Good evening, Having made the switch myself a few months ago, I'll weigh in on some of your questions, and hope this assists you somewhat at least.
I too came to the Mac because of my iPhone experience. I had friends who were Mac users, and after playing with their machines here and there, using my iPhone nearly exclusively by way of a bluetooth keyboard, and spending extensive time at my local Apple store, I began prepping myself for the purchase. I read, read, and read more, asked questions to the lists, and even delved into the podcasts available on sites such as blindcooltech.com but the real education came from jumping into the experience, and, well, getting to know the Mac. Office products particularly those by Microsoft aren't accessible to us, so save your money. I use Pages, and Text edit nearly exclusively, but so far, not for anything extensively demanding. I.E documents which require a lot of formatting, tables etc. You can, however, run windows on your Mac, either via bootcamp, which provides you with a dual boot setup, or via a VM situation, thus allowing for both operating systems to run intandem. Web navigation, particularly under Lion is fantastic, though I'd suggest giving your Mac as much ram as you can afford when configuring it. If you've used quicknav with a bluetooth keyboard on your iPhone, Safari on the Mac works similarly, with the addition of first letter navigation. You can use iBooks under IOS to read pdfs btw. That about covers it for me, though if you've any other questions, or simply want further thoughts, suggestions, ideas, feel free to contact me off list at this address. Have a good evening, and happy decision-making. I love my Mac, this is a fantastic community, so you're in good hands as to assistance with this choice. Foursquare: IndigoCellist Twitter: @IndigoCellist Skype: shameless_FanGirl Sent from my iPhone On Aug 20, 2011, at 6:09 PM, "Kirsten Edmondson" <kirsten.edmond...@btinternet.com> wrote: > Hi, > I am seriously considering the move from a Windows (7) machine onto a Mac. I > have an IPhone so I know how VO works. I visited an Apple retailer today and > know that the Mac Book Pro is probably the one I want (the tracker pad was a > new concept but I like the idea) . I have been on the Apple site but am > overwhelmed with information and there are so many links to click on that I > would be there for days I think! > I use my computer all the time for work, particularly the office > applications, I have never got these to work on my IPhone so I assumed they > wouldn't work on a Mac either: However I see in the Apple store that you can > by Office products as a bundle when buying the Mac. Obviously I have to get > over the price, (though I worked out that a Mac will cost me the same as my > laptop; office products; Jaws and Kerzweil upgrades cost me 18 months ago) > so actually it seems to make financial sense. I need to be able to do stuff > at home which I can transfer, either on memory stick or via email to my work > Windows laptop. > Before I make this big move (I know it'll be so different from Windows and > that is kind of scary) please could I have some thoughts on: > *The positives of the Mac over a Windows machine (if they can be compared > that is); > *The negatives. > *Whether I can really and successfully use it with Office products and to > transfer things to and from Windows computers for work? > *Whether (If anyone knows) I can run Index embossers etc from a Mac as I > need to do this regularly and if I can run my existing embosser and printer > etc from one. > *How easy it is to use the internet. > *If it's possible to read PDF documents (something else I can't do on my > phone) and what happens to flash content (as that doesn't work on IOS4. > *If I could use a scanner in conjunction with a Mac. > *If they need repairing is it easy? > *How anti-virus software might work? > *If there's a basic user manual (I found one easily before I got an IPhone > but can't find one for a Mac Book on the Apple site) but think it might be > handy to read through. > > I'm sorry if these seem like big or stupid or simple questions, or if > they've been asked to you time and time again, but I really want to have all > the facts before I make this leap and I know as VI users you are the people > to ask. > I would keep my windows Laptop but would like to be whole-hearted in this > move. > If it's easier to send me information off list my email address is > kirsten.edmond...@btinternet.com > Or if it's easier to send me links to pages then please do. > Thanks in advance for all your help and information. > > Kirsten > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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