<p>I'm going to study business and am pretty set on a Mac. It seems that I will be fine to do this, but does anyone see any limitations/difficulties. I've never used a Mac before. I know I'll need Windows programs, and what I was really wondering was...how does this work? How much does it cost (if it does)? I don't know a lot about computers. </p>
<p>Also: I've heard macs have "no viruses". Can someone explain this to me at all? I was trying to explain to my parents and realized I knew nothing and had no argument.</p>
<p>(I know there may be a similar topic on this board but wasn't sure how to find it, so if someones wants to point my clueless self in the right direction instead of repeating, that's fine too.)</p>
<p>Well there are two ways to run Windows programs on Macs. First you could use something like Parallels which has you run the Windows application within OS X or you could use something like Boot Camp (which i believe is free and comes with Leopard) where you just reboot your computer into Windows. I believe that with both options you have to have a copy of Windows that you will then install in a separate partition (Boot Camp and Parallels probably tell you exactly how to do it). </p>
<p>As your your remarks about OS X not having any viruses. Well that is incorrect there are viruses for OS X but only a very small amount. I know of no OS X user that runs any sort of antivirus program and none of them have ever gotten a virus. I think that for the most part the way OS X is set up it makes it quite hard to accidentally run a virus because you'd have to log in as Root in order for any harm to be done to the computer.</p>
<p>Lastly, take my Windows advice with a grain of salt. I run a G5 iMac so I am unable to run Windows apps on my computer and therefor have not used Parallels or Boot Camp myself.</p>
<p>Boot camp is a lot faster since it does not do virtualization (fakes the hardware through a resource gobbing process). Virtualizing (parallels) is a lot more convenient, since you can run it without ever leaving Mac OS and you don't have to worry about weird partitioning. </p>
<p>A few specific, nonintensive apps would make parallels preferable, but if you want to do anything intensive (gaming probably), boot camp would be much, much, much better.</p>
<p>OS X is based on Unix, very stable codebase. There are viruses, but it asks you for your password a bunch as Mac OS goes "Uh...this program wants to change everything on your system". It has very few remote execution holes too. There are viruses, but not many widespread ones.</p>
<p>The reason viruses arn't a major problem for macs is not because they are completely secure. Trust me if apple could do something like that, microsoft would have copied it a long time ago. </p>
<p>The real reason why you don't have to worry about viruses on macs is because of the market share. Over 90% of people still use windows and since thats where the biggest base lies, viruses are made for windows since they can get to a lot more people. If the market share was flipped to where Apple controlled over 90%, mac users would be complaining about viruses and windows users would be laughing because they do not have to deal with them.</p>
<p>And feel free to use bootcamp which comes with leopard but remember you still need to buy a copy of XP or Vista which would set you back an extra $100 or so.</p>
<p>I've never used a Mac before. I know I'll need Windows programs</p>
<p>Marie, maybe you've already done this, but I'd check to see what the school's primary platform is, i.e., does the school supply Win or Mac computers to teachers and staff? If one or the other, I would go with it. If it's a Win school, you've never used a Mac before, and if the school says you'll need Win programs, I don't see much reason to buy a Mac (and I've been a Mac bigot for 22 years since the Mac Plus first came out). If it's not a Win school, or if the school doesn't say you'll need Win programs, why will you need them? E.g., all of Microsoft's and Adobe's productivity software is available for Mac.</p>
<p>Go to the Apple store. Ask your questions about the Mac there. Let them show you exactly how you need to do things on a Mac. Play around with it and see if you like it. If you don't like it, go with a PC. If you like it and are set on getting it come back here with any other questions you may have had regarding Windows applications. Programs to run Windows include: Bootcamp, Parallels, and Fusion. Ultimately you'll need a copy of Windows (whichever version you want to use) to install. Also there are applications on Windows machines which are made for Macs as well. It's unclear what you mean by Windows programs. For example, Microsoft Office is available on the Mac. Anyways go ahead and do that first thing I told you, go to the Apple store nearest you.</p>