I've just inherited my boyfriend's Macbook after he got a new one, and I'm just wondering how other copywriters find the transition from one laptop to another when working. Does it slow down your turnover rate significantly? It seems like there's a lot of shortcuts to be learnt with a Mac, and when you've got the hang of them work goes lightening fast (flicking between the word processor and the browser with your research for example). Also, are there any particularly good Mac based programs that you rely on for writing? Care to share your tricks of the trade with a complete Apple n00b?
I didn't make the Apple jump because of this reason: Learn a new Platform. Also, the Apple platform is closed. It's another reason why not to chose a Mac. Anyway, is the use of the verb "inherit" correct here? I thought it's only used when the person you inherit from is dead.
Lucy: How about a free one? I use a a great Free program with 5 times the features of word, it is free and constantly updated. I checked it is available for MAC and Free (actually a whole office suite) go to openoffice dot org Also anybody using wordprocessing should check this program out, no learning curve. That will cost you a coffee
Omarabid: you 'inherit' your hair and eye colour from your parents as soon as you are born, but they're not dead. I think the word is mostly used in the sense that you inherit something from the deceased, but not always. Dyadvisor: I'm afraid I've been using OpenOffice for over a year on my old Dell! I agree it is very good, but now I'm on the Mac I'm using 'Bean'. It's got some great little features like the word count at the bottom of the screen, and allowing you to change font size using the + and - buttons. Little things like that make a word processor worth it to me. It's taking a while to get my writing speed up, but I'm having fun in the process!
I am sure you probably already know, but for anyone else who wanders in: these two sites give excellent reviews of anything new or old Honest, and show user ratings, freeware and shareware cnet and zdnet both .com
Hi, I've used a Mac for at least 5 years and wouldn't ever go back to Windows. The biggest software investment I suggest is to get MS Office for Mac; this lets you use Word and Excel just like everyone else. And the latest version goes for about $150 or so - well worth the investment. This lets me do very professional looking documents and deliver them to my clients as .doc or .pdf or .rtf - I love having that freedom to accommodate others! No way would I ever go back. If you go on Amazon, they have some really good basic books to get you up to speed on Mac. Or I'll be happy to help as best I can. Dot
Yeah Open Office is free, but what are the "5 times the features of word"? Actually I have both on my computer and I use only MS Office. @lucy Office exist for Mac also. You can get it, if you are already accustomed to it. Try Open Office; though I don't think you'll really like it.
I've been using Open Office for a year, and MS Word '07 before that so I'm familiar with both. I prefer MS Office but would never go back to a PC just for that. Bean provides the perfect middle-ground, so I'm happy
Omarabid: You bring up a good point. Different people use different programs, all for a reason. I remember when software cost $800.00, for what today might be $20.00. I want members to know that there are programs, like OpenOffice that are high caliber and free.Plus to pay special attention to whose developed by programming wizards that collectively donated their time. Their mission was to provide an alternative high quality choice, for free. It you use WordPress that is probably the best example. Strokes have effected by keyboard quickness. Personally it is difficult to jump back and forth to complete a document, but I want the features I select all on one heading. Lucy enjoys the easy font size change feature on her new program. Definitely a plus. Go to Google, type in this: Open Source programs, and stop. Look below it for your system. There is an abundance of programs from fair to genius, for FREE. Programs comparible to Adobe, Photoshop, etc. I like to see others not waste money. Since OpenOffice is a constantly improving suite it is an alternative to what be already installed. Personally, I love Firefox as a browser, and strong dislike the others. Hopefully that was five. The purpose of a Forum is to provide alternatives, not to force anyone to use them. Maybe every user but one, already knew all the above. Then I helped that one person without money to try something Free, otherwise use what you have, or spend your money. Sorry if that suggestion ruffled your feathers, it was not meant to.
@dyadvisor Sure your comment helps; but I disagree with Open Source software being the right choice, at least for me. As some one who tried Ubuntu for few hours (after reading 100+ positive review about it), I was really dissatisfied with the experience in its whole. My frustrations begin with the notification system which didn't stopped from notifying me that the network card is unplugged; but shall I really plug it to make the OS running? No! The OS has many features, but they were all clue less for me. Windows is a solid OS, not because it has 90% market share, but because it runs solid applications, games and run well my devices. I have both of the software installed, my LG come pre-installed with both of them; I tried Open Office because I would like to use a free alternative; but I wasn't satisfied again. It's not as easy and smart as Office, though you can write documents with it. I don't see the 5 times more features (are you talking about the crappy macros?; no thanks I'm happy with the simple and easy macro implementation in Office). As a developer and writer in the same time; a free software doesn't make much sens for me. I won't be working for free and dedicate time for nothing in return. Open Office is supported by Sun, which will help them get more users to install their platform. Another question : Are you ready to spend all your time writing for wikipedia for free? No, but you'll just put an article or two every year. That being said, Wikipedia is a good source, but not a trusted one and you can't trust it to find information you need and also for the accuracy of that information.
i religiously stick with pc, as i don't have the patience to get to know a mac - i did find the switch from xp to vista a little confusing, but now i'm famililar i much prefer, there should always be improvements with upgrades that will hopfeully save you time in the long run.
