Mac Advice

[Rick N. Backer]

I had to give my daughter the Dell laptop I've been using for a few years to use for school last year. I've been doing Zoom meetings on my iPad for the last few months because my work desktop doesn't have a camera. So I decided to buy something I've been intrigued by for a while, a MacBook Air. I've never owned a Mac computer before. It's seems pretty good. However, I can't get my Outlook calendar to sync with it. I got the mail set up, and some things I've read on line seem to suggest it can't be done, which doesn't sound right. I'm sure it's me. Any thoughts about why this is, or what I need to change about my settings somewhere? I subscribe to Office 365. The calendar syncs fine with my iPhone 8 and my iPad, which is a couple years old.

[RushFanForever]

Does this help?

 

Add Office 365 Account to Mac Calendar

[Rick N. Backer]

Does this help?

 

Add Office 365 Account to Mac Calendar

 

Thanks RFF. I'll give it a whirl. :cheers:

[Tony R]

I got it working on my MacBook Pro. Eventually.

[Fordgalaxy]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

[Tony R]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Microsoft Outlook...

[Fordgalaxy]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Microsoft Outlook...

 

I know, I just don't get why the average person would spend a lot more money on a Mac when they can get similar specs for a lot less or much better specs for the same price. The reliability edge is basically gone too unless you go Acer or the low end of HP.

[invisible airwave]

I just got one with my COVID unemployment money. Got $9,000 in August since being locked down in March so I had a plenty of money. My iPad was paid off months before anyways. Sold that a month ago and got 130 Apple bucks from it since it was in good condition and spent that on air pods. Phone is paid off, too.

 

Now that Vudu doesn't do disc to digital anymore, I'm getting back into DVD with Redbox rentals and got a DVD drive for my Macbook. Can't wait to try it out on the F13 blu ray collection from Scream Factory that's coming in the mail on Thursday. I used to own From Crystal Lake To Manhattan from Paramount a decade ago.

Edited October 11, 2020 by invisible airwave

[Rick N. Backer]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Microsoft Outlook...

 

I know, I just don't get why the average person would spend a lot more money on a Mac when they can get similar specs for a lot less or much better specs for the same price. The reliability edge is basically gone too unless you go Acer or the low end of HP.

 

Because a couple months after the purchase, I can tell you the Mac blows doors on any desktop or PC laptop I own. The compatibility with things like PowerPoint I have to figure out, but performance-wise it's not close.

[Tony R]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Microsoft Outlook...

 

I know, I just don't get why the average person would spend a lot more money on a Mac when they can get similar specs for a lot less or much better specs for the same price. The reliability edge is basically gone too unless you go Acer or the low end of HP.

 

Because a couple months after the purchase, I can tell you the Mac blows doors on any desktop or PC laptop I own. The compatibility with things like PowerPoint I have to figure out, but performance-wise it's not close.

When you say “compatibility with things like PowerPoint” what exactly do you mean? Office 365 should sync across all platforms. I have a MacBook Pro and iPhone, iPad and a Windows laptop but have no issues.

What I do have issues with is syncing with my work 365 account but that’s because work admin have added security features to stop sensitive material from being shared.

[Tony R]

1602439357[/url]' post='4841724']

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Windows is a joke. It’s like you are fighting against the operating system and some sad f***ing Microsoft tech developer who is deliberately making everything counter-intuitive. I’ve been using Microsoft Windows for decades but once I bought a Mac there was no going back. My MacBook Pro is 6 years old now but does not feel it performance wise.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Tony R

[Rick N. Backer]

I've never had a problem doing that on a similarly powered but much less expensive Windows based product. Hmmm

Microsoft Outlook...

 

I know, I just don't get why the average person would spend a lot more money on a Mac when they can get similar specs for a lot less or much better specs for the same price. The reliability edge is basically gone too unless you go Acer or the low end of HP.

 

Because a couple months after the purchase, I can tell you the Mac blows doors on any desktop or PC laptop I own. The compatibility with things like PowerPoint I have to figure out, but performance-wise it's not close.

