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General discussion

Help! Confused!

by karinfalk Jan 3, 2009 11:46PM PST

Hello,
I am looking into buying a mac but I've heard so many rumours that they're a bit of a nuisance when it comes to installing software- mainly, I want to install microsoft office student and home edition 2007 (because I have it already for normal PC) but do I have to buy a specific one for mac? I also want things like windows movie maker, and in particular adobe reader, can I download these on my mac or do I have to purchase specific programmes for mac?
Also, I was wondering if mac comes with programs to organize photos, or do I have to buy a programme for that too?
I'd be sooooo greatful for some help, I am well over my head with this!

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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Confusion
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Jan 4, 2009 3:13AM PST

OK, here's the deal.
Software written for Windows does not run on a Mac unless you have Windows running on your Mac, which would kinda defeat the object of getting a Mac in the first place.

Office for Mac (student/teacher edition) is available for about the same price as the Windows version. All your files will make the transition easily.
There are alternatives to MS Office. OpenOffice and NeoOffice, both free, can read and write files created by MS Office and can make files that can be read by MS Office.

Apple also has a suite of programs called iWork which consists of a Word Processor, Office compatible, Spreadsheet, Excel compatible, and presentation software which is PowerPoint compatible. Cost is around $70. Not sure what it is in the UK though.

For music, movies, photographs and DVD making, Apple has a suite of applications called iLife. This is free with every new Mac.
Music = iTunes (you must have heard of that)
Movies = iMovie
DVD = iDVD
Photo's = iPhoto.
All are compatible with each other and making movies and turning them into DVD's is really easy. All your source material is available in one place.

Straight out of the box, your new Mac will be able to do everything you need, and more. As to the rumours, most of those will have been spread by your PC friends and are not true. Installing software on a Mac is so easy. Just drag the application to the application folder and you're done.

Any other questions, just ask

P

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Thanks
by karinfalk Jan 4, 2009 3:34AM PST

Thanks P,

You summed up everything I needed to know! Off to the Mac shop! Happy

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You're welcome,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Jan 4, 2009 8:17AM PST

Let us know how you get on


P

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iWork '09
by GDEsplin Jan 11, 2009 9:20AM PST

Just to add to what has already been said, iWork (like MS office) is now BETTER than MS office. The new features they added to '09 just put up and beyond MS office. not to mention it is $80 (compared to like $135 for MS office) and $50 with a new mac. Oh, ya. Forget Movie Maker, iMovie '09 is more comparable to profesional movie editing software than to movie maker. Check out the Macworld keynote ( can be found at apple.com) If you really want a cool office suite, go for google docs, which can do basic everything MS office can do, and you can access it anytime you have internet access, and you can save it as many types of files including word. Macs come with OS X 10.5, and can run Windows easily, it is a breeze to install.

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