Enterprise Nation

If you're thinking about switching from PCs to Macs in your home office but are worried about compatibility issues here are three tips to allay your fears, as well as access to a free online seminar.

We've quite a few Mac users here at Enterprise Nation and we've heard from others who are thinking about making the switch from PCs to Macs in their home office. In fact, just yesterday, when I was working from my third place - in Starbucks - a stranger asked me a bunch of questions about the process of switching and some of the applications I use in my home business. So, to answers hers, and perhaps even your own questions, I thought I'd write an article on the subject.

The first piece of advice I'd give a switcher would be to avoid treating your new Mac like a PC. They don't just look different, they behave differently too. But once I got comfortable with my MacBook Pro I wondered how I coped without it.

Probably the first concern for most home business switchers is the issue of e-mail. Most will be used to using Outlook on a PC and most, like myself, will find using a Mac's built-in applications - Mail, iCal and Address Book - suitable replacements, if not superior alternatives.

Secondly, and this was the question Starbucks stranger asked me yesterday, is about Microsoft Word. After e-mail it's probably the most commonly used applications for home business owners. Many switchers worry that sending and receiving Word documents to and from clients will result in some sort of formatting nightmare. But if you can fork out for a copy of Apple's excellent iWork suite of applications (word processor, spreadsheet and presentation applications), you'll be making sweet, sweet documents in no time. Another solution is NeoOffice, which is a free and competent alternative to Microsoft Office.

Thirdly, what if you need to work with an application that's only available for Windows? Well then, now's really the best time to switch. Did you know that you can run both Windows and Mac OS X on a Mac (you can't vice versa). So, for example, if you want to test your website on Internet Explorer, which is not available for the Mac, you can just reboot into Windows Vista and take a quick look. And with third-party software, like Parallels Desktop, you can run Windows applications right on your Mac OS X desktop.

For more information on switching from PCs to Macs in your home business you can log onto the Apple website and register for a free online business seminar.

• New to the Mac for business users - [Apple - Seminars & Events]

Photo credit: Flickr user wrumsby.

San Sharma is a creative thinker, blogger and designer, as well as a writer on popular culture, technology and business.

• www.sansharma.com