need advice asap

[scan]

i'm about to place my order for a 12" pb which I need some word processing software. any advice?

p.s. i'm a first time Mac user btw. I've used windows all my life. don't know if thats useful information

edit: also something that does powerpoint too

 

[grapes911]

i'm about to place my order for a 12" pb which I need some word processing software. any advice?

p.s. i'm a first time Mac user btw. I've used windows all my life. don't know if thats useful information

MS Office for Mac. In my option it is the best one out there. Plus it is compatible with word documents made in windows.

 

[Koodauw]

Well they do make Microsoft Office for the Macintosh as well. If you need to be compatible with other Office users, then its really the best way to go. It runs pretty good IMO.

TextEdit comes with OSX, so you can use that for the time being if need be, but its pretty basic. Basically just a notepad to jot things on.

There are also other free office apps such as Neo Office, and Open Office I think, names might be wrong, which people on here seem to have had some good luck with. I haven't used them so I can say.

Hope this helps.

 

[nospleen]

Not to get off topic, but have you thought about the 12" ibook? (unless of course you need a superdrive.)

 

[scan]

Not to get off topic, but have you thought about the 12" ibook? (unless of course you need a superdrive.)

i have. i dont' like it. build quality doesn't feel as nice as the powerbook

 

[nospleen]

I would definately agree with you there. Plus, the PB is pretty sexy.

 

[Flying Llama]

Well, if you have the budget, go with MS Office for Mac. If $399.95 doesn't seem to fit your wallet, there is a free alternative. OpenOffice.org is a completely free clone to MS Office. It comes with a Word, PowerPoint and Excel counterpart. All of your word, powerpoint and excel documents, mac or pc, will open with OpenOffice.

The catch? (There couldn't possibly be a completely free clone, with the same features and compatability, could there?) Well, OpenOffice is way uglier, a little slower, and a few other quirks.

Go for MS Office if you can.

llama

 

[scan]

ordered placed! decided to not get office. just goign to use neo office. hope i don't regret it

 

[plasticparadox]

decided to not get office. just goign to use neo office. hope i don't regret it

If you do, you can just pick up the Student and Teacher Edition for cheap, assuming of course, that you qualify.

To license Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition, you must be a Qualified Educational User or the parent or guardian of a Qualified Educational User who is a minor. Qualified Educational Users include full- or part-time students, home schooled students, and full- or part-time faculty or staff of an accredited educational institution.

 

[Chundles]

ordered placed! decided to not get office. just goign to use neo office. hope i don't regret it

Yeah, give neo office a go, I prefer Office:mac though but you can always buy that afterwards. Yes, it's a Microsoft product but it works very, very well - one of the best things they've made really, the Mac BU over there does a pretty good job on most things (except MSN messenger - laziest update ever, doesn't affect most americans cause mot of them use AIM but everybody else I know uses Messenger and it's a pain not being able to use the program to the full extent of which it is capable.

 

[FFTT]

You can get MS Office for Mac cheap through education or government purchasing agents.

If all you're doing is drafting text for reports and such, AppleWorks will more than cover you.
Appleworks also includes a database and drawing application.
Text Edit also reads Word documents in a pinch.
There's also Omnigraffle.

If you print to PDF, everyone can read your work.

You should also take a look at FileMaker Pro 8 to cover Microsoft Project
and Access functions.

When you get a chance, browse through VersionTracker to see all the applications available.

Do not waste your money on Norton's or McAfee.
ClamXav will do fine for free but you really don't need it.

 

[Flying Llama]

Neo office is nice, it's basically OpenOffice.org without the Excel or PowerPoint or Drawing counterparts. (You won't be able to do anything PowerPoint related BTW).

llama

 

[Chundles]

You can get MS Office for Mac cheap through education or government purchasing agents.

If all you're doing is drafting text for reports and such, AppleWorks will more than cover you.
Appleworks also includes a database and drawing application.
Text Edit also reads Word documents in a pinch.
There's also Omnigraffle.

If you print to PDF, everyone can read your work.

You should also take a look at FileMaker Pro 8 to cover Microsoft Project
and Access functions.

When you get a chance, browse through VersionTracker to see all the applications available.

Do not waste your money on Norton's or McAfee.
ClamXav will do fine for free but you really don't need it.

Yeah, but he's getting a PowerBook and as such won't get Appleworks. So I figure if you're buying an office suite then you may as well buy Office:mac. We can buy the education edition in stores here without showing student ID, it's just considered a lower cost version cause you can't use future upgrades on it like you can with the regular and Pro editions.

 

[FFTT]

I completely missed that about Appleworks not coming on a PowerBook.

I'm surprised because it was standard on my dual G5.
I just didn't get Nanosaur

 

[generik]

I will really recommend you go with the 15".

If money is short maybe you can consider *cough cough* borrowing MS Office first, but the desktop real estate and screen on the 15" is truly amazing compared to the 12"

 

[generik]

And to add:

The 15" is a bit dated compared to the 15" and the 17", sure it is only 177Mhz difference, and not that much translated into real world performance... but the 12" PB is really not very good value for money right now.

 

[plasticparadox]

I will really recommend you go with the 15".

If money is short maybe you can consider *cough cough* borrowing MS Office first

Careful. Non-P.C. discussion doesn't go over too well here. Not telling you because I have a problem with it, but there will be an inevitable backlash.