04-26-2010, 03:37 AM

When my 5 year old Windows PC decided to start dying and got slower and slower I decided it was time for a change.
After chatting with a few friends I decided to move from Windows to the world of Apple.

I spent an hour in the Apple store in Westfields (London) with one of the Apple staff and by the time I left I was convinced it was the way to go.
A day later I ordered my iMac and a week later it arrived, and I am now the very happy owner of a 27" Quad Core iMac.

So far it does pretty much everything I want it to, and does them easier and simpler than my old PC.

Positives...
1. Boot time, wow! A minute and its ready to log on.
2. Log in time, I am noy used to logging in and being able to use a computer immediately.
3. Installing software, very easy and few steps.
4. initial setup, very fast and simple.
5. 27" screen allows easy multitasking.
6. Quality, seems very good.
7. Mouse and keyboard, excellent and nice to use.
8. Apple staff, the Apple stores and their staff and what retail should be like.

Negative...
1. No numeric keypad, easily overcome though by getting a Bluetooth one even if it was a Microsoft one!
2. iWorks is good but I am struggling a bit with compatibility issues where certain documents from others lose too much formatting and take time to get looking right.

The positives far outweigh the negatives, and to be fair the negatives are very minor.
I am definitely a zealous convert now!

I look forward to learning more from people here on the forums.

04-26-2010, 03:47 AM

Do remember you can purchase MS Office or get Open Office for free. OO might be a bit more compatible with those MS Docs you have having formatting issues with. MS Office for sure will be.

I have found Pages in iWork to be quite good with other docs but most of the ones I work with are pretty stock.

04-26-2010, 09:22 AM

I have been considering MS office for Mac or Open Office, and guess I'll start with Open Office and see if that works on the files I need it to.
I was just kind of hoping that the DOC file compatibility would import more of the DOC files without issue.

But I guess its no big drama, I still Pages, Number and Keynote but will probably end up with two office packages.

04-26-2010, 09:59 AM

Here is a few things I want to share with you.

1. The wired Apple alu keyboards have a numberpad on the side. But if you want a wireless one you have to look outside of Apple.

2. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual - O'Reilly Media
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition - O'Reilly Media
2 very good books worth looking into.

3. Onyx
Titanium Software
A nice app to help keep your Mac in top shape. Just pic the version for the version of OS you have. And read the documentation well.

4. Apple - Mac OS X - Windows Compatibility - How Mac works with PCs
Apple - Support - Boot Camp
That is bootcamp. Windows on your imac. For if a time comes and you need it.

5. Apple - Mac OS X - What is Mac OS X - Time Machine
That is Time Machine. A very good way to back up your data on your imac.

6. Important. I'm not putting you down here I say it to everyone, but you own an imac now, with the OS X system. And you should give yourself a little time to become familiarised with the Apple OS. That being OS X. So many people love their Macs but later on hate it cause it does not act like their old windows box. So they sell it.

Have an open mind and try to learn the OS X way. It's really easy mind you. And then you can have many many happy years with your Mac.

7. Mactracker
An encyclopedia application for information on every Apple product ever released. And the developers do keep it up to date with the latest Apple offerings. And why is this useful? If you want to know anything like for example:
What ram does my imac take or what is the model number or a million other things, this application can tell you.

Also as a side benefit if you have a question you want asnwered, you can provide some info about your mac (from the application) to help us in answering your questions.

8. And if you have any questions feel free to ask anyone here.

04-26-2010, 01:40 PM

Looks like I may have to invest in MS Office for Mac, I tried OpenOffice and it has the same issue opening the DOC files I have with pages.
It does not like some of the text frames that people have used in headers and footers and messes the formatting up!!

Oh, luckily my wife is a teacher so I can get student/teacher discount.

04-26-2010, 02:06 PM

I'm rather surprised that neither iWork Pages nor OO could open the documents correctly by keeping the formatting intact. I use MS Office 2008 extensively in my work but have on occasion moved documents from Pages and have not really run into any formatting issues that could not be overcome.

As a matter of fact, if you do any lay out work such as bulletins, flyers, advertisements, and the like, Pages does those well. It's very much like MS Publisher in that regard.

Also, MS has announced a new version of Office for the Mac which will include VB and Outlook. Should see it on the shelves sometime this Fall. You might want to wait...

Regards.

04-26-2010, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by chscag

I'm rather surprised that neither iWork Pages nor OO could open the documents correctly by keeping the formatting intact.

Its mainly where people have used lots of text frames to layout stuff in headers and footers.
A small but vaguely annoying situation.
iWorks and it would seem OO strip out these text frames which makes the headers and footers go completely wrong.

04-26-2010, 05:03 PM

welcome to the world of Apple and welcome to the forum.

04-26-2010, 06:14 PM

Hi there,

Just a thought: If you have a CEX store near to you, they generally have MS Office Mac Home & Student Edition for £55.00 in stock, if you need it same day.

Here's a link to the product on their website.

Hope this helps.

05-01-2010, 01:45 PM

Cheers, I'll check out my local CEX for a copy.

05-01-2010, 05:30 PM

MS Office for Mac 2011 is set to be released in time for the Christmas shopping season.

05-02-2010, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by Rottie

Hi there,

Just a thought: If you have a CEX store near to you, they generally have MS Office Mac Home & Student Edition for £55.00 in stock, if you need it same day.

Here's a link to the product on their website.

Hope this helps.

Is £55 a good price?