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Alan Klein

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Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« on: November 22, 2018, 12:11:44 pm »

I've been running Windows 10 desktop for years and use an Android cellphone.  My wife and I keep all of our home files stored on the desktop as well as my photos.  I use a USB connected WD Passport on my desktop to backup all my files.My wife wants a desktop of her own in another room.  But she has an iphone and likes Apple. She doesn't want Windows.   So the questions is, can I set up a net between the two computers through our wifi modem/router so that the home files on my Windows 10 (Dell) can be accessible by her new Apple desktop and vice versa?   How would I do that?

Also, I see that there's a black Friday sales on a iMac Pro.  $1299 for 21.5" What do you think of this model?  Cost/value? Any recommendations for another Apple desktop.  My wife does not do photography - just the basics, typing, filing, internet, email, printing, scanning papers, etc? 


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-21-5-imac-intel-core-i5-3-0ghz-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-silver/4881100.p?skuId=4881100


Beside WIndows Office, what apps would I need for the Imac to be able to see my Windows stuff?


Thanks. 

jrsforums

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2018, 01:06:09 pm »

Just a suggestion....get her an iPad Pro, either 11” or 12.9”.  She knows the iPhone and you don’t need to learn the Mac “ecospace”.

For sharing, use cloud storage such as Dropbox or Google.  On ou PC, set up drives or folders as shared.  On iPhone/iPad, apps such as “Filebrowser” (FileBrowser - Document Manager by Stratospherix Ltd https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filebrowser-document-manager/id364738545?mt=8) allow complete read/write (if you allow it) access to your PC files.

I have gone to using Google Docs/Sheets to be independent and free of the Apple/Microsoft specific or formats.  If you are paying for Windows Office, the apps are free on iPad.
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rdonson

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2018, 01:51:34 pm »

Alan, the link you provided for a Mac should be fine for your wife’s described needs.

There are many ways to share files between your Win 10 Machine and a Mac.  The choice will depend on how much storage you’ll need for that. Dropbox is a popular option and I think the Apple iCloud for Windows is available as well. There are obviously a ton of options available.
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Aram Hăvărneanu

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2018, 02:01:54 pm »

There's no need to use any Dropbox or other cloud (clown) service, macs and windows machine use the same file sharing protocol, SMB. You just enable file sharing on every computer that you want to share files from, no software required, it's all very simple.

I suggest you use wired Ethernet and not wireless.
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BobShaw

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2018, 03:49:07 pm »

Everything Aram said plus,
Backup the phone to the Mac. Enable iCloud on the phone and Mac contacts, calendar, notes, browser and then they will appear on both and update as one is added or changed.

You don't "need" Microsoft Office on the Mac to read the files from your Windows machine. The Mac comes with apps that read Word and Excel and can save back, However if this is a regular thing it will be easier to have Office.

If you buy the 21,5" machines you can not upgrade the RAM (on 27" you can) but 8G is probably enough for basic things.
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Jeremy Roussak

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2018, 03:31:19 am »

Also, I see that there's a black Friday sales on a iMac Pro.  $1299 for 21.5" What do you think of this model?

Minor point, perhaps, but that's an iMac, not an iMac Pro.

Jeremy
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Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2018, 01:17:10 pm »

Everything Aram said plus,
Backup the phone to the Mac. Enable iCloud on the phone and Mac contacts, calendar, notes, browser and then they will appear on both and update as one is added or changed.

You don't "need" Microsoft Office on the Mac to read the files from your Windows machine. The Mac comes with apps that read Word and Excel and can save back, However if this is a regular thing it will be easier to have Office.

If you buy the 21,5" machines you can not upgrade the RAM (on 27" you can) but 8G is probably enough for basic things.

I assume you mean iMac when you say Mac?  Yes?

SO if I understand correctly, she'll be running Apple operating system normally.  Will she have access to the Word and Excel and PSF files I have on the Windows desktop drives?

Is she running the iMac in Windows mode or is it just that the Apple program has a app that reads these type files?  Is the app standard or do you have to buy a separate app from Windows?


Joe Towner

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2018, 02:41:50 pm »

Let me add in a bit to what Bob said differing when iMac (hardware) and Mac (os and apps) are referenced.

Everything Aram said plus,
Backup the phone to the iMac. Enable iCloud on the phone and Mac applicationscontacts, calendar, notes, browser and then they will appear on both and update as one is added or changed.

You don't "need" Microsoft Office on the iMac to read the files from your Windows machine. The Mac OS comes with apps that read Word called Pages and Excel called Numbers and can save back, However if this is a regular thing it will be easier to have Office. If you pay for Microsoft Office on a monthly or annual basis, you may have a license for the computer.  To check, you can login to your https://portal.office.com with your Microsoft account

If you buy the 21,5" machines you can not upgrade the RAM (on 27" you can) but 8G is probably enough for basic things.

