Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

We bought the Apple Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard recently. This cost a little under £1K from PC World (there are other outlets). The main reason why we bought this product is that we wanted to get away from the problems of 'Vista' and other issues with Microsoft Windows.

This is a superb computer. It has a magnificent 24" flat screen and is very well constructed. It has a very impressive capacity and since we bought it in August it has run very well indeed. I would have rated it with 5 stars were it not for the support being less impressive than the product. Being a 'petrolhead' I compare the service with what I would expect from a vehicle dealership, and in the case of Mac it does not match up all that well. You get 90 days free telephone consultation when you buy the product, but this is not available at weekends or late in the evening when you would need it. Terminology with Apple Mac is different from Microsoft, and they should provide a glossary of terms with the computer, which they don't. The manual provided is not user-friendly for over-50s (like me) as the print is so small; I fail to understand this obsession with instructions being in miniature!

The best thing to do, if you are transferring from Windows to Mac, is to avail yourself of tuition at a Mac store during the 90 day period. There is no 'home visit' facility, which puts disabled people at a disadvantage and the company needs to consider this; interpreting instructions over the phone can be very stressful, if you are not familiar with the computer's workings. I am not saying the company is unhelpful - just that they could (and should) improve the support service, and, indeed, for a product of this price should offer free support for at least six months.

A very good thing is that Apple Mac computers have no security issues and you do not need anti-virus software. Also, you are not bombarded with advertising. There is a Microsoft Office package which is especially for Mac, but it is quite expensive - it is worth negotiating a deal when you buy the computer. Likewise, other products are available in Mac specification and we have not had any major problems in this respect.

The speakers built into the OS X are very good indeed, and we have taken to watching iplayer on it as it is almost as good as a TV. Some people may find the keyboard a tad small (incidentally, you have to learn the key functions) and Apple Mac would do well to embolden the labelling of the keys.

All in all, a very good product despite the support shortcomings.