[Mistteak]

Ok, I just found out today that YES i can get an APPLE thu work. For me that means a saving on any laptop of about a third. ... I have looked at all the PC's and I have made my decision on that one if I go down that road. But would love to by a mac if i can make it and my PC happy together.

NOW I have a few questions about the MacBook. I looked at the website and could not find these, but then i was not sure what to look for.

iChat: Is this a stand alone program / eg, only other iChat users can use, it is not like a subsitute for MSN messenger (I would not speak to my family if it was not for that program) And is MSN Messenger able to be used on a MacBook

MS OFFICE: Do i need it? Or does the Iworks (or whatever the name of it is) allow me to save my docs as MS word or the ability to convert so others can read, and can i read MS office documents adn alter them ( I receive a lot of Office documents, word, excel ..powerpoint) SO would i be better to get MS Office rather than the Iworks? or both ..

Networking to my HP PC desktop machine. Will I have any issues, or do i need a Tech to come set it up??HP is duel coe 2.0 vista home prem. (and no i have not had any issues at all with it thanks - And i like it)

wirless router: do i need the APPLE one, or will it work for any?

I am in a rual area / can I use the wirless router for my laptop, when i am useing a satelite connection rather than a ADSL or Cable.

Do the white Macbooks clean easy, or do they mark .. and do they fit into normaly laptop bags.

AND does it get hot?

Thanks
Tammy

[KellieCM]

Hi Tammy,

I can answer some of your questions, and I'm sure others will be along to answer the others.

iChat is not its own platform, like MSN, Yahoo or AIM. It is a program that works with all of those programs. You may be familiar with a PC program called Trillian -- it's like that. I have not personally used MSN with it, but I'm pretty sure that it would work.

I have not worked with iWork very much, but I do believe that you can read MS Office documents and save your files in those formats. I use MS Office on my computer and find it very easy to use.

The MacBook will work with any wireless router.

Hope that's helpful!

[RastaMon]

To add to what Kellie has already said, iChat natively supports .MAC, AIM, GoogleTalk, and Jabber. Via Jabber Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger are accessible. Additionally, iChat offers extra functionality with other iChat users. For example, with Leopard, some VNC functionality is available through iChat, which allows one user to remotely operate another Mac (with permission). File collaboration and screen sharing are also available, as well as other features.

MS Office was released on the Mac a year or two before it was released for Windows. Office 2008 is supposed to be released early next year. New Macs come with trial versions of both iWork ($79 single user $99 five user household $71 or less student) and Office ($149 Student $399 Standard $499 Professional). Purchasing Office 2004, which is the current version for the Mac platform, allows you to receive Office 2008 Standard edition for the price of shipping. Whether or not you need Office varies from user to user. I have Office 2004, but rarely use it. If your primary concerns are reading Word, Excel and Powerpoint files that are sent to you, iWork should be all you need.

In theory, there should be no problem networking a Mac with your PC. I don't have any first hand experience networking Macs with Vista machines, so I can't say for sure how easy it is in practice. I think a lot will depend on how your network is implemented. For example, if your NAS' filesystem is NTFS, a Mac will be able to read from it, but not write to it, at least out of the box.

Macs support 802.11n, g, b, and a wireless protocols. If your wireless router supports one of those specifications (as the overwhelming majority of wireless routers on the market do) then a Mac should be able to access the signal.

Typically the white MacBooks clean up easily with a damp cloth. I suspect that it is possible to mark them up with something that doesn't come off so easily. The white cases do show minor scratches very easily, and can easily obtain minor scratches. Aside from this, the polycarbonate cases are extremely tough and durable. If the minor scratches are a concern, there are kits available that (supposedly) can remove the scratches, as well as a product called Invisible Shield which is a clear protectant film hat you can apply to the MacBook (or just about any other portable consumer electric device) that is guaranteed for life against scratching.

As I write this, the enclosure bottom of my MacBook is 94˚ Fahrenheit (34˚ C), according to my iStat Pro widget.

[smax013]

[~80584] covered things darn well...but I will add a few things...

RastaMon said:

MS Office was released on the Mac a year or two before it was released for Windows. Office 2008 is supposed to be released early next year. New Macs come with trial versions of both iWork ($79 single user $99 five user household $71 or less student) and Office ($149 Student $399 Standard $499 Professional). Purchasing Office 2004, which is the current version for the Mac platform, allows you to receive Office 2008 Standard edition for the price of shipping. Whether or not you need Office varies from user to user. I have Office 2004, but rarely use it. If your primary concerns are reading Word, Excel and Powerpoint files that are sent to you, iWork should be all you need.