I would actually recommend against this specific machine, partly because the RAM upgrade issue above (it's possible to upgrade, but it's an hour plus to do it, and you need a kit that has a cutter & replacement adhesives to re-attach the screen.  The 8gb RAM is shared with the graphics (embedded) so it's more like 6.5gb of RAM.  Plus the platter 1tb hard drive spins at 5900rpm & isn't even a fusion drive, so it's trapped in 2009 performance wise.

What are her actual disk space needs?  Do you have a spare monitor or one you'd be interested in upgrading?  The Mac Mini just got upgraded, and the new ones are very nice, plus have upgrade-able components (RAM currently, NVMe is still being worked out).

Dropbox is most likely the easiest method of moving files back and forth.

-Joe
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Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #8 on: November 23, 2018, 03:15:32 pm »

Normally, she's going to do internet, messages, stuff she does on her phone.  She doesn't do photography or any heavy software use. So if the iMac integrates easily with her iPhone, that would be good.   I use my Windows desktop for storing all our personal files, word documents, scans of financial and medical stuff, etc as well as any pdf documents.  Of course, I was hoping to network them to her new machine so she can look for those files from her machine and create scanned files of new documents on her machine that she could save in my machine.  That would be easy if both machines were windows.  But if we get her an Apple, well, I'm seeing all sorts of problems and limitations.

How would Dropbox work?  Is there a fee? Do you have to download the whole file if you add a couple of new files.

jrsforums

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2018, 03:42:08 pm »

Normally, she's going to do internet, messages, stuff she does on her phone.  She doesn't do photography or any heavy software use. So if the iMac integrates easily with her iPhone, that would be good.   I use my Windows desktop for storing all our personal files, word documents, scans of financial and medical stuff, etc as well as any pdf documents.  Of course, I was hoping to network them to her new machine so she can look for those files from her machine and create scanned files of new documents on her machine that she could save in my machine.  That would be easy if both machines were windows.  But if we get her an Apple, well, I'm seeing all sorts of problems and limitations.

How would Dropbox work?  Is there a fee? Do you have to download the whole file if you add a couple of new files.

Dropbox, on PC or Mac, is set up to have a mirror image of the files/folders on the local hard drive.  On iPhone/iPad, the file storage is “dynamic”, that is you can see what is available and only bring down what you are looking at, works great.  You pay a fee for storage you need, up to 1TB available.

There are apps to scan files on iPhone/iPad to turn into pdf and save locally, on Dropbox, or PC (FileBrowser).  “Scanner Pro” is a good example.  Take a picture with iPhone, it wil square it up and create pdf and allow you to “share” where you want.

Before jumping into a Mac, I would suggest trying out what can be done on iPhone linked to Dropbox and Pc.  If you are happy, then get an iPad, with or without keyboard, for easier viewing/reading.  If your wife knows the iPhone, I would think it would be an easy learning curve.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2018, 04:25:59 pm »

Dropbox, on PC or Mac, is set up to have a mirror image of the files/folders on the local hard drive.  On iPhone/iPad, the file storage is “dynamic”, that is you can see what is available and only bring down what you are looking at, works great.  You pay a fee for storage you need, up to 1TB available.

There are apps to scan files on iPhone/iPad to turn into pdf and save locally, on Dropbox, or PC (FileBrowser).  “Scanner Pro” is a good example.  Take a picture with iPhone, it wil square it up and create pdf and allow you to “share” where you want.

Before jumping into a Mac, I would suggest trying out what can be done on iPhone linked to Dropbox and Pc.  If you are happy, then get an iPad, with or without keyboard, for easier viewing/reading.  If your wife knows the iPhone, I would think it would be an easy learning curve.

My wife wants a desktop with a large screen and full tactile keyboard.  So we're pretty much stuck with an iMac.  How does internet browsing work on the iMac as compared to the iPhone? 

BobShaw

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2018, 04:30:30 pm »

1. I assume you mean iMac when you say Mac?  Yes?

2. SO if I understand correctly, she'll be running Apple operating system normally.  Will she have access to the Word and Excel and PSF files I have on the Windows desktop drives?

3. Is she running the iMac in Windows mode or is it just that the Apple program has a app that reads these type files?  Is the app standard or do you have to buy a separate app from Windows?
1. Any Mac, including iMac
2. Yes to running Mac OS and yes, to access the files, provided you share them. What is PSF?
3. No Windows, just Mac OS. The Mac comes with the Pages and Numbers app that can read Word and Excel, but it is clumsy. If this is a common need then get Mac Office. All PDFs can be read by Mac and the Mac can print PDF without any other software.

It sounds like she just has basic needs so a basic machine is probably fine.
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BobShaw

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2018, 04:35:45 pm »

My wife wants a desktop with a large screen and full tactile keyboard.  So we're pretty much stuck with an iMac.  How does internet browsing work on the iMac as compared to the iPhone?
So get her a 27". Browsing is much easier on any computer compared to a any phone IMHO. There is a trick that allows you to easily post to Instagram from a Mac too.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2018, 04:37:11 pm »

Dropbox, on PC or Mac, is set up to have a mirror image of the files/folders on the local hard drive.  On iPhone/iPad, the file storage is “dynamic”, that is you can see what is available and only bring down what you are looking at, works great.  You pay a fee for storage you need, up to 1TB available.

