Apple Questions

Hi!
Well Ive heard so much about Apple Macs and I admit I am very tempted!
I have used Windows my whole life so I am a little worried though.
I just had some questions regarding the new Apple Macbook 2.4 Ghz
I have heard many people saying about how it is difficult with Software Compatability

I wasnt sure about things that I am use to on Windows and if they work for a MAc

What about things like Adobe? Quick Time? Media Player (duh I realize this is Windows product) Internet Explorer? Microsoft Office? I really like Word and Powerpoint.

Im basically a student thats attached to the computer, and barely do any games- mostly hw, net surfing, movie, music and occasional powerpoints

Help please!

 

Also, would i have to purchase these products seperately if they are available for MAc?... Thus adding to the $$ of the already expensive Mac

 

there is a mac version of office 2008, and yes you would have to buy a separate license for mac. Don't worry about compatibility, most of every file types can be viewed on a mac. In fact some files that can't be viewed on windows can be viewed on the mac as well. For example, stuff like .eps.. Actually I am not sure if .eps could be viewed on windows, but I have tried it but it didn't recognize it. I am pretty sure that there is a workaround that I am not aware of. But then mac recognizes it out of the box

 

-Adobe makes a mac-compatible version of Adobe Reader, plus the "preview" application that comes with OS X can display pdfs
-Quicktime is Apple software to begin with, so I'm sure its compatible =)
-For WMV videos, you can use a plug-in called flip4mac
-For any other video files, a free program called VLC and a codec pack called Perian should be more than sufficient
-There is a version of internet explorer for mac, but I think you'll be better off with firefox
-There is Office 2004 and 2008 for mac

Out of all this, I think the only thing you'll have to pay for is Office, and maybe flip4mac (not sure about the latter)

 

The entire Adobe CS3 suite is available on Mac just as it is on Windows .

Quicktime is Apple software, so nothing to worry about that .

To play WMVs, you can get the Microsoft-supported Flip4Mac plugin for Quicktime.

Internet Explorer for Mac has long been discontinued, there's no real need to use it. Try newer, improved browsers like Safari and Firefox!

And there is Microsoft Office for Mac, the latest being 2008 which is the equivalent to Office 2007 for Windows.

And just to clarify for Deifiic, Flip4Mac is free .

 

Thanx for the help!!!