Question : Problem: question about compatibility of Windows XP desktop and Macbook to guide buying decision

I have a seven year old  Dell  computer running XP Pro.  Though the machine is old, it has many updated components, including a new hard drive in '02. And since the expert help I received here a few weeks ago, all systems are running well, except that I have only 40 gigs of hard drive space to work with and it's never enough. Anyway, my Dell laptop is really dead and I want to replace it with something lighter and I am really afraid of Vista so I am thinking about getting a Macbook and I'm wondering whether I will have trouble exchanging files (especially Word, PowerPoint, music and picture files) with the desktop machine when I attempt to network the Mac in.  For example, if I create a PowerPoint on XP, will I be able to send it to my laptop and run it.  And will my Hp photosmart 1215 print from it? I have often found that the multimedia programs I use on XP conflict with each other, so I find the idea of Mac's (reputedly) better integrated applications appealing. I am not a gamer - I'm talking about things like handling photographs, editing video, recording my students voices reading - things like that.  I would much appreciation some advice on this. I wonder if there might be other issues I haven't thought of.

Answer : Problem: question about compatibility of Windows XP desktop and Macbook to guide buying decision

You shouldn't have too many problems.

As for the file formats, if you have Office:Mac, it will read it's own stuff from its PC counterpart.  Note, however, that it will have trouble reading files created in Office 2007 for the PC.  Also, if you use Outlook, the Mac equivalent (Entourage) will not read any of Outlook's stuff.  You will have to export your mail to another format that Entourage supports first.

As for your printer, check HP's web site to see if it has a driver for the Mac.  If it does not, you will assuredly still be able to use it via a generic driver, but you may lose some of the printer's special features (assuming it has any of note).

As far as your multimedia files, the Mac OS supports pretty much all of them right out of the box.  The only exceptions would be some oddball formats.  But there is a large community of Mac users that provide codecs if you come across one the Mac doesn't support natively.

Also, if it comes down to it, you can use Bootcamp to boot Windows on your Mac if you need to as well.  Buying a Macbook to run Windows is a good idea if you plan to slowly transition to the Mac OS.