Switching to Apple from PC

I have beem a PC user all my life. I am about to purchase a new laptop. Several friends and coworkers swear by a Mac, and are encouraging me to go for it.

I will be using the laptop primarely for word processing, internet with WiFi and games. Is it worth the extra cost?

Is it very difficult to configure a Mac to be able to use PC software, including games?

How much are the "Parallel" and "Boot Camp" software and how do I get them?

Thanks for your help.

Well, you will hear different opinions about a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. Both are great laptops.

Boot Camp comes standard with Leopard, which if you are buying a new laptop, that will come on it. Oh yeah, and a benchmark test not to long ago showed that the best computer that ran Vista... a Mac.

Worth the switch. Go for it.

A mac would be fine to suite your needs. For word processing I would recommend iWork 08 (from Apple), MS Office 2008 or Neooffice (which is free but has some compatibility issues.)

Macs are not really gaming platforms, however you can get a handful good games. If you want to play games then a Macbook Pro would be good, but there pretty pricey.

You can't run PC Software on a mac, you'll need to run windows in a virtual machine such as parallels or vmware fusion or use windows in Bootcamp. Bootcamp is free, it comes with your mac when you buy it.


So basically a macbook is ideal if you don't want to play games and a Macbook pro is if you do want to play games.

I will be using the laptop primarely for word processing, internet with WiFi and games. Is it worth the extra cost?

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You can do everything you describe easily on Windows. The reason for switching over is for the stylish hardware and the operating system - OS X Leopard.

Have a look on the Apple website and at the Leopard information. Only you can decide if you think it would be fun to use and whether you like the look of it. Obviously everyone on this forum thinks it's pretty funky. There are more tangible reasons for using OS X over Windows too - no viruses or spyware.

Is it very difficult to configure a Mac to be able to use PC software, including games? How much are the "Parallel" and "Boot Camp" software and how do I get them?

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You need a copy of Windows. Bootcamp is a program that comes with OS X. You split your hard drive into two sections. Hold down alt when you start up and you have a PC running Windows.

Parallels is a commercial piece of software where you can flip between Windows and OS X on the fly, without having to restart. You will get better games performance using Bootcamp though.

Bear in mind the MacBook has a weak graphic chip in it and isn't suitable for playing most modern 3D games in Windows. The Pro would be a better bet. Also consider if you actually need a laptop. The 2.4Ghz 20" iMac is just as good (and cheaper) than a MacBook Pro.