There has always been a smaller selection of software available for Macs (and Linux) than Windows. It's simply a function of market share. With that said, only you can decide how tied to those pieces of software you are and if you are willing to invest in a second copy and/or find a work-a-round. Open Office works quite well and is free but if you're dependent (say for work) on 100% compatibility with Microsoft Office, then you're going to need a copy of Office. You'll obviously need a second copy of Photoshop if you want to run it under OS X. I don't use Quicken but have heard the same things, although I want to say that they're working on correcting that. There's a number of options available if you want to run Windows on a Mac. You do raise the obvious question - why bother to buy a Mac, only to run Windows. I can tell you that I find OS X not so much better than Windows but rather different in terms of "use". OS X seems, from my experience, to be more stable and obviously much less susceptible to malware. Not to mention there isn't the endless updates as with Windows.

Hi Jane, I am 66 and have used a PC for many years. I attended a short computer class once and worked on a Mac. The biggest frustration I recall is that it responded to a single click and I was used to double clicking. I decided that although it would take time to get used to, I wanted to set up my PC to respond to a single click. Since then, I have set up any new computer to single click. I have a very difficult problem because I DO NOT intuit anything. I have to read instructions and even then, I may not understand. I have to do a lot of searching for very basic things: most recently, "how to use a touch pad" after I bought a 10.1 inch netbook. I sometimes use a cordless mouse because I still hate a touch pad. Returning to my inability to intuit anything and everything that "normal" users do without thinking, the problem is very real, constant, and extremely frustrating. I have to be very motivated to struggle through learning new concepts. Case in point: I use a cell phone only to make and receive calls. I have been unable to figure out how to send or receive text messages, I can't program functions like the clock or the list of people whose numbers I want to call, I can bring up a list of missed calls, but I can't easily call the person back, etc. I can't download different ring tones even though I would dearly love to find Allison Du Bois' ringtone--from the "Medium." I can find this information online but I can't figure out how to get it into my phone and then select the new app for my phone. I am not stupid. I was first a teacher and then a registered nurse and I have two MS degrees, both with high honors. I am simply brain dead in the area of the brain that allows one to intuit while on a computer. I think it is absolutely imperative that your husband sees a patient tech in a Mac store and has a chance to experience the differences between Mac and PC. Good luck! Nancy

Safari 5.1? That would have been released in roughly 2011. Snow Leopard would have been about right but frankly I'm not sure that Safari 5.1 came with Snow Leopard nor do I know if you can update to a specific release of Safari (other than the latest/greatest that's compatible with that version of OS X). Might be something to inquire about first. The upgrade should be pretty easy and straight forward, I don't recall any problems when I went from Leopard to Snow Leopard. Apple ID would likely be whatever he uses to log into iTunes. User name in the form of an email address and a password. If he doesn't have one, he could create one. I think it's mostly for iTunes access and not necessarily essential for the operating system to run. Frankly Safari seems like a very odd choice for a supported browser. At version 5 it was a pretty lousy browser even compared to Internet Explorer at the time. There isn't a current Windows version and I'm not sure that Apple even provides older versions for Windows. So if you buy a new Windows machine, you can't use the court's computer system? Are we sure we're understanding this correctly? I've seen some companies that will only support a certain browser or require at least a certain version to keep down the cost of site development and technical support/training. That doesn't mean other browsers won't work but if you have problem you won't get any technical support.

You should be able to power the dual usb rom drives with either a USB power adapter, or even better, a powered dock/hub. Also, I think some of the newer laptop & tablet offerings no longer come with video out ports, and rely on the usb-c/thunderbolt port to connect either a dock/port replicator, or dongles with video or network adapters to connect peripherals. Not sure who ever thought we’d like to bring back dongles... SMH. I use a dock at work and at home for my hp to connect to my networks, monitors, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals. It’s just one usb-c cable to connect it all.