[Leica] Migrating to Mac

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Tina,
Welcome to the family of enlightened computer users. I used PCs at work for
years but Macs at home since 1984. Over the years PCs have become more Mac
like, first with Mac OS inspired Windows (Yes, I know all about Xerox PARC)
and now with Windows 7, an OS X clone. As for your specific question, don't
bother with a laptop if you intend to keep the computer deskbound. Get a 24"
or larger iMac. It comes with iLife, a large suite of software for photos,
DVD movies, and music. There are a number of free or shareware Office clones
and image manipulation programs available on the internet. Supplement your
purchase with a large capacity disc drive. But if you need a laptop for
travel, the 13" MacBook is a very capable traveling companion. Both the iMac
and the MacBook will run the same software, a real convenience for editing
and exchanging files. Also you only make one software purchase instead of
two. Just a hint -  if you have a student, a teacher, or anyone connected
with education in the family, you can buy the Mac, whichever model you
choose, through Mac's Education store and save $100 or so on each purchase.
Even cheaper, buy a refurbished Mac at the Apple store. Most of these
computers are not really used but are last year's models. Except for a
couple of bells and whistles they are almost identical to the current
models.
Larry Z