Sorry when you said 'Office' I thought you were talking bout OpenOffice...confusing! Free software is a big bonus for me. If there's free stuff out there that works fine then I'm certainly not going to shell out $300-$400 dollars for MSOffice (or however much it costs) just because it has one or two features I like. The main reason for that is because there's always a free alternative that has them too: Bean! I used Ubuntu for a year (my boyfriend installed it for me after Windows broke and my laptop wouldn't work with any other OS). I had a few problems with it when I fiddled around because I'm no linux expert and didn't know what I was doing, but I'm glad I did it to open my options up to different software like OpenOffice. For me it's not to do with whether software is open source, it's to do with weighing up cost with the benefits it gives to my writing (one good example of this is QuickSilver on the mac: press ctrl+space and start typing any file name or program and it finds it immediately...saves tons of time, especially for me when I've got a lot of .docs saved). RedRum: I'm surprised at how quickly I've adapted to the mac, but then I might have had practice when I switched from Windows to Ubuntu last year. That transition was very smooth and as a complete tech novice I'd say it's the middle ground between Windows and Mac, providing you don't go trying to fix what's not broken...Linux terminal is scary place!
@lucy It's an investment. You don't pay $300 every month; you just pay it once. Between Office 2007 and 2010 3 years; so it's like $100/year and $8 a month (2 cup of coffee). If MS Office is leaner than Open Office (which is the case for me), so this long term investment is actually worth it. I'm not a full time writer; but when deciding about the tools I use, I choose carefully. I'm going to work out things with them and tools' productivity may not be apparent in the first days, but in the long run. If your daily average is $30 and MS Office boost your work by 2%, so that's $0.3. Not much for a $300 product, but in 3 years it becomes $657. So it's worth it. You have got free 30 days trials, you can try and see the one most suitable for you
Talking about features, I prefer to use the simplest tools needed to get the job done. So I mostly use notepad unless hard pressed. Sometimes, less is more.
Notepad is way too simple and featureless. I mean you'll need a spell checker to quickly correct your words and also alignments of paragraphs or lists...
Outside of software, the best improvement you can make as a writer is to add another monitor. Having dual or even triple monitors lets you work more quickly without needing to flip between screens for research, fact-checking or the like. Especially with a laptop that has such a small screen in most cases, I'd encourage everyone to invest in another monitor - you'll notice a huge increase in productivity.
Dual monitors? For programmers, okay but for writers I don't think it's right! You are going to write, so concentrate on what you are doing. Do the research first and then write.
Omar, I agree. But you are playing with a hot Texas potato. In a lot of countries $500.00 to $1,000 is the total yearly income according to statistics. A quality writer does the best job for the client, which is not always the easiest for the writer. I was able to get a wide 28" monitor, to help me read what I had typed. Then i can use a free program that not only corrects spelling, but checks grammatical errors. One would be Microsoft, some are worse, and some are better. However any monitor, and a determined brain, beats 2, 3, or 4 monitors hooked up. Save your hard earned money, as after 2 years so many computer products have advanced 10 years. If there is research involved, reading it first, and then zapping it off, make sense. It makes your mind think, which is free. A mind free of distractions will tend to project thoughts faster than the hands. Spelling is easy to correct later. Getting concentrate again is not. The best second monitor? Simply pause a moment and visualize how you are going to express what you have researched to the reader of your materials.
I'm reasonably sure we must be talking about different forms of written materials and research. Just offering a suggestion for productivity backed up with statistics and experience. If it works for you, great - it's worth trying if you can pick up a cheap extra monitor at a pawn or consignment shop somewhere. http://www.ergotron.com/Portals/0/literature/whitePapers/english/Multi-Mon-Report.pdf Productivity and Multi-Screen Displays Executive Summary One hundred eight university and non university personnel participated in a comparison of single monitor, multi-monitor, and multi-monitor with Hydravision display configurations. Respondents edited slide shows, spreadsheets, and text documents in a simulation of office work, using each of the display arrays. Performance measures, including task time, editing time, number of edits completed, and number of errors made as well as usability measures evaluating effectiveness, comfort, learning ease, time to productivity, quickness of recovery from mistakes, ease of task tracking, ability to maintain task focus, and ease of movement among sources were combined into an overall evaluation of productivity. Multi-screens scored significantly higher on every measure.