It is easy to switch from a PC to a Mac as files made on Windows can now be opened on Apple MacBook

About four years ago a gentleman came to see me in my office. He was carrying a white rectangular object carefully wrapped in a cloth jacket. He removed the cover and out came an ivory white Apple MacBook. Once he put it on, I was mesmerised.

This laptop had a completely different look on the screen and the ease of use of each and every application from word processing to making movies to storing and uploading pictures got me hooked. I wanted one immediately. I had never seen any version of Windows operate so smoothly as did the MacBook’s then operating system, OS X Tiger.

I was in a Catch 22 situation. On the one hand I wanted it, but when I heard the cost my face fell. It cost nearly a lakh. That was four years ago. The MacBook has improved tremendously since then and the price has fallen drastically.

Now Apple is offering the White MacBook at a massive discount to college students and teachers. It has extended the discount to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and even the Mac mini and Mac mini with Snow Leopard server.

You can save anything between Rs 7,310 for the White MacBook and Rs Rs 16,430 for the 17-inch MacBook Pro. So what do you need to qualify for this massive discount?

• College students need a student ID card, a marksheet of the previous year and a receipt of college fees.

• Those who are about to join college need an admission letter for the session 2010-2011 and a receipt of the admission fees paid.

• Teachers will require a copy of an identification card from the college along with a letter from the institution.

So why are Apple computers so good for education and not Windows? The answer lies in the software they provide with their latest operating system, Snow Leopard. Not only that, the operating system works seamlessly with the hardware. Therein lies the fault with most Windows PCs. The hardware from different companies rarely works perfectly with the operating system. Even though Windows 7 is a good operating system, the hardware fails quite often.

Lately, as each company brings out new products to compete with each other, Apple’s piece of the pie has grown more and more, making it the top tech company ahead of Microsoft. Why are Macs winning the war even though there are more than a billion Windows users?

First, most students prefer a Mac because they can sync it easily with another Apple device like an iPad, iPhone or iPod, which most of them have anyway. Students find it cool. With its sleek and elegant design, you feel very comfortable and at ease when using a MacBook, very much like when driving an expensive car. You’re not worried about something going wrong. Seldom anything goes wrong with a Mac.

You can run Windows on it. In the past, it had been very hard convincing existing Windows users to switch from a PC to a Mac because they were so attached to the Windows. Also, files made on Windows would not open on a Mac and vice versa. Now all that has changed.

Most viruses, trojans, and malware only affect Windows-run PC’s for a very simple reason: over 95 per cent of the users have these PC’s, and programmers do not bother developing a virus that’s only going to affect a few. By purchasing a MacBook, users can feel much safer.

Every Mac comes loaded with iLife, a creative set of tools made by Apple. You can work wonders with your photos and music; and even add a new dimension to your coursework with movies and podcasts.

You can use Microsoft Office on your MacBook and share the documents with Windows users. In fact, all type of files can be shared between a Mac and and a PC which makes collaboration with others easy.

The MacBook comes with wireless technology designed to connect to any Wi-Fi network so that you can get on to the Internet easily or even share files with others. With the built in iSight camera and iChat you can keep in touch with your family anytime you want to. All you have to do is start a video chat session.

Students and teachers, I suggest you rush to the Imagine outlet at the City Centre at New Town or to the one at Salt Lake. The offer is valid till September 25.

App corner

For the latest apps for youriPad, iPhone or iPod touch visit www.telegraph india. com/bitsandbytes/appcorner

Send your computer-related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com.The solutions will appear soon.

---

var addthis_pub='saugata.roy';