Thanks Brad, Sarai, Jason, and everyone else wwho has responded. Some great suggestions as I plan for my new laptop's arrival.
It appears from the YouTube Sarai advised that I should be able to selectively migrate some apps? I'm asking specifically as I also agree with Brad that starting from scratch is generally the happier result, even if it's more time consuming to put into effect. The most obvious migration I want to perform is my VMware. It was hard enough getting the correct app and license to effect an installation of Fusion. It was much harder getting my guest virtual machine installed and talking. I really don't want to repeat that pain. Also, I couldn't possibly move everything byte by byte because I'm going from 2Tb to 512Gb. So, some things will get left off--which is just fine. Actually, I'm looking forward to the cleaner new setup--another argument for Brad's approach. This is triggering yet another thought. I have an old 213 era Macbook Air that has a far better local lan configuration than my newer, and most used M2. I wonder whether I can migrate those settings? Or, might those be like migrating VoiceOver settings via an export? Best, Janina Bradford Snyder writes: > I am an advocate of setting up a new Mac from scratch, because it gives you > the best opportunity to make a clean start without all the detritus that > accumulates over time throughout the file system of your Mac. > You can export your VoiceOver settings from the File menu within the > VoiceOver Utility, then import them into your new Mac, which will get you > going quickly. > You can use iCloud, Dropbox, or some other cloud storage to store your data. > Then all you have to do is sign in to that service, and your data can be > accessed from your new machine. This is where I put the copy of my VO > settings, so I can easily get to it after completing the original setup > procedure. > I also recommend using an external drive to make a copy of your user (Home) > folder, which is where music and other media may be stored by default. > When it comes to applications, you can either redownload from the Mac???s > AppStore, or from the website where you originally obtained the application. > I keep my software downloads in a folder in iCloud for easy retrieval, though > it may be best to download the most current version, rather than install an > outdated copy of the application. > > > - Brad - > > > > On Mar 23, 2025, at 06:45, 'Janina Sajka' via MacVisionaries > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I decided to go for a new M4 Air, trading in my not really all that old > M2 Pro. > > The one spec that pushed me to the store was weight. I was surprised > that the heft of each machine seemed about the same as I held one in > each hand. By the published specs the difference is about 25% less for > the Air: 1.24 Kg as opposed to 1.6 Kg for the M2. > > I asked for 32Gb which resulted in a special order. I also bumped up to > 10 cores and 10 GPUs. > > For perhaps the first time in life I did NOT bump up the internal SSD. > I'm going with 512 Gb. After all, there's always iCloud! > > I'm wondering whether anyone has advice migrating my applications and > data. Is it a fraught process with things to be aware of? Should I > perhaps just have the staff at my local store do the job? After all, I'm > trading in my M2. > > FYI: Total out of pocket after trade in should come around $550. That > also was compelling. > > Best, > Janina > > -- > > Janina Sajka (she/her/hers) > Accessibility Consultant https://linkedin.com/in/jsajka > > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) > Co-Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures http://www.w3.org/wai/apa > > Linux Foundation Fellow > https://www.linuxfoundation.org/board-of-directors-2/ > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: > [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/Z9_0aVsu0dRVWVUu%40rednote.net. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: > [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/DC98962A-4AA7-4B72-9F4A-E2EBDCF6F85F%40swbell.net. -- Janina Sajka (she/her/hers) Accessibility Consultant https://linkedin.com/in/jsajka The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Co-Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures http://www.w3.org/wai/apa Linux Foundation Fellow https://www.linuxfoundation.org/board-of-directors-2/ -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/Z-F-4BeIjhxpbrH8%40rednote.net.
