Switching from Mac to PC, Part 3: The software challenge - chenmances

I'm switching from a Mac to a PC, and I've already found my laptop. Now I'm trying to recover Windows 10 replacements for the MacOS software I've been exploitation for years. We'Ra covering this journey from all angles:

What drove me to substitution from Mac to PC
What to think about when choosing your first Windows 10 laptop
The challenge of finding replacements for your Mac OS software
How to get Windows to bring up nicely with your iOS devices
What treasures await gamers in the massive program library of PC games.

In numerous ways, the software switch is much harder than the ironware transposition. Translate on for the bad news, the good news, and the compromises involved in jumping one ship for another.

The immoral news: You stool't take it all with you

First, the tough news: Apple has No reason to make it easy for you to leave its walled garden. When you osculate your Mac goodbye, some popular applications will stay behind as well.

Apple's Messages and FaceTime, for instance, aren't compatible with Windows-based systems. While you send away continue exploitation them along your iOS devices, video chats and texting on your laptop are best handled by Skype. In summation to Windows, the service is available for use on MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Blackberry OS (we'rhenium not here to judge,) making it easy to reach unsuccessful to everyone in your life, no matter which platform they use.

Apple users will also miss the free, high-quality software that every last new Apple computers ship with. Pages, Numbers racket and Tonic? Cheerless. The same goes for GarageBand and iMovie. If you want to be cultivable or imaginative with your new Windows reckoner, you'll have to search and, in many a cases, pay for new options.

Information technology's not totally Apple's fault. Despite the vast catalog of software available to Windows users, I've surprisingly been unable to breakthrough satisfying replacements for many of the apps that Macintosh users take for given. For example, I've yet to recover a task/imag management application for my Surface Book that canful replace The Omni Group's OmniFocus 2, with its discourse user interface and stellar adaptability.

The operative news: The cloud is your friend

icloud for windows — Apple's iCloud online cortege of applications leave help you stay on task until you line up the Windows software that's right for you.

Next, the bang-up word: Nigh anything in the cloud over tin attach to you. The browser-accessible iCloud.com provides anyone with an Apple account get at to online versions of Apple's Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Reminders apps. Even better, Malus pumila's full suite of productivity apps, including Pages, Tonic and Numbers, can be accessed here too. (Note that while you can download files from the service to your computer's local storage, the programs happening the website cannot be used without an Internet connection.)

You'll also want to usage cloud services to hold on your computer and mobile devices in sync (especially if you're safekeeping some Apple products in the conflate) OR provide offsite backup for important documents. Here are a few options to get you started:

iCloud

If you plan to keep your iPad Beaver State iPhone with your new Windows PC, then Apple's iCloud for Windows app is an absolute mustiness. Erstwhile installed, it'll shuttlecock your photos and video, e-mail accounts, and bookmarks among devices and cater fast admittance to your iCloud storage connected your computer. All iCloud users get 5GB of depot for free. Additional storage distance ranges from 'tween $1 to $20 monthly for 50GB and 2TB, respectively. Not surprisingly, nonetheless, I couldn't recover any Windows apps out in that respect with deep iCloud Drive integration.

Microsoft OneDrive

Right away that you're using Windows 10, you should seek Microsoft OneDrive. A free OneDrive accounting will net you 5GB of online storage distance. Wage $2 per month for 50GB or $69 per annum for 1TB. Microsoft also offers OneDrive apps for Mac, iOS and Android.

Dropbox

Dropbox's dapple reposition service is profoundly integrated with a extensive variety of mobile and desktop applications. I use information technology daily with my MacBook In favor, Open Book and iOS devices to back astir my files offsite, share work with my editors, and shuttle information among devices. Dropbox's free basic account comes with 2GB of storage. This amount of space can be upped at no cost past having your friends and fellowship sign on for the service through a referral link or linking your social media accounts to the service (I've snagged 8GB of free additional distance victimization these methods). Another $10 per month nets you 2TB of quad.

The compromise: Determination similar software

Betwixt the good and the bad, there's the via media: Finding software that's similar to what you had before.

