PC to imac

Hi Guys newly registered and some basically stupid questions (for starters):

Thinking about buying a new 21.5 imac and don't know what software to purchase (currently using word xp and need compatable equiv) so what do I need to buy pre-installed?

How do I transfer info like pictures/itunes over to a mac from a PC?

Thanks Simon

Welcome to the Mac Forums.

One of the options for pre-installed software when you purchase a new Mac is Office 2011. Office 2011 includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook in the business version. The Home and Student version does not include Outlook and is less expensive. There are also several free apps that are compatible with and will save documents to the MS Word file format.

Since iTunes is included with every new Mac it's easy to transfer your library from a PC. There are several methods for doing this. See this LINK for one of them.

chscag said:

Welcome to the Mac Forums.

One of the options for pre-installed software when you purchase a new Mac is Office 2011. Office 2011 includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook in the business version. The Home and Student version does not include Outlook and is less expensive. There are also several free apps that are compatible with and will save documents to the MS Word file format.

Since iTunes is included with every new Mac it's easy to transfer your library from a PC. There are several methods for doing this. See this LINK for one of them.

Click to expand...

Thank you for that, can you tell me how I can transfer my library of pictures from my PC to a new imac. I currently run win xp.

You can always transfer all your pictures to an external HDD or thumb drive (if you have one big enough), plug the external drive into the usb port then drag them all into iPhoto.

- Simon

I was also wondering if I purchase an ipad with the imac and have office pre installed on the new imac is this usable on the ipad also?
Thanks

You can't use mac apps on the iPad as they are completely different operating systems than each other. However there are free and paid-for apps for the ipad which will let you read and edit most office files.

- Simon

Thanks Guys one more question does imac come email enabled or do you have to buy pre installed?

Yes, an email application "Mail" is included. However, you'll have to configure it for the proper parameters set by your ISP email provider. Very easy to do.

As chscag says it's very easy to set up, when you sign up for your broadband you can set it up to include an email address (although most already give you one as a standard), they will send you all the settings in the post along with your contract for your broadband package.

- Simon

I'm not sure why chscag plugged Microsoft Office, since you didn't say you needed it. Not that Office isn't perfectly fine software, but one of the many joys of the Mac is that you are free of the *requirement* to use MS software if you don't want to. Many other options in that regard, based on what you want to do.

Macs basically come with almost all the software you *need* already loaded. The number of things you should figure on HAVING to buy are really pretty shockingly low for typical users -- I often recommend Flip4Mac WMV Player and Perian (both free) to extend QuickTime's ability to play non-standard video formats, and perhaps a couple of other items (a nice word processor a bit more powerful than the included TextEdit, a disk utility program) and of course an external hard drive for backups ... but from the point of view of someone who is just starting out with a Mac, it's pretty much all there.

Focus on learning the Mac OS first, then you'll be in a much better position (IMHO) to judge what software you need AND what represents the best value for your needs.

@chas_m

Thinking about buying a new 21.5 imac and don't know what software to purchase (currently using word xp and need compatable equiv) so what do I need to buy pre-installed?

Click to expand...

Isn't MS Office 2011 compatible? And can it not be pre-installed by Apple? The OP did say he needed a compatible equivalent and what is more compatible with MS Word than MS Word itself?

I'm not sure why chscag plugged Microsoft Office, since you didn't say you needed it. Not that Office isn't perfectly fine software, but one of the many joys of the Mac is that you are free of the *requirement* to use MS software if you don't want to. Many other options in that regard, based on what you want to do.

Click to expand...

Your dislike for MS is showing again..... ;D

@cyclingsimon Before you purchase any new software for your Mac take a loot at what is already installed first. It can do much more than a lot of people think. That why I am currently writing a series of articles devoted to making the best use of the software that comes with new Macs.

As far as Microsoft Office goes I suggest downloading and trying NeoOffice . It is free and does the things that most people use Microsoft Office for. I'm not saying don't use MS Office just why spend the money till you know for sure you will need that program

In addition to the good suggestion by Slydude, there is also Open Office for the Mac and the very nice word processor "Bean". All free by the way.

You could also choose to have iWork09 pre-installed if you wish. However, it might be wise to wait until iWork11 is released which should be soon.

Thanks for catching that. I meant to suggest OpenOffice since that is what I am currently using. Either one is good though and works nicely for most user.

chscag said:

Isn't MS Office 2011 compatible? And can it not be pre-installed by Apple?

Click to expand...

I did see that he said he was USING Word ... but that's just a word processor. Anyone who thinks that means they NEED the entire Office suite clearly hasn't seen how 95% of Word users work with the program. Almost everyone who uses Word just uses it as a regular word processor.

The Mac already has one of those included -- TextEdit -- and it's 100% Word compatible to boot!

I should have "worded" myself better -- heh -- but what I was trying to say to you and the OP was that just needing a word processing program does not automatically translate to *having* to buy Office 2011. Unless you're using the other parts of the suite, that's criminal overspending IMHO.

Your dislike for MS is showing again..... ;D

Click to expand...

I like Office 2011 a *great* deal more than OpenOffice, which gets recommended *all the time* around here despite being one of the fugliest, inelegant and occasionally-stupid programs around. "It's free though" is not a trump card over a good UI in my world.

For word processing, I own and use Bean, Mariner Write, Pages, CeltX, StoryMill (for fiction), TextEdit and XPad. Which tool I use varies on what I'm doing. Some are free, some are open-source, some are neither.

I don't dislike Word ... I just don't think they make the best word processor for people who want to do your average level of word processing.

I like Office 2011 a *great* deal more than OpenOffice, which gets recommended *all the time* around here despite being one of the fugliest, inelegant and occasionally-stupid programs around. "It's free though" is not a trump card over a good UI in my world.

Click to expand...

Have to agree with you regarding Open Office. While it does work and is free, it's definitely ugly and bloated. I hate to recommend it but it seems folks would rather use it in lieu of NeoOffice.

For word processing, I own and use Bean, Mariner Write, Pages, CeltX, StoryMill (for fiction), TextEdit and XPad. Which tool I use varies on what I'm doing. Some are free, some are open-source, some are neither.

Click to expand...

I have used Bean and for most folks who just need a WP program it will suffice. I also like Pages for layout work and probably would use it more often but for the fact that it will not by default save to DOC or DOCX. (I'm too lazy to do a save as each time. )

I've also found several glitches in Office 2011 which I do not like: For some reason MS decided to do away with "Print Preview" stating it's not needed. I wonder why they left it in Office 2010 then? And, Office 2011 does an activation check each time it's run leaving temp files in the Trash after each reboot. MS (forum MVPs) state that it will be fixed in the next update.

OK. Now you have the good, bad, and the ugly. But let's be fair to MS from now on, after all they're still the second best.... ;P