New to Macs - with Windows software questions

Hello. I’m new to the forum and new to Macs. Although I don’t own one yet, I’m strongly considering getting one for my business (a write off that my accountant says I could use). And “business” is one of the key terms for me. I would very much appreciate member input regarding running software that has been primarily designed for Windows. In particular, I regularly use MS Office, Quickbooks, Quicken and Adobe Acrobat. I’ve read reviews regarding the compatibility of these products with the Mac platform. These reviews were on the Apple website that listed the above software for sale and the reviews were generally negative. The complaints centered on very slow response times, unfamiliar screen appearance, different key strokes and mouse clicks and the general stability of the software (i.e., crashes, etc) in the Mac operating system.

I’d like to hear members’ thoughts/experiences with these applications. My only other request is that you make your responses fairly simple, if possible, as I am not familiar with much of the Mac terminology.

Thanks in advance for your help!
John-David

Cannot speak to Quickbooks/Quicken. Regularly use MS Office (both the Mac version and Windows version via Fusion) and Acrobat on my Macbook. Never had any issues. Works perfect. The Mac version of Office differs slightly from the Windows version but it's very easy to use.

Note that you can also install Windows on your Mac if you'd prefer to run specific applications under Windows, either via Boot Camp or via a virtual windows machine under Fusion or Parallels.

Good luck

If "business" is a key term for you, stick with the Windows platform. Business programs such as MS Office, Quickbooks, etc are better designed for Windows and seem to work better.

As an example, I use Office 2007 on my Win machine and Office 2008 on my Mac. No comparison. Office 2007 is better all around. Anyway all this is my very personal opinion.

Lots of folks purchase a Mac and install Windows for those programs which are not readily available for OS X or to run games.

Mac machines are great, I absolutely love mine and for my line of work, it's perfect. But for most folks who need to run a business whether it be a small business or a large enterprise, Windows is probably the best way to go.

Regards.

I am a mac virgin...posting on my new iMac that is 2 days old...

I have one program that I "HAVE" to run in Windows (wife's monogramming software that is only a windows version).

What would the recommendation(s) be? Parallels, VMFusion, bootcamp, etc...Also, where is a good place to get a copy of Windows XP (guess I am being screwed by MS again).

About the monogramming program, there is a USB dongle that must be used with the software (it is a security thing, not a flash drive), and I thought I read somewhere that Parallels wouldn't support this type of thing and that I would HAVE to use bootcamp and boot into it when I started up...

Thanks for the help,
Kevin

If it's just the one program (and the program does not require Windows to run natively, such as using 3d hardware acceleration on a graphics card), I would try either Parallels or Fusion (I use Fusion) to create an XP virtual machine. Using Boot Camp and rebooting just to run one program occasionally would be overkill (in my view) and certainly inconvenient to be rebooting just for that.

You can download free trial versions of both Fusion and Parallels to see whether they work, but you'll need to get your own copy of XP. I purchased an OEM version of XP SP2 from newegg.com and it worked great for me - too lazy to find the link but it's not too much.

Once you decide which of Fusion or Parallels you like, you can pay online or order from a vendor and go from there. I have had no issues with USB devices under Fusion - but you may as well try both to make sure it works.

Thanks for the help slim...I have the link for newegg...

Kevin