As pointed out, iWorks will allow you to work with Micro$oft Office files, by and large. There might be some formatting that does not translate 100% and iWorks may not have all the features that Office might have. Thus, if you want the "easiest" compatibility, then you should just get Office. But, as noted, if you just need to read Office files sent to you, then iWorks should be fine most of the time. And as noted, you can try both out as all Macs ship with trial versions of both.

RastaMon said:

In theory, there should be no problem networking a Mac with your PC. I don't have any first hand experience networking Macs with Vista machines, so I can't say for sure how easy it is in practice. I think a lot will depend on how your network is implemented. For example, if your NAS' filesystem is NTFS, a Mac will be able to read from it, but not write to it, at least out of the box.

Macs support 802.11n, g, b, and a wireless protocols. If your wireless router supports one of those specifications (as the overwhelming majority of wireless routers on the market do) then a Mac should be able to access the signal.

I have never had any major problems with networking my Macs with my Windoze PeeCees. I have not yet installed my Vista upgrade, so I don't have much direct experience with networking a Vista computer with a Mac. The only problem I have had has been with trying to get a Windoze shared printer to work with a Mac...it was being a little fussy. Other than that, the only issues have more been "quirks" of Windoze Networking (i.e. Workgroups).



I will note that a NTFS formatted network drive (whether a shared folder on a Windoze computer or a NAS drive) should not bother a Mac as the networking "language" takes care of the incompatibility issues (assuming the NAS drive supports Macs). My Western Digital drive/partitions are NTFS formatted and my Macs can both read and write to it just fine. The NTFS issues rears its head when you DIRECTLY attach a NTFS drive (either by USB, Firewire, or an internal SATA drive) to a Mac. In that case, the Mac will be able to read from the drive, but not write to it.



As pointed out, both MacBooks and MacBook Pros come with all currently available "flavors" of WiFi (unless you buy an used earlier generation version...in which case, you will not have 802.11n...but new, current models will have 802.11n). Thus, they will in theory work with all WiFi networks. However, some chipsets don't play nice with others, so you may encounter some networks where you will not quite be able to connect...but this is also true with Windoze PeeCees too.

RastaMon said:

As I write this, the enclosure bottom of my MacBook is 94˚ Fahrenheit (34˚ C), according to my iStat Pro widget.

My MacBook Pro can get a little toasty, but never too terribly uncomfortable (sometimes, on cold nights, it can be nice). I have never measured the temperature, however.

[RastaMon]

{quote}I will note that a NTFS formatted network drive (whether a shared folder on a Windoze computer or a NAS drive) should not bother a Mac as the networking "language" takes care of the incompatibility issues (assuming the NAS drive supports Macs).{quote}

Interesting. I did not know that. Thanks. :-)

[macpcguy]

iWork can save files as Microsoft Office Files. You can also buy a student and teacher or standard edition of Microsoft Office 2004 For Mac and get a free upgrade to the 2008 version. iChat is basically a messenger but in Leopard you can share your screen and video chat. :-) On the networking with new macs with new osx Apple has made it compatible as possible with windows computers. If you have a wireless n, g, or b router then you don't need a Apple Airport Extreme one. I don't know about the mac books cleaning. It does heat up on your lap like most laptops. I have a Windows XP Pro computer with a Netgear Wireless N Router and i haven't had any problems networking.


To share a external drive that isn't a network ready one is impossible, but one that is formated for network sharing should work,



For more information check Apple.com then click mac and choose the right item (ie: macbook, OSX, Mac Pro, etc...)

[smax013]

macpcguy said:

To share a external drive that isn't a network ready one is impossible, but one that is formated for network sharing should work,

This is simply not true. There are quite a few devices that will allow you to take a typical USB drive and put it on a network. The most basic way is to hook it to a computer and then use the built in file sharing. Both Windoze and Mac OS have this ability. In addition, there are several routers that will allow you to take a standard USB external hard drive and "put it" on the network. The most "notible" one is the Airport Extreme. Further more, many NAS (network attached storage) drives will allow you to add additional storage space by adding a normal USB external drive to the NAS drive.