Advice on a new computer

[troutsqueezer]

You seem like an angry person. I'm taking your comments with a grain of salt.

Bravo! My original point in posting to your thread was to take ALL responses with a grain of salt. You're on the right track.

And keep in mind, you can't tell what frame of mind a person has simply by reading text as evidenced by your reply. It's another one of the shortcomings of forum participation.

Any question of a poster's general demeanor can be ascertained simply by reading a sample of their prior posts.

 

[MossRoad]

We use Open Office on one of our laboratory Macs at work, and I haven't heard of issues -- is this something new?

I bought a home version "family pack" of MS Office for $115 and have it on all three of our Macs at home. Has Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and a few other utility apps. No difference from the more expensive MS Office I have at work except for the licensing/support.

I heard there were some issues with the latest Mac OS, Yosemite and Open Office. Apparently there is a work around regarding unsigned apps and privacy settings. So, it appears it does work with some finagling (thought Macs were supposed to be easy (not so for nubees)).

 

[aczlan]

We get Office for something like $10 through work. I'm assuming I could load onto a Mac.
Is there software that a Mac can run so that it will run PC software?

Two ways to do it are MS Office for Mac and Virtualization (via software such as VMWare, Paralells or WINE).

Aaron Z

 

[/pine]

Linux.... its free (if you don't value your time). Unless you know it, or know someone that's willing to show you, stay away from it. I love linux. I was raised on Unix. Its a thinking man's operating system. Its robust. Its elegant. Its beautiful. Its not for the average Joe without support.

Just curious when the last time you looked at one of the newer distributions or booted to a "live cd" ??

Anyone can download the .ISO files and burn to a disk or put on a thumb drive but they are usually large files and not all burning software will burn an ISO...so for just a few dollars most distributions are available on a CD/DVD and on a USB thumb drive for a a few more $'s...this cost is not for the software...it is to cover the media and shipping etc...

Many of the latest distributions are as easy (or easier) to get up and running than a Windows system out of the box...with very intuitive interfaces for anyone that has run Windows...

Take a look at DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing.
...most have screenshots of their interfaces etc...

The advantage of a "live CD/DVD is that you can try out the complete operating system without "installing" anything....just put the disk in a computer and boot to the disk...

One advantage of having just about any of the available "live CDs" on hand is in the event of a corrupted Windows system that will not boot up...just boot to a live cd , mount the HDD and recover your data to a USB drive...

 

[the old grind]

This! ^^^ :thumbsup:

 

[xtn]

I a lot biased. I've been using Apple computers since 1977 and the Apple II system. I've stuck with Apple through all the years they called it a TOY, said it would NEVER LAST, said no one would buy it, said you can't do business with it.
I've been running my business 100% on Apple products since the early 80's.
The greatest compliment I ever got was when I did a proposal on my Apple computer and printed it on a new fangled laser printer ( cost 5K ) and the customer DUMPED ME saying they would rather work with a SMALLER COMPANY. I never did answer that client and tell then there were ONLY TWO people in my company at the time.
I used to rent business products 99% windows products, and had nothing but problems, and all my customers had nothing but problems with them. I tried like heck to use a windows machine SEVERAL TIMES, and I'm 5 times more productive on a Mac, than on any windows machine.

My ONLY REGRET with Apple. I sold 1000 shares of their stock at $24.00 a share, and it went to $650.00 a share. I've been spending that 650K in my mind ever since.

I use Excel, Word, All Adobe products, several video editing products, and a complex 3D cad software for animation, and my current Mac Pro has exceeded my expectations.

Here's one I did for a customer - and they selected me BECAUSE of doing this work, that my competition can't or won't do. This was drawn in a 3d CAD program, then saved to a movie and edited on a Mac i-movie. Everything in the drawing was done to scale and drawn by hand. You can imagine the computer power needed to render this.

You might be more productive on a Mac. But that's you. It isn't the Mac.

The idea that Macs are better for design was valid twenty years ago, but is currently nothing more than a reputation that clings on despite the truth. One's skill and software choice determines one's output capabilities, not one's operating system. While Adobe software was originally developed for Mac, its Windows versions have been exactly the same for many years now. With CAD packages, there are a lot more available for Windows. If you know how to turn out professional looking design and typesetting in a proposal it's because you know what you're doing, not because of your operating system choice.

I use the same things you use and more, and my PC exceeds my expectations. No virus or crash in four years of continuous running and connected to the internet. Architectural walk-through renderings - with textures and shading (no wire frame either) - are running me about twelve minutes for every minute of uncompressed video at 720p/15fps. And I can work in another program while I wait.

I'm not arguing against Macs at all. I'm just pointing out that your bias is ONLY justified by your comfort level in the OS, not by its capabilities.

 

[xtn]

Stay away from Surface tablets. Yes, they are a full blown PC in a little tiny notebook. However, they run Win8, which, unless you have someone to show you, you will not figure out easily and will quickly remember every foul word you ever forgot.

Yeah, you've got to figure out how to boot right to the old desktop instead of the Metro user interface. But it's easy, and after you do it you will no longer be confused. Well, except when you want the old Start Menu and you get the Metro UI again instead. But if you just remember that it's a big stupid start menu, you'll be fine and Windows 8.x will be fine. Oh and you'll have to learn to go to the stupid Charms icons if you want to access Control Panel. But otherwise, it's fine. Stupid, stupid Charms. I hate you, Charms. No, no, you're fine. I HATE YOU!

 

[andrec999]

Exactly, I buy a new one every 4 or 5 years and get the newer updates, and in the last 20 yrs, it has been cheaper than buying a Mac.at 1800.$

I'm using a $199 Acer Laptop for the past 4 years with win7

I was going to buy a Mac and the one I wanted with employee discount and all the bells and whistles was still going to be $1600 and change... just didn't want to risk something happening traveling...

 

[PapaPerk]

Exactly, I buy a new one every 4 or 5 years and get the newer updates, and in the last 20 yrs, it has been cheaper than buying a Mac.at 1800.$

That's an excellent point right there!

 

[MossRoad]

Just curious when the last time you looked at one of the newer distributions or booted to a "live cd" ??

Anyone can download the .ISO files and burn to a disk or put on a thumb drive but they are usually large files and not all burning software will burn an ISO...so for just a few dollars most distributions are available on a CD/DVD and on a USB thumb drive for a a few more $'s...this cost is not for the software...it is to cover the media and shipping etc...

Many of the latest distributions are as easy (or easier) to get up and running than a Windows system out of the box...with very intuitive interfaces for anyone that has run Windows...

Take a look at DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing.
...most have screenshots of their interfaces etc...

The advantage of a "live CD/DVD is that you can try out the complete operating system without "installing" anything....just put the disk in a computer and boot to the disk...

One advantage of having just about any of the available "live CDs" on hand is in the event of a corrupted Windows system that will not boot up...just boot to a live cd , mount the HDD and recover your data to a USB drive...

Your post illustrates perfectly why someone with little to no experience with computers, and especially Linux, will have no idea what you just said.