For as long as I can remember, I have used Aware for Windows running under Parallels on a Mac. This has been ok but recently having lots of issues. I don’t necessarily blame Aware for these issues (well… not all of them) but I came to think that a large part of the problem was the way I have been migrating to a new machine.
For years, every time I bought a new Mac, I migrated everything from the old machine to the new machine using Time Machine.
Of course, the downside of this practice is that over the years, all the accumulated rubbish that I had been to busy to clean up got messier and messier…. Old files, apps that were no longer used or needed, old tech migrated thru the ages. And, that is just on the Mac side. Basically the same issue was occurring with Windows.
There have been a few little things that held me back from using the native Mac version of Aware. Some might sound a bit silly but old habits die hard.
I love Heidi SQL and there was only ever a Windows Version
I love NotePad ++ and never found a lightweight editor in Mac to come near it.
I use ESF Database Migration Toolkit… Also only a Windows Version
Pervious versions of Aware for Mac seemed a little clunky
So, what has changed….
Heidi SQL have released a Native Mac version (still a few bugs but I am pointing those out and hopefully fixed soon)
NotepadNext has been released and is a Notepad ++ clone. Works well and looks same.
Worked out a solution to keep using ESF Database Migration Toolkit without Parallels
V10 of Aware for Mac is pretty good. Not “quite” as clean and polished as Windows but certainly a big improvement to my previous experience.
So… I decided to go all in.
Step 1. New Macbook Air M5. 32Gb, 2 Tb
Step 2. No Time Machine Backup. Start with a brand new clean machine and ONLY install what was absolutely needed. (This has probably made the biggest difference)
Step 3. O365 Apps installed and up and running
Step 4. Homebrew Install for Maria DB
Step 5. Install Heidi SQL for Mac
Step 6. Install NotepadNext Mac
Step 7. Install Aware IM V10 Mac
Step 8. Get Aware all up and running and create and import all my Business Spaces from the Windows Version
Step 9. Spin up a tiny Cloud Server in Upcloud with Windows and install ESF Database Migration Toolkit on that
Step 10. Install ZeroTier on Mac and Cloud Server to give ESF a direct tunnel to my Mac Maria DB Database
Step 11. Use ESF to bring all the Production Data over from my production servers to my Mac Aware IM / Maria Db Test databases
Step 12. Spend en entire day working out how to bring my Claude Cowork / Code Projects and History over to the new machine… Finally got that working.
All in all… two days work… and the final result….. Drum Roll!!!
OMG! The speed increase is beyond shocking. Probably because the Windows experience was like a frog in boiling water…. you don’t realize how bad it is getting because it happens so slowly over time.
This morning… I could kick myself that I did not do this earlier.
Onwards and Upwards….. 💪🏼
More than happy to lend a hand if anyone else wants to go down the same rabbit hole.
Cheers 🥃
