rimfire4969 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 My wife is doing a degree and has just purchased a MacBook. Main reason is we both have had enough of Windows. All her old documents are on Word and she would like to continue with word as it's the accepted format at her uni. Could someone point me in the right direction for the right app so she can use Word on her MacBook. There are quite a few different ones in the App Store and I want to make sure I get the best one for her. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I think you can download the full office suite for Mac directly off the Microsoft website. If I remember correctly it's around £100, but you may find better deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 my sister runs an emulator on her mac so she can run windows on it as a seperate operating system. didnt take too much to get it running, but it needs a seperate hard drive i think. cant comment on the app's as i refuse to own anything apple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I'd play safe and get the Mac version of MS office, I went over to it after having issues transferring between word on pc and pages on Mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_c_mitch Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) I'd recommend using LibreOffice, or even OpenOffice. They are both free to download and in my opinion better than MS Office - I use it full time on my Mac. They include their own version of Word, but you can open, edit and save MS Word files as normal. Edited January 6, 2015 by t_c_mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I'd play safe and get the Mac version of MS office, I went over to it after having issues transferring between word on pc and pages on Mac Can you save a word doc on a memory stick on the Mac and open it on a laptop without any hassle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Can you save a word doc on a memory stick on the Mac and open it on a laptop without any hassle? Yes indeed, the only difference is Mac word files end .docx instead of .doc so you can tell it originated on a Mac but apart from some troubles with really old versions of word I've not had any compatibility issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta06 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Yes indeed, the only difference is Mac word files end .docx instead of .doc so you can tell it originated on a Mac but apart from some troubles with really old versions of word I've not had any compatibility issues Sorry, but that isn't correct. .docx was a termination tag introduced by Microsort Word 2007, it has nothing to do with it being written on a Macbook. You have three options: Use comparison software - such as Openoffice Run software called Bootcamp - which allows you to use your Mac as either mac or a Windows based pc Run Parallels software (my preferred option). This allows you to set your mac up to work as a windows pc and/or mac simultaneously. You can run both together and drag/share files and folders between the two platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Sorry but there's some pretty terrible advice in this thread and some people are creating a complete and utter headache. Macs are (these days) designed to just work with everything. If it's a new Mac, right click the Word document and open with Pages. Pages will edit a Word doc and even export back to a Word doc flawlessly. Pages is now free and comes packaged with all Macs. If you don't have it, but do have an iCloud account, hop over to iCloud.com and open the file within Pages which runs on your browser and edit away. Edited January 6, 2015 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derfley Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 My wife is doing a degree and has just purchased a MacBook. Main reason is we both have had enough of Windows. All her old documents are on Word and she would like to continue with word as it's the accepted format at her uni. Could someone point me in the right direction for the right app so she can use Word on her MacBook. There are quite a few different ones in the App Store and I want to make sure I get the best one for her. Thanks in advance. A couple of things; Microsoft Office is available for the MAC (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint,Excel all have their MAC versions), I have it installed right now, I regulary perpare documents at home for use at work, and just make sure where I need to, too save the documents in Word97 format (extension .doc) rather than the now more common .docx used by more modern versions of Word. The only issue with moving files between MAC's and PC's is making sure the USB stick is formatted FAT32, the MAC will be fine with this for reading and writing files, and it ensures compatibility with 99% of windows PC's. And secondly, as she is taking a higher education course (either part time or full time) she will qualify for the Microsoft educational discounts on software, these are worth having as they can seriously reduce the cost of Office. If you want something that is free I would suggest looking at http://www.libreoffice.org/ it's free, available for the MAC and will read and write all of the major office file formats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thank you for all the help. As for the educational discount we have gone that route saved about £200 on the MacBook Air. I have bought a Mac copy of MS Office. When my wife got in i saved a few word docs on a memory stick on my laptop then plugged the stick into the new Mac, everything worked straight away, i can open docs, change them, save the changes and reopen on the laptop. Everything is working together without any problems so far. So it seems that Apple and Microsoft are at least compatible so far for my wife needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 There are very few compatibility issues now between Mac and PC versions of MS Office documents, mostly within Excel and nothing that cannot be fixed. The biggest problem is if you use any of the date functions in Excel and swap from one to the other, there are some issues with conditional formatting and macros, but by and large most people wont be bothered by those. Also if you have used some colour schemes in Powerpoint those can be a nuisance, but easy enough to put