Need some computer help, specifically from Apple users

[SteveBrown]

I really dont know where to ask this, so sorry admins if this is the wrong place. I have 4 pc's in my house, all on xp except one that is vista. And seeing that one is my daughters, I do not want to continue buying Microsoft problems.

I need a laptop for school and I am strongly considering a apple laptop. Is there any problem say writing something on Microsoft word, and trying to use it on a apple PC, or vise versa?

What about things like photo editing, like google picasso?

Am I in for a world of hurt if I am so used to windows?

Any suggestions, ideas, or recommendations are highly appreciated.

[Tony-S]

MS Office is available for Mac OS X. You can go back and forth so long as you use the same file format (doc on legacy, docx on 07/08 ). Your photo options are about the same on a Mac as your PC. Don't know anything about picasso, though. You can also run Windows XP or Vista on your Mac.

Advice - get as much RAM and HD space as possible.

[rklepper]

Right now you can get great bargains on Adobe stuff when you buy a Mac.

[SteveBrown]

Right now you can get great bargains on Adobe stuff when you buy a Mac.


I can get cs3 for $300, or elements for $69 through the school bookstore.

[ugly_a]

File compatibilities are not really a problem anymore if you're only sharing word documents and PDFs. MAC is perfectly fine for most purposes except certain specialized software only available for Windows. I'm not sure what kind of program you're pursuing, but in my experience most specialized software for hard sciences and engineering is in the Windows domain - other fields I am not so sure.

[Moppie]

And seeing that one is my daughters, I do not want to continue buying Microsoft problems.



You can either have Bill's problems or Steves problems.
Personally, I would rather have Bills problems.


We use Linux with open office, XP with open office, and office 03, OS-X with Office 07 at work, and I use Vista with Office 07 at home.

No problems at all sharing text documents between any of software suites or operating systems, same with picutres, video etc.
Basic spread sheets work on all the different combinations as well.
I even transfer documents and spread sheets between the systems by uploading them to google docs.

Anything more complex done in Excel can have problems though. I use Pivot tables that will only display on the XP and Vista machines running Office.
They display in Open office, but have no fucntionality, and the Macbook runs out of memory trying to open them (that's one of Steves problems, not Bills).



OS-X is, Different.
It takes a bit of getting used to if you are familar with a Windows environment. Different people will adapt in different ways, I personaly get frustrated using the Mac at work, just some of the ways it handles files are just to different, a lot of it seems to be form over function.
But, it is the latest version of OS-X running on a the lowest possible spec Mac Book. It's a bit like putting Vista on a budget computer, it will work but it is not an ideal environment to work in.
Plenty of other people at work have no problems with it though, some enjoy it more than a PC, and I know one person is planning to buy a new Mac instead of a PC for home use because he enjoys useing the Mac at work so much.



I would recomend going into a retailer that sells Macs, and spending some time useing one. If you find your getting the hang of it quite quickly, and you enjoy it, then that is a good thing.

Also check what software you want to run, there is still plenty of software out there that is PC only, or Mac only.