PC withdrawal (anybody else out there?)

[greensfo]

I'm beginning to empathize with the nerdy, fat guy and hate the cool,
slacker guy on the Mac ads. I'm recently self-employed and was
convinced by computer cognoscenti friends to switch to a macbook pro
in January after 10 years of using pcs - pretty much the rest of my
industry (biotech) uses pcs. I use the basics... word, excel and
powerpoint and do research via the internet. I'm beginning to think
that moving to a mac was a mistake. Microsoft office products don't
seem to work as well for mac. I don't want to count up the lost time
(=money) that I've spent screwing around trying to figure out how to
do something or fixing some mystery glitch in a document.

I'm by no means a computer expert but neither am I a beginner. I was
pretty skilled on the office applications in windows and was a go-to
guy at my previous employer. Are there others out there who've
switched to mac and are dissatisfied? Is it just withdrawal? I don't
remember the switch from mac to pc back in '97 to be this painful.
I'm seriously thinking about selling my macbook pro and going back to
a pc. Or throwing the d*&# thing out the window.

How well (and easily) does the windows operating system work on a
macbook pro? Is that the solution to my woes?

 

[JE McGimpsey]

How well (and easily) does the windows operating system work on a
macbook pro?

It works fine, either via Boot Camp or Parallels.

Is that the solution to my woes?

Can't possibly know - do you have any specific problems that might lend
themselves to a solution? It's hard to tell from your post what's
bothering you other than general dissatisfaction.

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Hi Whatever Your Name Is:

Windows Xp will work just fine, either in BootCamp or Paralells, provided
you have at least 2 GB of RAM in that box.

You are not a "typical" user, you are a "power user", and as you have
discovered, the Mac version of Microsoft Office is quite a cut-down of the
PC flavour. So yes, there's quite a bit missing.

It's the old 80/20 rule. 80 per cent of users use only 20 per cent of the
features. When they came to port Office to the Mac, they couldn't afford to
do it all (not and sell it at a realistic price...) so they had to make some
value choices as to what to leave out.

One thing that is worth saying is that many of the things that got left out
were left out because there is a piece of existing Mac software the already
provides the function, so it's not needed in Microsoft Office.

However, as John says, we do need some specifics before we can be much help
to you. In most cases there's a work-around or a work-alike. But you have
to tell us what you want to do

Me, I never "switched" to Mac. I continue to have a PC as well. I often
use it as a "headless server" (no screen or keyboard) using Remote Desktop
Connection. I open RDC on the Mac and simply bring up the real PC in a
window on the Mac desktop. This is a very good solution for resource-hungry
PC software.

I handle large and complex documents. I have yet to invest in an Intel Mac,
so I am stuck with Virtual PC for running Windows on the Mac G4. Trust me,
that is NOT a solution for engineering documents -- a real PC has
substantially improved performance compared to Virtual PC on the Mac.
Although, you would be surprised at how determined I can be when I am
desperate. At my Mother's place, I wrote half of a book on a green iBook
using VPC. I had lots of opportunities to "acquire patience", but I got the
job done.

On the other hand, BootCamp or Parallels on an Intel Mac gives you pretty
much the same performance in Windows as you would get running natively on
equivalent hardware (because you ARE running natively on equivalent
hardware!!). However, in your case I think I would make my next purchase a
nice fat quad-Zeon Mac Pro (the workstation, not the laptop!!). That's the
kind of thing I use when I need to get serious. The MacBook Pro tops out at
3GB of memory, and it's just not enough for serious work, particularly if
you have a guest operating system running as well. Sorry, but for the kinds
of things you guys get up to in BioTech, a laptop (any kind of laptop...)
just hasn't got the grunt.

Cheers

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Randall Ainsworth]

How well (and easily) does the windows operating system work on a
macbook pro? Is that the solution to my woes?

You're full of shit. Go back to your virus-ridden OS.

 

[litttle.creature.inc]

I'm beginning to empathize with the nerdy, fat guy and hate the cool,
slacker guy on the Mac ads. I'm recently self-employed and was
convinced by computer cognoscenti friends to switch to a macbook pro
in January after 10 years of using pcs - pretty much the rest of my
industry (biotech) uses pcs. I use the basics... word, excel and
powerpoint and do research via the internet. I'm beginning to think
that moving to a mac was a mistake. Microsoft office products don't
seem to work as well for mac. I don't want to count up the lost time
(=money) that I've spent screwing around trying to figure out how to
do something or fixing some mystery glitch in a document.

I'm by no means a computer expert but neither am I a beginner. I was
pretty skilled on the office applications in windows and was a go-to
guy at my previous employer. Are there others out there who've
switched to mac and are dissatisfied? Is it just withdrawal? I don't
remember the switch from mac to pc back in '97 to be this painful.
I'm seriously thinking about selling my macbook pro and going back to
a pc. Or throwing the d*&# thing out the window.

How well (and easily) does the windows operating system work on a
macbook pro? Is that the solution to my woes?

Or throwing the d*&# thing out the window.
Please let me know which window it will be, so I can under it.

Seriously, I'm working cross-platform if you can indicate something
which makes you angry we can find any solution or workaround together.
If you decide I will be here.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Or throwing the d*&# thing out the window.
Please let me know which window it will be, so I can under it.

ooh, good one, LC!

Daiya

 

[litttle.creature.inc]

ooh, good one, LC!

Daiya

seems that the original poster has changed his mind with throwing it,
no luck today

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Hi LC:

I have a nice dual Zeon with 4 GB memory, 2 x 28" monitors, and 2TB of SATA
RAID. One careful owner... Available for a very good price if YOU pay the
freight BTW: I wouldn't be standing "under" it when it comes out the
window -- it weighs more than a large locomotive

Cheers

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[litttle.creature.inc]

Hi LC:

I have a nice dual Zeon with 4 GB memory, 2 x 28" monitors, and 2TB of SATA
RAID. One careful owner... Available for a very good price if YOU pay the
freight BTW: I wouldn't be standing "under" it when it comes out the
window -- it weighs more than a large locomotive

Cheers

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here:http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltdhttp://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

Hello John,
tx for very attractive proposal, however I think the shipping rates
might be as high as the price for computer and I could not deprive
my friend of visiting Apple center on Regent Street - that's big fun
for both of us together with seeing Hamleys. BTW he is your age, but
he behaves as a small boy.

I have been fall on my head since I was born - one can see it - so
it's hard enough for my standing under the window when the Mac is
coming out of it

 

[John McGhie]

Hi LC:

Yeah, I look like I was dropped on my head as a child too.

I don't think a computer shop contains any other kind of male than "small
boys". It's all about men and shiny things -- this is Secret Men's Business
and we're not going to tell you

Cheers

Hello John,
tx for very attractive proposal, however I think the shipping rates
might be as high as the price for computer and I could not deprive
my friend of visiting Apple center on Regent Street - that's big fun
for both of us together with seeing Hamleys. BTW he is your age, but
he behaves as a small boy.

I have been fall on my head since I was born - one can see it - so
it's hard enough for my standing under the window when the Mac is
coming out of it

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]