For a tech guy who likes to buy a lot of gadgets, the one thing I don’t change often is my main business desktop computer. I find it scary to move all the data and the programs over to a new operating system and hardware.
With my Dell Optiflex with Windows XP and Office 2003 slowing down (and frequently getting stuck), I decided to buy a new desktop. I briefly considered a Mac desktop since my family already owns a variety of devices including 4 iPhones, 3 iPads, 1 Dell Tablet, 1, Dell Laptop, 2 Mac Laptops and one Mac Desktop. I couldn’t make the leap for my main business applications since I have been a Windows user forever.
I purchased a new Dell Inspirion Desktop with Windows 8 and Office 365. When I started the migration this weekend, my palms were noticeably sweaty. I used the Windows Easy Transfer to move all the data to my new computer over my internal WIFI network. While it took overnight to get it done, all the data was there on the new computer. The best part is when I loaded Outlook from Office 365, all my emails, contacts and follow ups were there! Thank you, Microsoft.
The Apple products migrated well. The big problem was QuickBooks 2010 that would not work with Windows 8. (They want me to upgrade for $249!). I will be switching to Sage 50 which is one of my client’s products. This is long overdue!
As more applications and data migrates to the cloud, I suspect that future migrations will be much easier. But hey, it may not happen for another 10 years.
