I'm looking to replace my wife's 4 year old Dell laptop. Since she's happy with her iPhone and iPad, I'm considering getting my first Mac.
We have always been a PC family. But since it seems like most programs files can run on a Mac, there is little risk to mixing it up a bit. She does 99% of of her work on her company issued laptop. This would be used mostly for email, photo editing, light MS Office use (she writes a lot), internet, etc...not a lot of intense usage that requires the biggest/fastest machine out there.
I have Windows 8 on my computer. She's not a big fan of a major OS change, so it may be a good time to switch to a Mac OS...if she's going to have to change anyway.....
She's also interested in having a big screen display when she's using it at the desk, but still have the portability of a laptop.
So my questions are -
1) How much different is the Mac OS coming from Windows and is it pretty easy to go back and forth?
2) Am I correct that most Windows programs and files will run on a Mac? We have access to a deeply discounted MS Office for Mac...is that pretty similar to the Windows version? Are files 100% compatible?
3) Looking at the Apple store, the only display listed is the huge 27 inch Thunderbolt display. Are smaller monitors compatible? I'm assuming a standard DVI or VGA adapter works fine - but just wanted to be sure....
4) How durable are Macs? I wasn't worried until I looked through this forum and see threads about failing hard drives, overheating, Applecare - etc. And it seems like every signature has a newer MacBook in it.
When I buy a $600 laptop, my expectations aren't high. The wireless card died on her old machine and now many of the keys stick. But for 4 years it was a reliable computer. For 2-3 times that amount, I'm expecting something that is ROCK solid and worry free for years.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. This is a pretty big investment and I want to make sure I feel 100% confident that it's the right one to make....
We have always been a PC family. But since it seems like most programs files can run on a Mac, there is little risk to mixing it up a bit. She does 99% of of her work on her company issued laptop. This would be used mostly for email, photo editing, light MS Office use (she writes a lot), internet, etc...not a lot of intense usage that requires the biggest/fastest machine out there.
I have Windows 8 on my computer. She's not a big fan of a major OS change, so it may be a good time to switch to a Mac OS...if she's going to have to change anyway.....
She's also interested in having a big screen display when she's using it at the desk, but still have the portability of a laptop.
So my questions are -
1) How much different is the Mac OS coming from Windows and is it pretty easy to go back and forth?
2) Am I correct that most Windows programs and files will run on a Mac? We have access to a deeply discounted MS Office for Mac...is that pretty similar to the Windows version? Are files 100% compatible?
3) Looking at the Apple store, the only display listed is the huge 27 inch Thunderbolt display. Are smaller monitors compatible? I'm assuming a standard DVI or VGA adapter works fine - but just wanted to be sure....
4) How durable are Macs? I wasn't worried until I looked through this forum and see threads about failing hard drives, overheating, Applecare - etc. And it seems like every signature has a newer MacBook in it.
When I buy a $600 laptop, my expectations aren't high. The wireless card died on her old machine and now many of the keys stick. But for 4 years it was a reliable computer. For 2-3 times that amount, I'm expecting something that is ROCK solid and worry free for years.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. This is a pretty big investment and I want to make sure I feel 100% confident that it's the right one to make....
