I wonder if Belkin (or Apple) will make a way to use this device as a replacement for FireWire target disc mode -- to migrate data from your previous Mac to your new MacBook that doesn't have FireWire...

When I first read this I thought it was April Fools Day. I wonder if Belkin will next come out with a USB cable that coverts water to gasoline? Ha

Well that must be an amazingly smart cable. I'm guessing that some software is involved and that the cable does, ya know, cable things.

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George Bailey wrote:
Well that must be an amazingly smart cable. I'm guessing that some software is involved and that the cable does, ya know, cable things.

Looks like it comes with a migration utility.

"The new Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable provides a simple way to transfer files, settings, preferences, and more from your PC to a new Mac computer. Unlike existing products where you have to drag and drop specific files you want to transfer, the Switch-to-Mac Cable-with its easy-to-use Migration Assistant-automatically moves your music, movies, photos, files, and Internet preferences, making the transition from PC to Mac as seamless as possible."

http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/releases/uploads/11_12_08SwitchtoMac.html

Ugh, what makes this worse is some sucker will pay for this. Surly anyone with half a brain wouldn't pay that amount of money for a USB cable and software that does what you could do yourself very simply?

You're paying $2.99 for the cable, $19.99 for the software that enables the migration, and the requisite 50%+ margin.

It's the software that earns it. Converting files from PC to Mac directly over cables has always been dicey. My experience with it was less than stellar to say the least in the past. I hope they've worked out issues of the file formats, including instructions that tell the PC user to change their Windows settings first to INCLUDE file format extensions.

One not-very-well-publicized feature is migrating using a TimeMachine backup. Of course, that requires Leopard so if you're moving from an older Mac with Tiger to a new one (no Firewire) it won't help. But if you have Leopard, this is the way to go if your new Mac doesn't have Firewire.