Almost ready to buy a Mac, but....
Hi I am this close to buying a Macbook for my wife who has been using windows pc for the past several years as a "classic user". I have the following questions, which may appear too simple / dumb to the experienced users but we are struggling getting to the bottom of this and want to make sure before splurging close to $2500 on a Macbook Pro (she really likes the look of the mac, thats why). Her needs are basic (email, chat, internet, word processing) and slightly advanced (audio/video playback & editing - from digital voice recorders, camcorders etc):
-> Does Firefox work equally well on Macs?
-> Do chat applications like Yahoo Messenger, Gmail chat, Skype etc work on a Mac?
-> Can iChat support a "windows" user on the other end using chat apps like yahoo, etc?
-> Does Openoffice work cleanly on a Mac? Essentially, she wants to use basic office functions but wants to be able to share docs with windows PCs as well. The apple retail store guy strongly recommended we buy MS-Office for Mac which felt quite strange
-> Any recommendations on native Mac applications that will allow us to "transcribe" digitally recorded audio files (planning to use ipod adapters to record and then transcribe using things like dragon naturally speaking but they work only with windows)?
-> In general, can we share files created in a Mac with a PC (or vice versa) if they have the same extension (seems silly to ask but is a .jpg created on a pc exactly the same as a .jpg created on a mac??) Anything to watch out for?
-> How much overhead does "parallels" impose when switching between Mac & Windows apps? or how much memory / processor capacity is recommended?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
I am in same position as the OP - about to buy a Mac after being on Windows.
I had similar questions, and I am a bit confused over one of the answers. About chatting. I have several people I Instant Message with using AIM or MSN Messenger. The answer was that certain chat programs, like yahoo messenger, would work, but then it said iChat couldn't support people on other end using MSN.
Does that mean that I will Not be able to sue MSN Messenger and AIM to chat with people who are using those programs? If not, is there something I CAN use to accomplish that?
And another switchiver question: I have years worth of emails on Outlook. Is there a way to import outlook mail into Mac? I cannot seem to find the folders which contain my outlook mail. Assuming I will be able to find them, will hey be compatible with mac mail if I load onto a disk & transfer to the Mac?
And will I be able to sue Gmail on the Mac?
And lastly - here's a super LOW TECH question. The way my computer desk is set up, I will need at least a 40" cord from the keyboard to connect to the Mac desktop. Can anyone tell me if the cord that comes with the 20" Intel Mac is long enough? I have not had luck with wireles keyboards, so prefer wired.
THANK YOU
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