I am considering buying a mac lap top this time because I have heard that they do not crash, they do not get virus’s and they can run most all the same programs as my pc.

I looked at them and they run word, excel and power point, seems it can run my existing excel and word files and they look the same once they are open.

So my question for those who are using mac or have changed from mac back to the pc please comment on what was good and what was bad.

I do not use the computer for gamming and usually buy the least expensive model with enough ram to operate 5 programs like word, excel, Quick Books and internet.

Thanks for the input.

 

You can also run a version of windows on mac too. I also heard they are much better, dont crash,no viruses, ect. BUt i dont have one so you be the giunie pig

 

I talked them in the apple store about running windows and you can but then you are right back to where you are now with the crashes and virus problems.

 

from my understanding of computers(which is very limited) i believe viruses are based not upon the operating systems(ie windows, or mac os) but based upon the computer its self.

 

I think it is the OS not the computer; this is why I am asking the questions here for the mac or previous mac users and not just relying on the store salesman or mac advertisements. Nothing like real time and real user input.

 

I've been using a Mac for a few years and like it a lot. The OS is solid and reliable and as you said, far less to prone to viruses and spyware than Windows. My wife uses a PowerBook and I have a G5 from a few years ago. I've also got a little MacMini - Intel based and it works great. I run boot-camp on it which allows it to run Windows and that works fine. The only think I use Windows for is for my Garmin GPS since the MapSource software is Windows-only at the moment but they have announced they will be releasing a native MacOS X version late this year or early 2007.

And besides, a Mac is the perfect iPod accessory.

 

like i said before my knowledge of compuers is very limited

 

I am a creature of habit and like my explorer for the internet and office for my mail and calendar what does the mac use NB?

 

nope, not the computer itself. Viruses are written to attack weak spots in software program (generally Windows, Internet Explorer, and MS Outlook). Why? Because they are very commonly used programs. And probably to keep Mr. Gates on his toes! And trust me ninjabike - keep your experience as limited as you can!!! I wish I had!

Mac's are great (from what little experience I have had with them) I worked as a computer technician for a newspaper. They were the predominant computers in the company (mind you all the execs had pc's) I worked more on the pc's than I did the Macs! I think you'll like it!

 

OS X comes with the very creatively named "Mail" application. I don't happen to use it since I read my mail on a Unix system, but my wife uses it and it seems to be very nice. It also has a calender program which I use occasionally. I don't really know how these compare to the Windows versions.

For Internet, Apple developed 'Safari' which is their web browser. I used to use Mozilla on Unix but I've really grown to like Safari. The only problem I've had with Safari that I've noticed is that it seems to have trouble uploading attachments to this forum. Anytime I try, I get a file permissions error from the KF side of things. I don't know what's up with that. I'm guessing there might be some IE specific code that doesn't work on Safari.

I've been very happy with mine. As bluebird says, they "just work". I've worked on many systems and the Mac is by far the most polished, reliable, and well thought out that I've used. My dad who is almost 70 got an iMac w/builtin iSight camera. It was very easy to talk him through setting up his iSight so that we can video conference each other - he can call in and talk to the kids and see them over the video link, which is not only orders of magnitude better than the phone, but is all free - no long distance. I realize this is possible on Windows too, but on the Mac, it's all built-in to the OS, no third party software or drivers to install to get it to work.

Many years ago I had a Windows computer set up for my kids. Every other day I'd be fixing stuff on it - sound would mysteriously quit working, they'd get viruses, etc, etc. I eventually got tired of spending my time keeping that thing running so I took a chance and bought an iMac. This was around 1998, mind you. After three kids have abused that poor iMac over this many years, that computer is still working and working well with very little effort on my part. I was sold on them after that.