Cmd and Ctrl

For those moving to the mac there are some differences with the keyboard shortcuts that make the migration a little different, here are some of the shortcuts that I use regularly...

Function	Mac	PC
Select individual letter(s)	Hold shift whilst using cursor keys	Hold shift whilst using cursor keys
Select a word at a time	Hold shift+alt whilst using cursor keys	Hold Ctrl+Alt whilst using cursor keys
Select from current point to end of line	Hold shift+cmd whilst using cursor keys	Hold Shift+Alt whilst using cursor keys
Copy selected text	cmd+c	Ctrl+C
Cut selected text	cmd+x	Ctrl+X
Paste	cmd+v	Ctrl+V
Undo	cmd+z	Ctrl+Z or Alt+Del
Start of line	cmd+left cursor key	Home
End of line	cmd+right cursor key	End
Start of
Page Up	fn+up cursor key	Page Up
Page Down	fn+down cursor key	Page Down
Forward delete	fn+delete	Del
Print Screen	See my blog post about print screen	Prnt Scrn or Print Sceen Key
#	alt+3 (on UK keyboard)	# key

But I really, really, really want my Windows apps

There are going to be times when you just can't do without your windows programs, when this is the case all is not lost there are ways that you can run Windows programs...Here's how...

There are essentially four ways in which you can run Windows on your mac...

Emulators

Emulators (and compatibility layers) allow programs from one computer (a PC for example) to run on another computer (a Mac for example) by pretending and behaving as if they are the first computer (a PC in our example), this method involves some very clever programming. An example on the Mac is CrossOver, this works very well and will install and run the windows version of office on your PC without any issues (with the exception of Outlook which will run, but can't use secure connection methods). CrossOver comes with a free trial period and is therefore highly recommended.

Virtual Machines

Virtual machines are similar to emulators, but from a user perspective it will very often appear that you have an entire Windows computer running in a window on your mac desktop. Parallels for Windows is a popular example, and boasts the ability to run Windows 7 with Aero enabled. Personally I prefer VirtualBox, this is a cross platform virtualisation system, that works well enough to allow you to run VirtualBoxes that you have created on Windows to run on box mac or Linux. If there are Windows programs that you want to run, that won't run in CrossOver then you can create a VirtualBox running Windows and install your programs in this environment. If you have never created a virtual machine before then there are many guides, this one from Lifehacker is a good start though.

Remote Desktop

If you're planning to keep a Windows PC, then one solution to run Windows applications is to leave them installed on your Windows PC, and remote desktop to this computer from your mac. There are a number of remote desktop solutions, my preferred choice for connecting to Windows PCs from the mac is Remote Desktop Connection Client 2 (snappy name huh?).

Bootcamp

Personally, this is my least favoured choice, and involves installing Windows on your mac along side OS X. Whilst this is safe and supported by Apple; it does mean that you will have to reboot your mac into Windows every time you need to use a Windows app. This isn't makes the solution less than ideal for many applications, but it is useful particularly if you need to run processor intensive Windows applications or applications that for whatever reason won't run correctly using any of the alternative solutions above.

Preparing to become less OS independent

There is a lot that you can do before you actually make the leap to a mac to make your migration easier...Here's how

Backup your files online

These days with most people running reasonably fast broadband, and clever online backup tools (my preference is Mozy, which is free for up to 2Gb), that ensure that all your files are backed up and the updates are backed up without hogging all of your bandwidth. Regardless of if you're changing operating system, online backup just makes sense, then if the worst should happen your files are available out in the cloud, not next to the damaged computer.

Change your software

Migrating operating system is all about getting used to new programs and slightly different ways of doing things. If you can start to use software that is operating system independent, then you will make your life much easier. You could of course start to use more online services such as Gmail which being browser based looks the same on a PC as on a Mac as on Linux.

For email I recommend ThunderBird, this runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, so no matter which operating system you're migrating from or too you will soon be up and running with this.

For Internet browser, I recommend Google's Chrome not only is it fast, but it also runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, with an almost indistinguishable look and feel on all.

When you are downloading new software, look for vendors who are offering a mac version as well, be aware of vendors who will offer a mac version that isn't as fully functional as the PC version, although even if the mac version isn't as functional, it will often help you migrate your files.

Migrating your mail to Mac

Whilst the processes and suggestions I make here are not destructive, I strongly recommend that you ensure that you have a full and proven backup of your files and email, before you start this process. You can never be too careful. If you are looking for a good cross platform backup you might consider Mozy which offers 2Gb of online storage for free, and is very reasonable for unlimited storage.

