Thank you much. It says this weird thing when we tried to restore to the old iMac that the disk would not mount which sounds like something from the 90's when I had Windows 3.0 on a hand-me-down IBM PS/2 and to "park" my hard drive before shutting down.

any Unix-like file system has a notion of mounting a disk volume before use, so all Macs. are you trying to restore the backup to the new Mac? or what?

to try and map the problem out, there are:

1) an old iMac
2) a new Mac
3) a Synology Drive NAS

right? and the contents of 1 are backed up on 3, and you want to restore them onto 2? that sounds like you need to set up the Synology client on 2:

https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/help/SynologyDriveClient/synologydriveclient?version=7

I think 3 is right. Our old computer was not on the latest OS because it was too old. It was getting limited security fixes.

Do you just pull the files or restore? What I'm confused about is whether if you restore the older operating system it will replace the macOS Ventura that is on their now.

What I'm confused about is whether if you restore the older operating system it will replace the macOS Ventura that is on their now.

I'm pretty sure not. I didn't have exactly this problem, but I've had similar ones, and IIRC it doesn't go backwards on OSes when you restore.

Depending on the software you use/need, there may be an argument for pulling files rather than doing a restore. Time Machine doesn't hold files as such--it's all complicated compression and version tracking--but I believe you can bring in batches of files (eg everything in Documents) without having to do a full restore.

The advantage of that approach is that you don't bring in all the cruft and outdated little programs and extensions; the disadvantage is that everything won't be just as you left it.

Is it a Time Machine backup that is stored on the Synology NAS?

I went through this a couple years ago when I finally replaced my iMac with the last of the 27" Intels. In the end, I think I just did a full restore, and nothing went backwards, but I sometimes wish I'd done what I suggest in 5.2. Indeed, in the next year or so I want to upgrade to a Mac Studio with 1 or possibly 2 27" screens, and I think I'll do a clean install/transfer.

You can do selective restores from a Time Machine backup. I just tested it as I've never had to do it before that I can recall. So, you should be able to register the NAS drive as a TimeMachine drive and restore from it selectively.

I believe you can use Apple's Migration Assistant to make that easier, as it has an option to migrate from an existing TimeMachine backup, and you can selectively restore, e.g. just Documents.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203981

6: Yes. Because they discontinued Time Capsule, and that was our option.

It's often surprising which Macs get end of life'd and which do not. My son uses my old Macbook, which is 10 years+ old, and it still gets some updates (although it's on Big Sur, not a later OS).

7: we thought about getting the mini M2 pro but decided to do the base studio instead and bought an LG monitor. I work for a non profit and am entitled to an education discount, and the discount is a little more on the studio making it less of a gap in price.

The new Samsung monitor looks great for somebody in a creative/visual
Profession.

10: Tim's new boss is dealing with the same issue on his iMac.

8 looks like a good answer. Rig Synology client, fetch the Time Machine backup, use Migration Assistant. There is further information about picking what to restore here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh11422/mac

In my experience, the Apple Silicon Mx machines are pretty great for general performance and battery life. They are still a bit annoying if you are doing ML type development as not everything will utilise the GPU and other specialist cores, and an awful lot of things just expect CUDA compatibility, or run CPU only.

In my experience, the Apple Silicon Mx machines are pretty great for general performance and battery life. They are still a bit annoying if you are doing ML type development as not everything will utilise the GPU and other specialist cores, and an awful lot of things just expect CUDA compatibility, or run CPU only.

11: what I would like to do is to buy a new monitor first, pair fit with the iMac, and see how well a dual monitor setup works for me. I assume I'll love it*, but I've had versions of it at times without becoming hooked, so I don't want to buy 2 monitors just on assumption.

*in which case I'd buy a 2nd monitor when I get the Studio.

14: it's not clear to me that my drafting program has updated to take advantage. I assume so, but if so, they never made a big deal about it. It's one of the bigger non-AutoCAD companies, largely because it's Mac-friendly (IIRC it was originally Mac-only ~30 years ago), so it would be surprising for them not to do it.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23797004/samsung-viewfinity-s9-price-release-date-announced

Looks great but sadly not less expensive than Apple's own studio display.

Oh, well that's a bummer. If I did the thing in 16*, I was going to start with an Apple studio display and then go cheaper for #2. Which maybe the LG you mentioned would be, but I'm not getting a different brand unless there's substantial savings. TBH, I'm probably not getting a second monitor unless it's pretty damn cheap. I'm overdue to upgrade my iPad Pro, and I've got life expenses as well.

Ooh, I just discovered that LG has a $700 27" monitor with a 8:9 aspect ratio and a built-in highly flexible mount. That might actually be the perfect companion to my main screen that would host my CAD work. My most common multitasking (as opposed to picking around on the internet) is working on a drawing while looking at building codes online and also doing web searches for products or whatever. I don't need 5k on my second monitor, because I'd always have that available on #1. And man, is that price right.

20: That looks like the kind that streamers use to have their chatbox visible alongside the main monitor(s) where a game is going.

20: ai got some ultra high def 4k from LG at B&H photo that was in the $300 range.

I'm absolutely sold on two monitors and have worked that way for years, although I expect I could cope with just 1 if it was big enough. My second screen at the moment is only 21".

My public sector employer has moved to two screens as standard - in this facility, at least. Which is full of accountants and the like.

I think part of the reason I'm a little ambivalent about the 2 screens is that what I really want is the biggest possible drafting space, but having tool palettes be anywhere other than the main screen is stupid. Obviously there are screens bigger than 27", but I'm not sure how much bigger is practical--I sometimes have to hunt for the cursor as it is.

Anyway, I'm excited about the idea of that 8:9 screen.

I went from two smaller screens to a 27" monitor because I found the window handling a little disorienting. I'd sometimes type in the wrong doc or I'd spend time arranging things between screens and then gradually find I was undoing the arrangement without thinking about it. I nearly went to 32" this year but I think I'd need a new desk to get the placement right.

I even have a portable second monitor for travel. I need two monitors, one for SAS and one for email.