Thinking of going with Mac notebook when these conk out. Would it be a big hassle to convert my Excel spreadsheets and Microsoft Word documents to Mac? How about Email? My wife uses it a lot and prints out funny things to send to non-computer friends.
Macs come with Excel and Word. The formats are identical. I run Linux, my business partner uses a Mac and our associates in Taiwan use Windows. Never had a problem, except with that blasted rar compression.
What email system do you use? All of my email is web-based, so the computer type doesn't matter.
I use Mozilla Thunderbird and the wife uses Outlook. Guess we could adapt, though. I went to Mozilla because Outlook was screwing up my new Canon printer. I'm not technical enough to know where my Email is running.
MS Office (Outlook, Excel, Word) is available for $$$ for the Mac but I do not believe Office "comes with" it. You might want to try the freebie OpenOffice which can work (create, read, modify, save etc.) with Excel spreadsheets. You can get Thunderbird for your Mac and your wife can probably use the email client that comes with the Mac as it appears you keep separate email accounts.
Dave
Life doesn't come with a safety fence around it... enjoy it anyway.
david_42 wrote: Macs come with Excel and Word. The formats are identical. I run Linux, my business partner uses a Mac and our associates in Taiwan use Windows. Never had a problem, except with that blasted rar compression.
What email system do you use? All of my email is web-based, so the computer type doesn't matter.
What some of the other posts are referring to is running a Windows session on a Mac.
Personally, I wouldn't ever recommend to anyone that they install a Windows application on a Mac. There are WAY more Windows applications on the market than Mac applications. However, the most popular applications have Mac versions. THAT is what I would recommend.
A Mac will come with an Excel-like and a Word-like application. On a Mac, a spreadsheet application known as "Numbers", and a word processor application known as "Pages" will be available.
Functionality is nearly identical to Excel and Word, respectively.
Any existing spreadsheets or documents you import to the Mac will probably be recognized by the Mac applications. One good thing (among many) with buying a Mac: you can get the local Apple store to move all your info to the new machine. A great way to avoid any hassles with the movement, and when you get it back, it'll make you wonder why you didn't go Mac sooner.
Better read this quickly... it'll might get deleted 'cuz I used the "M" word several times.
It doesn't matter to me if you don't own a Mac.
It should matter to YOU that you're still tethered to Microsoft.
2004 Ford F350 PSD 6L 4x4 Crew Cab.
2007 Jayco Eagle 322 FKS.
Camping with DW Terry,
Bobi-Sue and Billy-Joe,
Westhighland White Terriers
I switched a couple of years ago and wouldn't go back. I'm retired but I did a little consulting last year. The company I was working with, like most, uses Word, Excel and Internet Explorer exclusively (for collaboration). Anyhow, I bought MS Office for the Mac and, of course, just downloaded IE. Worked OK. As an alternative, you can run the Mac as a Mac and a Windows machine at the same time and just switch between the two. To do that, I used a program called Parallels and it worked OK too. You can use any mail program. I use the appropriately named Mac mail application, Mail. It a POP mail program like Eudora or Outlook and so on. Or you can use Firefox or Explorer or whatever to access your email via a browser. Anyhow, if you do go to the Mac I would suggest you buy the book, Switching to the Mac by David Pogue or some other like it as it makes the switch easier. It's a lot of fun learning the subtle differences between the Windows and Mac operating systems. Good luck.
jor
You get Apple's Mail program along with an address book included with your Mac computer and they will import your existing Outlook files so you won't miss a beat.
Optionally if you buy Microsoft Office for Mac you get Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Entourage. Entourage is the Mac equivalent to Outlook.
Davydd
2005 Pleasure-Way Plateau Sprinter B Camper Van
Davydd is the Welsh spelling for David with an English twist using a v instead of an f. See Our Pleasure-Way and my pork tenderloin sandwiches
Visited states in an RV
If you get Microsoft Office for Mac at the time you buy your Mac it is fairly inexpensive. The full version has everything you are likely to need for a home office. I have never had a compatibility problem between the Windows and the Mac versions of office.
Most e-mail clients have a Mac version so there shouldn't be a problem with e- mail.
The Apple web site has a lot of good information. One is Mac 101. Another is at the Apple forum boards. When I was thinking about switching to Mac I subscribed to the forums and asked questions. The people there are glad to help and some of them are very knowledgeable.
Happy campin'
Mitch
Wife, daughter, son, and three campin' dogs.
david_42 wrote: Macs come with Excel and Word. The formats are identical. I run Linux, my business partner uses a Mac and our associates in Taiwan use Windows. Never had a problem, except with that blasted rar compression.
What email system do you use? All of my email is web-based, so the computer type doesn't matter.
What some of the other posts are referring to is running a Windows session on a Mac.
Personally, I wouldn't ever recommend to anyone that they install a Windows application on a Mac. There are WAY more Windows applications on the market than Mac applications. However, the most popular applications have Mac versions. THAT is what I would recommend.
...
I believe the posters above your post are referring to running Microsoft Office for Macs, which does not require a "Windows seesion"; the programs are written to run on Macs under OS X.
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