Tim Cook welcoming another Apple owner:
Seriously, sounds like an awesome setup. That base is really clean work.
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One unexpected benefit of this conversion to Mac Mini is that this system is so compact that, if I package it tightly, then I can literally move it between my Summer and ‘Normal’ residence.
I used to transfer all relevant data to a transfer HDD and transfer it twice (save and restore) with every move. I also had to maintain a computer at each location (INCLUDING upgrading to Windows 11! 
)
Now I can move the whole blooming computer and not only save the trouble of transferring, I can get rid of TWO Windows computers!!! 
So, adding a secure top to the base looks like this:
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I love that case.
I have a Beelink AMD mini computer that I have been using for 3 years. It’s great. Toss it in my backpack with the keyboard and mouse and take it to work. Bought and extra power cable and HDMI and within a few minutes I”m up and running with a big screen.
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So can a guy that is really slow make the switch to mac OS from windows?
what would you say is the biggest difference?
Remember I said really slooooooowwwwwww
IMO, the biggest difference is in the little behavioral changes you’ll encounter. Programs install differently, keyboard layout is different in some cases (most of the annoying ones can be remapped using a nifty little program I found - more on this later), and basically little surprises you’ll find when it doesn’t work the way you’re used to on your Windows machine.
The conversion doesn’t take ‘smarts’, it takes tolerance in dealing with the frustrations you’ll have with each new surprise. In fact, following the adage, ‘Go Slow to Go Fast’ definitely applies here. When you get a surprise, you need to stop, Google is your Friend, search why Macos works the way it does and what do you do about it.
In this regard, I’d say TWO aspects help with Google search: There ‘appears’ to be much less chaff on the web re Mac enquiries than Windoze so searches are more productive AND with AI summaries, searches are to the point. Forget YouTube whiners, the summaries are all you need in most cases. AI is not perfect so in a couple of cases I did get incorrect info, but these were rare.
So, Step one: As SOON as you start up a Mac system and you’re ready to ‘do something’ install FireFox browser and Sync with all your usual bookmarks, etc. You’ll feel at home almost instantly. Then, slowly add the ‘small’ programs that you need and play with them, learning the new behavior before you try adding Fusion, etc.
Re keyboard mapper, I found Karabiner-Element very useful remapper for things like remapping ‘Control’ key to ‘Command’ key, ‘Home’ key to ‘Command, Left Arrow’, etc. I used a couple of add-ons (PC-Style Copy/Paste/Cut, PC-Style Undo, PC-Style Redo) as the most effective in ‘doing things I’m used to’.
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I think if I tried to make the switch I would regret it. If I was younger I would give it a shot!
Thanks for taking the time to type that up, I appreciate it!
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Well, it definitely helps to be a youngster like me!!! 
Exactly what I was thinking
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Congratulations! Welcome to the dark side…lol. Im glad your experience is good so far, I think youll be happy for a while.
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I will be waiting to see if Tom becomes unhappy
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Oh no my friend, f150 to a toyota is the next step imho… and im just poking the forum bears…lol
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I wouldn’t read too much into his comment. I know he’s just pulling my chain.
Fact is, I every day I use this it gets better and better as I learn how to ‘drive’ it.
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You call it vindictive I call it having fun. I think you read too much into it.
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I give you win. I have no more to say!
I’ve moved back to my Winter digs and the Mac Mini M4 moved without a hitch!
Here it was, disconnected from Monitors and network:
And then with the ‘enclosure’ and carrying handle:
I now have it set up in my office with 3 monitors with my monster workstation standing by, completely off. I’m going to replace my monitors with 3 27" QHD curved screens and maybe I’ll forget to go down to the house at night
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hmm… check this out.
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I’m in the same boat — not really looking forward to Windows 10 reaching end of life. Some of my older hardware still runs great, and I’d hate to replace it just because of OS support. I’ve been experimenting with Linux too, but there’s always that one thing that doesn’t quite work right. 
Might try the Rufus route for Windows 11 and see how far it goes.
Ok, last update (I promise! )
Here are my new monitors providing 72" of screen width and you can see my cute little Mac Mini sitting behind the middle one.
And, just to show them at work:
I’ve got the Fusion 360 section view, Kicad schematic, PCB, and 3D Model view and, just for grins, my ‘window’ with Windows 11 running VCarve Pro in a VM on the right most screen.
It’s got everything I need and a hell of a lot more performance than I had before!
Thank you Microsoft for convincing me it was time to dump you!
PS: The Win11 is unactivated and will remain so…
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Looks like Windows is extending there service to Windows 10 till October 2027
Microsoft extends Windows 10 support out of the blue — consumers now get updates for another year to October 2027 | TechRadar Microsoft extends Windows 10 support out of the blue — consumers now get updates for another year to October 2027 | TechRadar
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I wonder how many customers they lost along the way… especially the big corporate customers.
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