Windows to Apple ?

[ExSp33db1rd]

Question - I use Windows, with Chrome browser, but can I transfer all my computer "innards" to an Apple system, using Safari, and carry on as if nothing had happened ?

My HP Laptop, using Windows, has just suffered a lid hinge failure, this doesn't affect anything digitally everything works as before, but I have to leave the lid/screen open now like a desktop, so I am clearly thinkng of replacing it with a new laptop. The last time I had to do this, some 5 years ago, the retailer just copied everything from the old computer on to this present one, and I carried on as if nothing had happened.

However, as my wife uses a large Apple iMac, and we both have iPads and iPhones, I'm considering replacing this one with one of the Apple Macbooks that are available ( any opinion ? ) but ...... can I get transferred all that I have on this Windows machine, using the Chrome browser, to an Apple machine as I did previously, and gain easy access to all that I have access to now, Contacts, Documents, Pictures etc.without losing anything, or do I have to remain with Windows to achieve this ?

I am not interested in using the Cloud, I just don't believe it is totally secure, ( not going to get bogged down discussing this ) but I have over the years transferred all that I wish to keep forever to an external hard drive, but that plugs in to my computer using a USB A connection, and Apple particularly are moving to various sorts of USB C connections, so that might be a problem ? Yes, I know that there are all sorts of adapters available.

Should Life be this hard ?

Any comments please ?

[Archer]

In short:
- Yes you can, but it may take a bit of fiddling to get everything in the right place. Consider putting Chrome on your MacBook. I'm sure there is a way to transfer your 'profile' from one Chrome browser to another (other browsers offer this trick as well) but you will have to look up the details. Just pop the documents and the pictures in the relevant folders on the MacBook and it should work. You can consider importing the pictures into Photos, but you don't specifically need to if you don't want to. Contacts may be the challenge... one way that might work (if you're using Chrome anyway) is synching them to Google on your current laptop and adding that Google account to your MacBook. I have done that between phones, it should work on laptops too.
- A MacBook Air will do anything you want and will not break the bank. Get a new one and you'll be set for a significant number of years.
- Depending on which external drive you have, you may be able to find a replacement cable that fits the drive on one end and has a USB-C connector on the other end. You may encounter other USB-A stuff... I have a Satechi adapter that has two USB-A ports and several other for different use cases. Works for me. Another useful trick: SanDisk sells USB thumbdrives with both a USB-A connector on one end and a USB-C connector on the other. Makes transferring files between various systems very easy.

If you have an Apple store (or other retailer who sells them) nearby, I would give them a call and ask if they can do a transfer from your old laptop for you when you purchase the MacBook from them. Worth a try and will save you a lot of hassle.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

There is now an Apple Migration Assistant.
With a title like that you'd maybe expect them to provide you with a rubber dinghy and an asylum claim form, but apparently it does data transfer from Windows to Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102565

[ExSp33db1rd]

Thank you both, doesn’t sound too bad - at least for a technician ! The ScanDisk thumb drive sound great, too.

[OFSO]

Just spent £106 on a grade A1 reconditioned HP Mini desktop from Morgan, running WIN10. Appears to have been reconditioned by HP. No junkware. Replaces my ancient XP desktop with three hard drives: well, not exactly replaces, more parallels. Hated it at first, now made friends with it. The third PC/laptop from Morgan Electronics. All eminently satisfactory. Why spend more ?