[BramptonAssJaggy]

Hey guys. I really need a laptop within the next two weeks. I'm so sick of Windows, and i was disapointed with Vista so far. For my laptop i want a Mac. I'm only going to use this for pictures i take, websurfing mostly myspace, gamespot, and all that fun stuff, Music of course, using my iPod, downloading music, movies, etc. Before i buy 1 i got these questions.

1) If i save a word document like an essay or report to a USB thumbdrive using a Mac, and put the essay or report on a school Windows XP PC will it work?

2)Can you use MSN messenger on a Mac?

3) If someone sends me a Windows Media MP3 song file will it work on my Mac?

4) Can you use Windows Media Player?

5) Can you download torrents and stuff on Mac's and put them on your ipods like movies and music and stuff (Legally of course)

6) Is it true there are no viruses on a mac?

7)Can you rip CDs to your Mac?

8)Which of thse would you prefer? I want it to be fast and crap
Apple MacBook Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz Laptop - Black


Apple MacBook Pro MA609LL/A Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz Laptop


Also can you help me choose the right laptop for around 2 Grand. I saw this and im wondering if its good enough. Btw i need some programs like MS Word and presentations and crap. Thanks guys i appreicate it

[sray]

Originally Posted by BramptonAssJaggy 

1) If i save a word document like an essay or report to a USB thumbdrive using a Mac, and put the essay or report on a school Windows XP PC will it work?

Yes. You all Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) can go back and forth with their Windows counterpart. The most recent version of Office for Windows has changed the file format; but this is not an issue as long as your are not using Office 2007 on Windows.

2)Can you use MSN messenger on a Mac?

Yes. There is a native client for Mac or you can use AdiumX (a universal chat client)

3) If someone sends me a Windows Media MP3 song file will it work on my Mac?

Yes. MP3 works on any OS.

4) Can you use Windows Media Player?

There is an old version of WMP for Mac but it has been discontinued by MS. You can still open non-DRM WMV files by downloading the Flip4Mac plugin for Quicktime.

5) Can you download torrents and stuff on Mac's and put them on your ipods like movies and music and stuff (Legally of course)

yes. Google XTorrent (there are lots of other torrent clients as well)

6) Is it true there are no viruses on a mac?

yes and no. I'm sure there are some, but I've never run into them nor do I know anybody who has (we have a large population of Macs at work).

7)Can you rip CDs to your Mac?

well, duh! Off course. Apple wouldn't have gotten as far with the iPod if you couldn't rip all your CDs!

8)Which of thse would you prefer? I want it to be fast and crap

Can't help you there. I've always use the MBP (and before that the Powerbooks) so I don't know what the MB (or iBooks) are like. If you don't mind the smaller screen size, the MB looks good enough for your school needs. Keep in mind that you can always buy a LCD and hook it up to your Mac so you have TWO screens.

Btw i need some programs like MS Word and presentations and crap.

MS has a Student/Teacher version of Office 2004 for $130 or so (comes with 3 licenses). That should handle all your word and presentation needs. Off course, once you use Apple Keynote, you'll never go back to Powerpoint again.

[Sub]

He's right.

[BramptonAssJaggy]

Alright thanks. So Im also thinking about waiting till the new batch of MBPs come out, should i?

[mduell]

If you want to play 3D games, go with the MacBook Pro, otherwise go with the MacBook with more RAM.

Originally Posted by sray 

Yes. You all Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) can go back and forth with their Windows counterpart. The most recent version of Office for Windows has changed the file format; but this is not an issue as long as your are not using Office 2007 on Windows.

There is an old version of WMP for Mac but it has been discontinued by MS. You can still open non-DRM WMV files by downloading the Flip4Mac plugin for Quicktime.

You can still save files in the older doc formats in Office 2007.

VLC is another good option for playing WMV/WMA on all platforms.

[pcguy1]

1. Wait till 10.5 which should be around the corner.
2. if you do decide to get mbp, make very very sure that you order the biggest hd you can afford, unlike mb(which is a piece of cake), replace/upgrade hd in mpb is a major major pain.
3. You can always use parellels or BootCamp(should be part of 10.5) with xp/vista to run any program that you need in the window world, just make sure you have more then 1G or ram if you want to run dual os.

[makku]

Originally Posted by pcguy1 

1. Wait till 10.4 which should be around the corner.

10.5

[peeb]

He said he really needs one in the next two weeks.

[pcguy1]

Originally Posted by makku 

10.5

10.5, 10.5
sorry

[imitchellg5]

I would get a MacBook. For what you've described doing with your Mac, the horsepower and $ of a MacBook Pro would be a waste.