For years I kept an old Windows XP machine around for the sole purpose of running Collector Assistant software where I log my collection of 3800 chips. I waited for the release of the CA software for the Mac which was released (Version 2) a few months ago and included "support for casino chips." I have a bunch of comments about CA software but I'm pretty committed given the many, many hours I've put in logging the collection and the images of my chips. I've had several conversations with the CA support guy (who is a real jewel) and the bottom line is that you can't migrate an existing collection from Windows to the Mac. A big factor is the different file formats but I'm not an expert.
After the recent "wanna cry" virus I decided to junk the XP machine and for $60 I bought a refurbished Windows 10 tablet. With a bit of effort I got it to work with my CA software but it was excruciatingly slow. Yesterday I sent the tablet back to Amazon. They credited my account two hours after I dropped it off at UPS (Wow.)
I then learned about Apple Boot Camp. This allows my MacBook to also run Windows 10. I downloaded the Windows 10 ISO file from Microsoft and bought a Windows 10 product key for about $45 from RightPrice Software. It took a while to install but everything seems to be working. I can easily switch between Mac and Windows and my CA software seems to run just fine. So I'm a happy camper and thought I'd share this experience with other collectors.
I do have a couple of basic Windows questions. When I do add chips to my collection I always run the CA back up function to a USB drive just in case. However I noticed that my Apple Time Machine does not back up the Windows portion of my Mac and Apple says that my Mac won't deal with the Windows stuff. So I'm wondering what happens if somehow my Windows software gets corrupted. Can I re-download Windows 10 and then re-enter my product code? Do I need to back up my Windows system given that I am already backing up my CA software? Given the amount of effort to create my collection data I want to be extra certain that I don't lose it.
Thanks.