All right. Screw this

[pegkerr]

This has been going on since the week before Christmas. I have absolutely positively had it. Bill Gates can jolly well bite my bum.

I'm going into Rob's store and buying a MacIntosh this afternoon.

Yet more thing on the credit card. *sigh*

Comments

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

And at a certain point? It's worth it.

[misia.livejournal.com]

As a fairly recent Mac convert, I say WOOOOOOOOT!

(You'll love it and you won't regret a cent of it, Peg. Plus, let's be honest, how the hell are you supposed to even be trying to write a book if you haven't got the one major tool that's necessary for you to do that work? I say jolly good decision, and go forth boldly!)

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

welcome to the fraternity.

love my apples!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

going to get the new Mac mini? Or an ibook?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I'm getting the iMac G5.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Right on! (And write on! I suppose.) Have a look at http://www.apple.com/switch for tips on switching so that it's as painless as possible. Here's hoping the hassles of learning something new are outweighed by the joys of using something that works.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Since Rob works there, can the technicians who are presumably still in possession of your old hard drive dump all your data to the new machine?

Maybe someone can come up with some free software for you, too. Microsoft Office is not cheap. I don't have another license myself.

K.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

There's a Student-Teacher issue of Office for Mac. IIRC it's about 150$. I use Abi-Word and like it, there's also Open Office for OS X. I'd agree the one best thing to do to a new iMac is add RAM, 512 at the minimum a full gig is way better. I finf Virex much less a pain than Norton in anti-virus.

If the the old drive as at all useable burn the files you need then transfer. Heck MNSTF has a LOT of Mac users to support switchers.

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

I agree - add as much ram as you can afford - with their compact design they are nearly as bad as a laptop to tinker in.

[ex-radparker580.livejournal.com]

I would not rely on Open Office for OS X. I found it to be counter-intuitive for anbody who isn't an X-windows geek, and I am an X-windows geek. It's just not as slick as the Windows version of Open Office.

There is some Open Office-fork that puts a real Mac windowing interface around it, but the name escapes me at the moment.

If I were Peg and it were doable, I'd probably just buy the real MS Word or MS Office. Otherwise she'll spend some amount of time fiddling as opposed to Just Writing.

Oooooo!

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Looks pretty good! Hope it works out for you. I've been happy with Macs for years. (Right now I'm seriously lusking (I think I'll keep that one...) lusting after a HD cinema monitor - you can get one that's about a YARD across diagonally.)

Re: Oooooo!

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Dude. Dual cinema displays. Sixty inches, that is five feet of monitor. Mu hu wa hahahahaha!

Got one even better for you...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Chris Conroy (Sue's husband) wants to get three of those sucker and set 'em up with one on the right, one in front, & one on the left.

Of course, should I suddenly have a couple of million bucks fall on my face & I get the uber HD monitor I'd _just_HAVE_ to get an uber HD video camera (and then take over the world!)

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking about changing (computer) churches myself*. Let us know all the joys and traumas of the transition.

*This Win98 machine is getting to be a PITA.

In that case you might be interested in this site

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

http://www.splitreason.com/productdetail.php?id=99

Re: In that case you might be interested in this site

[hotarunokokoro.livejournal.com]

omg... that is tooo funny! ^o^

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the Macintosh moiety!

[daedala.livejournal.com]

Yay. Make sure to get at least 512MB RAM. OSX needs that much to run well. You can buy the computer like that, have it added, or add it yourself to any new Mac without voiding the warranty (as long as you don't break anything _while_ you're adding it.)

[em-h.livejournal.com]

Go for it! You need a computer. It's a work necessity.

I've been a Mac user from way back, and I've always been happy with them (currently using my brand-new most-expensive-purchase-ever Powerbook G4).

[vass]

I've been primarily a Mac user since I was about eleven, but from what I've heard from friends who started out as Windows users, be prepared for it to be less easy than you expect. There are lots of things that look the same but act completely differently.

