For those seeking a FREE alternative to MS Office (Mac or PC), see openoffice.org.

And I hope you all know about the web browser that is far better than MS Explorer...
www.mozilla.org

--Ted E.

Need to run a Windows-only software that doesn't have any Mac equivalent? There's a software for that called Virtual PC. It allows you to run Windows operating systems and Windows applications on your Mac.

microsoft.com/mac/...

Walt Mossberg also has an article about Virtual PC that's listed in the archive I mentioned earlier. It's the October 14 column called "Microsoft Program Lets Macs Run Windows."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,

Ted,

Good suggestion for free alternatives to Microsoft Office.

As far as Web browsers go, I greatly prefer Apple's free Safari browser over both the Mac and Windows versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Also, I sometimes use the Mac version of Firefox (http://mozilla.org).

I forgot to mention that Apple makes an excellent alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint as part of its new iWork '05 suite, though it's not free. It's called Keynote, and it's also compatible with PowerPoint.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/

I like Apple's new Pages software that's an alternative to Microsoft Word (and compatible with Word), but I wouldn't toss out Word yet.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/

I'm impressed with Apple's new iLife '05 suite that includes the latest and greatest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes and GarageBand. It comes standard with all new Macs manufactured on or after January 11 (not necessarily all new Macs purchased on or after January 11). The regular price for iLife '05 is a pretty cheap $79 (the closest thing to a Windows equivalent would be well over $300 and wouldn't even include the nifty integration between programs like the iLife '05 suite does).

http://www.apple.com/ilife/

If you purchase a Mac on or after January 11 that does NOT include iLife '05 on it, Apple offers the opportunity to purchase iLife '05 for only $20. The offer ends on March 25, so you'd better get cracking if you want to pay less. Go to this Web address:

http://www.apple.com/ilife/uptodate/

Another surprising thing I've noticed is that a lot of people think Palm Pilots, or PDAs, can't be used with Macs. I sync up my Palm Zire 21 with my Mac on a regular basis. In fact, I sync up my address book and calendar with my Palm, iPod mini, Sony Ericsson T610 cell phone and online .Mac account using a nifty free Apple program called iSync. Literally one click or a tap of the stylus syncs up all of these devices simultaneously (yes, you read that correctly).

http://www.apple.com/isync/

By the way, you can get a free 60-day trial of the awesome .Mac online services at http://mac.com. There's so much stuff that comes with it that it's well worth the $99 annual rate. For example, I love using the handy iDisk for online file storage and being able to publish iPhoto photo galleries and iCal calendars on the Web in just a couple clicks of the mouse. Then there's the e-mail, antivirus software, and Learning Center with narrated videos about how to use various software, among other things.

Oh, one more thing. PocketPCs can also be synced with Macs by using a program called PocketMac.

http://www.pocketmac.net/

Here's a great page on the Apple site for downloading calendars into the iCal software:

http://www.apple.com/ical/library/

For example, I use the US Holidays calendar as well as the Cubs schedule, etc.

Here's a separate site with more downloadable calendars:

http://icalshare.com

Welcome to the wonderful world of Macs, Clamato :-)

If you want to hit the ground running with Mac OS X easily, this book is a must-have:

Teach Yourself Visually Mac OS X v. 10.3 Panther
by Ruth Maran, Kelleigh Johnson

(I've finally figured out the best way to post long URLs here. Sorry Ted!)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mac,

Gracias.

Question for you...since you seem to know what you're talking about. As I mentioned, I bought a G5...had an Airport Card installed and bought a D-Link wireless station. I did this because I wanted the printer elsewhere in the house (wanted to clean up the work area...and I don't print a heck of a lot). I was told that I would need an additional wireless printer server. I bought an Epson RX500 all-in-one (after rebates...practically free). The gent at MacMall said that I needed to get an Epson Wireless print server...said it would cost $75-80. I find that the ones that use something in that price range don't work with RX500 (perhaps because there is a scanner involved?) and the Epson model is about $180 everywhere. For the extra $15 should I get the Airport Extreme thingy (not technical, I know)? Is there a benefit to having that vs. the Epson (other than it looks cooler) or vice versa...and will it work for what I want to use it for? In case I didn't mention...computer on main floor...printer in the basement. And before anybody gets preachy about how stupid that is, I will mention that my two lovely boys have printed 95% of the volume coming off the old HP sitting on the floor under my desk.

TIA,

ClaMaco

It's my understanding that you'll need a print server attachment for this, but I recommend talking to Ray at CompUSA first (I believe he works both Saturdays and Sundays). He should be able to give you a definite answer.

