My OperaMigrating to Mac. To virtualize or not to virtualize.
Sunday, March 11, 2012 2:27:21 PM
This weekend I set out to make the final switch from my beloved Lenovo Thinkpad T60p to my brand new Macbook Pro. I wanna see what all the kids are talking about. Is it good for anything else then looking awfully important when sitting anywhere in public view?
The short answer is: yes! But it of course comes at a price. Other than being mistaken for a hipster or a freelance (read: unemployed) graphical artist when sitting in a café within normal working hours.
Most noteworthy is the lack of keys on the keyboard (and Windows of course). As a die hard, or maybe just dying hard, programmer, I'm used to only touching the mouse when I'm browsing the web. So the lack of the "Home", "End", "Delete", "PgUp" and "PgDown" keys frustrates me a bit to say the least. But I'm slowly getting the hang of the new shortcuts, and the multi touch pad is making up for the missing keys in my life.
But then again, how can I work without my trusted old Windows. I can't! And I don't want to either. Mostly because Visual Studio doesn't run on OS X yet. So the question for me was how do I combine these two so different worlds?
Being a n00b at OS X, I did what every aspiring millionaire would do when in doubt… I called a friend. Luckily all of my non-programming friends (yes, I have some of those too!) are people with a long Mac pedigree, and they where ALL keen to welcome me to the dark side (or the light depending on the point of view). They helped me to narrow my choices down to three options:
1. Bootcamp
2. Parallels
3. VMware Fusion
Bootcamp. No go! I don't want to reboot every time I want to fire up Visual Studio and write a line of code.
Parallels. Maybe. I kinda like the idea of my Windows applications being a part of OS X. Or at least look like it. But I think I'd still find it a bit confusing to work with. And the friend jury was a little hung on this one as well.
VMware Fusion. A good old virtual machine. That I like! Especially when I found out I could just migrate my old Windows machine, with all my applications and settings directly on to my new Macbook Pro, using their PC to Mac migration tool. Or could I…?!?
This is what actually inspired this blog post. Because, of course I couldn't! That would have been all to easy.
I started out with high hopes and an open mind. I fired up VMware Fusion on my Mac, and clicked "Migrate existing PC". I followed the instructions on the screen and installed a small VMware migration tool on my PC. I connected both machines to my router using Ethernet cables for faster transfer (I didn't have a crossover cable for a direct connection). I entered the four digit code and started the transfer. Oh the joy! It was working.
But then about 2 hours and 95% into the conversion, disaster struck. VMware told me ever so politely, that it was unable to complete the configuration of my virtual machine. I was devastated! The rest of the day I tried the same approach several times using tips and tricks I found in strange corners of the Internet. But to my despair, none of them worked.
Then I set out to do what VMware actually told me to do in its own very un-descriptive error message: "Try the VMware Standalone converter". Hmm… I found what appeared to be a free (yes, free) tool in the download section of VMwares website. The name was not a complete match, but close enough.
After registering using a plethora of personal information, including promising them my soul and my first born child, I was able to download the tool. I installed it on my PC, and it strangely informed me that it was updating the migration tool I had installed earlier, but who was I to judge.
And here comes the point of the story (if you haven't given up already). At first I tried to place to the image I was about to create, on my servers external disk (yes, I have a little server running in my living room, and I'm still married). But that didn't fly. VMware reads the settings of the remote machine, and thinks that gonna run the image. And apparently that wasn't good enough. Nooooo! That was not the point you #/&%#" piece of devil software! So I made the long and lonely journey down to my basement to get my old 200 GB external hard-drive which had saved me so many times before, that it deserves to sleep on a little red velvet pillow next to me in bed. Or perhaps not. But it was my last hope (Obi-Wan Kenobi?)
With the last ounce of strength left in me, i plugged it into my Thinkpad. I opened the VMware Standalone Converter an started the process… It slowly began incrementing the status bar. Would it reach 100% this time? About an hour later it did. It was like Christmas and I was but a little boy believing in miracles. Next came the import to my Mac. I opted for the first of the choices that would import it as a copy. And that worked too! Now for starting the virtual machine. Again it worked! I couldn't had been happier if I'd just won a million dollars (or 5.636.600 danish kroner in my case) which actually also is a lie, but believe me when I say I was happy.
