When buying a new MacBook, should I transfer old computer into new one?

[justind]

Buying a new MacBook soon.
1) First, should we simply transfer all from the old "white" to the new or is it better to start fresh?
2) Will we HAVE to go to the Cloud version of Indesign, Pshop, Illustrator, etc?
3) Please say there a non-cloud Adobe version that we can use. I don't need them 8 hrs a day anymore. Monthly subscription makes no sense.
4) Also, our current Adobe products were purchased years ago and good for 2 devices only. How can I safely transfer the software to the new computer and then delete it from the old? Will a transfer of it actually work or will we lose it altogether?
Yikes!

 

[MightyGem]

I can only answer Q. 1.

Depends on what you want. Apple's Migration Assistant will transfer all your files and documents to the new Mac, and that's the easiest way.

Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant – Apple Support (UK)

Use Migration Assistant to copy your files from another computer.

support.apple.com

If you don't you'll be for ever wanting a particular file/document that's on the other computer and then be transferring bit by bit using a USB drive.

 

[AutoMac]

Mighty Gem's answer above is totally right! Doing the transfer using Migration Assistant (and the correct interconnecting cables) will give to a 100% mirror image of your 'old' machine - it seems quite miraculous really - it takes a while (often some hours) but just let it do the hard work - it mirrors everything - installed software, all files and everything! Naturally - do a Time Machine back-up on your original machine before you start!!

Q2 - No, if you still insist on using Adobe (I as an 'amateur user' I have managed to 'dump' all (except Lightroom) because I hate their subscription-based system) - you can subscribe to their "Classic" version which installs on your hard-drive as normal and updates via your subscription - but which you lose (as far as I understand) if you stop paying your subscription.

Q3 - There is excellent non-Adobe software to replace all InDesign, P'shop, Illustrator - just have a look at Serif's Affinity equivalents here (this is the UK site but it is fully international) they are a fully integrated and slickly functioning package - and currently on half-price offer (?) look here:-

Affinity Photo – award-winning photo editing software

The only fully-loaded photo editor integrated across macOS, Windows and iPad, Affinity Photo is the first choice of millions of professionals around the world.

affinity.serif.com

Q4 - I recall that you go to your Adobe account and simply 'de-register' the 'old' computer. When you start the mirrored software on your 'new' computer it will ask you to register the new machine.

Finally *** if you use Adobe Lightroom in OS Mojave at the moment and plan to upgrade to OS Catalina:
Note that the already-installed version of Lightroom will 'Mirror' to Catalina and probably run correctly (because it is a 64 bit application) - BUT if you ever need to re-install the LR software the original 'Installer' will NOT work as it is a 32-bit application which Catalina will not run any more (and which I suspect Adobe does not want to fix)...

 

[Howard Brazee]

If you have a Time Machine backup, is there any reason to not migrate from it instead of from your old Mac?