old windows user with new mac questions

[Joanne]

.....been using Windows forever and find myself in a position where I must upgrade.  Considering a Mac Pro Book for a variety of other reasons, but am very nevous about the change and how it will effect my SB use and Notebook files.  What differences can I expect between Notebooks created in Windows vs. Mac ???  My school is 100% Windows.  Will I be able to use/share SB files created on Mac to a Windows operating system and vice versa? 

[Jason Schmidt]

Most certainly! Files created with the Notebook are compatible cross-platform. There are a few things that you will need to get used to working in a Mac environment, but for the most part it is pretty compatible.

Your SMART Board tools and the Notebook software will all be located in your Applications folder in OSX. This was something that I had the most trouble figuring out when I switched to Mac.

The only other thing I can think of (and this might have changed now) is that Microsoft applications on the Mac are not Ink-aware. This means that your Ink is not integrated into the file when you write in a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. If this is something you use a lot, you can install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp. I also seem to recall seeing an update to the SMART Board tools to allow this to work on a Mac.

I'm sure Obe has a lot more knowledge than I do, but hopefully this helped!

Enjoy your new Mac! I've had mine for 5 years now, and I don't think I will ever buy a Windows machine for myself again.

[Joanne]

Thank you! Most encouraging! I was reading older posts and getting very, very nervous! In fact, the computer is still in the box! Refuse to unpack and set up until I am sure that it will meet all of my SB needs! My son also suggested Boot Camp. Looks like something I will have to consider! Again, many thanks! I'll let you know when I do, finally, unwrap the darn thing!

[David Petro]

I am also a windows user who went Mac last year. I am currently using a Mac book pro running Parallels to get my windows apps. The only problem I had was that Smart Response didn't work at first but it seems that those problems have been dealt with for the most part (though some times I still manage to crash smart notebook when using smart response).

Also if you are math person, Math Tools will only work on the PC version.

The one feature that only exists on the PC that doesn't with the Mac that I do miss is the Transparency mode where you can strip the front end end of Notebook away but still have all the tools (flash based and all).

Have fun

[Joanne]

Thank you, David! In Transparency Mode will the tools be missing even if I run Parrallels? Does it 'get transparent' at least and are you able to use pens? That's a pretty important feature that I am just beginning to explore (Smart Teq has a clip with one amazing use).

[Tracey Carlson]

Ink aware does come up when I'm working on word for mac but I haven't used the feature on purpose. I have had a mark or 2 made on files when highlighting something though.

Jason, If you can't find a file on a mac just use the Find feature under the file menu. It will show the pathway for the file so you can work out where it is stored.

I have shared files with windows users at school in both notebook and microsoft apps without a problem.

[Obe Hostetter]

Yes, you can share Notebook files with MAC and windows users with little problems except for if you use a lot of Flash.  Notebook does work good on MAC except with flash objects like the Lesson Activity Toolkit. In addition, the transparency Notebook icon is not available on the MAC side as well as Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) ink-aware doesn't work as well as Windows.

 

Attached is a pdf showing some of the differences between MAC and Windows for Notebook 10.6

 

I have Windows installed on my MAC with boot camp (which costs $100 for Windows install).  With that setup, then you essentially have a Windows computer operating system using MAC hardware which works excellent.