Microsoft Word and Acrobat Reader on OSX

I'm using windows XP right now on a T42 ThinkPad. And I'm planning to buy a MacBook Pro. but the problem that I'm afraid of is losing lots of eBooks which are Word or PFD files.
The question is : Do I have to install Windows on the MBP as well as the OSX OS so that I can read those files? Or can I run Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on the OSX and read my eBooks, without the need for Windows?

Thanks ..

 

you will only need microsoft word for osx, or iwork 06, and im 99% sure that you can read PDF files natively without acrobat.

good luck

 

oh and by the way. wait a week on the mbp. new ones soon i think? June 10ish at wwdc is the rumor.

 

Thanks a lot masterchef341 ..

So I can read PDF files on the apple notebok without the need to install the Acrobat Reader

But for the Microsodt Windows, Can the windows version be installed and run on the OS X .. or it has another version for it ?

Thanks again ..

 

you may be able to read PDF's without Acrobat reader, but the newest Adobe Acrobat Reader is really good, quick and works really well, just download it.

for working with word files and PDF's you don't need windows at all.

there are mac versions of all of that software.

you will just have to buy Word for OSX, or iWork, or use an open source free program, I recommend just buying Word for Mac however, and just downloading Adobe's PDF Reader

 

I'd recommend converting the files in Word format alltogether. Even Microsoft keeps changing Office formats, and they have various compability issues among the various versions of Office. I really dislike PDF as an ebook format - it is bloated and is not suited to mobile reading - mobile phones, PDAs, etc., but at least it is an open standard - although owned by Adobe. But, regarding your question, you can open Word files in MS Office for Mac, Pages, and OpenOffice for Mac, so there is no need to install Windows just for that. As for PDF files, Preview will open them just fine and as said there is a free version of Acrobat Reader for OS X as well.

 

Thanks a lot guys

I do appreciate your answers

 

Yeah it really depends exactly how much you want to be doing with those files. OpenOffice or NeoOffice can both read Word files and edit them pretty decently, but if you're sort of a "power user" you can get Microsoft Office for OS X. You definitely do not need to install windows just for that purpose. I'd wait on getting any programs YET though, because both Apple's iWorks and Microsoft's Office suite are going to be updated fairly soon. Use a free program for now like OpenOffice or NeoOffice and wait until those other ones are upgraded, then make a decision if you want to buy.

 

preview imho is a better program than acrobat.

it opens all pdf files faster and feels more streamlined.

 

i dont know if anyone specifically answered your question, but they clearly implied it.

just to be straight - no, you cannot run windows software on a mac.

it doesn't really matter, for one thing, a lot of software is cross platform and has both windows and osx versions (and often these versions are very, very similar)

think itunes, firefox, photoshop, audacity, etc.

plus you will be able to find all the software you need- there are a lot of mac users and developers out there.

good luck!

 

There is no reason to install Acrobat Reader. Just use Preview. Also, Office for Mac will read your current Word files.

 

I have an iMac (which uses Mac OS X) and I can confirm that ALL macs some with something called "Preview" that is the default reader for all sorts of files - PDF included. And the search function is really awesome. I don't have Adobe reader installed for one simple reason - loadtime. Preview opens PDFs almost instantly, whereas adobe reader takes a bit longer sometimes.

You'll need Office: Mac, but be warned - it's pretty slow because it's a PPC app, and not a "universal binary" app written for Intel chips. I expect a newer, updated version will arrive this year (it has been confirmed).
Office on Mac is usable, but lags behind a PC running the same software for that simple reason. Once you get it open, it's not so bad, except when you want to print, save, add images, etc, then it lags (even w/ 2 GB ram!). It's sometimes frustrating that I am working faster than my word processor is - for that reason, I sometimes use neo office which is free, and much faster since it's UB.