New to Apple, Need Applications suggestions

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After decades with Microsoft, I'm converting to Mac Pro. What applications would you to suggest for email, spreadsheets, and documents.
 
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First, what exact Mac model are you using?

Secondly, what exact Mac OS are you using?

Now, I assume you would be very familiar with the Office products Microsoft makes available. Myself, I have Office 2011 for my machines, and it works well for me. A number of folks on these forums stick mostly with Apple products, and in particular, Apple's Mail product and Safari. Myself, I really like Outlook as part of the Office package for my EMail needs (works very well), and I use Google Chrome as my browser. It is very, very fast, and definitely faster than either Safari or Firefox (I did use Firefox for a number of years, and never had any complaints with it, but Chrome is SO MUCH faster!).

I don't know when I'll upgrade to Office 2016, for as I stated above, Office 2011 is fine for my needs. Word and Excel work real well. One of the keys, though, is to keep your software up to date. The latest version of Office 2011 is 14.5.8. Additionally, one can more easily share Word and Excel documents between the Windows and Mac versions of Word and Excel. (I believe the same is true for Outlook and Powerpoint, although I've never had a need to do that).

How do plan on making backups? That is crucial, so that if a disaster happens you can recover quickly and smoothly. Do you have an external drive for your machine? That would be a wise investment.

In addition to backups, you need to adhere to a disk maintenance/cleanup/repair strategy. Apple's Disk Utility software is "OK" for that, but it would be wise to consider investing in a more robust disk maintenance/repair program. There is also some free disk cleanup software that would be a good companion to such a more robust program.

Finally, do you need a "finance" program? And, what about software for watching videos?
 
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Thank you very much for your reply. I'll be using (don't have it yet) Mac Pro, 8 cores with 256 GB SSD and 2 2 TB drives. OS is Yosemite because I want to keep a couple of pieces of software which will only work with that. Yes, I love Outlook and use it extensively (though Windows 10 crashed it and took my contacts still have them on my iPhone but can't get them to back with Win 10). I have a subscription to Office 360 but don't know if the Windows version will work with Yosemite. The refurbished Mac Pro I'm getting has several pieces of software on it but the names of the Mac software were not familiar to me so I won't know until it arrives (10 days or so). I know Firefox very well but understand it is not the best on Mac. Unfortunately when I once signed up for a Google product, I immediately got hundreds of spam emails so Chrome isn't something I want to try. I planned to do my backups on the second 2 TB drive, but it's not external. Yes, I'll need something for watching Videos but didn't think to ask. What disk management software do you recommend?
Oh, a recommendation for you. iCloud does not yet work for Office 2016--supposed to be out next month. No, don't think I need a finance program--the wife is my CFO, and she's happy with what she has right now.
Would appreciate any other suggestions you have. I'm going from a pretty sophisticated Windows user to an Apple neophyte.
 
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OK, thanks for some more clarification.

First, I believe there is an Office 365 (I assume that is what you meant, even though you typed Office 360) "version" for Macs (here is one available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Off...6969&sr=8-9&keywords=microsoft+office+for+mac). Again though, for me, Office 2011 is good enough. And, Outlook 2011 has never caused me any issues.

As for Google Chrome, I never got any spam EMails from them once I started using their browser. Maybe that is a "Windows" thing! I did, though, have one strange virus "issue" with Chrome a few months back, but only on one of my Macs. I did get it successfully resolved (thank god I use SuperDuper! for my backups! I'll get into that somewhat below).

Now, backing up to a 2 TB internal drive is just about as good as backing up to an external drive (as long as all the internal "connections" work!). Given that you'll have just about all your "stuff" on the 256 gig SSD (Yosemite, Applications, etc.), it depends on what "kind" of backup you want. Apple does supply the free Time Machine backup software as part of the OS, and you can easily schedule it to run as often as you want. But, it does not create a bootable backup, so quick and instant recovery is not going to be the case. You can eventually recover all the non-OS "stuff" from such a backup, but you would first need to re-install the OS. The other type of backup you can make is to use backup/cloning software like SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. Either of them makes an exact bootable backup/clone of everything on your 256 gig SSD (I assume that is what you primarily want to backup). So, if you have a bad "disaster", you can boot your Mac Pro from that bootable clone, erase, format, and if necessary, partition the 256 gig SSD, and then do a complete restore from the backup/clone. For either product, you can also have scheduled backups, just like Time Machine (I don't need to do that, as once a week backups are good enough for my purposes). SuperDuper! costs $27.95 (it's the one I use; here is the link to their site):

