Macbook question

[Kybosh]

I'm shopping for a new laptop and I'm leaning towards getting the 13in black macbook. I need to be able to go back and forth between mac and pc however. Can I run my microsoft office files on both (assuming I installed microsoft office on the macbook)? Hope this isn't a dumb question.

[metallicat]

Yeah, they have Microsoft Office for the Mac, but I have never tried it so I can't tell you if it's good or not. There are also other programs for the Mac, I believe, that can open Office file types.

[photon]

My wife uses Office 2008 for Mac and we change files back and forth no problem, though I have to save in Office 2003 format, not in the new Office 2007 docx/xlsx format. There might be a plugin for the new doc format for Mac2008 but not sure.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I will be no problem, with or without office on your Mac. I havn't liked the alternatives to office though, so I'd get office for Mac anyway.

[nickerjones]

im upset with Apple right now..... i just bought a black mac book bc they said i could use bootcamp to load windows . My work requires me to run one program that is only window compatible. SO i spend 1800 for the mac and another 200 for the windows and now windows wont load =(...

[Russic]

I've used both mac office and iwork which both work really well for office files. I've never noticed that I couldn't save or open the new office formats though (.docx etc.).

Personally I prefer iwork, but I had nothing against Mac Office. You can download a free trial for a month if you'd like from the website.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/trial/

[Buff]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

im upset with Apple right now..... i just bought a black mac book bc they said i could use bootcamp to load windows . My work requires me to run one program that is only window compatible. SO i spend 1800 for the mac and another 200 for the windows and now windows wont load =(...

I've never messed with bootcamp so I don't know what your problem is. However, look into Parallels. Then you have access to Windows, right from your mac environment. Parallels is virtualization software. However, if you have problems with bootcamp then you may have problems with Parallels, it could be related to the Windows that you purchased... however, when my office switched to Mac I recall the guy who spearheaded the movement was having problems with bootcamp too.

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by photon

My wife uses Office 2008 for Mac and we change files back and forth no problem, though I have to save in Office 2003 format, not in the new Office 2007 docx/xlsx format. There might be a plugin for the new doc format for Mac2008 but not sure.

Office 2008 for Mac uses .docx

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Buff

I've never messed with bootcamp so I don't know what your problem is. However, look into Parallels. Then you have access to Windows, right from your mac environment. Parallels is virtualization software. However, if you have problems with bootcamp then you may have problems with Parallels, it could be related to the Windows that you purchased... however, when my office switched to Mac I recall the guy who spearheaded the movement was having problems with bootcamp too.

I personally use VMWare Fusion to run windows on my MacBook. From everyone I've talked to, it sounds like it's a better overall experience then Parallels. I've installed XP SP2 and SP3 as well as Vista without any issues.

Office for Mac is fully compatible with any existing document format out there. However, if you aren't going to need to do a lot of "office" type work and would simply need to open up documents to print or do some editing, I highly recommend NeoOffice. The word processor is on par with MS Word, save for some advanced table functions, and will work with .doc, .docx and .odf. The spreadsheet program is a little rough, but I still use it over Excel.

[photon]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Office 2008 for Mac uses .docx

Really? What the heck is my wife talking about then...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Yeah, they have Microsoft Office for the Mac, but I have never tried it so I can't tell you if it's good or not. There are also other programs for the Mac, I believe, that can open Office file types.

I've got Office for Mac for school. Not great, but necessary.

[arsenal]

So I was at west world computers last night, checking out the macs. Specifically the laptops. One thing I noticed with both the mac book and the pro is the track pad and button are not quite right in the middle of the computer. While using the keyboard, I found that the base of my thumb would partially rest on the track pad, and accidentally press the mouse button. I was wondering if anyone that uses a mac book or a pro if they have the same situation. It seemed to cause some issues for me at least while typing.

Also another thing I noticed was the brightness of the screen between the mac book and the pro to be huge. The mac book seemed rather washed out, and dull, while the pro looked very crisp, clean and vibrant. Is this just a display setting that can be altered in the mac book? Or is that the way it looks all the time?

Anyway, reason I am asking is because I am probably going to purchase a mac hopefully sometime in the next little bit, and I was hoping to get some feed back.
I guess the other option I have is the iMac. Those are pretty nice.

[Russic]

I know nothing of the macbooks, but I can tell you that the latest imacs are very nice. I absolutely love mine.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by arsenal

So I was at west world computers last night, checking out the macs. Specifically the laptops. One thing I noticed with both the mac book and the pro is the track pad and button are not quite right in the middle of the computer. While using the keyboard, I found that the base of my thumb would partially rest on the track pad, and accidentally press the mouse button. I was wondering if anyone that uses a mac book or a pro if they have the same situation. It seemed to cause some issues for me at least while typing.

Also another thing I noticed was the brightness of the screen between the mac book and the pro to be huge. The mac book seemed rather washed out, and dull, while the pro looked very crisp, clean and vibrant. Is this just a display setting that can be altered in the mac book? Or is that the way it looks all the time?

Anyway, reason I am asking is because I am probably going to purchase a mac hopefully sometime in the next little bit, and I was hoping to get some feed back.
I guess the other option I have is the iMac. Those are pretty nice.

Those problems are likely to change as of today... They're supposed to be announcing new MacBooks at the event today.