Switching (probably) - some questions

bilyou · Jul 18, 2005

We need to update our computer equipment and I've managed to persuade my wife (and myself!) to move from windows to mac.

We're thinking of gettin a 12" Powerbook with a 20" or 23" Cinema display and wireless keyboard and mouse.

I've got some questions though before we make the jump to mac, maybe someone could be kind enough to reply?

1. How easy is it to import files from a Win98 sytem onto a mac?

2. Can you network a Win98 (or Win2000/WinXP) laptop and a powerbook together?

3. How good is MSOffice for mac? Any compatibility problems with Office docs sent from a Windows PC?

4. Are there any compatibility problems with downloading files sent by email from a Windows PC to a mac?

5. Can I play a CD on the powerbook and route the sound out to a stereo through an audio cable? Can you do this wirelessly with AirportExpress? Also for music played through iTunes?

6. Can I play a normal DVD movie on the Powerbook and we can watch it fullscreen on the Cinema display? If we play the sound for the DVD through a stereo connected either by an audio cable or AirportExpress will it still be in sync with the video?

Thanks for any help....

iSaint · Jul 18, 2005

bilyou said:
We need to update our computer equipment and I've managed to persuade my wife (and myself!) to move from windows to mac.

We're thinking of gettin a 12" Powerbook with a 20" or 23" Cinema display and wireless keyboard and mouse.

I've got some questions though before we make the jump to mac, maybe someone could be kind enough to reply?

1. How easy is it to import files from a Win98 sytem onto a mac?

I was able to network my W2K desktop to my iBook and transferred files easily that way. There's also a crossover cable available you can just hook up directly and transfer that way.

2. Can you network a Win98 (or Win2000/WinXP) laptop and a powerbook together?

Yes, do some forum searches (it's early and I gotta get the kids up otherwise I'd link you.

3. How good is MSOffice for mac? Any compatibility problems with Office docs sent from a Windows PC?

No problems at all. Word is a little temperamental, but overall Office has better features in Mac than the MS version. Again, do some forum searches here, there's lots to be said. Also, macworld.com had a great review on Office several months back.

4. Are there any compatibility problems with downloading files sent by email from a Windows PC to a mac?

No. Preview opens PDF documents. Office opens others. I think AppleWorks is compatable although there will be someone else on this forum that can answer that one better.

5. Can I play a CD on the powerbook and route the sound out to a stereo through an audio cable? Can you do this wirelessly with AirportExpress? Also for music played through iTunes?

Yes, yes and yes. Some adapters needed for the stereo audio cable though.

6. Can I play a normal DVD movie on the Powerbook and we can watch it fullscreen on the Cinema display? If we play the sound for the DVD through a stereo connected either by an audio cable or AirportExpress will it still be in sync with the video?

That would be a question better handled by someone on this forum who has this equipment, or better knowledge than I.

Thanks for any help....

Sure! And welcome to the bright side of computing! You've already picked a great forum to seek help on. Just search out your answers and ask questions, everyone here is very helpful!

Mitthrawnuruodo · Jul 18, 2005

bilyou said:
1. How easy is it to import files from a Win98 sytem onto a mac?
2. Can you network a Win98 (or Win2000/WinXP) laptop and a powerbook together?
3. How good is MSOffice for mac? Any compatibility problems with Office docs sent from a Windows PC?
4. Are there any compatibility problems with downloading files sent by email from a Windows PC to a mac?
5. Can I play a CD on the powerbook and route the sound out to a stereo through an audio cable? Can you do this wirelessly with AirportExpress? Also for music played through iTunes?
6. Can I play a normal DVD movie on the Powerbook and we can watch it fullscreen on the Cinema display? If we play the sound for the DVD through a stereo connected either by an audio cable or AirportExpress will it still be in sync with the video?

1 & 2. Fairly easy. Link
3. Most people will say that the Mac version is actually superior to the Windows version. Just note that there's no Mac version of Access.
4. Only compatibility problem is that viruses don't work on the Mac...

Seriously: You should not have problems with this.
5. I used to play music from my iBook to my HiFi using an audio cable until I bought an AirPort Express. No I stream my music wirelessly to my HiFi using AirTunes

. Very nice, my iBook is, literary, my jukebox. If you use iTunes to play the CD (which is default) then it doesn't matter if the music comes from a CD or your iTunes Library.
6. Yes you can view full screen when watching DVDs. But if you want audio over the HiFi you should use an audio cable. Because AirTunes only works with iTunes and there's a delay on the sound when using AirTunes, because the sound is encoded, encrypted and buffered before it's sent.

the future · Jul 18, 2005

6. With AirFoil (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) you can send audio other than iTunes to your Airport Express.

wPod · Jul 18, 2005

iSaint answered everything well. so here is a response to 6

bilyou said:
6. Can I play a normal DVD movie on the Powerbook and we can watch it fullscreen on the Cinema display? If we play the sound for the DVD through a stereo connected either by an audio cable or AirportExpress will it still be in sync with the video?

yes, you can play any 'normal' DVD on a powerbook. and you can watch it full screen on the cinema display. the 23" is HD and I am pretty sure all of the current powerbooks support HD. if the movie is in letterbox format (aka widescreen) you can adjust it using DVD playwer prefs to take up the full screen. movie buffs might not like this b/c it takes away a small amount of image from the movie, but in my opinion it still looks better than the amount of cropping done to fit a movie onto a normal TV (not widescreen) i have a PB connected to a 20" dell monitor (exact screen as the apple 20") and i think it works great (although mine is a rev A PB and does not support HD, not to mention its VGA not DVI like the new PBs) thats probably more of an answer than you needed, but yes, it will work! <edit>except for the audio, i missed that part, it will work through a wire, but apple does not support audio over airport express except for iTunes. check out the reccomended 3rd party app for DVD sound, i have not tried it myself, though I like the idea of it.

20rogersc · Jul 18, 2005

bilyou said:
3. How good is MSOffice for mac? Any compatibility problems with Office docs sent from a Windows PC?

Mitthrawnuruodo said:
3. Most people will say that the Mac version is actually superior to the Windows version. Just note that there's no Mac version of Access.

I totally agree, no compatibility problems at all, and so much better. But why spend all that money on Office:Mac, when you can get OpenOffice/NeoOffice for free. I would reccomend either of these apps (NeoOffice is for Mac OS X, OpenOffice requires X11 - UNIX), which work just as well, with PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc for compatibility.

Hope this helps.

::20ROGERSC::

devilot · Jul 18, 2005

I definitely am not qualified to answer most of your questions but...

bilyou said:
We need to update our computer equipment and I've managed to persuade my wife (and myself!) to move from windows to mac.

We're thinking of gettin a 12" Powerbook with a 20" or 23" Cinema display and wireless keyboard and mouse...

Congrats, that sounds like an awesome set up!

bilyou said:
3. How good is MSOffice for mac? Any compatibility problems with Office docs sent from a Windows PC?

I have MS office for Mac 2004... I love it. And I'm also a fellow switcher and I did give those other free office suites a whirl, but having used Windows pretty much my whole life, the other apps felt too alien, too different, I couldn't get the hang of them. I'm much happier having spent some money to get MS office and I know I can get more work done more efficiently because I'm not trying to figure out where different tools and functions are. And no, I haven't had any compatibility issues w/ office docs from Mac to windows PC; interestingly, MS office 2004 has a "compatibility check" that checks for compatibility w/ previous versions of MS office as well as towards a windows machine.

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Switching (probably) - some questions

bilyou

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iSaint

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the future

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devilot

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