Any tips and suggestions for a soon to be Mac Mini owner?

[GrangerGamble]

I have an M1 Mac Mini 16GB 512 GB HD arriving next week. I've been solely a Windows user, till next week. I've read a lot of "switching from windows to mac" articles and videos" and to be honest most of them I think are just copying each other's stuff to just put content out and not actual real user tips and suggestions. So that's why I'm posting here.

I have all my docs backed up to OneDrive, I have an Office365 subscription. I also have about 260 GB of photos and videos.

Can I get tips and suggestions on what I should look out for when moving my files, photos, and videos to my Mac Mini?

And I'm hoping for opinions on subscriptions to iCloud for backup vs OneDrive. I get 1TB with OneDrive but for some reason, I'm paying for 200GB for my family's iPhones.

Again just looking for real-world user experiences when first using a Mac and moving from Windows. Thanks in advance!

 

[EdwinG]

Besides the MacMini, what other devices do you have or you expect to buy/keep?

 

[Just_Me_D]

The Mac Mini, in my opinion, is an very fast, quiet and powerful computer. With that being said, it seems like you’re already preparing yourself for the switch from a PC. Using the Mac will seem weird at first because doing things on it is so different than Windows. Soon it will start making sense and then you’ll see the beauty of working on a Mac.

in regard to storage, take advantage of both the free and tiered cloud storage plans. I’d also recommend an external drive, especially for photos, videos and important documents and receipts

if you access services like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, etcetera via a web browser on your PC then you can do the same on your Mac Mini. If you use an associated app on your PC, you’ll be able to do the same on the Mac Mini.

 

[GrangerGamble]

I have an iPhone 12 and my iPad Air came in a couple of days ago.

 

[GrangerGamble]

Speaking about external storage? What is your opinion on those hubs with the ports in the front have an HD bay in the middle for storage? Are they worth it? I do have some USB thumb drives, a Yubi key, and a couple of micro SDs.

Any opinions on external HDs that work well ith Mac?

 

[Just_Me_D]

Speaking about external storage? What is your opinion on those hubs with the ports in the front have an HD bay in the middle for storage? Are they worth it? I do have some USB thumb drives, a Yubi key, and a couple of micro SDs.

Any opinions on external HDs that work well ith Mac?

The hubs with the external ports are indeed worth it to me, but I don’t know of one that includes storage. I have a separate external drive that I use.

 

[GrangerGamble]

Do you mind linking the one you use? When I google it I get tons of brands.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Do you mind linking the one you use? When I google it I get tons of brands.

USB C Hub, CHOETECH 9 in 1 USB C... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZZ8192...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUimUvbUpU3246792

 

[GrangerGamble]

Thanks!

 

[EdwinG]

I have an iPhone 12 and my iPad Air came in a couple of days ago.

Regarding cloud services, both have their pros and cons. I use all three services: iCloud, OneDrive for Education and OneDrive for Business.

I like the OneDrive's insane capacity and transparency when uploading or downloading data. On the other side, I found the OneDrive app for macOS to be very difficult to use, because it takes about 3-5 seconds to open the main pane and it crashes often.

On the other side, iCloud is extremely integrated and provides for a very seamless integration, but on the other side, you don't get as much information on progress and making it work with non-Apple platforms can be a difficult experience - when even possible.

What you decide to go with is completely up to you

 

[GrangerGamble]

Ok, thanks for the info. I just want to avoid installing a bunch of stuff from the start, know what I mean?

 

[EdwinG]

Ok, thanks for the info. I just want to avoid installing a bunch of stuff from the start, know what I mean?

Yes I know what you mean. I will mention that macOS is a very different platform from Windows 10 and Linux, although there are convergences on the app installation behaviours that are going on.

OneDrive is a self-contained app on macOS if you get it from the App Store, so you don't need to worry about the app leaving executable files all over the place. If you want to clean up leftovers (e.g.: preference files), you can always erase an app through something like "AppCleaner" from FreeMacSoft (that's what I use).