January, 2025
Bought a new Dell desktop. The old one is a decade old and running Windows 10. New one runs Windows 11 Home.
Bought PCmover Ultimate (w/ USB cable).

Tip:
If you haven’t already done so, do as I did years ago: set up an external drive and store ALL your data on it rather than the C: drive. Then migrating data to the new PC consists of unplugging the external drive from the old and plugging into the new.

Given my data situation, my primary objective was migrating applications. Because I was moving to a newer version of Windows, this was a lost cause, and I should have recognized that prior to spending $60 on PCmover. It did successfully move a few apps, but failed miserably to migrate a single “mission critical” application.

Then there were the crashes. I spent hours and hours dotting I’s and crossing t’s according to the manual, then spent hours making decisions based on PCmover’s “Analysis” step, only to have the software crash right before initiation of the transfer, apparently because I had the audacity to ask that PCmover notify me via email when the transfer was complete. (Spoiler alert: I was never able to successfully complete the transfer. )

PCmover’s chat support line was very responsive. However, if the crash itself didn’t prove to me that I was in deep doodoo, the proof REALLY hit home when, after describing the circumstances leading up to the crash, the support rep’s solution was:
1, uninstall PCmover from the old PC;
2. uninstall PCmover from the new PC;
3. reinstall PCmover to both PCs using a link to a different, apparently unpublished version of the software;
4. redo the entire Analysis process (apparently there was no provision for saving any of the decisions I made previously);
5. hold your breath;
6. Push go again.

Surprising even myself, I did all those things. This time, the process crashed several hours in, with a generic message suggesting a “connection” problem between the PCs. So….your fancy $30 USB cable took a nap? (side note: this cable is apparently not just a USB 3 cable with male connectors at both ends; don't try to save a buck with a plain old cable)

The one thing that PCmover did fairly well was transferring User preferences and parameters.

Final conclusion:
Apple has been doing this well for a long, long time. But if you’re stuck with Windows, don’t expect a $60 software package to ease the pain. It won’t.