[brandnewapple]

I just bought my first MacBook with Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and I want to run Windows XP as well. I still have my disks from when I set it up on my PC but am wondering if I should buy Parallels or if using Boot Camp will be enough. Also I bought the MS Office for Mac suite and am praying it wont cause any issues as I am in the middle of writing my Masters thesis. As a first time Mac user I have tons of questions so please bear with me, I will limit them now and probably revisit this site every four minutes with new issues:

Can I transfer my documents/music and photos to my Mac from my ThinkPad by burning data disks and loading them onto the MacBook? I have about 20 GB to transfer over.

Can I still do all the same things with MSN Messenger like sending and receiving files with my existing contacts?

Can I download Internet Explorer without screwing anything up?

And, could this laptop be ANY nicer looking??

 

[ghall89]

I just bought my first MacBook with Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and I want to run Windows XP as well. I still have my disks from when I set it up on my PC but am wondering if I should buy Parallels or if using Boot Camp will be enough. Also I bought the MS Office for Mac suite and am praying it wont cause any issues as I am in the middle of writing my Masters thesis. As a first time Mac user I have tons of questions so please bear with me, I will limit them now and probably revisit this site every four minutes with new issues:

Can I transfer my documents/music and photos to my Mac from my ThinkPad by burning data disks and loading them onto the MacBook? I have about 20 GB to transfer over.

Can I still do all the same things with MSN Messenger like sending and receiving files with my existing contacts?

Can I download Internet Explorer without screwing anything up?

And, could this laptop be ANY nicer looking??

Question 1: Yes.

Question 2: Yes.

Question 3: There is no version of Internet Explorer for Mac. Firefox is a nice browser, or you can use Safari, which is packaged with Mac OS X.

Question 4: No.

 

[VegasACF]

Amended answers (not to cast a disfavorable light on the answers above, but to flesh them out more completely):

Question 1: Yes.

Yes, but why would you? Why not set up a small network or, if your old computer has a FireWire port start up your new Mac in target mode (by holding down the T key while starting up) and just dragging/dropping the files onto the drive that way? It's going to be far faster than burning all those discs. The only upside I can see to the way you suggest is that you'll simultaneously be creating backups of the files. But one could say the same thing of leaving the files on your old computer while making copies of them on your new one.

Question 2: Yes.

So long as the contacts are kept remotely (as they are with AIM), you can do this with no trouble whatsoever. If the contacts are maintained on the individual machine then you'll have to go in and create them again on your Mac. I've not used MSN, so I don't know which is the case. Either way, you'll be able to do it. The difference is the amount of work it will take to get it set up.

Question 3: There is no version of Internet Explorer for Mac. Firefox is a nice browser, or you can use Safari, which is packaged with Mac OS X.

There is no version of Internet Explorer for Intel Macs running Mac OS X. In fact, IE was once automatically installed on the drive by Apple's Mac OS installer, but Microsoft decided to discontinue development of the software a few years ago. In addition to Firefox and Safari (my two preferred browsers) you can also get Opera and Camino. Firefox is probably the best, and most compatible, of the options, and offers a slew of user-installable add-ons that change the looks and functionality of the software (AdBlock being one of the finest things ever coded, in my humble opinion). But Safari works well with most sites. Opera seems a bit slow to me. Camino seems to be similar to, but perhaps a bit speedier than, Safari.

Question 4: No.

I concur wholeheartedly.

As for your question about Parallels or Boot Camp there are some things to consider. Boot Camp is free (and will, before long, be built into the Mac OS [or at least distributed with it]). Parallels is not. Boot Camp requires restarting to use Win XP. Parallels does not. Boot Camp allows for full use of the graphics card in your machine (read: games). Parallels does not.

Unless rebooting is a deal killer for you, I'd go with Boot Camp. Bear in mind the reboot process is quite quick on these machines.

 

[shyataroo]

The laptop could look nicer, if it was made out of titanium again

 

[davidanders]

Google "switch to Mac"
http://www.google.com/search?q=swit...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

Number TWO on search
How to Switch to the Mac
http://the.taoofmac.com/space/HOWTO/Switch To The Mac

 

[MSM Hobbes]

Congrats on the MacBook :up: Only main complaint/suggestion that I wish was slightly different/better would be to make the corner where my wrists rest [shut-up, I'm lazy at times and rest them not too properly at times ] more rounded, so as not to be so durn sharp.

Curious, if you just got your MB, guess it was not new since you state its a CD chip? Either way, these are very fine machines.