Filled with joy I looked at my watch, and went to bed. What a Saturday!
The short answer is: yes! But it of course comes at a price. Other than being mistaken for a hipster or a freelance (read: unemployed) graphical artist when sitting in a café within normal working hours.
Most noteworthy is the lack of keys on the keyboard (and Windows of course). As a die hard, or maybe just dying hard, programmer, I'm used to only touching the mouse when I'm browsing the web. So the lack of the "Home", "End", "Delete", "PgUp" and "PgDown" keys frustrates me a bit to say the least. But I'm slowly getting the hang of the new shortcuts, and the multi touch pad is making up for the missing keys in my life.
But then again, how can I work without my trusted old Windows. I can't! And I don't want to either. Mostly because Visual Studio doesn't run on OS X yet. So the question for me was how do I combine these two so different worlds?
Being a n00b at OS X, I did what every aspiring millionaire would do when in doubt… I called a friend. Luckily all of my non-programming friends (yes, I have some of those too!) are people with a long Mac pedigree, and they where ALL keen to welcome me to the dark side (or the light depending on the point of view). They helped me to narrow my choices down to three options:
1. Bootcamp
2. Parallels
3. VMware Fusion
Bootcamp. No go! I don't want to reboot every time I want to fire up Visual Studio and write a line of code.
Parallels. Maybe. I kinda like the idea of my Windows applications being a part of OS X. Or at least look like it. But I think I'd still find it a bit confusing to work with. And the friend jury was a little hung on this one as well.
VMware Fusion. A good old virtual machine. That I like! Especially when I found out I could just migrate my old Windows machine, with all my applications and settings directly on to my new Macbook Pro, using their PC to Mac migration tool. Or could I…?!?
This is what actually inspired this blog post. Because, of course I couldn't! That would have been all to easy.
I started out with high hopes and an open mind. I fired up VMware Fusion on my Mac, and clicked "Migrate existing PC". I followed the instructions on the screen and installed a small VMware migration tool on my PC. I connected both machines to my router using Ethernet cables for faster transfer (I didn't have a crossover cable for a direct connection). I entered the four digit code and started the transfer. Oh the joy! It was working.
But then about 2 hours and 95% into the conversion, disaster struck. VMware told me ever so politely, that it was unable to complete the configuration of my virtual machine. I was devastated! The rest of the day I tried the same approach several times using tips and tricks I found in strange corners of the Internet. But to my despair, none of them worked.
Then I set out to do what VMware actually told me to do in its own very un-descriptive error message: "Try the VMware Standalone converter". Hmm… I found what appeared to be a free (yes, free) tool in the download section of VMwares website. The name was not a complete match, but close enough.
After registering using a plethora of personal information, including promising them my soul and my first born child, I was able to download the tool. I installed it on my PC, and it strangely informed me that it was updating the migration tool I had installed earlier, but who was I to judge.
And here comes the point of the story (if you haven't given up already). At first I tried to place to the image I was about to create, on my servers external disk (yes, I have a little server running in my living room, and I'm still married). But that didn't fly. VMware reads the settings of the remote machine, and thinks that gonna run the image. And apparently that wasn't good enough. Nooooo! That was not the point you #/&%#" piece of devil software! So I made the long and lonely journey down to my basement to get my old 200 GB external hard-drive which had saved me so many times before, that it deserves to sleep on a little red velvet pillow next to me in bed. Or perhaps not. But it was my last hope (Obi-Wan Kenobi?)
With the last ounce of strength left in me, i plugged it into my Thinkpad. I opened the VMware Standalone Converter an started the process… It slowly began incrementing the status bar. Would it reach 100% this time? About an hour later it did. It was like Christmas and I was but a little boy believing in miracles. Next came the import to my Mac. I opted for the first of the choices that would import it as a copy. And that worked too! Now for starting the virtual machine. Again it worked! I couldn't had been happier if I'd just won a million dollars (or 5.636.600 danish kroner in my case) which actually also is a lie, but believe me when I say I was happy.
Filled with joy I looked at my watch, and went to bed. What a Saturday!
I think the idea is great, and I can't wait to try it!
