The Universe is telling me to get a Mac

[poky]

while there were no viruses or worms there were 88 *tracking cookies* from questioable sources...

You were *extremely* lucky. And tracking cookies were probably a result of going to perfectly legit sites that have ads on them that place cookies on the systems of people who see the ads. They're not actively malicious, just potentially less "private" than is ideal, is all.

[peggyfromwastate]

Google does a lot of tracking cookies, but I think that these were different because they were *recommended to be erased* by the deep scan. They are tracking cookies that Norton usually blocks, I guess. Probably Kate picked them up on Facebook. It's just so liberating to think of NOT having to worry about viruses and worms...

Here is a stupid question, though. If you use the iWork stuff from Mac, and send a "word document" (would that be the Pages program?) to someone with a PC, can they open "Pages" on their computer as an attachment? Or do you have to run Microsoft Word. I'm very tempted to not use Microsoft Office at all...

[DCJenn]

We use Office for mac because of course the Army doesn't use macs and neither does my job. Rick likes the compatibility of being able to do his powerpoint presentations at home but run them at work.

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

darn... but ok

[oceanchild]

I don't use iWork, but it says it saves in standard formats (.doc, etc), so you ought to be able to open them in Office. Might lose some of the cooler fonts though.

I like my Macbook just fine, but between my work PC and my smartphone, I don't use it all that much these days.

[SuzySunshine]

I use Pages and you can save them as a word document for e-mailing and the recipient shouldn't have any issues.

[peggyfromwastate]

I"m scared of sending word attachments- they just don't open. I don't get it. If I run 2007 word, and the person's computer who is trying to open it runs 2003, there are always issues. And since our new antivirus thing, I can't just open a document, I have to save it to a file that I had to create- such a PITA. I'm coordinating this swim team thing now, and it's just a pain.

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

The mac Word program converts everything and you can change how you send your stuff. Of course, I can't send stuff to myself at work because our home stuff is far newer than the work stuff. They're slowly accepting that we can only run with patches and bridges for so long or the IT house of cards is going to collapse.

Jenn

I totally love my Mac... definitely do it!

[Sheherezade]

We have two Macs in the house that are partitioned to have Windows on a small percentage of the hard drive. We just turn the computer on with the option key held down and we are in Windows. Honestly, we don't use it much except for games my son has begged to have that only work on PC. Partitioning the hard drive and installing windows directly is a far better solution than running the Mac "boot camp" program to add Windows - if you decide to go with some Windows option on the machine. For work stuff, my DH uses a hospital portal so everything is compatible. We haven't had compatibility issues with Mac to PC for several years now. I think that's really on the decline.

[Amiens]

So I have had my MacBook Pro for almost a month, and LOVE it! In fact, dh commented that he noticed that I use the computer more.

I have found it very easy to use, if not easier than a PC. I love iWorks, and I have sent Word and Excel documents to my Mac and opened them with no problem. I haven't had any issues with Safari.

What else do I love?

- how easy it is to delete a program from my Mac, and it's gone, no need to go into the registry to delete this or that to ensure that it is completely gone

- I can download free COMPLETE trial versions of software and try them out before buying. With iWorks it was 30 day free trial. It's not some watered down version, it is the complete program that I get to try out.

- I have a few PC friends who rave about Keynote and Pages, and how they wish they could use that instead of Powerpoint or Publisher. I have been using Numbers and love it!

- As far as fonts- I have downloaded cool looking fonts (for free), from kevinandamanda.com. There are lots of free fonts out there.

- I have a digital scrapbooking program that I installed on the PC, but wasn't crazy about it because of how slow and choppy it seemed. On my Mac, it runs so smooth, no hang ups, etc.

- I have been getting into photography, and it runs like a dream. Plus, Mac screens are as close to calibrated as you can get without having to fork out the cash to have your monitor calibrated for color. My Mac doesn't get all flustered when trying to run Lightroom, or Photoshop, or when trying to upload pictures.

- updating OS is cheaper too, or so I have been told from my Apple loving friend.

- I haven't had it crash, freeze up or anything.

- I have been able to set wake up alarms on iCal, set a shut off and turn on timer for the laptop.

- I love my built in webcam and microphone. Still need to find someone to video chat with besides my mom.

- I love my mouse pad, and it tracks just like my ITouch.

I could go on and on.......... I find a new thing every day that I love. Now when I use the Dell Inspiron Laptop, I think "wow I feel like I using a dinosaur."

I am already scheming how to get convert our house to Apple entirely.

[peggyfromwastate]

No kidding about deleting a program from a PC. It never entirely deletes. Drives me totally nuts.

THanks for the input wrt photography-- that is my main gripe with the PC. It just is so cumbersome...