unable to read any window files/files on the Mac OS X

[zebidy76]

Hi there,

I am new to my mac - loving it - just a little daunting!

I have been sent some files from friends and work to read, but when I go to open them, it looks like Alien language. There is nothing that I can use to read the files.

Please can any of you help? Is there some kind of software that I can purchase or download to open these files, which would be the equivalent to word, excel, etc? As there is nothing like that on here.

Thanks.

 

[ergdegdeg]

You can either buy Office for Mac or iWork or download Open Office for free. There are a lot of reviews online which should help you choose the appropriate system for you.

 

[cathyy]

MS Office 2007 > MS Office for Mac 2008 > OpenOffice

 

[smurfjammer]

+1 for Open Office, you can't beat free

 

[mcavjame]

I find Pages does a good job opening most Word files. I also use maclink Plus for the ocassional PC file that won't cooperate. I do Have Word, but it is a PPC version and is not my first choice on my Mac.

 

[Stridder44]

+1 for Microsoft Office '07 (PC version) or '08 (Mac version).


OpenOffice is...well, you get what you pay for. Can't really say about Pages, as I haven't used it in a while.

 

[RedRaven571]

+1 for Open Office, you can't beat free

You got that right! When I try running MS Office in in Fusion, I get a warning about the hardware changing, please reinsert the install disk, blah-blah-blah; afterwards, if I try to run it natively in XP, I get the same message AND Outlook won't open any links in emails

So, my solution is to leave MS Office in XP and use Open Office in OS X to use any MS documents I want to use.