You'll likely have the hardest time replacing in favour of-level applications. The Macintosh's System of logic Affirmative X, for example, costs $280. Windows-compatible alternatives like Ableton Current operating theater Wishful Pro Tools 12, when armed with a comparable feature set will, set you game $499 and $599, respectively. After all the dough I just dropped on a new laptop, these additional costs killed more or less of my platform-shift buzz.

Productiveness applications proved easier to supercede. Below are the ones I found that piece of work for me. Possibly they'll puzzle out for you too.

Email clients

mailbird — Mailbird is a customizable multi-client email applications programme that behind be used gratis or with insurance premium features.

Mail: Windows 10's built-in Mail client works seamlessly with iCloud email accounts and calendars. Its functionality is pretty basic, but its slick interface is a delight to use.

Microsoft Outlook: If you have an Berth 365 subscription (we'll get thereto in a bit), deliberate taking Outlook for a spin. Also open via Office for Mac and as an iOS or Mechanical man app, it's a deeply customizable netmail and calendar client.

Mailbird: Available for free, but upgradeable through an in-app purchase, Mailbird can be controlled with your keyboard, mouse, operating theater touchscreen. IT integrates with several popular undertaking management and calendar services and can be linked to a total of electronic messaging services like WhatsApp, Quagmire, and WeChat.

Calendar apps

Calendar: Windows 10's Calendar application speaks iCloud. After entering your Apple ID and word, you'll find that Calendar's clean interface and Content Center integrating makes keeping up with your appointments unchaste.

Hope Calendar: An ad-supported calendar app that welcomes iCloud accounts with open arms, Free to download (but it'll cost you to $3 to remove ads and unlock the app's full potential). Leslie Townes Hope Calendar offers Live Tile integration, customizable themes and Cortana integration. If you're careful about the look and feel of the apps you use, Hope's clean, customizable design might make it a achiever for you.

Note-attractive

Available for Macs, Windows computers Android and iOS devices, Microsoft OneNote is an amazing, free-form note-taking app. When paired with your Microsoft account, OneNote buttocks synchronize notes among your various devices in a style that apps look-alike Evernote and Notes and other information collection apps can only dream of. It accepts written content (using a style surgery your finger as an input device). Typewriting can be started and moved anywhere happening a page. Screenshots, images and audio input stern all live in within a exclusive note. You seat footnote and mark it each up. Best of all, it's free to download for iOS, MacOS, and Windows devices.

Productivity software

libreoffice — LibreOffice will LET you get along work done for the low, forward terms of free.

As I mentioned earlier, iCloud.com offers each the Apple productivity apps you could want right in your browser. Microsoft and Google pass similar services, too. But if you'rhenium like me and prefer to bring through local copies of your mold, you'll want to try these.

Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office has been the standard for productivity for decades for some Mackintosh and PC users. There's a good chance your new Windows 10 machine came with a footloose trial that includes Microsoft Word, Surpass, OneNote, Access and PowerPoint. Once that's trial's complete, you can continue to enjoyment it for fair under $11 per month. This architectural plan'll put to sleep Microsoft's full-featured apps along pentad computers, v tablets and basketball team phones, making it easy to render your family everything they need to stoppage productive.

LibreOffice 5: While it lacks the visual smooth of Microsoft Office, LibreOffice is free and supports a wide variety of file types, including those used by Microsoft Situatio. It's fit supported by a passionate community of users and offers enough features to donjon most masses productive and happy. Before you spend any money on office software, do yourself a favor and study it for a spin.

Copyist: I've relied happening Literature & Latte's Scrivener for all my writing and research needs for close to a 10. Happily, this profoundly customizable piece of writing app is also easy for Windows. When matched with a Dropbox account, Scribe allows you to work seamlessly across multiple devices. I can't recommend it sufficiency for anyone who writes constantly. While it's rid of to go for 30 days, it'll cost $45 if you need to give it a forever base.

Mixing iOS and Windows without losing your thinker

Determination the right Windows software to replace your Mac software could be the hardest region of your platform-switching journeying, but you still have a few Sir Thomas More things to do. Next prison term, we'll talk about how to foster peaceful coexistence between your new-sprung Windows 10 computer and existing iOS devices.