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Q: I am a long time PC user (Windows XP) and plan to switch to the Apple iMAC very soon for reasons that are too numerous to mention here.  I have many documents and files that I wish to transfer over to the iMAC along with numerous software applications, i.e. MS Office, Adobe Photoshop Elements 9, TurboTax, Visio, stamp and coin software, pictures, music and many, many more.  What do I need to do to ensure that I can continue to have access and use these PC applications on the iMAC?  In other words, what pitfalls should I be aware of when transitioning?

– Herb B.
Niceville, Florida

A: You actually have a couple of options available to you, Herb, depending on your experience, budget, and how flexible you’re willing to be with your solution.   First of all, expect your Mac to come with software that’s capable of opening at least some of your Office files.  You may find that these programs are not as feature-rich as you’re used to.  Then, you need to know that for many programs, there are versions for both the PC and the Mac platform.  Generally, the Mac version of a program should be able to open files saved by the PC version once you’ve ported the files over (and vice versa).  All the apps you mentioned by name fall in this category, but I’m afraid your “stamp and coin software” is a little too vague to say that with any certainty.  Alternatively, you can use your current programs if you configure your Mac to run what is called a parallel desktop.  Doing so entails acquiring parallel desktop software (both free and paid versions are available) then installing a version of Windows, which you will have to purchase separately.  You will need to check with the individual software vendors to see if there are any licensing issues involved with installing the software on another computer.  As far as your pictures and music go, most of the modern media file types are universal, and will be useable on either the Mac or the PC, once you port them over.  I’m not sure whether the software that comes with the Mac will be able to open all your media files, since Mac’s primary native media format is .MOV and many of your music files are probably .MP3, .WAV, or .WMV.  You can get software from the Web that will allow you to play almost any media on the Mac.  One well-known program is VLC Media Player, which is available for both PC and Mac platforms.  One last thing: If the main reason for your switch is viruses and Internet security, you should know that there are viruses that attack Macs running around loose in the wild.  They are perhaps not as common as PC viruses, but they are quite effective at their nasty little tasks.  Also, if you’re running Windows parallel to the Mac OS, you’re pretty much taking all the problems you’re trying to get away from with you to the new platform.

Q: I enjoy reading your columns and trying to increase my tech knowledge. I keep getting an error message on my screen: Adobe Flash Player Update Service 11.3 r300 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. (I do so about eight or more times daily).  I click on the “Send Report” button, but this is a joke as the message appears many times daily. It is most distracting. Can you help?

– Barbara S.
Shalimar, Florida

A: I used to pretend that clicking on that little “Send Report” button would result in someone at Microsoft actually getting a little popup on their screen telling them about my issue.  I didn’t realistically expect that was actually happening, but it made me feel better to envision that someone somewhere might actually notice the problem I was having.  Like you, I would click that little button every time it came up.  Funny how the problems never seemed to get fixed (thanks, Bill!).  In your case, the problem wasn’t even caused by Microsoft, it was caused by Adobe Systems, which publishes Flash and the associated Flash Player.  Good news!  On August 2^nd, Adobe released an update that fixes this exact issue.  Visit tinyurl.com/cls9vcx to get all the details.