Input help on MBA for use as a business backup....

[elazarus]

Hello,

After using an iPod, Ipad 2 (May 2011 and my favorite content browsing maching) and iPhone 4s (March2012 after tossing my Blackberry), I am sold on the Apple as a great system.

For my business, which is online e-commerce, I spend a lot of time online and my desktop is a pretty good PC. For travelling and as an emergency backup computer I have a Thinkpad 14" which is 4 years old and is slow, terrible in finding wifi and heavy. On my last business trip I took my iPad but because of the volume of e-mail it was not a good idea as a notebook replacement on the road.

That being said, I need a notebook to act as my standby computer and also for travel. Before I just go out and automatically buy an ultrabook I thought I would ask the up's and downs of getting a MBA 13". I am sold on the weight, connectivity, functionality and the way Apple does business.

I am not sold on the fact that I need to use Office 2010 (Excel, Work and Outlook) and Quickbooks, both of which I own in the PC version already.

I understand (I think) about Bootcamp and Parallel but I am trying to get my arms around the MBA and those programs just so I can run Office and QB.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I am not asking the old "which should I buy" but more of "how do I make sense of a business backup machine using a different OS.

Thank you

Elliot

 

[jeremyx]

If you're used to a Windows environment and use mostly Win software thee are some great Windows Ultrabooks that offer the same build quality and form factor with equal power and even better connectivity. You should also check out those and how they would fit to your needs.

About the MBA. Sounds like it would fit to your needs nicely. Microsoft has a Mac version of the latest Office and it is pretty good, offers close to a same experience as on Windows. And like you mentioned Windows runs smoothly on MBA, so using mostly OS X shouldn't be a problem because you can always switch back to Windows if needed.

 

[KPOM]

The MacBook Air runs Windows well, and I've had a Windows partition on my Macs for several years now. I've gradually used it less and less. Check out the Windows on Mac forum here for more information.

Note that you'll need a copy of Windows 7. Boot Camp is free, while Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion are around $50 (sometimes there are software bundles that offer them for less). The nice thing about using Parallels or VMWare Fusion is that you can run Windows from within OS X in a virtual machine, rather than having to reboot into Windows the way you do with Boot Camp. Either program can also use the Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine.

If you are just running simple Office files or Outlook, the 4GB model should be fine, though a virtual machine might run a little better on the 8GB model.

Office 2011 is pretty close to Office 2010, but the menu layout is a bit different. It's like a cross between Office 2010 and Office 2003 since the menu bar is still there. It is generally compatible with Office 2010, but note that Outlook saves its files in a different format (you can convert an Outlook PST file one way from Windows to Mac but not the other way). So for several reasons using the Windows version may make sense. Within a virtual machine, Windows 7 boots up in about 15 seconds on the Air.

Consider the storage needs, as well. Windows takes up about 20GB by itself, and Office 2010 about another 15GB. The 256GB SSD may be a good idea so you can have enough room for Windows. If you are running Windows in a VM, then you don't need to worry about setting up a new partition. If you run Boot Camp, it partitions your drive so you'll need to think about how much space you will need.

As for the Mac itself, I find switching back and forth to be pretty easy once you get the hang of it. The biggest differences are that the CMD key is used instead of the Ctrl key for shortcuts, and the default setting of the touchpad is the reverse (it moves the screen in the opposite direction - you can change it).

 

[elazarus]

Thank you

Thank you for responding and for your input.

I will have to go back to the Apple store and take another hard look. I am sure they don't have a machine on display with windows installed to see how it works as an additional OS.

I appreciate your help

Elliot

 

[entatlrg]

If you're used to a Windows environment and use mostly Win software thee are some great Windows Ultrabooks that offer the same build quality and form factor with equal power and even better connectivity. You should also check out those and how they would fit to your needs.

About the MBA. Sounds like it would fit to your needs nicely. Microsoft has a Mac version of the latest Office and it is pretty good, offers close to a same experience as on Windows. And like you mentioned Windows runs smoothly on MBA, so using mostly OS X shouldn't be a problem because you can always switch back to Windows if needed.

You have any examples in mind of great windows ultrabooks?

 

[elazarus]

Ultrabooks.....

Yes, I do actually.

The Samsung NP 900X3C and the Asus Prime UX301a

Samsung has 4gb, 128gb and 1600 x xxx screen

Asus has 1920 x xxxx, 4gb and 128.

Both have Windows 7 Home Premium.

Elliot