Apples are compatible??

I was in the Huntington mall today shopping for some new summer threads and took a little detour into the Apple Store - which happens just about every time I'm in the mall. My girlfriend was commenting that her five year old Dell laptop just isn't cutting it anymore and she plans on getting a new laptop for finishing grad school. As happy iPod owners, the computers in the store have always appealed to us but I have always been skeptical of compatibility with Microsoft Windows.

We were lucky enough to be greeted by Steve, an Apple Store technician who really new his stuff. He cleared up my concerns about Apple computers and their compatibility relating to file and print sharing on a Windows network. He explained that Apple is aware of Microsoft's presence (how could you not be) and that their new operating system, Tiger, allows Apple users to easily share and print files on a Windows network. He also cleared up any questions we had about wireless connectivity, instant messaging, email, and MS Office documents.

Basically, if you were holding off on purchasing an iBook, PowerBook, iMac, or Power Mac because you thought it would cause compatibility issues, you don't have to wait anymore. Anything Internet related will be compatible. Anything Microsoft Office related (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint) could be resolved by purchasing Office for Mac. All Apple laptops come with built in wireless chips that can connect to any router. The PowerBooks are even BlueTooth compatible so users can sync with phones and PDA's.

By the time we were done speaking with "The Apple Genius" the PowerBook G4 was instantly bumped to the top of both our wish lists.

Oh yea! If you are a college or grad student Apple will give you a discount - just bring your School ID and driver's license.