If you’re like most people thinking of
switching from your PC to a Mac,
you’ve got lots of questions.
Here are the answers to the 10
most frequently asked questions.
And if you’ve still got more,
just click on “More
frequently asked questions”
at the bottom of the page.
1. Can I run Microsoft Office?
Yes. Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac OS X gives
you Word, PowerPoint and Excel,
all with the same familiar
interfaces. And thanks to
exclusive features, the Mac
versions actually improve on
their Windows counterparts in
several areas. Office documents
are all fully compatible between
Mac and Windows, so you can
share everything from
spreadsheets to presentations,
and they’ll open painlessly at
each end.
Learn more about Microsoft
Office 2004 for Mac.
2. How will I get and send email?
Mac OS X includes Apple’s email program, called
Mail, which offers rich text,
easy setup and filters plus
compatibility with Microsoft
Exchange mail servers, as well
as an Address Book. You can also
use Eudora, Netscape
Communicator or the Microsoft
Entourage program included with
Microsoft Office 2004, which
supports Exchange servers.
Webmail systems such as Hotmail,
AOL Mail and Yahoo! Mail
functions as expected on a Mac,
too. And because modern programs
exchange information via the
Internet standard MIME, mail
passes smoothly from Mac to PC
and back again.
Find out more about email on the
Mac.
3. How do I chat with friends?
When you own a Mac, you don’t have to give up
your online buddies — in fact,
now you can see and hear them,
too. Videoconference with your
co-workers, friends and family,
no matter how far away they are
with iChat AV and
iSight. iChat
AV, an instant messaging
application included with Mac OS
X Panther, provides video, audio
and built-in compatibility with
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).
What’s more, AIM, MSN Messenger,
Yahoo! Messenger and ICQ all
have Mac versions. You can use
the same screen name on your Mac
as the one you use on your PC at
work.
Check out all your chat options.
4. Can I run my applications?
You’ll find thousands of applications for
Macintosh from many of the same
vendors you already know on the
PC. There’s nothing we don’t let
you do — from CAD to databases
to finance. To name a few:
Quicken 2005, AOL, Microsoft
Internet Explorer (included),
Eudora, Adobe Photoshop. Not to
mention games like World of
Warcraft, Doom 3 and Myst IV:
Revelation.
See a roundup of top
applications.
5. How do I share files?
Most popular applications use the exact same
file formats, making it trivial
to exchange documents with PC
users or to migrate existing
files such as documents,
pictures and music from a PC to
the Mac. Not only are the files
compatible with the Mac, it’s
really simple to share them as
well. Email is a very popular
way to share files. Macs handle
attachments just like a PC —
using the Internet standard MIME
types. Macs can also connect to
the same networks as PCs and
share files over the network
using the SMB/CIFS file sharing
protocol. Or you can burn a CD —
Macs and PCs both read and write
to the same standard for data
CDs. Other options? Consider USB
or FireWire removable hard disks
or floppy drives, or a USB
keychain flash memory device.
Macs can read Windows formatted
disks, making it easy to
exchange Zip disks, portable
hard drives or other portable
media between Macs and PCs.
You have multiple storage and
file sharing options.
6. Can I run a Mac on a PC Network?
Macs have been doing this for years, connecting
to PC networks via modem,
Ethernet and (more recently)
industry-standard WiFi (we call
802.11b- and 802.11g-based
wireless networking AirPort on
the Mac). The only difference is
that now it’s a lot faster and
easier with Mac OS X. UNIX-based
and built with the networking
technologies that do the heavy
lifting on the Internet, Mac OS
X lets you connect to PC
networks and share files and
printers with Windows-based PCs
on those networks.
Learn more about networking on a
Mac.
7. How do I get online with my ISP?
You can connect to the Internet with almost
every Internet Service Provider
(ISP), including EarthLink and
America Online. Mac OS X
includes the Internet Connect
utility, which lets you dial
your ISP, establish a PPP
connection over Ethernet,
connect to an AirPort network or
have your AirPort Base Station
connect to the Internet.
See what else you can do on the
Internet.
8. Can I use a two-button mouse?
Mac OS X offers built-in support for USB mice
and keyboards. With a two-button
or scroll wheel mouse, you can
take advantage of convenient
features of the operating system
without touching the keyboard.
If you prefer a split ergonomic
keyboard, just plug it in. You
don’t need to install any
additional software or configure
drivers.
See a list of available input
devices.
9. Can I use my printer?
Mac OS X ships with drivers for today’s most
popular USB inkjet printers. Mac
OS X v10.3 Panther also includes
scanner support through Image
Capture, TWAIN support, Epson
scanner drivers, CUPS Printing,
PostScript transparency
printing, saving custom settings
when printing, personal printer
sharing and updated printer
drivers (including Lexmark).
Check if your printer is
compatible.
10. Can I use my digital camera?
With built-in ability to automatically
recognize your USB or FireWire
camera, Mac OS X and iPhoto let
you easily manage your digital
images. iPhoto automatically
imports all of the pictures from
your camera and lets you not
only organize and share them,
but also enhance them with a
single click and archive them to
CD or DVD without leaving the
application. You can even create
a beautiful linen-bound book of
your most treasured pictures.
See a list of cameras that work
with iPhoto.
More frequently asked questions.
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