I've been following all the recents posts of XP versus Vista, and am considering replacing my five-year-old MS system, which is getting very slow now. I don't know a lot about computers but have been advised to consider getting an Imac next time instead. I would appreciate any advice re the pros and cons of one system against the other. And am I right in assuming that the question of Vista or XP wouldn't arise with an Imac as it uses its own system? I use Microsoft Office 2000 at present, which is fine for all my word processing needs, and I believe that there is a version available for Imacs? Can someone please confirm, also are Imacs much less vulnerable to virus attacks? Mal in W. Australia

At 04:46 PM 10/03/2008 +0900, you wrote: >And am I right in assuming that the question of Vista or XP wouldn't >arise with an Imac as it uses its own system? That is correct. The problem, if you call it that, is that the majority of software is written for the Microsoft Windows operating system. There are other operating systems that are just as good as Imac & Windows such as Linux & Free BSD. >I use Microsoft Office 2000 at present, which is fine for all my word >processing needs, and I believe that there is a version available for >Imacs? Open Office can read any MS office files including MS Office 2007 & the beauty is it is FREE >Can someone please confirm, also are Imacs much less vulnerable >to virus attacks? That is true they are less vulnerable to Virus & melware attacks. There is no definitive answer to the question of which operating system is better than another as some people are die-in-the wool supporters of every system available, it all boils down to your own personal preferance. Gary in Sunny Queensland, Australia. Genealogy Page <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~liddellfamily/>http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~liddellfamily/ -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.518 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1322 - Release Date: 9/03/2008 12:17 PM

Everyone has their own preferences. As for threats - the "naughty people" have been concentrating on the Windows operating systems because that is what most computers use. As other systems are gaining wider use - e.g. Unix derivatives such as Linux - then these people look to take advantage. I haven't looked at the recent official list of vulnerabilities to see how many have been identified for Macs - but I expect it is very small (minute compared with Windows) but slowly growing. No one should be complacent - and keep protected. Chris -----Original Message----- From: gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Mal Parr Sent: 10 March 2008 07:47 To: GEN-COMP-TIPS@rootsweb.com Subject: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] MICROSOFT VERSUS IMAC I've been following all the recents posts of XP versus Vista, and am considering replacing my five-year-old MS system, which is getting very slow now. I don't know a lot about computers but have been advised to consider getting an Imac next time instead. I would appreciate any advice re the pros and cons of one system against the other. And am I right in assuming that the question of Vista or XP wouldn't arise with an Imac as it uses its own system? I use Microsoft Office 2000 at present, which is fine for all my word processing needs, and I believe that there is a version available for Imacs? Can someone please confirm, also are Imacs much less vulnerable to virus attacks? Mal in W. Australia -------------------------------------- Having trouble with your subscription? Contact the List Admin at gen-comp-tips-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-COMP-TIPS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Mal, There are indeed a number of people who run on MAC (Last independent reports year on year was that MAC sales had risen dramatically to about 5.5% of the Windows XP/Vista versions outside corporations). Microsoft seem to own the corporate environment. Of course you can also run XP or Vista side by side and get around the issue of limited software for MAC. If cost is not an issue and you feel more comfortable with MAC then this will not limit your applications. (MACs are generally much more expensive) If you are a basic user of Office you may not need any replacement, but you have the option of the Microsoft versions for MAC (same ish price as the Windows version) or Open Office which is essentially free. If you are more into your office apps then I would tend towards keeping with Microsoft Office as it has less limitations, bugs and issues. Microsoft gets roughly the same income from XP as from Vista - the thing you want to avoid is paying twice for the o/s. No matter what hardware you purchase buy stacks of RAM (and generous disk space) - it future proofs you investments to a large degree. On viruses ... as Microsoft has got its security act together there have been many more virus attacks on other systems ... the hackers turn away from more hardened systems to easier targets. (Last months set of Apple patches were for a bunch of 80 security issues). Vista leads the way in terms of a much more secure system but it takes more resources than XP (Don't run XP less than 512Mb RAM, Don't run Vista under say 1.5Gb RAM) RAM is cheap anyway. Steve -----Original Message----- From: gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Mal Parr Sent: Monday, 10 March 2008 5:47 PM To: GEN-COMP-TIPS@rootsweb.com Subject: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] MICROSOFT VERSUS IMAC I've been following all the recents posts of XP versus Vista, and am considering replacing my five-year-old MS system, which is getting very slow now. I don't know a lot about computers but have been advised to consider getting an Imac next time instead. I would appreciate any advice re the pros and cons of one system against the other. And am I right in assuming that the question of Vista or XP wouldn't arise with an Imac as it uses its own system? I use Microsoft Office 2000 at present, which is fine for all my word processing needs, and I believe that there is a version available for Imacs? Can someone please confirm, also are Imacs much less vulnerable to virus attacks? Mal in W. Australia -------------------------------------- Having trouble with your subscription? Contact the List Admin at gen-comp-tips-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-COMP-TIPS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message