from windows to mac. need help. questions.

ok i love the mac software. i think its the best but i have a few questions about it.

1. Will the ibook's airport g wireless work with my Linksys B wireless router?
2. I know Mac doesnt have much third party support. but, is there a good company out there supporting it?
3. If i burn Music from iTunes onto a cd then will it work on a standard stereo system?
4. Does the $999 iBook burn CD's? DVD's?
5. If no to question 5, then will most external CD/DVD burners work?
6. How bad is the Spyware and virus'?
7. Is thier any good anti-spyware programs.
8. Should i make the switch?

Thanks alot.

1. definitely
2. which part of the Mac? Pretty much everything is supported...
3. yes
4. No, only CD's
5. Yes
6. None that I have ever seen
7. No clue.. never had any need for them
8. That's only a question you can answer

well thank you Murlyn. The main reason im thinking about getting one is because i love iMovie and the other great software mac has. Also i have a old Dell Inspiron 7500 running on a Intel Pentium 3. Most of the computer games i get i cant play on it, cuz the graphics card is really bad and it's just a old computer.
I have a few more in depth questions.

1. What kind of word proccesing programs (Microsoft Word) does iBook/Mac have?
2. I know there is a PowerPoint for Mac but like what kind of software and what kind of cd do i get it. Is it free? Can i get it online?
3. What is the best p2p file sharing program for mac? I use BearShare but, not supported by Mac. I've used LimeWire not a big fan. But i will use it if I need too.

1. You can get the Microsoft Suite, without Access, for mac at the store/online. Some people swear that it's actually better. Personally, I downloaded NeoOffice, a version of Open Office that runs natively on Macs

2. You can get Keynote, or Powerpoint (by Microsoft)

3. That's up to your personal taste, but limewire is available for mac, not sure about bearshare.

I Think That Making The Switch Is The Best Move Of My Life!

1. What kind of word proccesing programs (Microsoft Word) does iBook/Mac have?

There's the actual MS Office suite (Office 2004 is the current run, but you can still get Office v.X which was the past version.) You can also download NeoOffice, which is free.

If you decide to buy MS Office for Mac, don't buy it at the Apple Store. It's available for far less money elsewhere, especially Ebay.

2. I know there is a PowerPoint for Mac but like what kind of software and what kind of cd do i get it. Is it free? Can i get it online?

It comes on CD, as far as I know. It is most definitely NOT free, unless you use NeoOffice's "Impress" (their knockoff of PowerPoint. You can buy the real PowerPoint online, but obviously it'll be more economical to just buy the entire MS Office suite together. If you happen to be a student, the Student and Teacher Edition is a great deal (a lot of CompUSA stores will sell it to you without even asking for a student ID. Shhhhh about that one.)

2. I know Mac doesnt have much third party support. but, is there a good company out there supporting it?

While this was true in the dark ages of the 1990's, it's not really true now. Adobe, most Microsoft software, blah blah blah is all supported on Mac. There's also a lot more free, open source software available for it. The exception is games. If you're a gamer, think twice before you switch to Mac, because we don't have all of them and not all of them run well on a Mac.

3. If i burn Music from iTunes onto a cd then will it work on a standard stereo system?

Yes, but if the DRM bothers you, you can use a free program called JHymn to strip it. http://hymn-project.org/

4. Does the $999 iBook burn CD's? DVD's?
5. If no to question 5, then will most external CD/DVD burners work?

CD's, yes. DVD's, no. If you really want a SuperDrive in the 12", you can buy one for about $150 and have your drive swapped (labor charge extra, or you can try to do it yourself.)

Otherwise, an external drive usually works.

Finally, a warning about iMovie: I, too, love iMovie. But be aware that the minimum system requirements listed for iMovie are not very realistic for running the program smoothly. I own a G4 Powerbook and I've never been impressed with how iMovie runs on it, even with my hyped up RAM capabilities; the G5's are much better for it. That's not to say that you CAN'T run iMovie on a 12" iBook, but it'll be slow as molasses and you'll eat up your 40 gigs of hard drive space pretty quickly! If you really want to run iMovie on your iBook, be prepared to buy more RAM for your machine.

1. Will the ibook's airport g wireless work with my Linksys B wireless router?
If memory serves me correctly, B is compatible with G, and vice-versa.
2. I know Mac doesnt have much third party support. but, is there a good company out there supporting it?
Oi, oi, oi... the Mac does have ALOT more 3rd party support than people give it credit for. You'll find plenty of games (mostly the ports are done by a company named Aspyr media, however there are a few other companies), office-type software (of course you have Microsoft, plus Apple's own iWork and Appleworks, not to mention Open Office), web browsers (granted you really only need FireFox).
3. If i burn Music from iTunes onto a cd then will it work on a standard stereo system?
It depends, most stereos work with them, but a few (not a significant amount) just don't read certaind optical formats.
4. Does the $999 iBook burn CD's? DVD's?
No, and what's a real ***** is that there is no built-to-order DVD burner. However, it does burn CDs and read DVDs.
5. If no to question 5, then will most external CD/DVD burners work?
Pending the company...
6. How bad is the Spyware and virus'?
Macs do not have any viruses/ spyware/ trojans/ etc. that will effect the system. However, you can still get them. So in a sense it's like an actual virus; even if you've had it before or are not infected (Mac user), your body may have the germs from someone who does (Your Mac with a file from a Windows user), so if you pass it on to certain people (Windows users), they will get it.
7. Is thier any good anti-spyware programs.
Not really, namely because Macs don't have viruses. Although, as I just stated, if you get the file for a virus, you can pass it on to Windows users, but it won't run on your Mac.
8. Should i make the switch?
Eh, it depends. In the end it's your decision.

However, I would like to say one thing: my Mac is in the shop right now, so I'm using my Dad's Windows comp... if you don't appreciate your Mac once you get used to it, just wait until you have to use a Windows PC for a few days...

For those people asking whether they should switch, are you going to get rid of your PC? Why not just keep it? I'm getting ready to get an iMac but I'm definately gonna keep my PC. So I'm not going to just abandon Windows. I just want to learn OS X.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is think that they can just abandon their old computer. I mean, seriously, you have to learn the basics all over again! And if you depend on your computer, you can use the Windows computer for the things you know how to do, until you've played around with your Mac enough to know how it can perform to your needs.

Then that old Windows computer can be donated, or made a jukebox or something. Pugh.

pierre

Pierre said:

One of the biggest mistakes people make is think that they can just abandon their old computer. I mean, seriously, you have to learn the basics all over again! And if you depend on your computer, you can use the Windows computer for the things you know how to do, until you've played around with your Mac enough to know how it can perform to your needs.

Then that old Windows computer can be donated, or made a jukebox or something. Pugh.

pierre

Click to expand...

My last PC caught fire... needless to say, I have no clue where the parts are today.

As for P2P, Limewire is your best option. But if you are that dead set against it, then you could use Cabos. Powerpoint, Word, Excel and Entourage come with Ms office OSX