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html),

and Carbon Copy Cloner costs $39.99 (here is the link to their site):

https://bombich.com/

One advantage of Carbon Copy Cloner (if you need it) is that it also backs up/clones the invisible Recovery Partition that the Mac OS makes. For me, that is not a detriment (by using SuperDuper!), as I have two excellent disk maintenance/repair programs. Also, there are a couple of ways of re-creating that Recovery Partition. This link explains what is on the Recovery Partition, and how to boot to it (a slow process):

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

For disk maintenance/cleanup/repair software, the free program Onyx is excellent (although limited in what it can do)! I have been using it for so many years, and it has never failed me. Here is a link that discusses it (you'll need to insure that you get the correct version):

http://www.titanium.free.fr/

When you click on the Download button, the next page will contain the versions available. You'll of course want Version 3.0.1, as you are using Yosemite.

Onyx is primarily beneficial for 1) Repairing Permissions, and 2) cleaning out unneeded "crap". But, for actual disk maintenance/repair software, either TechTool Pro (https://www.micromat.com/products/techtool-pro) or Disk Warrior (http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/) are excellent! I have both, although an older version of Disk Warrior. I use TechTool Pro as part of my weekly cleanup/disk maintenance/repair (hardly ever need to do repairs) and backup processing for both of my Macs. Again, I have been using it for so many years. and it works great! It has so many useful features.

Just to let you know, here are the steps I go through every Saturday for both of my Macs:

1. Permanently get rid of Deleted EMails in Outlook (Microsoft provides a way to do that).

2. Run Onyx for Repairing Permissions and some disk cleanup.

3. Run Tech Tool Pro for more extensive disk cleanup/maintenance (and if ever necessary, repairs).

4. Run SuperDuper! to do two backups/clones for each of my machines to two separate external drives.

By doing all that, I rarely, if ever, have issues with my machines. (I am actually doing other chores while all that stuff is running, ie, I am "multi-tasking"). The neat thing about Tech Tool Pro is that it creates an eDrive on your internal disk (SSD in your case (I also have 256 SSDs in side both of my Macs)), and I can boot (re-start) my machines from that eDrive, so that the disk cleanup/maintenance is just like doing it externally, which is necessary for trying to do maintenance on the internal/boot drive. (I understand the new version of Disk Warrior has something similar, but with the SuperDuper! backup/clone, I have an external "way" of running Disk Warrior).

Finally, for watching movies/videos, there is the venerable free software VLC (Windows version also available). You can get it from here:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try and answer all your questions as completely as I can. One other thing: are you using the latest (and last) version of Yosemite, V 10.10.5? Let me know, as I can provide a link so that you can upgrade to it easily.
 
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Wow! Thanks so much for all the information, and DO NOT apologize for the long post--it's exactly the kind of information I need and want. It is a bit overwhelming right now, but that's to be expected for a new guy who doesn't even have his Mac yet and who has been welded to Microsoft for many decades. I know that, for starters, it will take me quite a while just to navigate in a Mac environment and get my mindset changed. I'll be sure to save this post and the link to it in a couple of places for reference. I probably won't get the OS on disk with this refurbished system, so it'll be important to get it backed up and upgraded very quickly. Your suggestions on Disc Cleanup and backup to bootable are extremely important and will be part of my very early work with my Mac!

You've answered all of the questions I can think of right now, so I probably won't post more for a while as I wait for my system to arrive.

Oh, yes the product I was talking about is Office 365, which is a subscription service that allows me to put Office on several devices for one price. I use Outlook, Excel, and Word fairly extensively, but not PowerPoint now that I no longer need to make presentations.

If you have any later "I meant to mention" things, I'll appreciate them, too

You have no idea how much I appreciate all the time you've spent answering my questions. They've of immeasurable help to me!
 