If like me you have a mountain of historic and archived email in Outlook (if you use Thunderbird, then see my the section about using other email mail program), when you migrate to your Mac you're going to want to take it with you...This post will be of use to you if you're migrating from Outlook on Windows, to a Mac Mail program including Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage or Thunderbird.

Unfortunately migrating from Outlook this isn't as easy as it should be even if you're migrating to Entourage (i.e. from one Microsoft product to another), as unfortunately Entourage 2008 does not recognise PST files (these are the files that Outlook uses as personal folders and archive storage), so here are some suggested solutions:

Use a mail server inbox

If you are using a mail server (Exchange, Gmail, Hotmail/Live Mail etc.) which offers you enough space to temporarily store your email (you probably need enough to be able to take you mail across in a maximum of 4 or 5 goes, depending on how patient you are, and how much email you have). You may even want to set up a new account simple to aid with this process, particularly if you don't have much space available, a new Gmail account will give you around 7Gb of storage which is should mail transferring mail easier. If you prefer a Microsoft solution then Hotmail offers 5Gb of storage.

Copying mail back to your server is a simple process in Outlook, simply make a folder in your online server folder, and start to copy your archive mail over.

** Warning ** Be aware of any broadband upload limits that your ISP may have placed on your service so that you don't incur additional charges.

To transfer the mail to your Mac email program should be a simple process of configuring the software to download from your mail server (be aware that not all email programs will work with Exchange server if this is the route that you have chosen), and let the email download (you should be able to do this at the same time as you're uploading from your PC, which will save some time). Once downloaded, you can then decide to store your mail locally or stick with it online. One advantage to leaving it online is that you won't have migration issues in the future.

Use another Email Program

A really good option is to switch to an email program that is supported on both the PC and Mac. A perfect example of this is Thunderbird. If you follow this route, simply install the lastest version of Thunderbird on your Mac and PC, and follow the instructions to migrate your Outlook mail to Thunderbird, and then migrate your profile to your Mac.

Convert to MBox Format

Mbox format is an open standard for mail messages, that allows you to migrate mail between systems (sounds perfect huh!)...One downside is that Outlook doesn't support the Mbox out of the box, but there are tools that you can use to do this, the one that I used is MessageSave which allows you to convert both PST and OST (offline exchange format) to Mbox. Once in this format you can import into many different email programs, including Apple Mail or Entourage, there are also Addons to allow you to import into Thunderbird.

What the future might hold

Office 2010 on PC and Office:Mac 2011will hopefully make the process of migrating from Outlook on a PC to a Mac, but with the present schedule looking like the Mac version won't be available until the end of 2010 this will be too late for many of you.

A picture says a thousand words

One of the keys on a PC keyboard, that I consider to be "the old keys" is Print Screen, on many PC keyboards this key is relegated to the top right, pretty much out of sight until you need to capture the contents of your screen for documentation or for reporting a software bug.

When it came to putting together my first posting for this blog (One inbox to rule them all) I needed a screen shot from the Mac...finally I found the information needed:

To capture the entire screen press Command + Shift + 3

To capture part of the screen press Command + Shift + 4, then either press space to capture the current selected window, or use the mouse to draw a rectangle around the area required.

One Inbox to rule them all...

Having just migrated to a Mac has given me the opportunity to reconsider how I was doing somethings previously, and this is one that I think is worth sharing.

If you like me have multiple email inbox in either Entourage then you will understand the hassle of checking the accounts for new mail. Certainly in my windows environment I used to check each account independently, processing the mails as I went...This is of course not the most efficient way, and means that you may be unaware of an important message in another account whilst dealing with spam in another...My solution? The Global Inbox...

Entourage supports pre-canned searches that appear as folders called "Mail Views", using these we can create a Global Inbox that contains the items from all the others, here's how...

In Entourage you will have a folder called Mail Views, expand this as needed, and having done so right click on the Mail Views icon, and select New Saved Search (not sure why the term changes in the menu)...

Now create search criteria similar to mine (substituting your own folder names)

Having added all of your folders, make sure that you have changed the settings to read "Match if any criteria are met", click save provide a suitably original name for your new Inbox, and you're ready to become instantly more productive.

What makes this solution doubly perfect is that Entourage is smart enough to figure out which Inbox the message was sent to, and defaults to that account when you want to reply to a message in your Global Inbox.