When you say “compatibility with things like PowerPoint” what exactly do you mean? Office 365 should sync across all platforms. I have a MacBook Pro and iPhone, iPad and a Windows laptop but have no issues.

What I do have issues with is syncing with my work 365 account but that’s because work admin have added security features to stop sensitive material from being shared.

 

I had to do a presentation for a client in December. Obviously, it was done virtually, where in years past I would go to their home office and give it. I have a PowerPoint I prepared some time ago, and I just update it. The client (a large corporation) uses Webex for their online meetings. I'm more comfortable with Zoom, but they don't use it. I had a little trouble doing the presentation using the Mac, although it looks like the PowerPoint itself was converted to whatever Apple's equivalent platform is. But I couldn't get it into "presentation mode," so I ended up using a PC laptop.

 

EDIT: The claims supervisor who asked me to do the presentation is someone I've worked with for a long time, we're sort of friends now. I explained to him it would be the first time I tried using the Mac for a PowerPoint so we did a practice run through a few days before. That's when I realized it wasn't going as smoothly as I wanted.

 

I'm not tech savvy nor am I someone who can't download an app. I'm sure if I had more time to fool around with it I would have figured out what I was doing wrong.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Rick N. Backer

[Tony R]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

[Rick N. Backer]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

[Rick N. Backer]

In a related note, this morning I had a Microsoft Teams call with opposing counsel and my client. When I signed in, I wasn't able to use the camera because I hadn't downloaded Teams to the Mac. So I left the conference and signed in using the laptop. It's only 3 years old, and it still took about 30 times as long to load.

 

If I was more confident in my computer competence, when I update my office's computers, I'd switch to Macs.

[LedRush]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

 

I’ve been on Macs since 2007 for personal use, and since 2016 (or so) for work use. I’ve always used PowerPoint, never had to use Keynote. I also use Webex (it’s the only one my company allows). No problems ever.

[Rick N. Backer]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

 

I’ve been on Macs since 2007 for personal use, and since 2016 (or so) for work use. I’ve always used PowerPoint, never had to use Keynote. I also use Webex (it’s the only one my company allows). No problems ever.

 

Yeah, the PowerPoint seemed like it converted, or didn't and just worked, it's not really my area of expertise. I could share the PowerPoint on WebEx, I just couldn't figure out how to switch to presentation mode. I had the thumbnails on the left side of my screen, but apparently not on the viewer's. It's not too tough to trip me up on tech issues.

 

Where does a Mac store documents? So, for example, if I'm drafting a letter, now I go into the C drive, pull up a similar letter, copy it, paste it onto a new document, and then edit the new document. How would that work on a Mac?

[LedRush]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

 

I’ve been on Macs since 2007 for personal use, and since 2016 (or so) for work use. I’ve always used PowerPoint, never had to use Keynote. I also use Webex (it’s the only one my company allows). No problems ever.

 

Yeah, the PowerPoint seemed like it converted, or didn't and just worked, it's not really my area of expertise. I could share the PowerPoint on WebEx, I just couldn't figure out how to switch to presentation mode. I had the thumbnails on the left side of my screen, but apparently not on the viewer's. It's not too tough to trip me up on tech issues.

 

Where does a Mac store documents? So, for example, if I'm drafting a letter, now I go into the C drive, pull up a similar letter, copy it, paste it onto a new document, and then edit the new document. How would that work on a Mac?

 

For a Mac, the default place for storing documents is the “Documents” folder (crazy, right?). The default way to access anything on your hard drive is through “Finder”, which should be in your task bar (called your “Dock”) as a default (you can add any application to your task bar by right clicking it and hitting “options” and then “keep in dock”). When you open “Finder”, you should have several places listed: documents, desktop, recents, photos, music, etc. When you find your document you can right click it and “Duplicate” (which duplicates it and names the copy whatever the old name was plus the word “copy” at the end) or you can open it, go to “file” (if you’re in Word), and then “save as”. You can then change the name of the document and the location where it is saved. The original will not be changed.

