Also want to switch but have questions

[knoxinbox]

My Windows desktop is nearing the end of its life cycle and I would like to switch to a Mac, but have some questions:

1. Accessibility: I have multiple external hard drives with large home-video files. The drives use the NTFS file system. Would I be able to simply plug these into a new Mac (USB/FireWire) and view/edit the contents, or would some reformatting be required?

2. Readability: I have loads of MS Office documents in PC format and it's important that these remain readable and editable. Will I be able to work with these documents using the Mac system? I won't buy the Mac version of MS Office, so it would have to be the software that comes with the Mac or maybe OpenOffice. Relatedly, it is also important for me to retain access to my email and calendar archive, currently in Outlook 2000 .pst files. I suppose I can convert these to some open format and put them on a Mac? I can convert them to Outlook 2003 at work if that would simplify things.

3. Mac Mini: My current 4-yr-old system runs a Celeron 2.2 GHz with 1 GB RAM. It is sufficient for my needs, which include occasional video editing. Can anyone tell me how a Mac Mini with 1 GB RAM would compare? Also, would I be able to use my LCD monitor, which is about a year old?

Thank you all very much in advance.

David

[rwilkerson]

1. I've never had any trouble accessing my external NTFS drives, but they're all networked rather than connected.
2. I use NeoOffice (a native mac port of OOo) and it works great with MS Office formatted files. I don't do a lot of that kind of stuff, but I've never had any trouble at all.
3. I would think you'd be moving a little quicker. Your memory is the same, but you'll likely have a faster processor (I hope). You can probably use your old monitor, but consider upgrading. The mac displays are so pretty they're mesmerizing. :-)

[icemanjc]

The great thing about macs is it can read and edit windows files, so it will read your Hard Drive, read you office filels and your old screeen will work with it.

[Lt Major Burns]

right, i'd like to clear some things up:

1) Mac OS X can read, but not write to NTFS. this means that you can can see, use and open all of your files, but the drives are Read-only (like a CD-ROM). eventually, reformatting into FAT32 would be required for crossplatform read & write, or to the Mac's HFS+ file system.

2) Mac OS X can read Word 97 compatible documents out of the box in TextEdit, and as mentioned before, NeoOffice, the Mac port of OpenOffice can read all the rest of Office's documents. Outlook, though, i think has some compatiblity issues, so i would try and save those files in as open a file format as you can before porting them over, i.e. nothing related to Outlook.

3) the Intel Core processors used in all new Macs pretty much wipe the floor with most competing processors, let alone something as compromised as a Celeron. be aware though that as a modern operating system, Mac OS X is RAM hungry. 1GB would be fine, but i think 2GB is most comfortable, especially with the Rosetta 'emulation' layer, which is used for running older Mac software.

[nixgeek]

Lt. Major Burns, I just wanted to clarify about your last point regarding Rosetta. It's for running older Mac OS X apps that were designed for PowerPC-based Macintosh computers.

[MisterMe]

....

2) Mac OS X can read Word 97 compatible documents out of the box in TextEdit, ...

Not quite. To read .docx files, you need MacLinkPlus Deluxe 16, the DOCX Converter widget or some other third-party utility. Microsoft promises to deliver a docx conversion filter for Word 2004 after it releases Word 2008, the Mac version of Word 2007. However, TextEdit reads and writes traditional .doc files.

[Lt Major Burns]

Not quite. To read .docx files, you need MacLinkPlus Deluxe 16, the DOCX Converter widget or some other third-party utility. Microsoft promises to deliver a docx conversion filter for Word 2004 after it releases Word 2008, the Mac version of Word 2007. However, TextEdit reads and writes traditional .doc files.

the mac can read Word 97 compatible documents out of the box. this docx thing has only appeared in the last 3 months, and really shouldn't be anything to worry about for the time being.

Lt. Major Burns, I just wanted to clarify about your last point regarding Rosetta. It's for running older Mac OS X apps that were designed for PowerPC-based Macintosh computers.

i was keeping it simple for a new switcher. PowerPC software on an intel mac is crippled, just as Classic software is on a PowerPC mac. to a new switcher, Rosetta is just a layer for running older mac apps...

i stand by my initial post, as there was nothing wrong, or even really misleading about it

[knoxinbox]

Thank you all for your help. I admit I am a bit disappointed by the NTSF information, and it might be the thing that derails my switch. I was hoping to be able to work with the video files on the external hard drives. They are large files, so FAT32 is not an option, and converting them to the Mac file system format does not appeal to me because I want to be able to plug the drives into PCs. Do you think the ability to write to NTSF drives is in the Mac OS future? I may decide to wait until then. Too bad, I really want to switch!