I am thinking of getting a MAC to replace my old desktop pc but at the moment my laptop is connected wirelessly to my pc via a home network on windows and goes through the pc to wireless print (printer not wireless though). If I change to a MAC can you still have a laptop using windows 'talking' to a MAC? Didn't want to keep having to plug the laptop into printer to print esp as I use it in other parts of the house. What about file sharing as well??

My OH has a macbook pro (he never gets to use it though mwhahaha) and I've a normal windows laptop, we have on a couple of occasions shared files between them wirelessly. Neither of us is techie in the least and usually get hugely confused about things like this but we managed to get the two computers to talk to each other by following an online guide and it wasn't as much of a palaver as we expected. Not sure about your printer question though, printers never work right for me :(

Sorry don't have the answer for you BUT I can highly recommend Apple Store staff for your question.  I've never had a question they couldn't answer (or they find someone else in store to help) and they go out of their way to spend time with you and make sure you get all the information you need.

I did a lot of research before buying both my iMac and my iPhone and on every occasion, and in several stores, I got very good customer service (even when it was clear I wasn't yet ready to buy!)

I can particularly recommend The Apple Store at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol.  They allowed me to stay in the store for 30 minutes past closing to help me buy my iPhone and I had a bevy of handsome techno boys zipping about to help make it happen!  Hats off to their Customer Service trainers...

Have only ever had Macs, and would never consider changing.  Not yet got a wireless printer at home, but had to do some owrk at a friends house a couple of weeks ago, and it just took 2 clicks to "join" my Mac to their all PC network, and get printing.

We have recently switched from Windows to Macs. For a while we had a windows pc left set up as it had stuff we needed on it but had our iMac and Macbook in use. To be honest once the Macs were in use the PC never got turned on as everything on them just seems so much more complicated once you have a mac!

I ended up copying everything I needed off it and put it onto the new mac and got rid and I do not miss it at all. We don't have a wireless printer but like others have said, 2 clicks and your online and printing. There is nothing difficult about them.

As for file sharing I think you can do it but windows will make it complicated for you. We had an external hard drive storing photos that was connected to windows and when plugged into the iMac could only take things from it, not save to it as it needed to be re formatted for mac.

Mac to Mac file transferring is so simple, you just drag from one and drop onto another but windows to mac won't be the same.

Thanks
The lad in the west quay store southampton was super even though we weren't buying there and then, he said for £70 they can transfer all you data, files & pics over for you plus it gives you a year of tuition if you need it. I thought this was quite good, all you have to do is take pc into the store and they do it in a couple of days.
The other thing we asked about using word and excel but he said they have their own version which is cheaper plus no probs with opening files that people have sent using a microsoft word program.
I am getting very close to making a deal i think, but we only had more ram (or whatever it is that makes the pc work faster) which cost a couple of hundred pounds for the guy to sort out and do for us and put windows 7 on mid last year. Tried to get my husband to change the whole computer then but he was trying to save money which i think hasn't worked out because our computer still isn't great speed plus i tunes is really slow to get up and do stuff with.
Have i talked myself into one enough yet!!

When I bought my iMac I used Stormfront in Salisbury - they transferred all my photos, and important documents, for free. Our PC was in the process of dying a slow and painful death so I had already moved the files onto a hard drive.  I didn't bother with the year of tuition but I've popped in a few times since to ask questions and they've been brilliant.  Same with the Apple store, I bought my iPhone from them but they still answer questions about the iMac for me and have shown me how to do things using one of their machines.

I had all my family and dog photos sorted very well on my PC and they've kind of come over in a lump which I really must take the time to sort out.  I ought to learn iPhoto properly and might sign up for evening classes at my local school.  It's not critical but I know I could make better use of it if I bothered to read some instructions!!  For this alone, if I was making the decision again, I might have opted for the 12 months tuition...