has to do is copy Apple and base its next OS on FreeBSD and build an Aero interface. If MS wants legacy support, it can make its own “Rosetta” to run DOS, Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP and Vista. Computers are getting so fast, so quick (80 cores! 80 CORES!!) that virtualization will be “native” for any application.