Originally Posted by
jg70124
I am part of a 3-man consulting partnership. We are all responsible for our own hardware, software, and email. I am currently using a Lenovo X61 with XP which will need replacing soon. The other two are on Windows Vista.
Do you have to share your reports/data/work product with them? If so, having everyone working on the same platform is, IMO, critical. The more time you convert or change a document format the more chances you have for corruption and data loss. Having worked the past 10+ years in an industry where converting documents between Word and WordPerfect was the norm, I've seen more than enough of that for a lifetime.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
My work is:
- 50%, working with client data sets of up to 1 million records, and creating 100's of histograms, scatters, and other charts for every project. Currently using Excel and Access for this task.
You will not have Access on the Mac. That sounds like enough to veto the move right from the get-go, particularly if you have to share those DBs with your coworkers.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
- 25%, creating client reports and giant presentations (~150-200 slides). Currently using Powerpoint and Word.
Not too much trouble here.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
- 15% email/task management/calendaring and web. Currently using MS Outlook against a hosted exchange account, and Firefox
I'm assuming the hosted Exchange is 2007. If not, find a new hosting service. You will be able to use Mac.mail against the 2007 server, but it isn't as full-featured as Outlook 2007. And I'd highly recommend using IE against an OWA server rather than FF/Chrome/anything else. The user experience is night and day different.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
- 5%, invoicing, bookkeeping, and business/personal finances. Currently using Quicken H&B
Not available on the Mac.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
- 5%, helping the other partners with Windows and Powerpoint issues, often over the phone
Not gonna change if you switch to a Mac.
Originally Posted by
jg70124
So, would you switch?
Not in your situation.