Windows xp to new intel based mac laptop

[brandon.mat]

Ok so, I have a couple of questions before I actually do make the switch.

1. For purchase reinforcement, who would actually reccomend a mac over a pc (who has made the switch from pc to mac or experienced both operating systems)

2. The .mac suite that comes with the laptop, is there a subscription service needed to use it?

3. How much are student discounts / what does apple consider a student (highschool?)

4. What are important applications that don't work on apple / is the whole compatability issue really just a myth?

5. Are there bit torrent applications for mac?

6. Does anyone know if there is a mobile phone tools for motorola for mac?

7. Networking and printer sharing with a windows network...does it work? How well?

well that's all whatever you can help with that'd be great. I'm quite excited for my purchase. I'm thinking about financing it at 50 dollars a month, just nopt sure how long the finance lasts for ...24 months? Or maybe I'll just save up all the money and buy it. Anyways thanks,

cheers.

Brandon :)

[the evn show]

1. For purchase reinforcement, who would actually reccomend a mac over a pc (who has made the switch from pc to mac or experienced both operating systems)

I would, but I also like brand name clothing and starbucks so apparently that makes me a rich arrogant snob. Oh well, it's a good life and the girls are prettier ;)

Really, what kind of answer are you looking for?

2. The .mac suite that comes with the laptop, is there a subscription service needed to use it?

$129/year buys you a .Mac subscription.

In addition to all the stuff in the keynote you get:

• 1 GB online storage to divide between your "iDisk" (web based online storage) and an email account (yourname@mac.com)
  
• The best consumer-grade backup software available on any platform
  
• Encypted instant messaging with other .Mac members
  
• Extra samples for garage band
  
• Video tutorials for software
  
• Online publishing of calendars, your address book, bookmarks, etc.
  
• Syncing of things like mail accounts, browser bookmarks, passwords, contact info, spam filter rules, etc. between all of your macs (great for people that use a mac at home and work).
  
• The ability to create discussion groups + file sharing "areas" for other people (no .mac membership required).
  
• Automatic configuration of things like apple store purchasing info, iTMS username, address book, etc. when you set up a new machine.
  

The backup software and syncing are worth it alone IMO.

If you only want the email account you can switch to an email only level of service for $10/year

You can sign up for yourname@mac.com for use with iChat (AIM network) for free.

Details are at http://www.mac.com/, and a 60 day free trial is included with new macs. You don't get the full functionality of Backup, but you'll be able to make a decision based on that free trial.

3. How much are student discounts / what does apple consider a student (highschool?)

$0

Student discounts are for post secondary students. It's about $100. Student ADC members ($99/year) get a once in a life time discount on a single computer purchase, on a well spec'd system it can be > $1,000.

4. What are important applications that don't work on apple / is the whole compatability issue really just a myth?

What do you consider an important application?

All I care about is textmate, photoshop 7, creative suite CS2 premium, omnigraffle, itunes, iphoto, idvd, bash (and the BSD utilities), omnigraffle, safari, ruby, apache, mysql and yoursql. They all run just fine.

5. Are there bit torrent applications for mac?

yes

6. Does anyone know if there is a mobile phone tools for motorola for mac?

Tools?

Syncing with many major phones is built in.

7. Networking and printer sharing with a windows network...does it work? How well?

Yes, it works as well as it does on Windows. The only thing I've ever really noticed is that windows is less forgiving about filenames (no "?" in file names for example) so sometimes you'll need to rename files.

I'm thinking about financing it at 50 dollars a month, just nopt sure how long the finance lasts for ...24 months?

I'm not sure what it takes to get the lowest interest rate but I know for a fact it's more than a mid 6 figure net worth. Using a credit card with a low or 0% introductory rate is a much better idea, the payment terms are more flexible and it will cost you much less in the long run.

[Max Veteran]

Ok so, I have a couple of questions before I actually do make the switch.

1. For purchase reinforcement, who would actually reccomend a mac over a pc (who has made the switch from pc to mac or experienced both operating systems)

2. The .mac suite that comes with the laptop, is there a subscription service needed to use it?

3. How much are student discounts / what does apple consider a student (highschool?)

4. What are important applications that don't work on apple / is the whole compatability issue really just a myth?

5. Are there bit torrent applications for mac?

6. Does anyone know if there is a mobile phone tools for motorola for mac?

7. Networking and printer sharing with a windows network...does it work? How well?

well that's all whatever you can help with that'd be great. I'm quite excited for my purchase. I'm thinking about financing it at 50 dollars a month, just nopt sure how long the finance lasts for ...24 months? Or maybe I'll just save up all the money and buy it. Anyways thanks,

cheers.

Brandon :)

1. It all depends on what you want to do. What do you want to do thats different? Everything that can be done on a PC can be done on a Mac, all thats different is the support for games is lacking.

2. Yes. I believe you get a trial.

3. Roughly 10% to 14%. Apple does not check (or hasn't for me) for student ID.

4. Apparently most applications will run normally under a compatibility mode.

5. Yes.

6. Unsure. iSync may be able to provide you with a few things though.

7. It works very well, just like Windows to Windows. For some printers the sharing is iffy, like on my HP Deskjet 5652, which is unsupported but works at a push.

[brandon.mat]

thanks guys for your replies. They helped alot, so now I just need to save up, i've been waiting a long time to actually consider a mac and now with the new intel based macs I feel the want to get one. Thanks for answering my questions, now i udnerstand what i'm getting into.

[Leddy]

You know what I want to do?

I want to buy an Intel based Powerbook and install Windows Vista on it. Now THAT would be cool.

[brandon.mat]

that WOULD be cool. Go for it.

[Martyn]

You know what I want to do?

I want to buy an Intel based Powerbook and install Windows Vista on it. Now THAT would be cool.

A new MacBook dual booting OSX and Vista for when/if I start university will be a dream come true.

[kitchenutensils]

by the time you have the money, there will be "MacBooks" but not the pros - ie the next evolution of iBooks which I feel will be more useful for you. so go for it and start getting your money ready now :)

[brandon.mat]

thats odd, yah im guna wait this one out for a little as I see it the first generation of everything is overpriced. And anyways i need to save up, not cutting into my savings just yet, i'll get a whole new slab of money first.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

[Thread Cleaned]

Please do not discuss the leaked copy of OS/X that installs on non-Apple hardware. It is not a public project and the EULA of OS/X does not allow it to be legally run on non-Apple hardware.

From Neowin's perspective, OS/X on non-Apple hardware = warez.

So please, do not discuss it here.