Software for Macs

motthead

Hi guys, first time poster to this forum but hoping you can help.

I've been lookin for a new laptop for a few weeks now and the macbook air or macbook pro have really caught my eye.

My question is in relation too software for the macs, this may have been asked before but bare with me.

I will be using it for work and will need to run 3 programmes namely microsoft word, microsoft excel and Autocad 2010. None of them particularly taxing on the machine (the autocad contains no rendering, just drainage, utility drawings etc). Can I use these programmes on the operating system that the macs come with or do I need to put windows on the mac. Also, do I need to get versions of the software that are specifically for mac.

Thanks for the help

Sad Professor

You'll need to get Mac versions. Or you could install Windows and run the Windows versions of them, but that would defeat the purpose of getting a Mac.

Mister Man

As above.
I've been looking up a lot of programs that I will need for my college course, and I've found that AutoCAD has a Mac version.
I also know Microsoft office has a Mac version, which is the same thing as the normal Windows one from what I recall. Not sure on the price difference (If any) between the Windows versions and the Mac versions.

motthead

Thanks lads, I've looked up the ms office package, its $149.99 for word, excel and powerpoint, thats that sorted. Acad is a different story tho as like most people I'd be running a bootlegged copy on my own laptop so dont know where i could pick a copy of it up for a mac

Groinshot

motthead wrote: »

Thanks lads, I've looked up the ms office package, its $149.99 for word, excel and powerpoint, thats that sorted. Acad is a different story tho as like most people I'd be running a bootlegged copy on my own laptop so dont know where i could pick a copy of it up for a mac

IF you managed to get a bootleg for windows, you can get one for mac

Savman

motthead wrote: »

Hi guys, first time poster to this forum but hoping you can help.

I've been lookin for a new laptop for a few weeks now and the macbook air or macbook pro have really caught my eye.

My question is in relation too software for the macs, this may have been asked before but bare with me.

I will be using it for work and will need to run 3 programmes namely microsoft word, microsoft excel and Autocad 2010. None of them particularly taxing on the machine (the autocad contains no rendering, just drainage, utility drawings etc). Can I use these programmes on the operating system that the macs come with or do I need to put windows on the mac. Also, do I need to get versions of the software that are specifically for mac.

Thanks for the help

Have you looked at http://www.openoffice.org/
Works with MS Office files and, er, it's free.

The Big Gig

Pages, numbers and keynote are great in the mac and avialable on mac app store.

Ricky91t

I'd second open office if money is tight, but if you can stretch to MS office it'd be worth it.

If you're a student you can probably get discounts on most of the software you require. After briefly looking at pages in the App Store it seems to compare to MS Word 2011.

Installing windows with bootcamp is great but battery life is noticeably shorter.

muff03

ye do know that AutoCad is free to students to download? Seriously. Just go to the autodesk site and use your college email address to sign up to a student account. I got it last week.

Also, Excel is much better than Numbers when it comes to the serious side of things like engineering

Johnmb

muff03 wrote: »

Also, Excel is much better than Numbers when it comes to the serious side of things like engineering

While that is true, OpenOffice.org is much better than Excel when it comes to the serious side of things. If you are doing something that requires a powerful spreadsheet application, Excel is not the way to go.