# New iMac



## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

I've had only PCs for the past ten years, and this weekend I bought my first iMac, so I'm a real babe in the woods. As a community manager on MSN, I need to be able to use Internet Explorer for community posts because it allows me to change font type, size, etc. for those members with eyesight problems (we're a group with many disabled members). I've been told to access Boot Camp in my Utilities but I don't want to install a whole separate OS if I don't need to. My question is, can I install just Internet Explorer 7 without installing Windows in a separate partition? My iMac has Leopard 10.5.2 operating system. Also, I'm told Macs aren't generally susceptible to viruses, so I don't need an anti-virus program; as a PC user of ten years, this gives me the willies. If I install IE 7, would I need the anti-virus program after all? Thanks for any help you can provide this neophyte. Please keep the tech language to a minimum. LOL
Cyndy K.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hello:

Microsoft had a version of Internet Explorer for Mac, but no longer supports it (due to the popularity of Safari, OS X's own web browser).

Have you tried using Safari?

You can still download Internet Explorer for OS X here.

I'd try that first and see if it works for what you need.

Hope that helps!


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## John A (Feb 29, 2008)

There's a number of options available to you. The easiest would be what Yankee Rose suggested, that is, download the old IE 5 for Mac. However, it'll be very slow as it's going to be running in an emulation program, and the other problem is that it might not support the pages you're trying to view.

In that case, an easier alternative to installing Boot Camp would be to use virtualization software such as Parallels Workstation or VMWare Fusion. These allow you to run Windows within a window, without rebooting, so you can start it up just when you need to run one or two Windows-only applications. Finally, you can use Crossover Office to run Internet Explorer 7 on your Mac. What Crossover Office does is it provides an approximate implementation of the Windows API on the Mac platform, making it possible to run many Windows software at native speeds.


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Yes, of course, I've used Safari; that's how I know I can't change font type and size in my old Windows community! And the members who have vision problems NEED that capability. The only option available to me with Safari is to type in all caps, which of course is considered yelling, and as a manager of the group, that's not exactly copacetic. : ) Since partitioning my nice pristine iMac would leave it open to viruses and force me to install anti-virus software, AdAware and the like, the Parallels Workstation or VMWare Fusion sounds like the better option. Is either one available with Leopard 10.5.2? Thanks to you both for speedy replies!
Cyndy K.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

OrwellLives said:


> Yes, of course, I've used Safari; that's how I know I can't change font type and size in my old Windows community!


Just checking. 

Have you tried using Firefox with your MSN Community?

Parallels does not have a Workstation for Mac available yet -- but they do have a Parallels Desktop for Mac Premium Edition, which includes Kaspersky Internet Security, as well as two other software packages. They also have the basic Parallels for Mac Desktop as well. System requirements state OS X 10.4 or higher.

VMWare Fusion's system requirements state OS X 10.4.9 or later, so that should work as well.

Hope that helps.


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Firefox doesn't allow the user to change font type or size either; we've run into that problem many times in the past. I'm not positive, but I think the same is true of Mozilla. As far as I know right now, only IE allows MSN communities to change font type, size, color, post graphics, photos, etc. Thanks for bearing with me; I know this is frustrating.
Cyndy K.


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## linskyjack (Aug 28, 2004)

Didn't he say he didnt' want to install another operating system on his computer---Using vmware or parallels would still require him to do so.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

linskyjack said:


> Didn't he say he didnt' want to install another operating system on his computer---Using vmware or parallels would still require him to do so.





OrwellLives said:


> Since partitioning my nice pristine iMac would leave it open to viruses and force me to install anti-virus software, AdAware and the like, *the Parallels Workstation or VMWare Fusion sounds like the better option.*
> Cyndy K.


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

OrwellLives said:


> Yes, of course, I've used Safari; that's how I know I can't change font type and size in my old Windows community! And the members who have vision problems NEED that capability. The only option available to me with Safari is to type in all caps, which of course is considered yelling, and as a manager of the group, that's not exactly copacetic. : )


For some sites its as easy as enabling the Safari Debug menu and then adjusting the User Agent to IE and some sites will work. (Doesn't hurt to try before installing another browser)


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

OrwellLives said:


> Firefox doesn't allow the user to change font type or size either; we've run into that problem many times in the past. I'm not positive, but I think the same is true of Mozilla. As far as I know right now, only IE allows MSN communities to change font type, size, color, post graphics, photos, etc. Thanks for bearing with me; I know this is frustrating.
> Cyndy K.


