[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

What is Parallels?

And back to the .pdf software. Yes, the Apple helper-guy told us that the imac came with software which would open those files. My husband wanted to know if he could also edit documents as he now can with his Adobe suite. The Apple worker-guy didn’t seem to know.

[drubyfive]

You can create pdfs from many other applications, such as Word and graphics programs. Adobe’s Acrobat Professional is its suite for PDF publishing. It’s available on the Mac for $160.

[Swordmaker]

Parallels Workstation allows you to run any Windows software in a window on your Intel OSX Mac transparently as though the apps were Mac apps. With Parallels you can share files back and forth between PC and Mac. You can use the BootCamp created WindowsXP partition or you can use a virtual hard drive file that if it gets infected with a virus or spyware you can simply trash and revert to a clean copy.

Apple’s BootCamp allows you to repartition your HD to install a bootsble copy of WindowsXP or Vista that allows you to run your Mac as a Windows PC at full speed. Many PC pundits have reported that a Mac is the fastest Windows PC they have ever used! Parallels and Fusion will do the same thing in a Mac window under OSX with only a 5-10% speed hit.

You can also use VMWare’s Fusion to accomplish the same thing.

Now, I know the answer to #3. A Mac OSX app called Reunion is GEDCOM compliant and can access the standard geneology files used by almost all geneology programs.

[Blue Highway]

The Apple worker-guy didn’t seem to know.

I wonder if he was part of that smugly named "Genius Bar"? Genius, lol right.

[coconutt2000]

For editing PDF forms and scanning and adding text to a scanned PDF, you can use the PDF software that comes standard with most scanners. Most scanners ship with at least Adobe Acrobat Standard for Mac, which allows basic manipulation of PDF forms. For more advanced PDF editing, upgrading to Adobe Acrobat Professional for Mac isn’t that difficult, and if you buy a document scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap, it comes with Adobe Acrobat Professional now.

In almost all ways, editing and viewing PDFs is easier and simpler on a Mac than on a Windows PC.