My mom just got a Macbook Air for Christmas, and I got the wonderful job of setting it up for her. I am a geek and for some reason, even though my Macbook Pro is about 2.5 years old, I get giddy just holding such a small but sturdy form factor in my hand. I might seem like a fan boy, but I am a cautious one. Even though I do development on my MBP, I still have a Windows 7 machine (dual-monitor) for ‘everyday use’. I can’t quite make the jump fully.

Anyway, back to the migration. I started thinking like I would for any normal PC migration. Where are the Application CDs, let’s get an external hard drive to track down her files and move everything there - then from the drive to the new machine. I immediately started to wrack my brain to figure out where her ‘profile’ files are stored - i.e. when you are doing a PC migration, to save your bookmarks and browser information (pre-Chrome sync), you had to manually search for those files in My Documents and transfer them.

I also started thinking about setting up iTunes and adding the new files and folders to iTunes so she can find it EXACTLY the way she had it - otherwise I would get ENDLESS support phone calls about finding her music and other media files (which I just treasure to get - Hi Mom :)) 

So I boot the Macbook Air, and about 2 screens in, it asks me for WiFi credentials. I enter password and move on. ~2 screens later it asks if I want to migrate anything from an old machine.

“Holy crap” I think…this cannot possibly be suggesting what I think it is.

I see a screen that looks like it is scanning for a WiFi network with some directions (go to old computer, go to Applications -> Migration Assistant and select the option ‘Migrate FROM this computer’). I do that, then come back to the Macbook Air. It finds my mom’s old machine, and asks me for the verification code that’s on her screen. I confirm it, and press ok.

It then calculates the amount of things that need to be migrated, 13.5GB. 

5.3GB of which are APPLICATIONS. “No way, I think. That can’t be possible.”

So I press continue and it goes. I leave it for about 6 hours while it transfers everything via WiFi from the old machine….I go back to the Macbook Air….literally everything is transferred. Office is installed and registered with the same product key (as her old machine) and in her name, Skype is installed with her credentials, it even transfers her OS X username and password, all her documents, pictures, music and movies. Dropbox is installed and configured properly and everything is in it’s place. The only thing that had a problem was an HP utility app for her printer/scanner. So I went online, downloaded the latest drivers and installed that - like I expected to have to do for everything else.

That’s it….everything installed. All programs setup, all documents in place, iTunes works with all her music, everything.

From an OLD computer to a brand spanking new one, with everything intact, with a few clicks + a few hours waiting for the transfer via WiFi, then a few corrections.

I don’t think I will ever be able to do another PC migration and not be more annoyed than I used to be.

Mind. Blown!