What exactly do you mean by "doesn't allow the user to change font type or size"?

Last time I checked, it DOES!

View -> Text Size -> Increase/Decrease

Also, going into the preferences, you can change what font is used; that is, Arial, Times, etc.


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## John A (Feb 29, 2008)

namenotfound said:


> What exactly do you mean by "doesn't allow the user to change font type or size"?
> 
> Last time I checked, it DOES!
> 
> ...


Maybe I'm totally off here, but I assumed that the original poster is referring to some sort of WYSIWYG editor in his/her 'Windows community'. In most online forums that I visit, Safari doesn't support any WYSIWYG editor and is forced to use the plaintext input. However, if a forum doesn't provide just a plaintext input box, this could present problems when trying to format text, I would imagine.


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

John A said:


> Maybe I'm totally off here, but I assumed that the original poster is referring to some sort of WYSIWYG editor in his/her 'Windows community'. In most online forums that I visit, Safari doesn't support any WYSIWYG editor and is forced to use the plaintext input. However, if a forum doesn't provide just a plaintext input box, this could present problems when trying to format text, I would imagine.


Ok, that makes sense. I really had no idea what OP was talking about, he was unclear.

Well in that case, couldn't he change the size manually? Depending on if his community supports BBCode, or HTML, he should be able to do it manually.

For example, I can use the "size" button on this site, OR I can do it manually.

[ SIZE="5"]Hello World[ /SIZE]


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

I'll try to be clearer. Communities on MSN allow members to use built-in HTML code to change font type, size, color, orientation (bold, italics, underline), add graphics like .jpg or .gif greetings. When you open a "post" or message window, all these options are available across the top of the window in Internet Explorer ONLY, not in any other browser that I know of. From what others have said, and what I see in Safari, they get only a plain window with the default font (Arial or Times New Roman, maybe, at about a size 8 or 10 at the most). Since most of our members are disabled and quite a few have eyesight problems, that tiny font is hard for them to see. I've tried copying and pasting from my e-mail program with html code but it defaults right back to the Safari default. The best I can do is type in all caps. I bought a MAC to avoid giving Bill Gates the satisfaction of trapping one more person, but now it looks like it's unavoidable; some of my programs can't be accessed any other way but through Windows. If Apple had been more honest up front about some things, I never would have bought the iMac. They claimed they'd move all my files and programs for me at time of purchase; they didn't move one. They said everything I had would be compatible, but so far at least three of my favorite applications are not. And the "easier to use right out of the box" MAC is a joke. Maybe if you're a computer whiz; I'm not, and they assume way too much.
Cyndy K.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Cyndy:

Where did you purchase your Mac? An Apple store? Online? I have never heard of an Apple employee manually moving files for a customer. Whoever you talked to, you need to address this as if they offered, they need to follow through. Otherwise call Apple support and tell them, as they need to know: 1-800-275-2273.

What three programs are you having problems with? Again, if an Apple employee claimed that OS X would work with them, then Apple needs to know. I'd be glad to try to help you work around them.

Did you try downloading IE for Mac as I suggested (see my first post)? I realize it is an older, unsupported version but it is worth a try.


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## Serge_N_Gin (Sep 7, 2004)

There are more than enough helpful types here that will offer you all the help you need so forget the Mac hype and let's continue to concentrate on getting to the heart of the main issue and hopefully sort this out for you 

The only files that I'm aware of that you can have moved when you purchase a Mac are the ones on any Mac you happen to be replacing. There's a fee for it too.

AFAIK, there's no offer to transfer/move files from a PC ~> Mac.

What is the situation re: those files/programs? Where are they at this moment? I'm assuming they are on another computer? We can help you there too. 

Tell us your 3 fave apps and we'll do our best ... ok, one of them is MSN isn't it. Well what are the other 2? There's bound to be a mac version out there.

