Office/Tech Savvy/IT Mommies I need some help with going Mac

[goodcents]

So after 18,000 problems over the years, I am just DONE with using Windows. The viruses, the crashing, the terrible tech support, the $1,000s I have paid to "network technicians" I just can't.

So I am considering taking my small office over to Macs. I use a Mac laptop at home (an old one, true). But I would love to hear experiences about going from a Windows based office to a Mac one. What would you recommend? What problems did you encounter? Any advice to share?

For the most part I run office programs (word, excel, and outlook). I also use QuickBooks day in and day out.

[kolleen9]

Originally Posted by goodcents

What would you recommend? What problems did you encounter? Any advice to share?

For the most part I run office programs (word, excel, and outlook). I also use QuickBooks day in and day out.

I've always worked on a Mac in my home office, but I do have to deal with files going back and forth across platforms. I have found that it is best to us MS Office for the mac if you are going to share files with windows. If not, then iWork or NeoOffice should be more than enough.

Also, I don't use the latest office because it had some problems. I use the one before that.

Quickbooks is great on the Mac and works seamlessly across the platforms.

hth,
Kolleen

[PaigeC]

You will never regret the switch! I was Mac at home and PC at work and it was driving me nuts. I actually like Entourage (Mac version of Outlook) better and if you use the Mac Office I have never had a file problem between my Mac and PCs. Macs have more font choices so only use the fancy ones if you know the viewer will also have a Mac.

I would also recommend downloading Firefox as your browser. Mac's Safari is good but not as good as Firefox plus Firefox has an add on called IEView that lets you run Internet Explorer inside Firefox if there are any websites that require IE (although I'll say lots of sites "say" they require IE but the don't.)

On another side note - I'm using Office less and less because I'm using Google Docs for wordprocessing, presentations (power point), and spreadsheets (xcel). It works wonderfully and is completely platform independent. It is also all online so you can easily access it from any computer as well as share the files with collaborators.

--sorry -- I get long winded! Teaching web-based business tools is what I do for a living so it is my fav topic!

[Kristine233]

I bought a MacBook about 2 years ago and LOVE it! My only problems were all the windows programs that I had that I couldn't afford to get Mac versions for, and some were not available for Mac. I used boot camp for awhile and finally got Parallels for the few last ones that I haven't replaced yet. Parallels works great though with my Mac. I love not having to worry about crashing, viruses and all that junk. It runs SOO much better. I use the MacBook (which is a laptop) but use a larger external screen and keyboard. But my husband wants to get a regular Mac after tax-time.

You'll love it! I'll NEVER go back to Windows after using my Mac.

[goodcents]

I actually have always loved Macs. But since I work in accounting I ran along with the idea that you just couldn't be Mac based. I just don't think that is true anymore. I own a company of Office for Mac. I would need to upgrade my Quickbooks for Mac but I get that discounted through a professional organization so that helps.

Paige do you do webinars or phone consults? One of the things I am working on is bringing my work more virtual. I am also really intrigued by the idea of cloud computing.

[goodcents]

bumpity

[Galatea]

This is exactly what I needed.

I'm getting ready to open my etailing business (diapers, natch, though with a local emphasis) and I have a Mac mini.

I wanted to use Watersweb but their site says you need IE to use the wysiwyg editor. Will the Firefox with IE inside work for that? Anything else I need to know?

Thanks mamas.