[Tony R]

I’m thinking of getting one of the new M1 chip MacBooks but apparently there’s lots of software that isn’t compatible yet. Anyone got any hands on experience? I know it’s early days...

[LedRush]

I’m thinking of getting one of the new M1 chip MacBooks but apparently there’s lots of software that isn’t compatible yet. Anyone got any hands on experience? I know it’s early days...

 

Not yet, but the reviews are awesome and the intel emulator (or whatever it’s called) is said to work well with the popular apps. I’ll get one when they have 4 USBC ports.

[Rick N. Backer]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

 

I’ve been on Macs since 2007 for personal use, and since 2016 (or so) for work use. I’ve always used PowerPoint, never had to use Keynote. I also use Webex (it’s the only one my company allows). No problems ever.

 

Yeah, the PowerPoint seemed like it converted, or didn't and just worked, it's not really my area of expertise. I could share the PowerPoint on WebEx, I just couldn't figure out how to switch to presentation mode. I had the thumbnails on the left side of my screen, but apparently not on the viewer's. It's not too tough to trip me up on tech issues.

 

Where does a Mac store documents? So, for example, if I'm drafting a letter, now I go into the C drive, pull up a similar letter, copy it, paste it onto a new document, and then edit the new document. How would that work on a Mac?

 

For a Mac, the default place for storing documents is the “Documents” folder (crazy, right?). The default way to access anything on your hard drive is through “Finder”, which should be in your task bar (called your “Dock”) as a default (you can add any application to your task bar by right clicking it and hitting “options” and then “keep in dock”). When you open “Finder”, you should have several places listed: documents, desktop, recents, photos, music, etc. When you find your document you can right click it and “Duplicate” (which duplicates it and names the copy whatever the old name was plus the word “copy” at the end) or you can open it, go to “file” (if you’re in Word), and then “save as”. You can then change the name of the document and the location where it is saved. The original will not be changed.

 

:lol: I haven't used it for documents yet. I've only done Zoom meetings and the aforementioned PowerPoint.

[LedRush]

Interesting. I’ve done PowerPoint presentations on my Mac with the Mac OS version of PowerPoint. Never over video conferencing though.

 

It works fine just using Keynote. It was the videoconferencing that tripped me up.

 

I’ve been on Macs since 2007 for personal use, and since 2016 (or so) for work use. I’ve always used PowerPoint, never had to use Keynote. I also use Webex (it’s the only one my company allows). No problems ever.

 

Yeah, the PowerPoint seemed like it converted, or didn't and just worked, it's not really my area of expertise. I could share the PowerPoint on WebEx, I just couldn't figure out how to switch to presentation mode. I had the thumbnails on the left side of my screen, but apparently not on the viewer's. It's not too tough to trip me up on tech issues.

 

Where does a Mac store documents? So, for example, if I'm drafting a letter, now I go into the C drive, pull up a similar letter, copy it, paste it onto a new document, and then edit the new document. How would that work on a Mac?

 

For a Mac, the default place for storing documents is the “Documents” folder (crazy, right?). The default way to access anything on your hard drive is through “Finder”, which should be in your task bar (called your “Dock”) as a default (you can add any application to your task bar by right clicking it and hitting “options” and then “keep in dock”). When you open “Finder”, you should have several places listed: documents, desktop, recents, photos, music, etc. When you find your document you can right click it and “Duplicate” (which duplicates it and names the copy whatever the old name was plus the word “copy” at the end) or you can open it, go to “file” (if you’re in Word), and then “save as”. You can then change the name of the document and the location where it is saved. The original will not be changed.

 

:lol: I haven't used it for documents yet. I've only done Zoom meetings and the aforementioned PowerPoint.

 

Even after using a Mac for 8-9 years for personal use, there was still a learning curve for learning it for work use. Some things are just different enough to through me off. But once I learned what I needed to, the Mac worked much better than my Dells or Thinkpads.

[LedRush]

I just thought of this while opening a WebEx meeting...on my Mac I’ve found that WebEx works much better if you download and install the application rather than use it in a web browser.