kcl91 Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Heya....recently i've been contemplating about buying a macbook laptop (air? hmm) But i've always been a windows user. All my documents for school etc. are all done in Microsoft Office 2002 (word, powerpoint, excel etc.) and if i move to a Mac...will i be able to open them and edit them, like school essays/presentions?? More questions: --my videos are in .wma, .avi, .DIVX...and others. Will i be able to play them? --will my psp be recognized by a mac if i hook it up by the normal USB? --Is there anyway to get a macbook laptop to output display from like a wii etc? --The website said that it has wireless 802.11g ..can i connect to any wireless area/ or ethernet...or just airport extreme?? thanx, Ro
AshMat Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 From what i understand open office (a free office package) will be able to access and create those files. Aswell as the Microsoft office package for Mac.
Charlie Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Heya....recently i've been contemplating about buying a macbook laptop (air? hmm) But i've always been a windows user. All my documents for school etc. are all done in Microsoft Office 2002 (word, powerpoint, excel etc.) and if i move to a Mac...will i be able to open them and edit them, like school essays/presentions?? More questions: --my videos are in .wma, .avi, .DIVX...and others. Will i be able to play them? --will my psp be recognized by a mac if i hook it up by the normal USB? --Is there anyway to get a macbook laptop to output display from like a wii etc? --The website said that it has wireless 802.11g ..can i connect to any wireless area/ or ethernet...or just airport extreme?? thanx, Ro You can get Office for the Mac which will open/edit all those files. -- Yeah, you just need to download the relevant program (VLC Media Player) -- Not sure - Google it -- I don't think so, but that would be true for all laptops I think -- Yeah, you can connect it to any wireless/ethernet (MacBook Air doesn't have an ethernet port though). Wireless is a standard so it works the same with everything
Caris Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Heya....recently i've been contemplating about buying a macbook laptop (air? hmm) But i've always been a windows user. All my documents for school etc. are all done in Microsoft Office 2002 (word, powerpoint, excel etc.) and if i move to a Mac...will i be able to open them and edit them, like school essays/presentions?? More questions: --my videos are in .wma, .avi, .DIVX...and others. Will i be able to play them? --will my psp be recognized by a mac if i hook it up by the normal USB? --Is there anyway to get a macbook laptop to output display from like a wii etc? --The website said that it has wireless 802.11g ..can i connect to any wireless area/ or ethernet...or just airport extreme?? thanx, Ro Videos will be fine. PSP should be not 100% though. If you mean hook your Macbook up to another monitor yeah you can do that, if you mean play your Wii on your Macbook no i don't think so. And yeah any wireless area or ethernet are fine.
Emasher Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Don't bother with office, if your on a Mac iWork works much better and it can import and export office documents. The only reason to get office on a Mac is if you need to all the time be saving stuff to office format. iWork is also cheaper and works better with iLife ect. The movies will be fine as they are standards. You can connect to any wireless network except for wireless A networks and they are pretty rare. No idea about the PSP though. And by the way, the MBA isn't meant to be your primary computer, you should get a regular macbook if you want it as your primary computer.
Guest Jordan Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Office 2008 for Mac is out fairly soon, which is compatable with Office 2007 Windows documents..
Jasper Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 iWork supports the new Metro word files (sorry, I just loved that codename more than XPS). Butt if you want good compatibility get Microsoft office. No matter how many macfans ask you to get iWork, I'de sitll advice you office. There are tuns of people using this everyday and it really is best compatible. For movies: I'de advice you (and everyone else) the QuickTIme pluging Perian. And for all your Windows Media needs: Flip4mac. There's a free one of this just to play your beloved Windows Media files! You can use your laptop to output the signal of the Wii, but you need a connector for this. It's sold seperatly and also allows you TV n your mac. This one should do the trick, but I'de say you'de better ask at a mac store to be sure you can plug your Wii's Yellow Cable down this one. You will need something seperate to output the audio, though.
joshhill Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 There's a native port of Open Office called Neo Office, which looks a little prettier and is as equally free. These can both save to a variety of .doc/.docx standards from different office editions. You're very unlikely to have any compatibility issues but it's reassuring to have a copy of word etc. if it's an important document so you need to check that it's perfect!
Emasher Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 iWork supports the new Metro word files (sorry, I just loved that codename more than XPS). Butt if you want good compatibility get Microsoft office. No matter how many macfans ask you to get iWork, I'de sitll advice you office. There are tuns of people using this everyday and it really is best compatible. Its more compatible, but iWork is much easier to use, office for Mac has a bunch of windows feature taken out of it also I've noticed. It really depends on how often you need to import/export an office document. This year is actually my first year using iWork and my productivity has improved greatly since then.
Mr_Odwin Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 If your wmv files are drm infected (have copy protection) they will most likely not play on a mac.
