Software

One my computer(s) (not Apple) i have a choice of platforms either i install Linux or Windows. With Apple you need bootcamp (unless i am wrong and you can install Linux on a bare Apple system). Linux i use but i have to use windows for testing purposes. Apple are nice but expensive to buy and repair. Then that is always the case with choice. A basic car that you can mod or a RollsRoyce?.

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.

No you dont need boot camp yes you can run on ab bare mac linux (intel, power pc) and i think windows (intel)

That Macs only now are getting MS Office.

Back in the day, while PC users were running MS Word (or Wordperfect) for DOS, Macs got MS Word (1985).

The first version of Excel was on the Mac, and preceeded the one for Windows by 2 years.

Powerpoint was first on the Mac, and then the creators were bought by MS. It was out 2 years before the Windows version.

So initially, MS kept Windows and Macintosh versions up to date, once they had brought the Windows version up to speed.

But later MS shifted to letting the Mac versions slide, giving advantage to the windows versions - during that period there were issues with backwards compatibility between platforms.

MS is now in a pattern where they make the new features in MS Office available to the Mac about a year later.

James

After all the Office 2008 for Mac is the same as Office 2007 for Windows not backward compatible to older versions of Office. So the ability to electronically lodge documents is reduced or at the very least not a Native job.

Apples Word Star if I remember correctly works quite well has a format that is compatible with Word so the ability to read or write documents in the M$ format is there with a few backward steps of Word Documents not being backward compatible through most of the word range of products. Word Perfect Open Office and so on don't have the same issues I can open a WP 5 or earlier Document in X3 without any problems & I don't loose any formatting. However I am unable to open a word 97 Document in Office 2007 or 8 and retain the formatting.

I just personally don't see Word or any of the office range of products as a Selling Point. The Legal Side of the business is currently avoiding Office 2007 because of compatibility issues as well as the medical side. I don't know about others but any business who deals with Government Departments are sort of in the same boat as well the Government Agencies archive Documents in the form that they where originally made and this is beginning to be a problem with Word Documents as most of the older ones can not be opened without losing formatting in the new product. Add to that the inability of the older Office Products to open or at least read documents from the New Office Suite of Products and there is a problem there as well.

I support Mac's for the Graphic Side of the business and those people use their Macs because they simply do the job better. They don't care about the supplied software so much as their core applications. As for Mac's market share I don't know what it is at the moment but it has increased dramatically in the past year or so since Vista came out. Apples problem here is that they currently lack the manufacturing capacity to supply Macs if they where to suddenly become the platform of choice with a larger proportion of end users. If the trend continues in the move away from Vista I can see potential problems in Apples ability in being able to supply demand. They would also be stupid in ramping up the supply without the demand being there first so the very popularity of the Mac platform could be it;s undoing as those who want one can not get them when they want them so they use the Windows Alternative and learn to like it eventually or at least live with it.

I don't know what will happen there but Apple Sales have defiantly increased substantially recently.

As for OSX being Secure if anything it's Security through Obscurity and that's not a good thing either. I can not help but point out to those Mac lovers that the very first case of Computer Hacking/Cracking whatever you like to call it happened in Melbourne Australia on a Unix Main Frame at Melbourne University long before it was even considered a Crime. The system is crackable but as there isn't currently a big enough market share they are ignored by the majority of Crackers unless it is in relation to something that is wanted. The case of giving away a Cracked NB recently brought about the Mac Book Air being the first one cracked not so much because it was less secure but more likely because it was a More Desirable unit to own by the successful Cracker.

I personally have problems with Apple from the prospective that they want to supply it all and control all their product just like M$ does with Windows. I would prefer to see more competition in this market but as the 2 Big Players are M$ and Apple at the moment any competition from Apple against M$ is good though I personally think that things could be better with Unix, Linux, BSD, and so on being more widely used. The really idiot thing here is that all the big financial institutions use Unix Servers or Linux Servers to control the money so they really are a target for those interested in stealing money but for some reason these Cracks either are not happening or go unreported. It could be that the reporting of Cracks in Unix/Linux are not reported to retain Confidence in the Banks and so on or they just may not be occurring. I'm not sure which it is s I've seen both over the years. Though the majority of the Unix Cracks have been internal from hired Programmers who want more than their fee for their work. But in that particular case it cost more to plug the hole than what was being taken so it was left in place till a new Application was rolled out about 2 years latter. There was only a fraction of a cent per transaction involved so it was left alone and considered as Not Worth the Effort. I'm not sure what happened with the new product as I left that place but I would assume that the hole was plugged and the Banks and so on returned to making record profits.

Actually I see Adobe CS whatever being more of a selling point to Mac Buyers than Office but then again maybe it's just the part of the business that I deal with.

Col

Yes, you make some good points here. I agree that both microsoft and apple have done very little to make things convenient, nor less expensive for the consumers. But, then again, I recall thinking 5 years ago that Linux would be one of the leading competitors by now. And, that still has not happened.
If I did not work and teach in environments that required me to use and teach microsoft products, I would simply use other applications more often. But, I found when I did that my skills in microsoft and apple products were dipping and I was becoming less and less familar with the products that I was responsible to teach.
For example, I did not want to purchase MS office 2007 for my home office pc at all. I was irritated with having to purchase yet another version of microsofts software at a rediculous price. However, I found that if I do not use the products I teach on a daily basis my skills become clunky over time.
I did however find a pretty good deal on MS office 2007 Ultimate Edition. ($59.95) Theultimatesteal.com. This price is available to students only, but it is not a student-teacher version. It is regularly priced at $699.
Hmmmm, I guess microsoft figures these students will eventually be working in industry so why not stick their hooks in them now, that way they will continue to have them as customers later.