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Hi all,
I'm a new member here and also a new Macbook Pro owner. I've been a PC user for the last 20+ years.

Please forgive me as I'm learing as I go but as a newbie what software/programs should you first install on a Mac? (virus protection, internet security, etc). Also, I work with Microsoft documents, excel files and Powerpoint alot. Is it it worth to get the Microsoft products in the Mac version or can I still work with these without it.

Is there somewhere on the internet that caters to newbies like myself to learn about what they need to do with thier Macs and how to do things?

Thanks in advance,
Billy
 

chscag

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Welcome to the Mac Forums.

As a new MacBook Pro owner, you should have been invited by Apple to download their iWork applications for free which are new for OS X Mavericks.

Here are the equivalents to MS Office which can open, edit and save to the MS format:

MS Word = Apple Pages

MS Excel = Apple Numbers

MS Powerpoint = Apple Keynote

I strongly recommend you use the Apple applications as they are free. If later on, you must use MS Office, you can always purchase a copy from any reliable reseller or MS themselves.

As for learning how to use your new Mac, Tips and Tricks, etc. you're already in the best place on the internet. Just stay tuned to our forums and ask questions. Our members are very knowledgeable and more than willing to lend a hand.

Again, welcome and have fun with your new Mac!
 
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You might look at OpenOffice, it's free. Also check Google Drive, also free..
 

Raz0rEdge

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Thread moved to a more appropriate sub-forum..

First and foremost congrats on your new Mac purchase.

As far as virus or other protection goes, you don't need any of it. It's hard to break the cycle coming from Windows I realize, but resist the urge and you'll be better of in the long run. You DO, however, need to be aware of what you are doing. Understand that installing any application will ask for your password, this password give the application the necessary admin rights to install itself on your Mac. If you are prompted for your password without having started an installation or anything else, you should be really weary and avoid entering your password..

Before plunging down the Microsoft Office route, you should first try LibreOffice/OpenOffice to see if that works for you. If not, you can try our Pages/Numbers which are Apple apps for like $14.99 or something. If either of those don't work for you, then you might have to go down the Office route..

As far as learning goes, this sub-forum is perfect for people like yourself who have questions about using a Mac, so ask your questions and you'll get help..
 
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WOW!! Thanks for the warm welcomes and quick replies. I can't wait to get home and check out the sugguestions.

Sorry I post this in the wrong sub-forum.

Thanks again and I'm sure this won't be my last question or post.

Billy
 
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chas_m

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At the risk of tooting my own horn, the guide linked in my signature below has been helpful to a lot of people switching over from Windows to Mac.
 

Raz0rEdge

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WOW!! Thanks for the warm welcomes and quick replies. I can't wait to get home and check out the sugguestions.

Sorry I post this in the wrong sub-forum.

Thanks again and I'm sure this won't be my last question or post.

Billy

You're welcome and don't sweat posting in the wrong forums, moving threads around is what us Mods are for..:)

We welcome any question you have and do read through the posts in the Switchers Hangout and you might find a lot of your questions already asked and answered..
 
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Billy Hare, I'm a new convert here as well. I just purchased a new MacBook Pro in November and it comes with apples pages, numbers, keynote. They take a little getting used to but that's to be expected and they are capable of saving to office doc types which is a bonus if you need to convert them.
 
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...
As far as virus or other protection goes, you don't need any of it. It's hard to break the cycle coming from Windows I realize, but resist the urge and you'll be better of in the long run. You DO, however, need to be aware of what you are doing. Understand that installing any application will ask for your password, this password give the application the necessary admin rights to install itself on your Mac. If you are prompted for your password without having started an installation or anything else, you should be really weary and avoid entering your password...


I would suggest antivirus because of your windows friends with no antivirus you can help them spread viruses, but with installed antivirus you can prevent. I have on my mac antivirus and I get many times notice for viruses on usb drives which came from windows users.
Sophos Antivirus for Mac is free or F secure which cost around $30 are just few of them.
 

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I would suggest antivirus because of your windows friends with no antivirus you can help them spread viruses, but with installed antivirus you can prevent. I have on my mac antivirus and I get many times notice for viruses on usb drives which came from windows users.
Sophos Antivirus for Mac is free or F secure which cost around $30 are just few of them.

Why would you recommend someone burden their Mac with stuff that has, IMO, no benefit or protection to them but other people??

If you REALLY are sharing drives amongst Windows users and want to do them a service, I'd suggest ClamXav instead. It is a virus scanner that you can run on demand when you need. So run it on the USB flash drive and move on.

There is absolutely no need to be running (and paying for) an always-on virus scanner..
 
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Why would you recommend someone burden their Mac with stuff that has, IMO, no benefit or protection to them but other people??

If you REALLY are sharing drives amongst Windows users and want to do them a service, I'd suggest ClamXav instead. It is a virus scanner that you can run on demand when you need. So run it on the USB flash drive and move on.

There is absolutely no need to be running (and paying for) an always-on virus scanner..

Dont think just for jourself, help other people to. O:)

Why I recommend mac users antivirus? simple answer/explanation:
My family 2 mac users and 3 windows users, 2 of 3 win users click on every blinking ad with text "You are lucky winer...". At least once a month my mother call me with virus problem.

Sophos is free and dont use much resources. I dont even notice that is running on my macbook pro.

