Switching over to a Mac???

[katenar]

Hi Everyone ~

I'm a 5th grade teacher and currently use a PC for everything related to my classroom. I'm considering buying a Mac Book but have some concerns. :err:

I currently have a classroom webpage in which I use FrontPage to design it. I love the ease of Frontpage and the versatility it allows me to make my own custom pages. Does Mac have any software that would give me the same freedom? I saw the demo for Iweb but wasn't impressed :no: - it seemed more for someone who wants to work off of templates - I need more than that.

What do you suggest? :???: Also, I have Microsoft Office software for the PC. Will I have to buy a special type of software to run that on the Mac? Or will my current software load onto the machine? How much do you think it would be to get up and running with the software I need (minus the price of the laptop)?

Thanks for your help - it's truly appreciated!! :)

[teedoff087]

Well, there is Dreamweaver for Mac. That should replace FrontPage on that aspect. As for Office, there is Office 2004 for Mac. And for the price: the Apple Store will give you a teacher discount on Office. I don't know about Dreamweaver (if they sell it). I can't really come up with an estimate.

[Mr. Me]

...

I currently have a classroom webpage in which I use FrontPage to design it. I love the ease of Frontpage and the versatility it allows me to make my own custom pages. Does Mac have any software that would give me the same freedom? ...You might consider Mozilla's opensource Nvu (http://www.nvu.com/index.php) which, unlike Front Page, produces standards-compliant web pages. It is also cross-platform which means that you can install it on all of your computers and edit your web pages using any of computer at your disposal.

[JupiterOne]

RapidWeaver (http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver)is another web site design tool. I've been happy with it. It is a bit more flexible than iWeb but still uses templates for ease of use. And the price is not bad...$39.95.

Also, the student/teacher price for Office 2004 (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/office2004/howtobuy/howtobuy.aspx?pid=howtobuy) is $149.00.

[Flounder]

Also, while it may not be relevant to you now, a new version of iWeb will come out eventually (no one really knows though when the next edition of iLife will come out. Maybe alongside Leopard in October, maybe not until next January?) and there is usually a pretty big leap in functionality between apple's version 1 and 2 of a product.

[Outsider]

There is an awesome web development environment called Coda (http://www.panic.com/coda/) made by Panic. I've been using it in place of Dreamweaver for 2 weeks and it's one of the best complete web design packages (FTP, HTML, CSS, PHP) for Mac or PC out there. It even has a built in terminal so you can run SQL queries from inside the app.

Also, MS Office 2004 (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/office2004/office2004.aspx?pid=office2004) is available for the Mac, and is pretty decent. There is also iWork (http://www.apple.com/iwork/), made by Apple, but it doesn't include a dedicated spreadsheet program. you can make some wonderful formulaic tables in Pages though.

[Go Banana]

What about Neo Ofice? Totally Free!

Also, if none of these sound appetizing, just run Windows on your Mac! BRILLIANT!

[Ireland]

There is an awesome web development environment called Coda (http://www.panic.com/coda/) made by Panic.
Agreed, if you want to get your hands dirty, but still want a clean app with ease of use, you'll have a tough time beating Coda, and it's pretty cheap too.

[MajorMatt]

I use Apple's Pages to do my lab reports. I'd never use Office, its too massive and clunky.

[abilstein]

Hello,

Your Microsoft Windows software will not run on your Mac. You will need to buy Mac versions. Office will cost you about $100 on eBay for the student/teacher edition, or $200 for the regular edition.

There is no Front Page for the Mac, so you'll need to use another application. There are many alternatives. Front Page is not generally considered a leading web design solution, so switching may turn out to be a good thing for you. However, it's always difficult to change to a new application, so bear that in mind. You can get web design software on the Mac for anywhere between Free and Dreamweaver ($400).

Another option is installing Windows on your Mac, then you can continue to use all of your existing software on the Windows side while you get your feet wet on the Mac side. In all honesty if you're on the fence, this is what I would do. If you decide that Mac OS isn't for you, you've still got a damn fine Windows laptop, so there's really no risk. :)