how do you set up your new mac?

[ghanwani]

Please take my poll.

I usually set up from scratch but thinking I should use the Migration Assistant this time around.

If Migration Assistant is used, how does licensing work for apps (e.g. TurboTax and MS Office) that are being transferred over? Does it all "just work", or would it need keys?

 

[firedept]

I set up from scratch. Installing only what I need. Leaving behind the unused or outdated stuff.

 

[trevpimp]

Got a new Mac and I manually started from scratch, I use iCloud for a history of files and keep them in the cloud till I need to transfer

Gotta love iCloud

 

[dborja]

I typically use Migration Assistant. However, since this is basically a different machine (M1 vs Intel), I started from scratch.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Depends on the machine. If it’s a computer for my classroom, I generally use carbon copy cloner to clone my current install to the new machine. That way I can be up and running as quickly as possible without having to deal with setting things up. If it’s a fun side machine, those normally get fresh installs. My main personal Mac, though, that’s a special case. It always gets cloned. It’s been a continuous install through five Macs now over the last 20 years; the install actually started out as OS 9

 

[Taco1933]

All new devices get setup from scratch. It's a good opportunity to purge all that stuff I didn't ever use that was weighing it down. But none of my apple stuff is for work, so there tends to be little I really need to keep.

 

[calliex]

Trouble with migration assistant as far as apps go it is all or nothing. You can not choose which apps from backup you want. In my case I had parallels as part of my backup when I went to a new machine I did not want parallels on it. I had to install it and then delete it.
In the case of new machine like M1 I would go from scratch and install the software from media. You can bring over data files with thumb drive or another hard drive.

 

[dborja]

Trouble with migration assistant as far as apps go it is all or nothing. You can not choose which apps from backup you want. In my case I had parallels as part of my backup when I went to a new machine I did not want parallels on it. I had to install it and then delete it.
In the case of new machine like M1 I would go from scratch and install the software from media. You can bring over data files with thumb drive or another hard drive.

Yes, the ability to select what gets brought in is something that I wish Migration Assistant had. My previous MBA had VMFusion and Windoze VMs which I couldn't run anyway (I still have my i7 iMac that could). And besides, I was concerned about apps that got converted to Universal 2 - whether there would be artifacts left over from the Intel version after updating that might cause problems. I figured that starting "from scratch" was better going from an i5 MBA to an M1 MBA.

 

[jdb8167]

I almost always use Migration Assistant so that is what I voted but for my new M1 MacBook Air I set up from scratch to try and limit any Apple Silicon incompatible software. This is especially true because I was starting at macOS 11.0.1 I think (it was a very early version of Big Sur.) Over time it has become a lot easier to set up from scratch though because of iCloud. All my documents, music and many settings are already stored in the cloud. It does take patience though while your new Mac is overloaded with iCloud downloads and Spotlight indexing is happening. It makes for a very slow Mac with bad battery life.

 

[ghanwani]

For those that setup a new M1 from Intel and used the migration assistant --

How did it work for apps that have an M1-specific version?

 

[jonathanuy]

Migration assistant for user accounts (files), install apps from scratch. This way I preserve app settings and get the benefit of the thought and pruning of setting up from scratch. I have done this for years, including a recent Intel to M1 transition, with no problems.