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Considering a switch to Mac

Posted on 10/10/2010 1:44:42 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Considering a switch to Mac

I am considering buying a MacBook for my next computer. I do typical office things on my computer so I’d assume that I’ll need to get MS Office for Mac.

Anything else that I’ll need to keep in mind?


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Thanks for your suggestions Freepers!
1 posted on 10/10/2010 1:44:44 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Get Parallels. Get at least 4gigs RAM. Be ready to be frustrated by the obtuse keyboard shortcuts.


2 posted on 10/10/2010 1:48:56 PM PDT by Tzfat
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To: Swordmaker

APPLE Ping


3 posted on 10/10/2010 1:48:56 PM PDT by Pontiac
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

No. You’ll be set.


4 posted on 10/10/2010 1:49:44 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Yeah! How pissed are your IT guys/gals gonna get at you? They can make your life miserable.....


5 posted on 10/10/2010 1:50:03 PM PDT by Gaffer ("Profiling: The only profile I need is a chalk outline around their dead ass!")
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Don’t buy the windows emulation software until you are sure you need it. Unless you are playing windows games you won’t use it.


6 posted on 10/10/2010 1:50:16 PM PDT by The Klingon
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
Anything else that I’ll need to keep in mind?

Yeah, you'll wonder why you didn't switch a long time ago.

Macs are awesome.

7 posted on 10/10/2010 1:50:59 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Tzfat
Get Parallels. Get at least 4gigs RAM. Be ready to be frustrated by the obtuse keyboard shortcuts.

These days I barely get by with 8 gig of RAM.

The keyboard short cuts are easy to deal with and if you want you can get a two or three button mouse. MACs are already set up to use them ala MS.

8 posted on 10/10/2010 1:52:30 PM PDT by Pontiac
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

>>>>so I’d assume that I’ll need to get MS Office for Mac

OpenOffice is fine... and Apple’s Numers, Pages, and Keynote are great too.


9 posted on 10/10/2010 1:52:35 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (FR Class of 1998 | TV News is an oxymoron. | MSNBC = Moonbats Spouting Nothing But Crap.)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
Try iWork (link) before you spend money on MS Office.

I have both, and iWork works just fine with MS files.
10 posted on 10/10/2010 1:52:58 PM PDT by frankenMonkey (I can see November from my window...)
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To: Swordmaker

let the flame wars... take a breather.


11 posted on 10/10/2010 1:53:04 PM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: The Klingon
Don’t buy the windows emulation software until you are sure you need it. Unless you are playing windows games you won’t use it.

+1

Many MS Office programs have Mac counterparts. For example, you can edit a Power Point presentation using Mac's Keynote, return it to a PC and view and further edit it just fine.

12 posted on 10/10/2010 1:53:52 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton; Swordmaker

Paging swordmaker...

I am not a “switcher”, as all of my regular computing since 1993 has been on the Mac platform. IF one is willing to turn lose of their pre-conceived notions and invest just a short time walking through the OS, then most (though not all) will like it.

As far as Office is concerned - OpenOffice is available at no cost. It feels kind of like an older version of MS office, though works well for some. Office 2011 is approaching release (so I understand). I hope and pray it is better than 2008 (which is much better than Office 2007 under Windows).

But regardless - a MacBook is a nice machine. Good luck, and watch out for the trolls who will inevitably find this thread and bad-talk Apple. If you have an Apple Store near you, pay them a visit, talk with a rep - they won’t try to squeeze you or up-sell you. Just tell them what you want to do and they will be helpful. Want to save some $$$? Watch the Apple store online for refurbs which come looking and working just like brand new (many are!), and have the exact same warranty as “new”.

Good luck!


13 posted on 10/10/2010 1:54:05 PM PDT by TheBattman (They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature...)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

You might want to look at getting Open Office. It’s a free version of Microsoft Office, and is available on Mac, Linux, and Windows.

The only fly in the ointment is that sometimes formatting gets munged a bit when transferring complex documents between it and MS Word. But other than that, it’s great, and a big money saver!

It certainly is worth a look before you shell out for MS Office.


14 posted on 10/10/2010 1:54:27 PM PDT by Yossarian (A pro-life democrat is one who holds out for something in return for his pro-abortion vote.)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
I do typical office things on my computer so I’d assume that I’ll need to get MS Office for Mac.

If your Office usage is light, you may be able to get away with Open Office or NeoOffice, which are both free. If it's moderate to heavy, MS Office 2008 should do the trick.

But if your Office usage is intense (Excel macros and the like), you'll want to have a Windows virtual machine available, in which to run the real thing. Parallels and VMWare both run Windows quite well in a virtual machine. I use Parallels to run both Windows and Linux (the latter mostly).

15 posted on 10/10/2010 1:55:00 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Knowing that Windows was originally created to emulate the look and feel of the Mac, and that certain patents prevented a straightforward copy of will help you to understand just how keyboard shortcuts, buttons and sliders in the Mac desktop graphic user interface came to be the way they are, and why Windows is often the same but backwards, lol.

Seriously, though, if you’re coming from anything as recent as XP, there’s not a great deal of trauma involved and a lot to gain, such as not freaking out about whether to open that e-mail attachment or not.


16 posted on 10/10/2010 1:55:14 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Open Office.


17 posted on 10/10/2010 1:56:32 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
If you have some time do a key word search for “MAC” here on FR and browse the postings.

You can learn a lot and read the latest and greatest on Macs from the Master – Swordmaker.

18 posted on 10/10/2010 1:58:58 PM PDT by Pontiac
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
I am a PC guy who has had to go MAC for a consulting client who runs a MAC shop for reasons known only to his eccentric self. He is a complete computer numb-nuts whop thinks MAC's version of ACT, Daylite, is the greatest thing since frozen fish sticks.

Major pain in the ass. There STIIILLL is not complete functional file interchangeability between the two systems.

This shows up most often in sending MAC e-mail with complex attachments to PC user offices. Speaking of which, MAC Mail is a disaster. Safari is quaint, bit of a disaster and usinmg it as your home page is like getting a MAC catalog every 10 seconds. MAC's Pages is a very sorry excuse for a word processor.

To send a PC recipient a doc, you save to a PDF and send that. They download and save as Word doc. and vice- versa for you. MAC treats documents as "pictures." Not, IMHO, as "thoughts."

Microsoft for MAC has just improved greatly, so many of these interchangeability issues may be lessened.
Then theirre is the problem of applications. Yes it is slowly improving for the MAC. But the fact remains that glitches at the moment, IMHO, outweigh the MAC's undoubted user-friendliness and resistance to viruses.

BTW, The Clintons ran a MAC White House. It has helped them maintain secrecy of the nefarious activities.

19 posted on 10/10/2010 2:04:29 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Revive The Poll Tax and Literacy Requirement for voter registration.)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Look at the refurbished Macs. Yes, that means they’re used; but they come with the same warranty as the new versions, and whatever was originally wrong with them has already been fixed.

I bought my refurbed MacBook Pro about a month ago, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the unit they sent me had twice as much memory as advertised. I was expecting only the standard 4 Gb, but they upgraded me to 8, for free.

iWork is ok, but I don’t think it compares to Office. It’s what a $50 price differential between the two (Home Edition)? Just spend the extra money and get the better product, you’ll thank yourself in the long run. Also, don’t forget that Office 2011 is coming out next month; If you buy a copy of Office before then make sure to sign up with M$ for the upgrade program; they’ll give you the latest version without having to pay any more.


20 posted on 10/10/2010 2:05:17 PM PDT by eclecticEel (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 7/4/1776 - 3/21/2010)
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