Ofcourse everyone makes their own decisions.
 

pigoo3

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Why I recommend mac users antivirus? simple answer/explanation:
My family 2 mac users and 3 windows users, 2 of 3 win users click on every blinking ad with text "You are lucky winer...". At least once a month my mother call me with virus problem.

Sophos is free and dont use much resources. I dont even notice that is running on my macbook pro.

Please tell me...When was the last time one of those Macintosh computers got a virus (with or without Sophos)??

- Nick
 
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Please tell me...When was the last time one of those Macintosh computers got a virus (with or without Sophos)??

- Nick
You misunderstand me. Never, but I care for my friends and family I don't want to "help" spread viruses or other malware.
We are going of topic and I hope we can close this discussion or move it somewhere else.
 

pigoo3

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You misunderstand me. Never, but I care for my friends and family I don't want to "help" spread viruses or other malware.
We are going of topic and I hope we can close this discussion or move it somewhere else.

We're actually not going off topic. The OP asked about virus protection...and folks commented.

Do you really think that this is our first discussion regarding Macintosh computers & virus protection??...hardly.

The only thing anti-virus programs do for Macintosh computers is slow them down. Macintosh computers (at this time) do not need anti-virus programs. We are very very very very very experienced on this topic.

We wouldn't suggest NOT using an anti-virus program on Macintosh computers...unless we had facts to back it up.

Your family is not unique in that it has a mix of Windows & Mac's. Lots of our members have the same situation. A virus from a Windows computer is not going to spread to a Mac computer.

The only reason you are being challenged on this topic is...you recommended to the OP that they run anti-virus on their Mac. And the collective wisdom on this Macintosh internet forum is...anti-virus is NOT needed (at this time) on Macintosh computers.

- Nick
 
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MacInWin

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The only way a Mac can spread a virus from a Windows system is through an email attachment that is infected that you forward to a Windows system. So don't do that. And while I understand your concerns, your money (and time) is better spent getting AV for the Windows machine and NOT putting it on your own. If, in fact, you feel you must have and AV, then get ClamXav and only run it when you insert a USB stick. If it has malware on it, let the person who gave it to you know so THEIR machine can be checked. Your Mac will never get a Windows virus.
 
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Kracalo, I really appreciate your input on my questions and concerns. I didn't mean to start a disagreement but I think it is good as everyone is giving their own opinion on the subject which allows the OP to have more options to choose from. I think I may try ClamXav first and scan the external hard drive and thumb drives that I used for my windows to make sure they are clean.
Speaking of the external hard drive that I used on my Windows machine. If it is partition in FAT32 I can use it on my Mac also, correct?

Thanks again guys for all of your help.
Billy
 
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chas_m

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Yes, you can use a volume that is formatted FAT32 on a Mac. However, no file on that volume can be over 4GB in size, so basically that means "no lengthy videos." It's a limitation of the FAT32 system.
 
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Speaking of the external hard drive that I used on my Windows machine. If it is partition in FAT32 I can use it on my Mac also, correct?

Thanks again guys for all of your help.
Billy

OS X is supporting FAT format but not entirely NTFS. For NTFS read and write support you will need to make some changes or instal some apps of course if you want to write on NTFS formated drives.
 
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We're actually not going off topic. The OP asked about virus protection...and folks commented.

Do you really think that this is our first discussion regarding Macintosh computers & virus protection??...hardly.

No I don`t.

The only thing anti-virus programs do for Macintosh computers is slow them down. Macintosh computers (at this time) do not need anti-virus programs. We are very very very very very experienced on this topic.

We wouldn't suggest NOT using an anti-virus program on Macintosh computers...unless we had facts to back it up.
It`s not necessary that antivirus is slowing down macs. Nowadays antivirus apps for OSX are actually written for OSX and not just mix of some linux and windows code and somehow compiled to work on OSX.
We all have our own experiences with viruses and other malware. I work in company with over 1000 workstations (about 50 of them are macs, few linux machines and rest of them are windows based) and at least every month someone brings some kind malware in company. One time a mac user copied from USB drive to network drive some folders containing malware this could become disaster for company. Same thing can happen in home networks.

Your family is not unique in that it has a mix of Windows & Mac's. Lots of our members have the same situation. A virus from a Windows computer is not going to spread to a Mac computer.
I'm not saying that macs will get virus, I'm only trying to say that mac users are unaware about spreading malware. And yes there are viruses and other malware for OS X ( in the bottom is list of known malware First ever virus for Mac OS X discovered)
And some additional reading
Malware-flingers do it back-to-front : scaM snaps, spans Macs
Mac malware Crisis as Apple lets slip its Mountain Lion

The only reason you are being challenged on this topic is...you recommended to the OP that they run anti-virus on their Mac. And the collective wisdom on this Macintosh internet forum is...anti-virus is NOT needed (at this time) on Macintosh computers.
We can go on and on with this and we will newer get to the end. I have a lot of reasons to use and recommend antivirus software, but I will join collective wisdom of this forum.
 
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MacInWin

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OS X is supporting FAT format but not entirely NTFS. For NTFS read and write support you will need to make some changes or instal some apps of course if you want to write on NTFS formated drives.
Correct. Most of us here recommend Paragon NTFS (link). For $20, it's a great solution if you have to write to NTFS drives.
 

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