Expert: Bobbert - 5/13/2009

Question
HELP-My brains are in my feet! The answer to my question relies heavily on prefacing my situation, so "excuse" the many words & lengthy (but simple) question.  Being a dance instructor for 22 yrs, my computer skills are close to nil; so any advice & knowledge shared will be appreciated! After ditching my paper planners 6 yrs ago, my attempt to transition to an electronic world, miserably failed! Over a course of 5.5 yrs, I've purchased a Windows Desktop, Laptop & an IMAC; I have NO clue how to use any of them. Due to a newly diagnosed medical condition, I have no choice but to plan for a career change as my dance teaching career has come to a halt. I must polish up my computer skills as I'm sure that they will be an important part for my future biz plans. With "all" of that said and my story told; most will now understand my challenges & why my statement that "my brains are in my feet" is a true, very real factor in my decision.  My willingness to learn an OS won't be an issue, nor will the purchase as I own a IMAC & Dell PC. Please please help me decide which would be a better choice for me & my abilities; a Mac or PC & why? TY


Answer
I would go with the Windows PC route, over the Apple PC route, given the widespread usage of Windows in the workplace and more generally, the world at large. Learning either system shouldn't be greatly challenging, depending on what you'd like to learn, advanced software design concepts will obviously be harder either way, although office work is a relatively simple proposition (it may take you six months to master, for example).

Depending on the equipment you already own, a new purchase may not even be required, as it doesn't sound like you need to run any compute intensive tasks, like HD video encoding, 3D gaming, or professional audio editing. Based on this, I'm guessing the systems you've already got should suit your needs (would I be guessing wrong if I said Microsoft Office (or similar), a modern internet browser, a mail/newsgroup application, and perhaps some form of scheduling application?).

That isn't to say a new computer is "wrong", I'm just taking a shot in the dark on your existing equipment being in a proper working order, so it may not require replacement.

One advantage you have, is owning both platforms already, you could learn both with relative ease (in that, you've got both available to you), which may or may not be an advantage for you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

-bob