wayne77590 Report post Posted July 14, 2018 Check into Affinity Photo. I believe it is for both platforms. Great tool and as far as I'm concerned takes the place of the more expensive "Photo Shop." Depending on your needs, Open Office will do most of what the Microsoft Office does and it is free. PDF Expert works very well without having to invest in Adobe. I agree that there are some requirements that operate only on specific platforms but those are becoming less and less frequent, especially for the common user interfaces. Some software is designed for only one platform and possibly in later evolution of the software it is upgraded to both platforms. There is usually a less costly alternative but it may not be as full a version. One has to decide if it is sufficient or not. Don't take my previous post as a gospel for buying any one platform. A person has to decide what they want to do and how much tinkering they want to do. At the time, in 1985, my students would ask the question I knew would come. "What is the better platform to buy?" I would ask what there intentions were in having a computer. If it was for word processing, spreadsheets, and other clerical tasks the answer would be a PC (as know then as a Microsoft platform.) If the answer was Graffias or auto-cad programs the answer would be Apple. Today both platforms can run either programs. For example, MIcrosoft Office can be run on either platform if one wants to pay the premium price for the software. Open Office is a free program that runs on either platform, and opens files from either platform of from Microsoft Office. It will also save in MO format It is definitely a learning curve for transition to either platform but the MAC GUI seems to be more stable, meaning it doesn't change as much as Windows. It really comes down to what one is comfortable with. Some users are just against change because it is change. That applies to either operating system software updates also. Apples IOS updates for the last 10 years has been free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted July 15, 2018 Mac uses a Unix kernel for it's OS, still the most stable OS ever written. I am AIX certified, IBM unix based OS, I still prefer command line, but of course can use XWindows, that's IBM's version of a GUI interface, I much prefer it over Windows, but have had to adapt to MS because most government entities have decided to all go that way, I think that they all want to keep Bill Gates filthy rich. Oh, forgot to mention that I have run unix boxes as much as five years without even a single reboot, MS OS has to reboot every time someone sneezes at MS HQ. LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richard5933 Report post Posted July 15, 2018 I tried to go with open-source software for a while. Open Office was generally okay for my needs, but then I started to run into problems when Microsoft updated Word and Open Office wasn't able to open the new file format. Some of the other software I use has modules to automatically synchronize with Microsoft products as well, and they didn't play well with Open Office. Corel is necessary for us because our LASER engraver is very quirky - it won't recognize a cut commend unless Corel is used. Tried a number of open-source alternatives but just couldn't get things to work right. I tend to be the outlier in many areas of life - my bus for example. Software is just not something that I have the patience to deal with so I have accepted the fact that I'll have to pay for it and use the commonly-accepted software packages. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted July 15, 2018 Kay, I think they, the Govt., looks at the cost. A Windows desktop for the average worker can be les that $500 and an Apple computer over $1000. The math says it is cheaper to go Windows platforms. Richard, I really understand that the different platforms have to be used to meet specific software requirements. In 2015 CorelDraw worked with Parallels Desktop on a MAC running Windows software. I don't know if that would hold true today with upgrades but I'd be on the wager side it does. One of the other items of the PC World I didn't like was the proprietary software installed by the PC Manufacturer. I had a Hewlett Packard PC and it eventually started bogging down. Took some research and removal of their software to get to run faster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richard5933 Report post Posted July 15, 2018 With Windows PC machines it's always possible to do a total reinstall from a blank formatted hard drive. Then you have a bone stock system, no matter the manufacturer of the PC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted July 16, 2018 Yes and MAC has the same feature - built in. Hold a key combination and restart the machine, push the suggested buttons and it is back to factory specs. They both have their niceties. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted July 16, 2018 Govt look a cost? That's a new twist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted July 16, 2018 Depends on who the manager is. In IT Security we had a frugal one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
