A PC user may switch to a MAC

[stevenfarrisohi]

Greeting friends:
I am a PC user of the last 20 years. I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of locking up, viruses, ad-ware, and a slow system. I have been reviewing the MacBook Pro. I was ready to purchase a new Dell XPS 1530 and I cannot believe how cheap this notebook looks.

I need some honest insight. I use my notebook daily! I am working on my MBA and spend most of the time on the web and using MS Office app's. I am now dabbling in multimedia video and audio. I have diabetes and need a screen with excellent text clarity.

I have heard rumors that MACs lock up and you cannot shut them off??? I have heard that the batteries must be taken out in order to make them shut down??? You know those MAC vrs. PC rumors...I have a two year old Dell desktop which I will keeping for a while -- so here are my questions?

Based on my heavy MS office use is th MacBook pro for me?
Will my PC and MAC be able to communicate? (i.e. are word documents given a .doc extension?

Will it easily pick up my home network?

Help! I am so frightened to take the plunge!

 

[thefunkymunky]

I think someone is trying to lead you up the wrong path with those silly rumors about Macs you've just mentioned. Simply aren't true.

Using a Mac will be like taking a breath of fresh air compared to Windows. Since you are used to Office you can get the newly released Mac version of Office, Office 2008. You shouldn't have any problem getting you Mac to integrate with your home network, in fact, it'll be easier to setup than on Windows.

Since you intend to get into multimedia A/V the MBP is probably the better option for you (hold off buying for a week or so as they are rumored to be updated very soon).

 

[Maccleduff]

Greeting friends:
I am a PC user of the last 20 years. I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of locking up, viruses, ad-ware, and a slow system. I have been reviewing the MacBook Pro. I was ready to purchase a new Dell XPS 1530 and I cannot believe how cheap this notebook looks.

I need some honest insight. I use my notebook daily! I am working on my MBA and spend most of the time on the web and using MS Office app's. I am now dabbling in multimedia video and audio. I have diabetes and need a screen with excellent text clarity.

I have heard rumors that MACs lock up and you cannot shut them off??? I have heard that the batteries must be taken out in order to make them shut down??? You know those MAC vrs. PC rumors...I have a two year old Dell desktop which I will keeping for a while -- so here are my questions?

Based on my heavy MS office use is th MacBook pro for me?
Will my PC and MAC be able to communicate? (i.e. are word documents given a .doc extension?

Will it easily pick up my home network?

Help! I am so frightened to take the plunge!

MS Office 2008 is now out for mac, and files will be compatible with the windows version.

Yep it will connect to your home network easily and be able to share files with windows pc ,etc

I say go for it, once you hav eused a mac youll never go back to windows!

If you ahve any more questions just ask.

 

[Applespider]

I have diabetes and need a screen with excellent text clarity.

Bear in mind that Macs and PCs show text differently. You may think that the Mac looks slightly fuzzy initially. I use a Mac at home and a PC at work and now the PC looks too harsh. It's easier to read the Mac's screen for longer periods to my eyes but others may find it the other way round. There are a few webpages about it since when Safari came out for windows, it didn't use Cleartype so there were debates over which was better.

I have heard rumors that MACs lock up and you cannot shut them off??? I have heard that the batteries must be taken out in order to make them shut down???

Macs have an off button just like every other computer although must say that I've rarely used mine. Mac goes to sleep, Mac wakes up, goes to sleep etc. There is a Mac equivalent of Ctrl, Alt, Del but hopefully you'll rarely need to use it.

Will my PC and MAC be able to communicate? (i.e. are word documents given a .doc extension?

If you're using Office on both, then yes. There are a few oddities that you may have to deal with in preferences for example with dates in Excel which are calculated from different start points. The new Mac 2008 can't use PC Macros in Excel so that might be a deal killer - and while it seems to have a few more limitations in terms of how many rows of pivot tables you can have open.

Will it easily pick up my home network?

Should do. When you first start it up, it will try to pick up your network - just enter your password (and network name if that's hidden) and bingo.

 

[joefinan]

You won't regret it - MS Office works on the Mac, Macs are excellently built and very untuitive (but they are electronic equipment so will never be totally problem-free, but they generally are). Even documents created on Apple iWork will open in MS Office (and vice versa).

If all fails and you hate OSX (which I could not believe) or you find a certain program won't work on the Mac, don't forget Macs will also run Windows.

You'll love it! But my advice is not to buy until they announce the new MBP - hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

By the way, say 'working on my MBA' on here and all the Mac fans will think you mean MacBook Air, which hasn't shipped yet!!

 

[stomer]

I have heard rumors that MACs lock up and you cannot shut them off??? I have heard that the batteries must be taken out in order to make them shut down???

I have a MacBook, and that has NEVER happened to me. Once or twice in the past year of Mac ownership, Tiger would fail to shutdown by itself, simply holding the power button for 4 seconds sorted out that problem. I've only ever removed the battery to install new memory/hard disk.

Will it easily pick up my home network?

Should work better than a Windows machine. My wife's Vista laptop occasionally decides it can't find our network whilst my MacBook as never ever had any issue. Of course, you may have different results with different routers.

The Mac hardware and software are both fine. Leopard is solid, and the hardware is too. Your main concern will be Office compatibility but you can always use Vmware or bootcamp if you eventually find that compatibility is indeed an issue.

 

[Stianu89]

Ive been using windows since windows 95!

Now im 18 years old and i just bought a macbook pro 17"

+ The macbook pro is great! I also have the high res screen which is great!
+ Everything runs smoother than a windows machine! My programs uses like 0.0000 secs to open!
+ Leopard crushes Vista! I cant mention anything that is better on windows then on a mac!
+ you now have office 2008 which is great! And many other programs you would use with windows!

- i dont have any negatives at this point!
- just one, i regret waiting this long to switch to os x!

 

[deputy_doofy]

...and, dare I say it, but if you need Windows, you can install it via Bootcamp, Parallels, or VM Ware.

I have a Macbook Pro and, for the fun of it, have Windows XP and Windows 98 installed. They run full speed. I also have a Mac emulator that lets me run the old operating systems, such as OS 7.5 and below. I did have Ubuntu Linux installed for a time, but I have since removed it. I'm sure Win 98 will be following.

So, buy the MBP and have the only computer you'll ever need™.