Jasper Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 DRM doesn't go both ways, except Apple DRM. But honestly, who bought anything from Microsofts Play for Sure?
kcl91 Posted January 17, 2008 Author Posted January 17, 2008 cool...thanx......but the macbook air has no ethernet port. I need a laptop with an ethernet...so are apple going to stop making the normal macbook's (which have an ethernet port, more than 1 usb port...damn air) lol
Jasper Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 The MacBook Air is a seperate line of products, like Nintendo DS was when it was introduced. The only thing you need to not need ethernet: a router. That's why there's no ethernet: Apple thinks everything is wireless. Check the Apple iThread for recent comments on Apple's MacBook Air.
Caris Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 No there not gonna stop making normal Macbooks.
McPhee Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 DRM doesn't go both ways, except Apple DRM. But honestly, who bought anything from Microsofts Play for Sure? Um, playsforsure wasn't a store. It was a certification given to stores and devices that met a certain level of compatability (and DRM-ness). Given the list of stores that use it i suspect a fair few people have playsforsure certified stuff: AOL MusicNow Directsong FYE Musicmatch Jukebox Napster Yahoo Music [3] PassAlong Real Rhapsody Ruckus Network [4] Spiralfrog MTV URGE Wal-Mart Music Downloads (the list is from Wiki, i only knew a few names) It's still not a patch on iTunes though...
Jasper Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Um, playsforsure wasn't a store. It was a certification given to stores and devices that met a certain level of compatability (and DRM-ness). Given the list of stores that use it i suspect a fair few people have playsforsure certified stuff: AOL MusicNow Directsong FYE Musicmatch Jukebox Napster Yahoo Music [3] PassAlong Real Rhapsody Ruckus Network [4] Spiralfrog MTV URGE Wal-Mart Music Downloads (the list is from Wiki, i only knew a few names) It's still not a patch on iTunes though... How many of those are succesfull? How many of those still exist? Microsoft Play4Sure DRM was so restrictive people didn't want to buy it.
Emasher Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 How many of those are succesfull? That made me laugh. I've never heard of any of them. The MacBook Air is a seperate line of products, like Nintendo DS was when it was introduced. The only thing you need to not need ethernet: a router. That's why there's no ethernet: Apple thinks everything is wireless. Check the Apple iThread for recent comments on Apple's MacBook Air. The macbook air is only wireless because its designed to be a computer you use only when on the road, not as your primary computer. There aren't to many places you can plug into ethernet on the road. Only thing I can think of is those fancy waiting rooms in airports that you need to pay to get into that are paranoid of hackers so only have wired internet.
AshMat Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 You've never heard of Napster? What rock have you been under?
Jasper Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Yeah everybody heard of Napster, but I think barely anyone knows atht the pirate applications was then reformed into a legal music store where you could buy song instead of share them. Wich idiot came up with their business plan to name a new, legal service after the old, illegal one?
Mr_Odwin Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Even the new Napster is very well known. Others on that list are also well-known, just maybe not by you.
Jasper Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Honestly, almost 90% of all the music downloads is handled by Apple. Those others aren't really popular. Except for AmazonMP3, wich has garnered a lot of succes since their DRM-free stance. But that has nothing to do with Play4Sure.
Mr_Odwin Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 The data is slightly old but still of relevance: Market share for online music retailers: Apple iTunes: 67% eMusic: 11% Real Rhapsody: 4% Napster: 4% MSN Music: 3% Source: The NPD Group, January to May 2006 Apple recently celebrated their 4 billionth download. If the above figures are still anywhere near true then places like Real Rhapsody, Napster and MSN Music cannot be dismissed by yourself as irrelevant just because you think that's the way it is. It's simply not true. (Putting "honestly" at the start of your sentence does not make the rest of it true.) But, this is all off-topic anyways ...
Emasher Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 The data is slightly old but still of relevance: Apple recently celebrated their 4 billionth download. If the above figures are still anywhere near true then places like Real Rhapsody, Napster and MSN Music cannot be dismissed by yourself as irrelevant just because you think that's the way it is. It's simply not true. (Putting "honestly" at the start of your sentence does not make the rest of it true.) But, this is all off-topic anyways ... Seriously. 67% to 11% And thats not that recent of figures either. Its not 90% but its still 2/3.
McPhee Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 So you guys think that holding such small percentages of the market makes these services irrelevant? Oh the beautiful, beautiful irony of hearing that from a Mac owner :p If Apple own roughly 2 3rds of the market and have sold 4,000,000,000 tracks then the market must be approx. 6,000,000,000 tracks in size. That means eMusic have shifted over 600,000,000 tracks, Napster and Raphsody have shifted over 240,000,000 tracks each and MSN Music over 180,000,000 tracks. Hardly insignificant... Playsforsure is dead now anyway, the DRM is still there but it's been relabled "Certified for Windows Vista" and Microsoft aren't pushing it as a standard multi-player format anymore. It's just there for anyone to use to ensure they're player can play encrypted music from online stores BTW, eMusic are DRM free. Anyone with half a brain and a decent taste in music buys from there, it's full of Jazz, Indie Rock and Punk from minor record labels. Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, EMI and Warner Music Group refuse to support the site unless it "protects their artists rights" by adding DRM.
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