Bill
I appreciate all the information that has been provided on this
topic, but noting that some responses are based on the idea that
Mac software is often better than PC software, a note of warning
may be necessary - some conferences require that submissions be in
MS Word, and while I strongly object to this policy, it can be a
real pain.
In theory, MSoffice for the Mac uses an identical format to MSOffice
on Windows. So you should be able to submit from the Mac as Word
files when required. However, note the "in theory" because I have
found there still compatibility problems, especially when saving as
doc rather than using the native docx format.
MS Office for the Mac is expensive (I don't get the student rate)
and there are still compatibility problems with Open Office.
Open Office is getting better and on a recent collaboration where I
was using a Mac and the other author was using Windows and Office
2007, I found the Mac version of Open Office (NeoOffice) to work
better than MSOffice 2008 or 2004.
Even worse is the situation with uisng PowerPoint, which doesn't
always come out right if you have a complicated presentation
developed on a Mac and then you have to use the conference PC. If
you opt for a Mac, it is a good idea to check your files on a PC
before you get to the conference!
I now prepare my presentations as PDFs
Although I really like Unix and am planning to run Linux on an old
PC of mine, compatibility problems can be even worse there. I'm
struggling with a co-author who uses TeX, and while it is really a
nice package (I used to use it in my Unix days) it is really hard
to collaborate.
A possible solution is to run MSWord 2003 or 2007 in Crossover office
on Linux. But on occasions when I can persuade the other author to co-
operate, we are now using Lyx. As a GUI to Latex, it gives the
typeset look to the final document that Word fails to do. it has the
track change and commenting features of Word, and it appears to work
identically on Linux, Mac and Windows. This approach does of course
bring its own problems, but at the moment its by far my preferred
option.
I find that when sending manuscripts around I pretty much have to
rely on PDFs.
We are also using this as our main format to share, if you use the
full version of Acrobat Pro to create the PDFs you can activate the
commenting features so any reviewer can add comments using the
Acrobat viewer whether using Linux, Windows or the Mac.
Or if you can persuade the reviewer to use something other than the
free acrobat viewer the there are options for reviewing that work on
any PDF not just those with the commenting features activated by the
full version of Acrobat Pro.
As you point out the whole issue of compatability is a problem which
is made worse by switching platforms, but I think less so if you can
manage to move away from MSOffice formats. PDF, ODF and Latex seem
to switch platforms with little problem.
Graham
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott D Lapoint"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:20 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Mac or PC? A Summary of reponses
About a week ago I posted a message asking for input on whether
I should move from a PC to a Mac. I was particularly concerned
with the higher costs of a Mac and if one can run Windows programs
such as ArcGIS and some statistics packages. I received ~200 e-
mailed responses from Ecolog alone, not to mention the dozens
that I received from my additional efforts...
