Attention all "business" users that are using Fusion to run their business:

[danielpicasso]

I am an ex Mac user and not had one since a Mac SE and really miss the experience. I really would like to purchase a iMac to replace a Dell running XP. I own a small recuiting firm and use a computer 90% of the time for busines ( not a creative user), the remainder of use is for personal email, family photos and itunes. Heres what I like to hear from you:
1- I plan on using VMware fusion with XP to access a pure web based software application that only can be accessed by Internet explorer for my business: is Fusion with XP running within it a stable alternative?
2-Being a recruiter i receive resumes that are mostly in MS Word which are 90% of the docs I use. Can I drag them to the apple side to iwork, work on the doc's and then send back to the end user so they can see them in a MS word format?
3-Can I access LinkedIn within Safari or do I need to access from explorer within fusion? ( assuming you use LinkedIn- a business social networking site.
4-Is it worth it? Meaning I am at the end of my patience with Microsoft and want to get a Mac BUT being that I am running my business with it and its critical that I can rely on it and I will be in XP all day working in Fusion. Is it worth the complexity?
5-Any oher comments?

Thanx

 

[DaveSM]

Some answers to your questions

1- It is definatly, I'm starting up Solidworks once in a while using VMware fusion running XP. Though I'm rebooting using bootcamp when I intend to do some heavier stuff to run Solidworks at full speed.
2- Microsoft Office 2008 will be almost 100% compatible with any file you will get. Page offer a little bit less compatibility for advances features but for normal stuff it does the job. The equation editor within Office 2008 is my biggest grind at the moment as it is full of bug and I'm an engineering student so gess how often I have to use it.
3- Can't tell, never went to that website. You can also use Firefox when running under mac OS so acessing this website on the mac OS X side won't be an issue.
4- It is worth it. If you don't want to deal with VMware you can still install Windows XP native within Boot camp. My personnal solution is to have Windows XP installed in Boot camp and having VMware to boot it up as well once in a while when I only need to do lighter stuff (watching movies or using my SVN client).
5- I hope these answers will help you out.

 

[danielpicasso]

Thanx....

Some answers to your questions

1- It is definatly, I'm starting up Solidworks once in a while using VMware fusion running XP. Though I'm rebooting using bootcamp when I intend to do some heavier stuff to run Solidworks at full speed.
2- Microsoft Office 2008 will be almost 100% compatible with any file you will get. Page offer a little bit less compatibility for advances features but for normal stuff it does the job. The equation editor within Office 2008 is my biggest grind at the moment as it is full of bug and I'm an engineering student so gess how often I have to use it.
3- Can't tell, never went to that website. You can also use Firefox when running under mac OS so acessing this website on the mac OS X side won't be an issue.
4- It is worth it. If you don't want to deal with VMware you can still install Windows XP native within Boot camp. My personnal solution is to have Windows XP installed in Boot camp and having VMware to boot it up as well once in a while when I only need to do lighter stuff (watching movies or using my SVN client).
5- I hope these answers will help you out.

Thanx for your reply. I take it that Solidworks is a Cad/Cam program and that is much more intense abd would be more heavy lift than what I would do. In a perfect world, I would like to rent a Mac for a few weeks to ensure I can do what I want to do. At a Apple retail store they do not have Fusion loaded so I can try it.....

Thanx and good luck to you.
daniel