I forgot to mention earlier that there are Mac versions of TurboTax and Quicken. I just bought a copy of TurboTax today.

And another thing...

You can make a PDF out of virtually anything in Mac OS X (Word document, Excel spreadsheet, Web page, you name it). You don't even need to install any special software to make it happen since this capability is built right into OS X. Here's how you do it:

File ==> Print...
Save as PDF...

It's that simple.

This is a great article pointing out that comparably equipped Windows PC's are not really less expensive than Macs (click the link to read the whole article). It includes a side-by-side comparison of the specs on a Mac mini and a Dell Dimension 2400.

The Mac mini: Comparing Apples and Oranges

"For years, people have criticized Macs for being more expensive than Windows PCs. Although at one time that was the case, those of us in the know realized a couple years ago that when you look at comparably equipped Macs and brand-name Windows PCs—that is, once you add the hardware features and software to a Windows PC that come stock on a Mac—the differences in price are much smaller, if they exist at all. This aspect of “price comparisons” has been lost on many tech pundits and analysts (as is the fact that Macs generally come with an excellent software bundle unmatched on budget PCs)."

Now before anyone gets fooled by the processor spec on the Mac mini being compared to the Dell Dimension 2400, be sure to educate yourself by reading what I've copied and pasted below.

What this guy is basically saying is that a Mac processor is more efficient. To make an analogy, a Mac processor is like the larger of the two sprockets on a 10-speed bicycle, whereas an Intel Pentium, Celeron, etc. processor is like the smaller of the two sprockets. It takes fewer cycles (revolutions) for the Mac processor to go the same speed. That's why the number for the Mac processor spec tricks people into thinking the Mac processor is so much slower. Make sense?

I really wish more people understood this before buying a Windows PC...

"The Megahertz Myth

Remember that performance should not be measured on MHz alone, especially when comparing Macs to PCs. (Many people assume that Macs are slower than PCs just because the Mac's MHz numbers are lower, which is incorrect.)

Why is this?

The short answer is that different processors execute different numbers of instructions per cycle, so comparing one's processing speed in MHz (megahertz being one million cycles per second) to another's is not an accurate measure of performance.

If a particular 8 MHz processor is designed to handle 4 instructions per cycle but a different 12 MHz processor is designed to handle only 2 instructions per cycle, which is faster?

Hmmm: 8 million cycles of 4 instructions each is 32 million instructions executed in one second ... versus 12 million cycles of 2 instructions each is 24 million instructions executed in that same one second ... Sounds to me like this particular 8 MHz processor is faster, as it got more done in the same amount of time.

Now substitute "PowerPC G5" for "8 MHz" and "Intel Pentium 4" for "12 MHz" and you'll get the idea why a modern Power Mac at, say, 1.6 GHz may be at least as fast (perhaps faster for some tasks, slower for others) as a modern Dell at, say, 2.4 GHz.

This is over-simplified, but longer explanations that are more technically-accurate make my head spin. I do think it's a reasonable example as to why comparing real-world performance on MHz (or, these days, GHz) alone isn't good.

--John O'Malley"

I think what you are seeing on this topic is a great example of the so-called "Apple Cult," of which I am an unofficial member (because there are no official members).

I resemble that remark, GENuke :-)

Speaking of which, there's a recently released book about it:

The Cult of Mac
by Owen Linzmayer

Also, here's the premier book about the history of Apple Computer, including its poor business decisions during the 1980s and 1990s that enabled Microsoft to dominate the market with notoriously buggy, bloated, insecure products that are susceptible to viruses, worms, trojan horses, adware and spyware that drive computer users nuts:

Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company
by Owen Linzmayer

ClaMaco,

Here's where you can download the latest Mac OS X versions of common freeware helper applications:

RealPlayer

Windows Media Player

Macromedia Flash Player

Stuffit Expander (a Mac equivalent of WinZip)

Adobe Reader 7
(I recommend NOT making Adobe Reader the default PDF viewer; just keep it handy -- Mac OS X 10.3 Panther's Preview application is lightning fast and more than adequate most of the time)

If you want more robust photo editing capabilities than iPhoto without the expense of Adobe Photoshop Elements or the really hefty expense of Adobe Photoshop, this one can be had for only about $30:

GraphicConverter

Here's the best magazine for Mac users (and it's really cheap):

MacAddict

This magazine fell out of favor with some folks for a while, but it's gotten better as of late:

Macworld

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mac,

The people at the Apple Store are very helpful. Spoke to no less than four of them today. The first three (two were women) were man enough to admit that they did not know the answer to my question and put me in touch with someone who did. That's what I call service. Don't give me any B.S. if you don't know the answer...point me in the direction of somebody who does.