There are apps to scan files on iPhone/iPad to turn into pdf and save locally, on Dropbox, or PC (FileBrowser).  “Scanner Pro” is a good example.  Take a picture with iPhone, it wil square it up and create pdf and allow you to “share” where you want.

Before jumping into a Mac, I would suggest trying out what can be done on iPhone linked to Dropbox and Pc.  If you are happy, then get an iPad, with or without keyboard, for easier viewing/reading.  If your wife knows the iPhone, I would think it would be an easy learning curve.

The home office files I would want available to both desktops is currently 3gb.  Apple includes 5gb of free iCloud storage when you buy an iMac.  So I wouldn;t need Dropbox.  Apparently Apple says I can download iCloud for my Windows desktop so that my windows and the new iMac will be able to automatically update the files in the icloud.  All files will be available and stored in both machines.  Both machines will be able to send new files and update files already on the icloud.  So that seems good.

Regarding Windows Office files on my computer.  The Apple OS has something called Preview that can open Word, Excel and pdf documents.  Their system has Pages and Numbers to create Word type and Excel type documents.  I didn't ask if those can be opened by windows OS.  Do you know?


degrub

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2018, 04:41:45 pm »

i would suggest either a base mac mini (current 2018 or mid range 2014) 8 GB, 128 GB storage, with a third party screen (24 or 27 inch) and keyboard/mouse of your choice OR MacBook Air (2018) 8GB, 128 GB with third party keyboard/mouse and screen. The latter is portable and light if you want to travel with more than a phone.

The only real difference between the I-phone and the Macs above  is touch screen. The apps are basically the same.

You could also look at a NAS device for local access storage for both of you. Something like WD MyCloud or Synology base NAS units. You can use them as TimeMachine backup location, in addition to the Apple cloud and use the backup/sync app for the Win 10 machine.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2018, 04:48:07 pm by degrub »
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rdonson

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #15 on: November 23, 2018, 06:33:14 pm »

Regarding Windows Office files on my computer.  The Apple OS has something called Preview that can open Word, Excel and pdf documents.  Their system has Pages and Numbers to create Word type and Excel type documents.  I didn't ask if those can be opened by windows OS.  Do you know?

Numbers, Pages and Keynote can export to MS Office files if needed.  There shouldn't be any problems. 
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Chris Kern

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #16 on: November 23, 2018, 07:14:26 pm »

I use my Windows desktop for storing all our personal files, word documents, scans of financial and medical stuff, etc as well as any pdf documents.  Of course, I was hoping to network them to her new machine so she can look for those files from her machine and create scanned files of new documents on her machine that she could save in my machine.  That would be easy if both machines were windows. 

I would strongly advise against storing any files containing sensitive personal information on Dropbox, or any other "cloud" storage service, unless they are strongly encrypted before you upload them.  (I'm a former chief information security officer for a U.S. federal agency, and have expertise that is relevant to this issue.)

As others have previously pointed out, it is easy to use your MS-Windows computer as a file server that is accessible to your wife's Apple desktop (iMac, Mac Mini, whatever) since both platforms can use the SMB file-sharing protocol.  This would keep sensitive information on your home network.

It's at most trivially more complicated to share files between Microsoft and Apple platforms than to share them between two Microsoft machines.  (And only more complicated in the sense that you haven't used Apple's MacOS before.)

Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #17 on: November 23, 2018, 11:40:13 pm »

Well I wish my wife would get a Windows based machine.  But she wants Apple so I won;t win that argument. :)  OK SO it looks like I'll have to learn the Mac OS.  Maybe I'll be surprised at how easy it will be. 

So I'll probably go with the iMac 21.5" despite its "older" design. The power and storage my wife needs is rather small.  I'll look into SMP to avoid the  icloud and dropbox security issues. 

The only down side I see with SMP is that I have to keep my Windows desktop on all the time.   Even when on, it goes into sleep mode.  So what's the best way to handle that?

degrub

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #18 on: November 24, 2018, 12:04:03 am »

B&H has it for the same price, free shipping, and last i heard nosales tax for out of state (not sure where you are located).
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342554-REG/apple_mmqa2ll_a_21_5_imac_mid_2017.html
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Alan Klein

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Re: Windows and Apple networking and iMac value
« Reply #19 on: November 24, 2018, 12:25:16 am »

B&H has it for the same price, free shipping, and last i heard nosales tax for out of state (not sure where you are located).
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342554-REG/apple_mmqa2ll_a_21_5_imac_mid_2017.html


Thanks for the heads up.  I do get charged sales tax from B and H however living in NJ.  But no ship charge.  I could stop off at Best Buy near by and pick it up.
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