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Burning Question<br />
How Hard Is<br />
Switching from<br />
PC to Mac?<br />
The tv commercials and your <strong>sm</strong>ug friends make<br />
it seem so easy. Just buy a Mac and all your virus and<br />
other computer woes vanish, right?<br />
Setting aside whether Macs are superior, switching<br />
to one hasn’t always been simple. Only a few years<br />
ago, it meant crossing a minefield of unavailable<br />
software and incompatible data formats. But Apple<br />
has now brought the two platforms close enough<br />
together that changing sides is easy.<br />
Most people worry about their data first. If you’re<br />
a Microsoft Office user, the switch is pretty painless.<br />
Office 2004 for the Mac (Office 2008 is arriving soon)<br />
has no trouble importing Office 2003 for Windows files with formatting intact, although<br />
the new file format in Office 2007 requires a downloadable converter. If you’re trying to<br />
go completely Redmond-free, OpenOffice.org—an open source, cross-platform bundle—<br />
Flip4Mac<br />
easily handles Windows Office files, though it’s trickier to install and use on a Mac.<br />
Migrating your email from Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express to a Mac email<br />
client is a thornier proposition. Various how-tos can be found on the Web, or you can<br />
try Little Machines’ O2M shareware ($10; littlemachines.com), which will export from<br />
Outlook to Apple Mail or Entourage, Microsoft’s Outlook equivalent for Macs.<br />
What about apps and the myriad games that are PC-only? Three pieces of software<br />
can help: Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop, and VMWare Fusion. Boot Camp, previously a<br />
download and now bundled with the new Leopard OS, lets you run Windows directly,<br />
switching between Mac OS X or Windows after rebooting. Parallels and Fusion let you<br />
run Windows or Linux on a “virtual” desktop without restarting your Mac.<br />
The last remaining hurdle is mastering the Mac OS, which can seem alien to longtime<br />
PC mavens. Those with Mac laptops should plug in a two-button USB mouse; Macs ship<br />
with single-button touchpads. (In a pinch, holding down CTRL while clicking will open<br />
a right-click menu.) Most Mac hot keys also use the Apple/Command button instead<br />
of CTRL. Finally, when running Windows, Macs can crash just as much as PCs. Then it’s<br />
time for CTRL-OPTION-DELETE. —c.n.<br />
1 3 6 WIRED TEST<br />
Laptops<br />
SNEAK<br />
PEEK<br />
Apple Boot Camp<br />
Free • apple.com<br />
Boot Camp’s silky-<strong>sm</strong>ooth final<br />
beta was a godsend for PC-Mac<br />
switchers and gamers, offering the<br />
choice to boot up in either OS X<br />
or Windows. The new version<br />
comes bundled with Leopard. You’ll<br />
want to reserve at least 25 GB of<br />
free space on your Mac, especially<br />
when running Vista.<br />
Firefox<br />
Free • mozilla.com<br />
The Safari Web browser isn’t bad,<br />
but Firefox is faster, with a better<br />
tab system and more options.<br />
It’s also more familiar to Internet<br />
Explorer users, not to mention<br />
those already running Firefox, who<br />
can easily transfer bookmarks.<br />
Firefox is arguably more stable<br />
on the Mac than on the PC, too.<br />
WMV<br />
Free • flip4mac.com<br />
Those hysterical online videos<br />
your buddies send are often WMV<br />
files, the Windows Media format<br />
used by most PCs. Flip4Mac has a<br />
free download that lets you play<br />
WMV files within QuickTime,<br />
though it can be kludgy when trying<br />
to watch flicks embedded in Web<br />
sites or blogs.<br />
Parallels Desktop<br />
$80 • parallels.com<br />
A Boot Camp alternative, Parallels<br />
runs Windows inside Leopard as<br />
if it’s an app. The convenience of<br />
not having to reboot to switch<br />
platforms might make it worth<br />
$80. But performance can drag in<br />
Parallels, making gaming almost<br />
impossible.
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