Almost everybody seems to get trapped by the difference between closing and quitting an application, for instance. If you close the window in Windows, the program stops. In any Mac OS, closing the window closes that file, but the program will keep running until you specifically tell it to quit. Which is good if you weren't trying to quit.

Enjoy it, and have fun tweaking. Once you learn how to use it, and how to navigate a very, very graphics-based OS, it's extremely customisable, much more so than Windows in the opinion of most Mac users. ;-) You can get your system set up to fit like a glove. Then if you haven't gotten it backed up and you have a crash and lose your settings, you'll be very upset.

[wildflower150.livejournal.com]

I love macs they won't ever fail you like a pc. I have the imac G5 and I LOVE it!!!!!! It is fast, easy to use, takes up WAY less space than a pc and I love it!

[cedarlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the cult!

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

*cheers you on!* :D

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Go for it, Peg.

Good luck

[ex-radparker580.livejournal.com]

I'm probably the only commenter who abandoned Apple and now is entirely on Windows (and FreeBSD for server stuff). The only working Apple hardware I have any more is my iPod.

Though, I am considering a Mac Mini to use for MP3/DVD purposes.

If I were driving the bus here, I'd probably just buy an ultra-cheap somewhat slow Windows system and use OpenOffice (which on Windows I find to be an excellent MS Office substitute...less so on OS X). I'd be concerned about now having multiple computers with multiple operating systems at home and having to move files back and forth and whatnot.

(Too bad I already gave away my G3 iMac, I would've given it to you if I still had it. I have a half-broken one if you want. ;-) )

And I would point out that Macs Break Too. I used to repair them for a living. Sometimes people get lemons, sometimes components fail, etc., just like with their Windows-running brethren.

Re: Good luck

[eal.livejournal.com]

Just a small note of optimism here. My writing partner is a dyed in the wool Mac user. I'm a PC girl all the way. We can send files back and forth with absolutely no problems. Took us less than an hour to sort it out and it works fine.

Marcie

Re: Good luck

[ex-radparker580.livejournal.com]

And I don't mean to sound like a turd. It can be done, and who's to say that Peg won't have a good experience.

[cornfields.livejournal.com]

Woo! A convert! Welcome to the club! :)

[heinous_bitca.livejournal.com]

Yay!

You can use AppleWorks just fine for WP, but I do recommend getting Microsoft Office, since that's pretty much the standard. The computer should come with a free 30-day trial version.

Let us Mac & Windows users on your list help you with any problems you have. :)

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

I'm going to disagree about appleworks - at least when I first got my apple a few years ago - it only stores one "undo" command - so when I wanted to backtrack because I screwed up, I couldn't. That one feature lack was what made me pony up for Office.

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the new computer; it's a whole lot easier to write when you can actually access the files with your stories!

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

Peg -- hold on, before you go in the store. Text me with a number I can reach you at (see my info page.)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Done.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

You'll have just as much trouble, plus learning curve, plus having to rebuy all your software, plus there won't be people to help with it. But good luck!

My thinking was...

[(Anonymous)]

My thinking was: more stable operating system, no virus or worm threat, same productivity software she's using now (not me, Corel abandoned WordPerfect at System 7), more desk space, more knee space, less clutter, 64-bit hardware, and better audio/video performance when we get around to needing it. Not to mention sheer elegance.

Rob

P.S. I'm now working at the Minnetonka location for all you local folks anticipating hardware upgrades. Come find me, I'm on commission. And we're hiring if anyone wants to work retail. Give me a call if you need work.

[blackholly.livejournal.com]

You are going to love it!

cheap office

[ironymaiden]

put out a call for Microsofties. i had a buddy get me Office for $60 from the company store. Word alone is about $40. i bet there is one or a family member on your f-list.
my husband has been very successful saving AppleWorks docs as Word for others to use. you will have no trouble opening Word docs either. the only feature that is an issue is if you use the comments feature extensively, and so we finally bought a copy so that he could get comments on manuscripts.

i switched to Macs in 1999. unless you want to play the latest games, you'll never look back, although there are a lot of insufferable asshole Windows users in the industry to harass you.