Genealogy Chat

Hi there, can anyone tell me in simple English what differences I might expect if I change my laptop for an Apple Mac? I believe for example they don't use Windows??? All help would be much appreciated, thank-you.

Apple Mac does not use Windows and many windows programs will not run on Mac. However, Macs are less vulberable to virus attacks, You can get software to open Windows documents such as Word or Excel and they're often a darn site more reliable. I'd find a friend who has one you can play on before you buy.

What I like about them is that - if something does go wrong it will say 'AppleWorks has unexpectedly quit' (or whatever they're using), rather than the Windows error messages that are worded to make the user feel like they have done something wrong. Also, they do automatically update the software so you don't have to do it yourself (although the option is there if you want it). I've often noticed people divide into two camps as far as the Mac goes - there are the lovers and the haters - but I find them far more user-friendly than Windows, possibly because I'm a design student.

Thanks for your comments, I've heard they are more reliable but know very little about them.

In our neck of the woods the places of higher education run many of their courses on Apple Mac computers because the programmes available are often better. (I'm talking here of design and publishing or project management type stuff. However a phone call to your nearest sixth form college may well give you the chance to see one (and play with it) without a salesperson breathing down your neck. You will need to learn a few new tricks but they are not that hard. CB

Hi Clive, thanks for that suggestion.