Here's a screenshot of Internet Explorer 5.2.3 running on a Mac with Leopard, it looks pretty good and no, you won't need to install an Anti-Virus app.


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## dannyn (Nov 9, 2007)

Firefox is the only way to go.... IMO..


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Yankee Rose,
No, I haven't tried installing IE yet because I need my daughter here in case anything goes wrong and we have to call Apple support. I am deaf and have to use Internet Relay for phone calls, and obviously can't use that at the same time I'm working ON the Internet so have to have her here if the phone might be needed, and she's had the flu. I bought my iMac from an Apple store. The information I got about their "Genius" is here: http://www.apple.com/getamac/movetomac/ and seems quite clear to ME. The programs I love are WebFerret (which the company says doesn't come in a Mac version; it's my favorite search engine); Family Tree Maker; and some games I purchased from Silver Creek Entertainment. THEY say I have to buy the Mac versions, but they'll "give" me a $5.00 discount on them after I've already paid $40 for the PC versions. Gee, thanks. I'm really not trying to drag my feet here. I purchased the Missing Manual one of you recommended (thank you!); the thing is, as it says, almost as big as the Tokyo White Pages. Sigh. I USED to know UNIX, but Leopard is a far cry from it. : ) Obviously. Thanks for being patient, folks.
Cyndy K.


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

For the Windows games, you could try WINE.

http://wiki.winehq.org/MacOSX
http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwine/


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hi Cyndy:

Did you take your PC to the Apple Store when you purchased your iMac, for them to transfer the data? If not - it is not too late! Just call the store where you purchased it and tell them you'd like to take advantage of that service. Thank you for that link, BTW. I am now "informed"! 

If I were in your situation, I would consider biting the bullet and installing Windows on your iMac. This would solve the problems of (1) Internet Explorer for your MSN Community; (2) Family Tree Maker (3) Web Ferret and (4) the games you like so well.

Looks like either way you will be spending the extra money - either for a Windows license or for updated Mac-compatible versions of your favorite programs.

This way, you'd have the best of both worlds, so to speak.

Hope your daughter feels better soon. Good luck!


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Sure, we took the PC with us, which is why we were so irked when they told us at the store (which is more than half an hour away from my home) that they couldn't transfer any data from the PC to the iMac. By the time we finally got waited on, I was feeling sick and dizzy from standing in the hot store for so long and had to go out to the car so my daughter dealt with the salesman; I don't know what his excuse was. She just did her usual "I'll handle it" and came out and asked me if I wanted to buy the service contract. I figured better spend the extra money if they weren't going to live up to their promises; at least we could bug the living daylights out of them for a while. I wasn't counting on her getting the flu. : ) Best laid plans and all that jazz. As you say I may have to bite the bullet and install Windows XP (NOT going to be dumb enough to go with Vista, thank you) just to keep some of my old favorites. The Family Tree Maker alone has almost 5000 members of my ancestry in it, and I don't think that's transferable. Glad I was able to give you some info you didn't already have, anyway. : ) 

Thanks, 404, for the games link; will check that out. 
Cyndy K.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Cyndy: that is a shame that you purchased the service contract and they didn't honor a main "selling point" for it! Once your daughter feels better, I'd suggest taking advantage of it and keep after them to transfer your files. If you have XP installed on your iMac by then, I don't see how they could then say they cannot do it. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. 

On a side note - my mother uses Family Tree Maker and has gobs of information saved, so I understand completely your concern with the program. 

Good luck!


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Just wanted to let you all know, a friend found me a group that helps former Windows users learn to use HTML on their Macs. We use a program called CreaText that lets us keep a document in the Dock and plug in pre-fomatted text. I have my mojo back! This is a Microsoft group found at http://groups.msn.com/MacCommunityFeedback/welcome.msnw
Thanks for all your help!
Cyndy


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## OrwellLives (Mar 8, 2007)

Oh, by the way, I also found out that Family Tree Maker is only for Windows, but there is a program called Reunion that works for Macs. Windows users have to put their files on GEDCOMs and transfer them to their Macs via CD or flash drive, then install them on Reunion. It's not cheap, but it's better than losing all your data and years of hard work.
Cyndy K.


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