Awwww, man... I thought you alread had one and was ready to give you some Ctrl+Open_Apple+Reset advice... Yes, you can run Office for MAC. You can also run other things and save as EXCEL or WORD. <mommy>Macs OR PCs don't "talk", dear...</mommy> OK, OK, so I like yours better CBrownFanClub...
I have MacBook (previously an eMac) and my MacBook gets the job done. Amazing battery life (upwards to 4 hours if I am writing a paper, 3 if I am chatting and surfing the internet wirelessly) coupled with the UNIX-like backend means I can do my research while still retaining my iTunes collection (damn Linux!)
Mad Max, A little late on the reply, but maybe my comments will help you. I work out of my home and also travel quite a bit. I hated my last laptop and so I got a TREO to check email on the road, and got a IMAC at home. Just jumped in cold without much more that the word of some trusted friends more computer savvy than I. After four months and also running Office for MAC it has gone quite well. I have very little problem with opening or sending any kind of basic files. The screen is great, the speed is great and it worked right out of the box. Anything I try and get it to do is quite intuitive and much less frustrating and there is no setup, admin commands and other "insider" stuff to deal with. The real need for PC's if for the truly knowledgeable to customize and for the gamers. Otherwise for basic needs and little to no hassles, I am a major MAC convert and hope you take the plunge. I'm glad I switched. Cheers!
I have a new Toshiba Satellite running XP. After having never owned a Windows machine (but using them plenty through work, friends, school, etc.), I bought it for one reason alone: Apple was beginning their migration to Intel chips, and I wanted them to have time to work the kinks out after that transition. I wish to all freaking hell I'd stayed with a Mac. I have NEVER had so many problems with a (personally owned) computer. Random crashing. Random freezing. Double-clicking on an application to open it and NOTHING F*CKING HAPPENS. Random pop-ups, whether online or not, telling me how great Windoze is and generally getting in the way....ARGH. I've had blue-screens telling me about a major malfunction and recovering from a serious error when all I was doing was playing online. Everything with this machine is a headache, just like every Windows box I've ever worked with. My roommates told me that you "just get used to it," while staring at me in complete bafflement that I had never experienced such a thing before. I hate this damn computer. Its just like every Windows machine I've ever worked with: an intrusive, colossal pain in the ass. So damn bloated and convoluted and just plain not good. The long-time Apple users will appreciate this one: I ran an original iMac with a 4 gig HD running OS9 from 1998 until 2006 and NEVER had an issue with stability, compatibility, or damn near anything other than that OS9 was obsolete and my iMac wouldn't run OSX. Get a Mac. Its just a better machine all-around.
