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When it comes to the Mac, most people know very little about it despite popularity of the iPod and the fact that the Apple brand is one of the most recognized in the world. Most personal computers use the Microsoft Windows operating system, and people tend to just automatically buy them because "that's what everybody is using." I feel sorry for those people.

Most of them never give a thought to a Mac because of some unfortunate misconceptions: "There aren't any programs available for the Mac." There are thousands. And just how many word processors and spreadsheets do you need? "I use PCs at work. A Mac can't read the disks and files I'd bring home." That's just rubbish. Ever since 1989 Macs have had the ability to read and write PC disks. A PC can't read a Mac disk without installing a $50 piece of software, and even then some sizes of Mac floppies (if you still have some of those ancient things) can't be read because the hardware simply can't do it."PCs & Macs can't be networked together." I have a home made PC and a PowerBook G4, and I fileshare between them all the time. If you need to connect remotely to the office with VPN, it's built right in to Mac OS X. Both my PC and PowerBook share a WiFi internet connection provided by my AirPort Base Station. In fact, I frequently remotely control my PC with my PowerBook using Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection for Mac.

Many programs are available for both Macs and PCs, most notably Microsoft Office (Microsoft Excel was developed for the Mac before it was for the PC!), and MacLinkPlus Deluxe Translators from DataViz allows you to open and save documents in dozens of PC and Mac formats. If you absolutely must run the occasional PC program, Virtual PC from Microsoft allows you to do just that on your Mac. If you are using a Mac with an Intel processor, you can use Parallels Desktop to run Windows at native speeds.

The best resource for switching from a PC to a Mac is Apple's Get a Mac web site. Here you will find the top 14 reasons to consider a Mac and answers to many questions.

Here are some other reasons you should consider a Mac instead of a PC:

• With a PC, there are hidden costs that a Mac simply doesn't have. Several studies done by the Gartner Group have shown that support costs for Macintosh networks were at least 25% less than those for Windows networks. Click the link to do a search on Mac related studies done by the Gartner Group and see for yourself.

• Over 180,000! That's how many Windows viruses there are according to security software maker McAfee. I thought it was less than a 1/5 of that. How many are there for Mac OS X? ZERO! With that many PC threats, why on earth would you use a PC and not a Mac?

• All of Microsoft's packaging, for Mac and PC software, is designed on Macs and Mr. Bill Gates himself has frequently sang the praises of the Mac.

A web site that is full of a rather imposing amount of Mac vs. PC information is macvspc.info. It contains more comparisons & myth busting info than I've seen on any other web site. Give it a look.