« Romanian Churches | Main | Cincinnatti in my future »
May 15, 2008
Converting to a Mac ....
No I am NOT wearing a kilt, Irish or Scottish even though I am legitimately entitled to wear both. I am converting to an Apple Mac i-Book. My Trusty (mostly) laptop has a serious problem which I am unable to resolve easily and I need a laptop for my trip to Cincinnatti. For some time I have been considering upgrading the laptop anyway - its been around the world with me figuratively speaking in the seven years I have relied on it - but, it was a first generation Windows XP. Recently it suffered an attack by a virus - several in fact - which have managed to infest it, my camera, and my memory sticks and portable drives. Microslosh is just too vulnerable and Norton obviously hadn't got defences against these at the time. Though it is now virus free it isn't functioning properly, loads of things simply don't want to run. In addition, despite all the recommended upgrades, it is now running so S-L-O-W-L-Y that it is almost a case of half an hour to load the start-up, never mind actually do what is required of it!
Ozguru has many times laughed at me for relying on Microslosh and Windblows, so now I guess he'll be laughing even more - but I have finally taken his advice!
I have taken delivery of a MacBook - and, because I can't afford to chuck the PC Desktop, or bin all my Microslosh files just yet, I have bought a package of "Wndblows for Mac". Its crazy I suppose to buy a Mac and then install Windblows programmes, but what else could I do - I have almost 15,000 Word Document files I need to be able to keep and access. Already I have found I have a steep learning curve, but, one thing I have discovered - I wish I'd done this years ago.
Watch this space - the Mac is proving to be a challenge, but it is also much easier to figure out than I had thought it would be. Typing with one hand while reading the manual is a bit of a problem, but I'm getting there .....
Posted by The Gray Monk at May 15, 2008 09:30 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt3.mu.nu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5424
Comments
I don't think Ozg will for one second laugh -- he'll most likely congratulate you and offer his sound advice on whatever help you may need with the new Mac.
Good luck and have fun with the new laptop! I know that soon you'll be writing that it wasn't such a challenge after all.
Posted by: Cindy at May 15, 2008 10:05 AM
True - it takes a few minutes to work out the different command keys and to remember that the mouse operates in a slightly different way - but what a pleasure to use!
Posted by: The Gray Monk at May 16, 2008 06:11 AM
Gray Monk --
You should look into Trend Micro for a security system. I've been using them for about 2 years now(currently their PC-cillin 2008) and have enjoyed total protection. They'll even block websites or pages that have spyware, virus, etc and let you know what's there, then give you the option of continuing.
Trend Micro makes Norton and McAfee look like wimps. :-)
Posted by: Seth at May 18, 2008 04:08 PM
Why not just buy a copy of Office 2008 for Mac instead? The only software limitations I ever run into on my mac are specialized business and financial software.
The shortcut layouts are a little different (I like the mac command layout better myself) but at least the mouse isn't as big an issue anymore since os x supports two (or more) button mice.
Enjoy your new mac!
Posted by: podzilla at May 19, 2008 02:22 AM
Thanks guys, I have installed Office 2008 for Mac and it works very well. Seth, I'll look into the Trend Micro for my desktop - sounds better than what I have.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at May 20, 2008 09:06 PM