Couple questions for MAC users

[patrickrlewis]

By the end of the year, I am going to purchase a new laptop and move the one I am using now to be what I play movies through on my TV instead of buying a desktop.

I am starting to question whether I should buy a PC or MAC and would like anyone who uses a MAC to chime in here. I have a couple questions, and they will probably seem obvious, but I am a computer idiot so bear with me

1. My biggest concern is switching all my documents from one to the other. Not just the word and excel files, but all my email addresses. My company's Outlook file currently has close to 11,000 venues across the country in it, and that number will be much higher soon because of another database I just bought. How easy is it going to be to switch that over to the MAC, and also, what email program like Outlook is available on the MAC?

2. I have almost finished converting all my videos into Itunes format now since I have switched to using an Ipod, but right now I am using MyDVD Premier 10 to burn the DVD's (not movies, but concert footage for the bands I work with, lol). I don't really want to have to drop more money on a DVD burning program again. Do MAC's come with a pre-installed DVD burning software suite? Or is it like a PC, where you only get a trial version and have to buy the upgrade to everything.

3. I really only use the computer for light internet surfing, email, music and video. Is a MAC really the way to go or should I just sticking with a Windows based machine?

Any other comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[honeybee1236]

Since your post didn't state that you already read this information I am posting these links so that you can read them at your leisure. I would advise you to read it before purchase since it is chocked full of good info. I did this before I purchased my first mac and it was very helpful in helping me make that decision to purchase my first Mac.

This is the Apple site map page: http://www.apple.com/sitemap/ You can read the "iLife" section which is about the software that comes pre installed on the Mac and is not a trial version.

-Mobile Me is the current email account but you will have to purchase this for a starting price of $99. Read the 'learn more' info for all you get for that yearly price.

-Read the section on "Considering a Mac" for additional information and answers to questions about Macs.

-Mac OSX Leopard: http://www.apple.com/macosx/

- Switchers 101 informs you on how to migrate from windows to mac as well as other infomation: http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

[S2_Mac]

1) LOL -- what email program like Outlook is available on the Mac? You mean, which email app can make me swear and sweat as much as Outlook? There's a couple.... <g> MS Office for Mac includes Entourage...not as massive as Outlook, but it works OK. Check out Microsoft's take on Entourage or see what normal people think of converting O to E. The actual "converting" is a snap; use something like Outlook2Mac; only $10.

Apple's Mail is competent; there's also Eudora, Thunderbird, etc. If your company upgrades, you can run Exchange on the Mac. Plenty of anti-spam apps available; Mail has good filtering. (Being able to AppleScript the Mail app is also quite nice ;-)

2) Your Mac will come with iLife -- iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, iPhoto, some other stuff -- it really couldn't be easier. If you wanna go nuts, you can purchase Logic or Final Cut....

3) iTunes is a real joy on Macs; Front Row is pretty cool, too. Safari is a solid browser; and of course there's Firefox (and Camino and Opera, etc.). GarageBand is unbeatable, iMovie and iDVD too.

And all the tired old noise -- the last time I was exposed to a virus/trojan/malware on my Macs was...back in the '80s ;-); if you already own a license to a Windows OS installer, just buy Parallels on sale for $50 and run your Windows software on your Mac; configuring tends to be real simple...it's literally three clicks to get on the internet (wired), a few more clicks for wireless; no hassles with drive letters, driver conflicts, WGA, on and on....

That said, I see no pressing need for you to switch. Sounds lke you live in a Windows culture, and you seem to be OK using an MS system. Why the interest in trying out a Mac? Is there some specific complaint you've got with what you're running now?

[Galley]

You will need FREE software to convert e-mail from Microsoft's proprietary to the standard UNIX format that Mail uses.

iWork '08 ($79) reads and writes to Word and Excel files, but there's also free alternatives like NeoOffice.

[xboxman]

1. My biggest concern is switching all my documents from one to the other. Not just the word and excel files, but all my email addresses. My company's Outlook file currently has close to 11,000 venues across the country in it, and that number will be much higher soon because of another database I just bought. How easy is it going to be to switch that over to the MAC, and also, what email program like Outlook is available on the MAC?

Entourage works pretty well I have found. You might want a second opinion on this though because I use it infrequently.

2. I have almost finished converting all my videos into Itunes format now since I have switched to using an Ipod, but right now I am using MyDVD Premier 10 to burn the DVD's (not movies, but concert footage for the bands I work with, lol). I don't really want to have to drop more money on a DVD burning program again. Do MAC's come with a pre-installed DVD burning software suite? Or is it like a PC, where you only get a trial version and have to buy the upgrade to everything.

One word dude, iLife You won't truly appreciate it until some months down the line when you need to do something, and after over thinking the problem, you will find that something in the iLife suite would have done it with ease.

3. I really only use the computer for light internet surfing, email, music and video. Is a MAC really the way to go or should I just sticking with a Windows based machine?

It's no worse the Windows, but on the other hand I wouldn't say it has changed the way I listen to music/watch dvds or anything lol. It's functional, and it handles stuff nicely. I still use Firefox to Safari though, and I would love to see a version of Google Chrome on here too (using it right now on my Vista partition, I am in love!).

Any other comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


You will come to adore your Mac like most of us do. However, don't switch with some great expectation of something new and ground breaking. OS X is simple, runs smooth and you don't really have to worry about it. It just does it job leaving you to get on with yours. On the other hand, my dad has just brought a new Vaio with Vista and it isn't too shabby either. I think at the end of the day it comes down to whether you fancy a change or not.