Considering switching to Mac

Question

Hello everyone, i have been a PC/Windows user all of my life, and am now very seriously considering switching over to mac. However, i have some questions first that i cant seem to find a direct answer to, and apologize in advance for asking things that might seem like a stupid question... so, here goes:
1. If i were to switch over to the mac version of Microsoft Office, could i swap documents i created in Word with PC's and vice versa(all of the rest of my families computers are PCs as are my schools)without any problems? Would whatever that answer is be the same for any other Office apps like PowerPoint?
2. Am I correct that Safari is an internet browser?
3. Does iChat come with the Macs, or is it a seperate program you have to buy?
4. In iChat, can i still instant message all of my friends who use AIM on a PC and still use my old screen-name if i wanted to? What if i wanted to create a new AIM screen-name? do i just go to AIM.com, make a new one, and use it in iChat without actually downloading the AIM program?
5. I currently have AOL on my PC but, of course, it *****, and i hear it is even worse on a Mac, so i would just use Safari, but can i still keep my old @aol.com e-mail address and access my e-mail through aol.com? and if i wanted to, could i create a new @aol.com e-mail address using this same method?
6. Will i still be able to watch all the online videos that run using quicktime/real player/windows media player, on my mac?
7. Am i right in assuming that i can network my new mac and my old PC in order to move my iTunes library (in AAC format)
from the PC to the Mac? Just for the record, none of the music that i purchased from the iTunes store is "Protected" anymore because i burnt it to a cd and re-imported it, however the videos and tv shows that i bought from them im assuming are still protected, so how could i move THOSE to a my new mac?
Once again, i apologize that I have so many questions that probably seem pretty stupid, but i havent been able to find direct answers to these specific questions
I also want to say thank you in advance for any help anyone can give me, sorry im such a clueless PC user, but, hopefully, with these questions answered, i will be able to happily switch to mac.
Sony   Windows XP  
Sony   Windows XP  
Sony   Windows XP  

Answer 1

Hello,
switching over to mac. However, i have some
questions first that i cant seem to find a direct
I'll answer them as we go below:
1. If i were to switch over to the mac version of
Microsoft Office, could i swap documents i created in
Word with PC's and vice versa(all of the rest of my
families computers are PCs as are my schools)without
any problems? Would whatever that answer is be the
same for any other Office apps like PowerPoint?
Yes, all the documents will open and exchange between Microsoft Office for the Mac and Microsoft Office for the PC without trouble.
You can send and exchange them in either direction, and it will work fine.
My wife does just that with her computer. She uses Office for Windows at work and Office for Mac at home.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents move either direction without any trouble.
There is no Mac version of Access though.
Personally, I use the free NeoOffice program on my system:
http://www.neooffice.org/
It is also compatible with Microsoft Office. Everything exchanges back and forth in either direction without trouble.
I've exchanged a lot of documents with Office users who have PC's, and they've never had any trouble opening anything I've sent them, and I've never had any problems with anything they've sent me.
NeoOffice can also work with PowerPoint files as well. They've played just fine for me.
It exchanges / works with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
2. Am I correct that Safari is an internet browser?
Yes. It is the standard browser on the Mac. I personally prefer it. And, it works with every page I've tried it with. I use it full-time.
But, there are also versions of Opera, FireFox, Netscape, and many others, for the Mac if you want to use something different.
3. Does iChat come with the Macs, or is it a seperate
program you have to buy?
It comes standard on all Macs. It's part of OS X.
4. In iChat, can i still instant message all of my
friends who use AIM on a PC and still use my old
screen-name if i wanted to?
Yes. You just enter your AIM screen-name when you setup iChat. And, it works as expected from there.
iChat has been designed to work just fine with AIM accounts, and will allow you to talk to other AIM users without any hassle.
What if i wanted to
create a new AIM screen-name? do i just go to
AIM.com, make a new one, and use it in iChat without
actually downloading the AIM program?
Yes. Just do it at their website. That's how I did it.
5. I currently have AOL on my PC but, of course, it
*****, and i hear it is even worse on a Mac, so i
would just use Safari, but can i still keep my old
@aol.com e-mail address and access my e-mail through
aol.com? and if i wanted to, could i create a new
@aol.com e-mail address using this same method?
If you're talking about using Safari to go to the AOL site and use their webmail interface to check your e-mail, then yes that should work just fine.
6. Will i still be able to watch all the online
videos that run using quicktime/real player/windows
media player, on my mac?
Yes.
There are Mac versions of all of those programs. Quicktime comes with all Macs. But, you can download the others.
Windows Media Player has been discontinued, but it still works and can be downloaded from Microsoft's website.
There is also a plug-in to play Windows Media Players in Apple's Quicktime Player.
7. Am i right in assuming that i can network my new
mac and my old PC in order to move my iTunes library
(in AAC format)
from the PC to the Mac? Just for the record, none of
the music that i purchased from the iTunes store is
"Protected" anymore because i burnt it to a cd and
re-imported it, however the videos and tv shows that
i bought from them im assuming are still protected,
so how could i move THOSE to a my new mac?
You should be able to find all you need on that here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Those directions explain how to move them using your iPod. But, you could use the same basic method to move them over the network. Just substitute copying through the network for the part that addresses copying them into and from the iPod.
The rest should be about the same.
I also want to say thank you in advance for any help
anyone can give me,
You're quite welcome. Glad to help
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on mine or any of the other posts / replies if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.