<p>you avoided my whole post but ok wutevz</p>
<p>since johhnyk wont take this one, the thinkpads a beast, im using one at the moment. its cheaper and the hardwares around the same or better, depending on model. its not the prettiest thing, but its a computer, not a purse. plus, its not a mac.</p>
<p>Does the Macbook come with word processor that's compatible with Windows (without bootcamp)? Also, do I need to buy the Office software in order to get word processor?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>When it comes to Word Processors, you will find you have more choices than you know what to do with!</p>
<p>There are free office suites available for the Mac that are compatible with MS Word (such as NeoOffice and ThinkFree). So no, you don't NEED to buy the MS Office software in order to get a word processor.</p>
<p>Also, included with every Mac is a 30 day trial of MS Office 2004 (which of course is compatible with itself :P) and a 30 day trial of Apple's own iWork '06 (which can open and save MS Word files).</p>
<p>If you want to buy them, Apple's iWork is $39.99 and MS Office 2004 is $99.99 (gotta love student discounts).</p>
<p>Thanks--I've got some more questions, too.</p>
<p>How does one go about getting the free office suites? Also, do these programs have similar features as MSWord (ie, translator, thesaurus)</p>
<p>Also, since I'm computer-inept, "CD-R/W" means that the macbooks can burn CDs, right?</p>
<p>spend the 100 bucks on office, it's a great price and a great piece of software you will use for years.</p>
<p>Mac OS has built-in dictionary, thesaurus, and translator (it's a Dashboard Widget).</p>
<p>For conventional software items like NeoOffice and StarOffice, you can go to their websites and just download the suites.</p>
<p>Thinkfree, however, is unique in that there is no downloading or even installation. It is simply a website that you go to that has full word-processing capabilities thanks to the magic of AJAX web technology.</p>
<p>But yeah, when you've got a chance to buy Officee for $99, just do it. It's handy to have. At least $39 on iWork, perhaps?</p>
<p>Oh and yes, CD-RW means it can burn a CD :P</p>
<p>In Apple lingo, a Combo drive can burn CDs and play DVDs, and a SuperDrive can burn CDs and DVDs</p>
<p>are there any advantages/disadvantages in getting the desktop iMac instead of the macbook? besides the obvious ones like price and size</p>
<p>A desktop is harder to steal (but you should have a security cable for any laptop and then you'll be fine).</p>
<p>The real advantage of a MacBook over an iMac is that you can take the MacBook with you. You can sit almost anywhere on campus (be it an au bon pain or the College Green) and surf the web.</p>
<p>You can take it to your buddy's room to work together on a project.</p>
<p>You can bring it to class and take notes on it. Typing is faster than handwriting. And notes saved as word documents instead of paper are better because you can back them up, and use Apple's Spotlight technology to find a certain topic in any of your notes. Let's say I wanted to find every mention of FDR. It will search all my notes from all my classes (sometimes allowing me to find unique knowledge that will create the illusion I did outside research ;-))</p>
<p>Basically, a MacBook can do so much more for you then a computer stuck to your desk ever could.</p>
<p>BUUT</p>
<p>If you really don't think you will carry it around, or if you are on a budget, or if you want a large screen, or if you want more horsepower, or if you game... all of these are very valid reasons to consider a desktop computer.</p>
<p>actually the 17" imac is more expensive than the cheapest macbook.. i'm not a gamer and i don't really care about the screen size. is the horsepower noticeably better than a laptop?</p>
<p>well... for the extra 200 you are getting a dedicated video card (128 mb of onboard memory vs 64 mb of integrated memory), 160 GB vs 60 GB for hard drive, Dual Layer-DVD burner vs CD-RW / DVD ROM, not to mention the huge difference between the screens... the desktop will give you almost 65% more screen size.</p>
<p>Consider it</p>
<p>uhhhh.. what does the dedicated video card mean? i doubt i will need the hard drive space or the burner though it might come in handy.. anything else?</p>
<p>btw what are universal apps and how do i know if an app is universal or not. like i hear photoshop is not universal so it runs slower or something..</p>
<p>lol you probably won't need it actually, it's mostly used for playing games, although I guess people involved in Computer Media might find it useful. Basically it uses its own resources instead of using up the computer's, and gives you better video performance.</p>
<p>You should be fine with a notebook</p>
<p><a href="http://www.askdavetaylor.com/what_is_a_universal_application_on_a_mac.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.askdavetaylor.com/what_is_a_universal_application_on_a_mac.html</a>
this explains what universal app means. It does turn out that photoshop is not universal, but I'm wondering... if you boot up with windows, shouldn't you be fine?</p>
<p>hi.. i bought a white macbook few months ago but my mac's color now isn't white anymore. it became brownish because of all the accumulated dusts on my keyboard and trackpad. anyone here who can give me a tip on how to clean it and restore it's pure-white color? thanks.</p>
<p>There was an early batch of MacBooks with defective plastics that would stain like this. Apple has acknowledge the manufacturing defect (ah, the joys of outsourced manufacturing!) and will replace the casing under warranty
<a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Acknowledges-MacBook-Stains-As-Manufacturing-Defect-28129.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Acknowledges-MacBook-Stains-As-Manufacturing-Defect-28129.shtml</a></p>
<p>i wish i have read johnny k's post earlier.</p>
<p>i cleaned my macbook with an acetone and it worked really well. the stains were gone (except for the stains on the trackpad). i was almost done with my cleaning when the acetone spilled on my keyboard! the computer was off and i also took the battery when it happend. the spill covered the surface from letter L key to the plus sign to the enter key up to the shift key.</p>
<p>i immediately turned the macbook upside down to let the acetone drip and i dried it. after few minutes, i turned on the computer and it's still working. what i'm worried about is that the alcohol constituents might deteriorate the internal parts of my macbook. what should i do? any comments? help me..</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>P.S.
is there an AppleCare in Cebu, City, Philippines that replaces discolored top cases?</p>
<p>heard of the new Microsoft Vista? it's like a total rebuff of Mac OS X.</p>
<p>If by "rebuff" you mean "rip-off" then yes. Microsoft has copied Apple with abandon. There was a great blog written by a disgruntled MS Windows developer who said "our departent had a Mac which we looked up to as a paragon of a good OS"</p>
<p>So yeah, copying Mac OS was and is standard MS operating procedure.
Anyway, I am actually writing this post from Windows Vista right now. I installed it on my MacBook ('twas a piece of cake with Parallels).</p>
<p>The new Windows search thing is very nice--but I've been enjoying it for almost 2 years already with Mac OS X 10.4...</p>
<p>Vista is better than Windows XP (though that's like saying "Penn is better than high-school special ed class"--it doesn't take much), but it's still the same old Windows.</p>
<p>But now it's very shiny.</p>