Mac versus Msoft

[joninliverton]

I'm thinking of replacing this laptop with an Apple Mac. The main reason is battery life and also constantly upgrading anti virus s/ware.

Can the more pc literate people in here advise what the positives and negatives are if I were to purchase a Mac. I do understand that Macs are more expensive but I would save up if it meant a much better laptop than this rubbish.

Some questions I have are:-

Would I still be able to play my saved Broke Straight Boys movies which I now play via windows media ?

Would I be able to use msn or yahoo messenger for chatting and video calls or would I have to use Skype ?

I have backed up my ms office files on external hdd, would I be able to open those and if so with what programme.

Thanks in advance.

jon xx

 

[Jayman01]

With everything that I have read you are wise to go with MAC. It just works pretty much right out of the box.

I still use a PC. I am getting closer to making the switch myself.

 

[sloopy]

Jon,
Your timing is great, as Apple has just updated all their laptops except for the AIR, within the past 3 weeks. All of them have better graphics cards, better battery life and improved processors.

As for compatibility, you can easily play all WMV videos that do not have DRM (Broke Straight Boys videos are fine) using a FREE windows media software called Flip4Mac (flip4mac.com) that has worked flawlessly for me for several years.

Yahoo and Microsoft both have messaging programs for the Mac, as does Skype - also, Mac includes iChat which works with AIM users and other Mac users with very high-quality video.

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is going for about $99 with coupons or rebates at the moment. (at least the version with the basics - Word, Excel and PowerPoint.) Apple also has its own office suite, iWork - which has Pages, Numbers and Keynote - all of which can open and/or export to Microsoft office compatible files.

The biggest challenge that seems to hang up PC switchers is that there is no step 3... basically they try and find a more complicated route to get something done, because they don't expect it to be so intuitive.

Mac isn't perfect, PC isn't perfect, they both have their quirks - having used both consistently for 20+ years, I far and away prefer the Mac, but that's me. One nice thing about a Mac laptop, however, is that you can use Apple's FREE BootCamp software to install Windows (XP, Vista or 7) and then you have 2 machines in one, once you're set up, just power on while holding the "option" key and you can choose to boot your machine as either a PC or a Mac. (You must supply your own full Windows install disc...)

Good Luck!

 

[silvercamel]

I'm thinking of replacing this laptop with an Apple Mac. The main reason is battery life and also constantly upgrading anti virus s/ware.

Can the more pc literate people in here advise what the positives and negatives are if I were to purchase a Mac. I do understand that Macs are more expensive but I would save up if it meant a much better laptop than this rubbish.

Some questions I have are:-

Would I still be able to play my saved Broke Straight Boys movies which I now play via windows media ?

Would I be able to use msn or yahoo messenger for chatting and video calls or would I have to use Skype ?

I have backed up my ms office files on external hdd, would I be able to open those and if so with what programme.

Thanks in advance.

jon xx

Love my Mac...can do everything on it...little worry about viruses...the only thing i don't know is whether you can transfer files from your pc (like stored vids) to the mac....someone else may know about that....

 

[scorpio]

I always wanted to switch to a MAC until I bought my new PC last year. It kicks ass. I'm just used to PC and I'll probably stick to it, learning a lot new way to work is not really for me. I like old habits. PC for me.

Plus not knowing if my programs will work or not on a mac turns me off.

With that said, it's just my opinion. I hear lots of good things about MAC.

 

[joninliverton]

Thanks guys, the jury's still out.