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| Originally Posted by Whistler Thanks for all replies. |
Just to add a bit of weight. As a techie geek nerd that has his fingers in both Microsoft and Apple pies, as far as I am concerned, the one (legitimate) thing Windows does better than Mac OSX is business class networking. Windows PCs also have the advantage of supporting a great many low volume niche applications. From what you say neither of these is a purchasing concern for you.
Oh and their is a lot more pirate software available for Windows of course.
The bit about Mac's that techie types just don't understand is that unsupported users (those without a dedicated support department to sort out the technicalities) are generally more productive with them. They spend their time using the productivity tools rather than trying to get the productivity tools to work.
So for home users doing general home things, who have no burning need or desire to run a niche application that only works on Windows, I have no hesitation recommending a Mac.
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As a total Mac novice, what is the entry model
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The main choice is between desktop (iMac) or laptop (Mac Book). The Mini Mac is in a no-man's land. It looks cheap, but by the time you add on a decent monitor and keyboard you might as well buy an iMac and be done with it. You coul duse an existing PC monitor but you lose one of the big advantages of a Mac - the colour on the screen is accurate and not the lurid misrepresentation you get with a typical Windows and cheap monitor combination.
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and what soort of price am I looking at.
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An iMac starts at about £800. Mac books about £100 less. All the new crop are well specified as they ship but allowing for a memory upgrade above the base spec is always a good idea.
You might pick up a bargain by keeping your eye on
this page
Mac's tend to persist longer than PCs and they hold a resale value. Users get more from them for longer and recover more of the cost when they upgrade. So in real terms over the useful life, they are not as expensive as they might first appear.
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As regards software, I presume I would have to replace all my current programs
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Nero - there is a perfectly good burning utility included in OSX that just works. You don't need a Nero replacement but Toast is pretty good if you really want one.
Adobe - Adobe what? Adobe is a software house that publishes many products.
Word, Excel - Open Office is free, or you can buy Microsoft Office for Mac and have Word and Excel.
Norton - you don't need anything like Norton.
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Does Suunto Dive Manager still work ok?
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Not really. What you can do is buy a product called Parallels and install a version of Windows onto into OSX. For something like Suunto Dive Manager you could install an old copy of Windows 9x. You can use XP but it is an expensive way to go legitimately thanks to XPs stupid licensing. This is known as Virtual computing - running multiple virtual operating systems on one bit of physical hardware. It is the next big thing in the server room, and consumes vast amounts of my time at the moment. In typical Mac style Parallels is very straightforward.
Did I mention they look nice
