Need some compatibility advice

[canuckle]

Hi all,

Recent Apple convert (iPad 1, iPhone 4, new iPad, MBP, Apple TV, all within the last 14 months ).

Next purchase is an iMac 27", but there are some questions I need help with. 'The Boss' (ie. wife ) uses our main computer quite a bit for work, and currently uses Outlook for email. While it's mostly email communication, she does occasionally need to send a flyer to a distribution list. Using Outlook, you would go to the file (usually a .jpg that's been scanned) and right click, sent to recipient, and the .jpg appears in the body of th email. The .jpg being in the BODY, rather than as an attachment, is critical.

Question: Can the native Apple Mail app do this? If not, is there another solution that doesn't involve Microsoft? I'm aiming to expunge the Gates poison from all areas of my network

I'm somewhat familiar with iWork and it seems like there would not be much missing there compared to MS Office, but feel free to comment on this as well. The rest of the use is typical home use for both of us, surfing, photo editing and collection, personal email, itunes, etc. I would prefer NOT to run Windows via VM or Bootcamp, but I'm open to it if necessary. The Boss is not the best with tech, so it just needs to work and be easy (hence going with Apple).

Any and all comments appreciated, I may have more questions.

THANK YOU!

Mike

 

[GGJstudios]

The .jpg being in the BODY, rather than as an attachment, is critical.

Question: Can the native Apple Mail app do this?

Yes, you can drag and drop images into the body of an email in Mail.app. However, whether it appears in the body or as an attachment to the recipient depends entirely on the recipient's mail client and settings, over which you have no control.

 

[Medic278]

Yes, you can drag and drop images into the body of an email in Mail.app. However, whether it appears in the body or as an attachment to the recipient depends entirely on the recipient's mail client and settings, over which you have no control.

As GGJ stated its very easy and simple, your wife shouldn't have any problem doing so. You'll love the iMac and so will your wife, for word processing I prefer Pages over iWorks. Pages is a great word processing app that is very similar to Microsoft word, but in my opinion is better and easier to use. Its great your making the switch and purging Gates from your life lol

 

[canuckle]

Pages is a great word processing app that is very similar to Microsoft word, but in my opinion is better and easier to use. Its great your making the switch and purging Gates from your life lol

Thank you both for the quick responses! Agreed on Pages, I have it on the MBP and I quite like it, same with Numbers.

So the question I'll have to answer still is " what WON'T I be able to do that I can do now, or what will be harder". I think the answer is nothing, but that's because I'm a newb. I'm fine either way, but just want to know going it.

How about filing? In Windows you go to Windows Explorer or My Documents and you have a tree of folders and sub-folders. It's one thing I haven't really dug into on the MBP.

 

[GGJstudios]

How about filing? In Windows you go to Windows Explorer or My Documents and you have a tree of folders and sub-folders. It's one thing I haven't really dug into on the MBP.

On the Mac, you use Finder to look at files and folders.

Helpful Information for Any Mac User

 

[Razorhog]

Thank you both for the quick responses! Agreed on Pages, I have it on the MBP and I quite like it, same with Numbers.

So the question I'll have to answer still is " what WON'T I be able to do that I can do now, or what will be harder". I think the answer is nothing, but that's because I'm a newb. I'm fine either way, but just want to know going it.

How about filing? In Windows you go to Windows Explorer or My Documents and you have a tree of folders and sub-folders. It's one thing I haven't really dug into on the MBP.

Use your MBP to experiment with Finder. Once you get used to the differences, I think you'll find that filing and working with files is much better in OS X than on Windows. There are a lot of good guides on the 'net. Check out this one I just found: http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1743626

 

[canuckle]

Excellent, thank you both (for your patience too, lol).

 

[Medic278]

Thank you both for the quick responses! Agreed on Pages, I have it on the MBP and I quite like it, same with Numbers.

So the question I'll have to answer still is " what WON'T I be able to do that I can do now, or what will be harder". I think the answer is nothing, but that's because I'm a newb. I'm fine either way, but just want to know going it.

How about filing? In Windows you go to Windows Explorer or My Documents and you have a tree of folders and sub-folders. It's one thing I haven't really dug into on the MBP.

To be honest there is really nothing you can't do. If there is a program you want that is windows only and cannot find a mac program that is comparable you run Windows via bootcamp. In fact if your wife decides that she doesn't like OSX then that maybe a viable solution for you, you get the awesomeness that is OSX and your wife can continue to use Windows in bootcamp. Either way you can't go wrong getting an iMac.

 

[canuckle]

Another quick Apple Mail question: In Outlook you can create folders to manage messages, can this be done in the native Mail app? I'm somewhat familiar with 'Smart Mailboxes, but that's not exactly what I have in mind.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Another quick Apple Mail question: In Outlook you can create folders to manage messages, can this be done in the native Mail app? I'm somewhat familiar with 'Smart Mailboxes, but that's not exactly what I have in mind.

Yes absolutely, you can create folders and you also have more control that what I found with Outlook. The ONLY thing I've been able to find since making the switch that I liked in Outlook that I can't do in Apple's apps is to schedule an email. For example if I want to schedule when an email is sent I can't do that in the Mail app. It's a minor inconvenience and really nothing to worry about if you never used that feature in Outlook.

 

[canuckle]

Yes absolutely, you can create folders and you also have more control that what I found with Outlook. The ONLY thing I've been able to find since making the switch that I liked in Outlook that I can't do in Apple's apps is to schedule an email. For example if I want to schedule when an email is sent I can't do that in the Mail app. It's a minor inconvenience and really nothing to worry about if you never used that feature in Outlook.

Interesting, I've never used that feature so wouldn't miss it. Thanks for taking the time to chime in

 

[canuckle]

OK we did it!! New iMac is in and I'm in the process of getting rid of Gates once and for all. So far so good

Quick question, not windows related though. I've been syncing my iPhone and iPad to my MBP, but would like to change that over to the iMac. How do I move it all over without losing the pages, folders, on the iOS devices? In other words when I plug in the iPhone to the iMac it tells me it will replace all my 'stuff' with whats in the iMac. Can I import the info etc from the MBP so I don't have to set it all up again?

Thanks, sorry to be a dummy with this (pretty excited though!).

Mike

 

[canuckle]

Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to do this?

 

[Razorhog]

Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to do this?

This article is a little old, but it should get the job done.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1146958/move_itunes_windows_mac.html