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A modern Macintosh doesn't shut you out of Windows in any way. Microsoft sells a program, Virtual PC, that allows Macs to run Windows.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

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What if you switched to a Mac? What problems would you face?


Sept. 10, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   Viruses, spyware and Microsoft's inability to secure Windows can be great motivators. Windows users who had never thought of any other operating system are writing to find out more about Apple's modern Macintoshes.
   Mike D. wrote recently with typical questions.
   How do we wean ourselves off Windows? All my software is for Windows. My corporate office operates on Windows. My wife does computer administration for a university that is all Windows. I am certain the software I use for my work is not available for the Mac.
   We are going to buy a new family computer soon. If I were to go with a Macintosh would I be able to network it with my Windows PCs? Could I transfer word documents between them? Or would it stand alone until I got all my other computers switched?
   I think we are all so invested in Microsoft's operating system and its software that changing would be too expensive. I realize the payoff would come in reduced problems and fewer hours spent getting the systems to work right. What are the other advantages? And wouldn't virus makers start making viruses for the Mac if that was the predominant platform?
   These are all legitimate questions. Some of them are purely technical, but others are related to the way we deal with change. For all of us, change is difficult. In fact, it's worth noting that stress, the modern malady, does not come from difficult situations but simply from fear of change.
   So let's winnow out the stress-related issues first.
   Yes, changing from one kind of software to another is stressful. Changing from one job to another is, too. Entering 7th Grade is. This is life. We deal with it. And changing from something that is clearly troublesome to something that's much better can be stressful, too, but the rewards are worth it.
   Just as importantly, many potential Windows-to-Mac switchers might not realize that using a modern Macintosh doesn't shut you out of Windows in any way. Microsoft sells a program, Virtual PC, that allows Macs to run Windows (and therefore Windows programs) inside the Mac. If you simply must run a few Windows-only programs, you can easily run them under Virtual PC.
   Can a modern Mac connect to Windows PCs on a home or office network? This sort of connectivity is built into Mac OS X. Your Mac will be able to view and work with files and folders on all Windows PCs on your network. But a better method is offered by a program named DAVE, which allows all the Windows PCs on your network to treat your Mac as if it were another Windows PC, and convinces your Mac that all the PCs on the network are Macs. (I'm oversimplifying, but that's the effect.) You can find out more about DAVE from www.thursby.com.
   Sharing Word documents (and other Microsoft Office documents) is simple. Microsoft Office v.X, the version that's made for Mac OS X, can handle all documents created by the Windows version of Word, and the same principle holds for the Mac versions of Excel and PowerPoint. (If you need Access, you'd have to run the Windows version under Virtual PC. There's no Mac version of Access.)
   Finally, the question of viruses can't be answered satisfactorily. Windows is a sieve, and it's notoriously unsafe and insecure. Mac OS X is safer and much more secure, so I'd doubt that viruses could get into the core of the operating system the way they do in Windows. There aren't any OS X viruses anyway, but there are 70,000 active Windows viruses.