<p>Or just install Windows on Boot Camp which comes free on the computer. Although that does mean you have to reboot when you want to use Windows.</p>
<p>I used bootcamp for a while. Just not the same as vmware or Parallels… I love my mbp sooo much haha. I got to say, however, Parallels > vmware… Depends on taste… </p>
<p>BootCamp is very primative, and you have to reboot. The ones I mentioned are applications which open up windows in them. You can drag-drop from windows interface to mac interface.</p>
<p>Also, if you ask me I will show you how to install Os X onto a windows pc (for free). The torrent does not always work, however, and you need certain codes.</p>
<p>problems are with hardware – he didn’t have the money for the extended warranty. His laptop is 3 years old – the headphone port broke at 13 mos, which means no sound at all (it thinks there are headphones in there). The port is soldered to the motherboard – so no easy fix. We finally spent $50 on a USB headphone splitter thing.</p>
<p>The battery connection failed at 2 years – it doesn’t recognize the battery, so it has to be plugged in at all times.</p>
<p>The power cord melted at the connection place twice – a real pain, because the replacement piece had to be shipped overseas and it took a while, but they did send a replacement.</p>
<p>The other item is cost --you can get a windows laptop that will do everything you need it to do (word processing, internet, etc) for $400. Mac are much more!</p>
<p>Word Processing and other utilities: Never buy Ms Word. Buy Mac Works, better quality lower price.</p>
<p>As for the hardware: I am surprised, not AS surprised though. My power cord broke but due to my mishandling</p>
<p>That’s not considering resale value, as I said. Good luck trying to sell a $400 PC after three to four years.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about those problems though! Clearly, there are duds on both sides. Just goes to show, though, that it’s always a good idea to buy AppleCare. Not to make you feel bad, but they might even have given you a brand new computer to fix those problems. My brother recently broke his old iBook and AppleCare provided a brand spanking new MacBook for him - for a premium of $50. Worth that extra money for AppleCare, IMO.</p>
<p>I will add that iLife is the most amazing software up to date. There are Professional versions of it available from apple (aperture, etc.) but iLife '09 is SO handy.</p>
<p>iWork '09 is amazing as well. I’ll NEVER go back to PowerPoint, Word, or Excel. Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are MORE than adequate replacements. And for $79 for the package you really can’t complain about price either.</p>
<p>79$ mac > 500$ PC </p>
<p>Use the same model for buying the PC it self. That means a 900$ mac is 6,322 PC</p>
<p>you just can’t generalize – it needs to be an independent decision. I know many people who love macs, many people who don’t.</p>
<p>As far as cost --a good point. Look at the cost of the software in addition to the computer. In our case, Microsoft Word was required (college course requirement) so we had to buy Word for $150 for the Mac, if we had bought him a PC it wouldn’t have cost us a dime since I already have Microsoft office 2003.</p>
<p>Many schools have all the software you need on a virtual desktop – so you might not need any software at all. Just do the research and see what you like and what you budget can afford. while it would have been best to pay for the applecare, we didn’t have the money so it wasn’t a choice.</p>
<p>Few things… Works is Office, FULLY compatible. Next time (suggestion) instead of buying a mac version of windows program (if you already have windows) get parallels. </p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>I want to get a Mac laptop but my parents want to get me a desktop. I really want a Mac instead of a PC because of iMovie 09 and all the other features.</p>
<p>iMovie is great, just not as good as iMovie 6 HD. I suggest that you DON’T get a dtop.</p>
<p>I <3 my macbook =] It is soo much faster, and when everyone was worrying about that April Fools day virus thing, I didn’t have to worry about a thing.</p>