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Wow! Thanks so much for all the information, and DO NOT apologize for the long post--it's exactly the kind of information I need and want. It is a bit overwhelming right now, but that's to be expected for a new guy who doesn't even have his Mac yet and who has been welded to Microsoft for many decades. I know that, for starters, it will take me quite a while just to navigate in a Mac environment and get my mindset changed. I'll be sure to save this post and the link to it in a couple of places for reference. I probably won't get the OS on disk with this refurbished system, so it'll be important to get it backed up and upgraded very quickly. Your suggestions on Disc Cleanup and backup to bootable are extremely important and will be part of my very early work with my Mac!

You've answered all of the questions I can think of right now, so I probably won't post more for a while as I wait for my system to arrive.

Oh, yes the product I was talking about is Office 365, which is a subscription service that allows me to put Office on several devices for one price. I use Outlook, Excel, and Word fairly extensively, but not PowerPoint now that I no longer need to make presentations.

If you have any later "I meant to mention" things, I'll appreciate them, too

You have no idea how much I appreciate all the time you've spent answering my questions. They've of immeasurable help to me!
 
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Glad I am able to provide assistance, Montana Bill. Too bad we are not closer. I am located just south of Seattle, WA.

I did forget to mention a couple of things, along with asking you a couple of more questions. The last Mac OS that came on a DVD was Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.8. Since then, all the others (Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan) have been "delivered" as a file, and each such upgrade is/was free. Each original/full "OS" file is only available from the Apple Store. Whenever Apple puts out an upgrade to a current OS (not a brand new one), there are 3 ways to upgrade:

1. Download the full new OS version form the Apple store, and apply it.

2. Download the incremental updater file from an Apple Site, and install it.

3. Download the Combo Updater file from an Apple site, and install it (the Combo updater is not available whenever there is a "first" update to an OS). So, when Apple recently released OS 10.11.1, only 1 and 2 above were applicable). As an example for me, there is currently a beta version of the next El Capitan update, OS 10.11.2, in testing. Once it is released to the public, I will download the Combo Updater for OS 10.11.2 and apply it. So, if you have anything less than OS 10.10.5, I will be able to point you to the Apple site where you can download the OS 10.10.5 Combo Updater file.

Because of the lack of a DVD, it is critical to have another copy of the "Install OS X (Name of OS)" file in another location. In your case, that file would be called "Install OS X Yosemite". Typically, it resides in the Applications folder, and when it is "launched" and applied, the file goes away. If you needed it again, it would be necessary to re-download it from the Apple Store. So, it's wise to have another copy in another location. (The updater files I mentioned in 2 and 3 above do not go away after applying either of them).

Now, you previously mentioned that the reason you are sticking with Yosemite is because there are a couple of pieces of software which will only work with Yosemite. Could you let us know what those are? Also, have you had the chance to see whether or not there are any upgrades for any of that software that would be compatible with El Capitan?

Finally (at least for now!), it's wonderful that you will have two 2 TB drives, and convenient that they are internal devices. But, do you need both of them to be internal devices? If you are handy with tools (mainly screwdrivers), you could remove one of the 2 TB drives, purchase an external case (they are not expensive, although the prices do vary depending on the connection interface), and install the 1 TB inside such an external case. The only reason for the suggestion is that in case an internal connection becomes "flaky", you will have an external device available.

Also, will you be utilizing all that space for files, folders, projects, etc.? It might be wise to make two backups of the stuff on your 256 gig SSD, one to each of those drives. You can partition each drive to have one of the partitions for the backup. Given that you'll be backing up, at the most, 256 gig of stuff, the size of each such partition could be 275 gig.

There are some more third party applications that could be useful, but as you said, it is best to wait until you receive the machine.

Finally, and I should have done this yesterday, congratulations on your purchase! I'm sure you'll get a number of useful years out of your MacPro.
 
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Montana,

Welcome to the world of Mac. You're going to like it here. At first it will take you a while to get used to the different way things are done, but it won't belong before you realize that they're not just different, they're better, more fun, more graphic, more spirited, more imaginative, and higher quality than you might have expected.

Stick around the various forums, too. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from other people's problems and solutions. You're now part of a Mac family of great people who are willing to help you.

Enjoy!
 
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I want to echo what BudVitoff wrote above. Macs are fantastic machines to enjoy and use, but it does take some effort and commitment to keep them as "mean and clean" as possible.

Also, like he said, you can learn quite a lot by reading about other people's issues and solutions (or maybe no solution!). There are quite a few folks on these forums that are quite knowledgeable and are more than willing to help.

Welcome!
 

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