Today I managed to have fun while working. At long last I set up a personal Facebook page and uploaded some family photos. At the same time I transferred files and apps from a 2‑year-old MacBook Pro to a brand new MacBook Pro (one of the models released earlier this week). I got the first 15-inch i7 model sold by Apple’s Bellevue location.
My office has several Macs side by side, so it was easy to work on multiple parallel tasks. When the file/program transfer process finishes, my husband will be the lucky recipient of a Mac laptop that also runs Windows 7.
Transferring Files & Programs to a New Mac
When you have hundreds of gigabytes worth of stuff on a Mac laptop, the process of transferring from one to another takes a couple hours over a Firewire cable. But it requires no supervision once the process is underway. (Hence the Facebook project as a productive use of time while transferring files.)
Every time I go through the process of transferring files and programs from an older Mac to a newer one, I’m reminded of how well Apple has simplified this process compared to what you experience when facing a similar challenge with Windows PCs. The Mac transfer is almost flawless — especially if you remember which programs (like Adobe’s Creative Suite) need to be deactivated so you don’t get into license conflict.
Getting my documents and apps installed in the Windows partition of my new MacBook Pro will take far longer than it took to set up the Mac side of this computer. Tranferring the files is no problem, but I have to reinstall all the programs, which means looking through my office files for all the license keys and typing them in with no errors. (Not an easy feat.)
Proud Owner of a MacBook Pro i7
Luckily for me the Bellevue Square Apple Store’s business consultant treats me well. He knew I was interested in the new 2010 MacBook Pro models, and kept me informed about inventory status, as he knew I wanted to see the new high-res anti-glare screen before choosing which configuration to buy. His first i7 models arrived in the store today, so he contacted me this morning to let me know he had a few in stock.
There’s a lot to like about the new MacBook Pro with Intel’s i7 processor: fast and sweet. It has all the usual Apple fit-and-finish finesse, but with superior graphics, a terrific screen, and a big boost in performance, when compared to my older laptop.
After lunch I ordered a copy of Windows 7 Professional from Amazon, and took advantage of their local delivery option (for $2 more than it would have cost to receive the software on Saturday). It arrived in time for me to begin the install before supper time.
As I write this, I’ve set up Bootcamp, partitioned the Mac, have installed Windows 7 Professional (64-bit version), and am now installing Apple’s hardware drivers for Windows. Compared to how long this process took on my older laptop, albeit with the 32-bit version of Win 7, this install is just screaming fast. It’s so fast that I keep getting distracted from this blog entry.
Real Time “Social”
But the truly fun part about today was exchanging comments and photo tags with my niece Melanie, who was closely monitoring my Facebook progress. She lives 3 time zones to the east of here, so her workday has ended and she’s relaxing in the evening while I’m still plugging away. She made sure family members are getting tagged properly in my Facebook photo albums.
No sooner did I get a photo or two uploaded, but Mel had tagged the family members whose faces appear in the photo. Except she forgot to tag her father in one of the shots. I wonder if that was a Freudian slip, or if the image appears cropped on her computer, so she didn’t see his face…
So here I am, installing Windows, and exchanging comments with family back in New England. Juggling fun, social interactions, and work all at the same time. Thanks Facebook, thanks Apple, thanks Amazon (for same-day service on Windows 7). You all made my fun day possible.