From: "Thoma Mattox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This is my wife's iMac. She is not terribly computer savvy, and
doesn't re=
aly care to learn. She would like me to install Microsoft Office,
because =
it is what she is now use to using (from her work). What is this
atlernati=
ve???
The alternative is ... Microsoft Office. The Mac version of Office is
actually BETTER than the Windows version, and while I'm dispelling
Windows myths I might also mention that Word and Excel were available
on the Mac **YEARS** before they were available on PCs. Microsoft is
the largest Mac developer outside of Apple, with over 300 employees
whose sole job is to develop Mac software. Apple and Microsoft get
along VERY WELL on this front, even as they compete in other areas.
To prevent others from pointlessly touting unrealistic alternatives,
I should mention that the (included) TextEdit and Appleworks programs
can read and write Word documents (Appleworks can also read and write
Excel documents too), the iWork demo includes Pages (also Word
compatible) and Keynote (Powerpoint compatible), and there are other
Office alternatives as well from the Unix world, notably OpenOffice
(best Mac version: NeoOffice/J), AbiWord and ThinkFree Office (java,
but not half bad).
For her work, she sometimes has to run programs requiring Windows.
This is=
why we have VPC.
Like what? You appear to have been unaware that MS Office exists for
the Mac -- what else do Windows people use?
AOL? Mac version.
Quicken/Quickbooks? Mac version.
Solitaire? Tons of Mac versions, all of which are WAY better than the
Windows one.
I'm not saying that EVERY Windows program has a Mac version/
equivalent, but most of the big names do. If she's like 99% of
Windows users, there's nothing the Mac can't do better than her old
Windows machine.
For that matter, what about our games, is there an OS X compliant
softwa=
re page or something?
Games is probably the Mac's weakest area, since we tend to not fool
around and waste time on our machines. However, most of the "big"
titles eventually make their way to the Mac, and there are a huge
number of Mac-only games (particularly in the non-violent arena).
For all that, I am not familiar with OS X at all. I would like to
learn, b=
ut have very little time. Any recommendations on where to go /
what to do?
Yes. MAKE TIME.
You appear to be so totally unfamiliar with the Mac that you're not
ever aware of Office for the Mac, yet you can't spare the kind of
time (probably years) it took you to get up to speed with Windows?
You don't find that just a teensy weensy bit hypocritical?
In point of fact, the Mac doesn't take much time to learn -- but it's
IMPORTANT that you DO learn it.
As a good starting point, I'd suggest a book: Switching to the Mac
(Tiger Edition) by David Pogue, $16.50 at Amazon.com. There's also a
site called Atomic Learning that features Quicktime movie training,
with many free lessons and a low annual cost. Recommended.
Finally, what are the cool new things available? I have heard
about Safari=
, email programs, etc. What about iLife, and those. Where do I
find out w=
hat they do and other new things available in this new world?
I'm just dumbfounded that they let you out of the store without
giving you a tour. That was just irresponsible of whoever sold you
the Mac. At our store we spend a full hour going over the basic and
briefly showing off what each program can do. Since you didn't get
that, you'll have to settle for another book recommendation. Pogue's
book will cover some of the basics of this "new world," but to get
into the iLife component I'd suggest you read The Macintosh iLife 05
by Jim Heid, also available at your nearest megabookseller ($25 on
Amazon).
On a side note, what unix maintenance stuff needs to be done? Is
this not =
stable?
It's INCREDIBLY stable, but just like a car, nothing runs forever
without maintenance. My suggestion is to just run Disk Utility (an
included application in your Utilities folder) and repair permissions
about once a month. You may also want to use Macaroni or OnyX to do
further maintenance, but for the most part it isn't necessary. Good
backups trump maintenance every time.
Cheers
Chas
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