right. If you send documents via email there is a tick box to send Windows friendly attachments, likewise in the Office suite there is a tick box to ensure Windows compatibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypig Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Billy +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Edwards Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I took the tight-fisted option, and bought the Apple versions of Microsoft programmes. (Pages and Keynote, Word and PowerPoint respectively. They were £13 each or something like that. I've written academic papers on Pages, and when you've finished, you can just convert to a word file with one click. Like said, the last time I looked, the official MS Office for Mac package was about £100 when I looked. I've got some computer buff friends, who say that Apple stuff is terrible. Personally, I just think they're seamless and idiot proof. I've been using a Mac for the last 18 months, and today I had to use my old Asus. Compared to the Mac it felt so slow and clunky, and as if it took hours to boot up. Even my mum's brand new HP feels clunky compared to a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Sorry but there's some pretty terrible advice in this thread and some people are creating a complete and utter headache. Macs are (these days) designed to just work with everything. If it's a new Mac, right click the Word document and open with Pages. Pages will edit a Word doc and even export back to a Word doc flawlessly. Pages is now free and comes packaged with all Macs. If you don't have it, but do have an iCloud account, hop over to iCloud.com and open the file within Pages which runs on your browser and edit away. Listen to Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 cant comment on the app's as i refuse to own anything apple. Don't worry, I used to sound just like you until I bought a Mac.. I've also never met someone who bought a Mac and regretted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 After only having a MacBook for a day or so I can honestly say the more I play the more I like it. Its quick, start up takes a few seconds and even with my rubbish broadband it is very fast surfing the interweb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Don't worry, I used to sound just like you until I bought a Mac.. I've also never met someone who bought a Mac and regretted it. i had loads of apple gear way back when, and got rid of it. just dont like the brand anymore. their phones are boring, the computers are bland and their ipods/ipads are not my cup of tea either. worst of all is the price of it all. much prefer my samsung gear if im honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuji Shooter Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I am tempted to buy myself the new iMac with the 5K display - be great for editing photos in Lightroom. But £2K gets you a lot of high end PC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I am tempted to buy myself the new iMac with the 5K display - be great for editing photos in Lightroom. But £2K gets you a lot of high end PC I remember Which doing a comparison as the perception is always Apple stuff is expensive but they found if you brought a PC up to the same spec there wasn't a lot in it overall... Personally I love my Apple stuff and the fact it's all designed to work together is a real bonus over PC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I had a few problems with some jpegs of images being too big for acceptance to competitions and exhibitions etc, and not being too bright when it comes to techie stuff, ( I love technology but don't know how much of it works) didn't know how to reduce the size so googled the problem. Seemed quite a kerfuffal with Microsoft (although I acknowledge some of the info' on youtube might be outdated now) but it took me about 30 seconds to do on iPhoto with my MacBook. I really can't fault Apple products so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) I am tempted to buy myself the new iMac with the 5K display - be great for editing photos in Lightroom. But £2K gets you a lot of high end PC Hate to tell you, but I'm using my 5k iMac at the moment - it's a beast. £2k doesn't get you a 5k (decent) monitor though. All that PC oomph on a 1080 resolution screen... Edited January 7, 2015 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) worst of all is the price of it all. You don't hear people complaining about the price of Rolex, Breitling and other watches, as they're premium brands, much like Apple. You can go any buy a Mickey Mouse watch and it'll do the same as a £50k Swiss watch, but it's the design, quality, brand and service you get, which really sets them apart. Some people are content with owning a cheap watch, laptop, TV, fridge, car, sound system.... When you buy something which is expensive, you know that it's got build quality and will hold its value. Also, buying cheap tech is a false economy. My MacBook Pro has lasted me close to five years, it's still blisteringly fast, runs like a dream and I rarely have any issues with it. It cost me £1,500 and that's not a bad price for something which will easily last a further three years and still be worth treble figures when it comes to selling it. I remember throwing my old Sony laptop in the bin, which cost me £1200 and it was only four years old and was on its last legs. People are quick to criticise the price, but the hardware outlasts everything on the market and retains a resale value. Edited January 7, 2015 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Boy I am happy that I still use old money and a slide rule . This is all beyond me . But I can drive a tractor . Harnser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuji Shooter Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Hate to tell you, but I'm using my 5k iMac at the moment - it's a beast. £2k doesn't get you a 5k (decent) monitor though. All that PC oomph on a 1080 resolution screen... You are right, I never checked the price of monitors. Guess it makes the iMac a bargain really. Just a bit hard to justify £2K for Lightroom and a bit of Photoshop. Might have to settle for the 4K option and dream.. Edited January 7, 2015 by Freakmode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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