Common PC and Mac file formats and their common applications.

Download my résumé as a Word compressed zip file and Adobe Acrobat.   Need computer help? Book now to resolve most computer issues.   Tech support jobs.
 

Many of the data formats below also have a web based converter that should be tried before purchasing any software.

M1 processor support. Apple's newly released processor in 2020 lacks Boot Camp Support, but Parallels, mentioned below offers Windows virtualization on the processor.

If you came to this page as a direct link from elsewhere, check my Migrating from 9 to X FAQ for additional software title search engines for the Mac, if the kind of software you need isn't found here. Additional software titles ones will be added to this page as time permits. If you would like to suggest a title be included, please e-mail me. Three separate link pages on my site of interest include my Macgamepages FAQ, My web browser FAQ, and my Printers FAQ.
RAGE Macintosh Explorer which combines the best of Microsoft Windows and Mac file management including tree based directory file management. Many of the formats below can be converted online through the website: Zamzar including Microsoft Publisher.

The following outline links to a series of tables that include Mac software equivalent titles to Windows compatible titles that work without emulation or virtualization:

• Office formats
• E-mail and addressbooks
• Vector (line diagram and drawings), GPS (satellite tracking), and Raster (pixel based imagery)
• Video and Audio <>

  Office formats

  Microsoft Project Smartsheet

  Microsoft Access Filemaker Pro Migrator with Filemaker or Filemaker with JDBC Apache Drill ODBC Manager - offers links to ODBC database engines from Mac OS X

  Office (Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint1) SoftMaker Office2 Panergy Software DocXConveter (original developer no longer exists), Neo Office Microsoft Office Mac (official website), iWork, Think Free Office, Open Office, Libre Office, Neo Office, Google Docs, Zoho.com My user tip on Apple Support Communities on Office Alternatives  OnlyOffice

  Word and Powerpoint only iWork version '06 and earlier

  Word and Excel Only Mariner Software's Calc and Write, Appleworks (only limited support in Appleworks)

  limited Word and Excel Appleworks

  Word only Bean, Nisus Express, Mellel, TextEdit (comes with all versions of Mac OS X, and is mostly RTF only)

  Wordperfect Abiword, Neooffice, MaclinkPlus (No longer published, may be in some used software shops)

  Powerpoint only (in read only mode) PPT Tools guide lists several free solutions for Powerpoint viewing

  Additional Word, Excel PC Word Processor and Spreadsheet conversion software Dataviz MaclinkPlus (no longer published, may be in some used software shops)

  1) Link found searching for cheaper Office licenses.  Email  if you have verified this link is good, and will update.
  
  2) Softmaker Office is the first Office Clone to accurately represent my résumé as laid out over official Microsoft Word without any adjustments.    And it is compatible with Mojave and later.   This is a personal recommendation from the author of the website, given many people will be made obsolete by Microsoft's dropping of licensing of Office 2019, October 10, 2023

• E-mail and Addressbook

  Exchange & Outlook Apple's Mail, Entourage (part of Microsoft Office for the Mac)

  Enterouge (included with Microsoft's Office for Mac) alternative Entourage Migration FAQ.

  Hotmail Apple's Mail has a plugin available for it.

  Lotus Notes Stonybrook shows how easy it is to setup Lotus Notes for the Mac

  LDIF Apple's Addressbook program has built-in support LDIF addresses.

  Act! ACT for Mac (supports version 6 and later).

   

  Vector, GPS, and Raster

  AutoCad Archicad Sketchup, QCad Engineered Software's PowerCADD, TurboCad, Ashlar Vellum Microspotdwgviewer - software to read DWG files on a Mac. The website http://www.architosh.com/ is a great resource for CAD programs and users of CAD on the Macintosh platform where you can check for reviews and user opinions about the various products. My user tip on AutoCAD alternatives on Apple Support Communities

  Visio Concept Draw's Visio 0 converter which converts all your Visio files to the crossplatform Concept Draw software. Lucidchart - online Visio alternative MacHow listing - a review of several alternatives in one spot. OmniGraffile, Crossover Mac has Visio module for editing Visio right on the Mac LibreOffice (read only)

  Global Positioning System (GPS) RoadNav, RouteBuddy, MacGPS Pro, GPSY, Macmap usergroup on Yahoo (no affiliation with Macmaps, and was discovered long after I created the Macmaps domain)

  Photo and Painting Graphic Converter, Microfrontier's ColorIt, Seashore, iPhoto (included with every Mac), MacGimp, and of course plenty of Adobe titles from Photoshop, to Illustrator to InDesign to Photoshop Elements, Paintbrush, PhotoLine

  Microsoft Publisher LibreOffice v4.10 or later

   

  Video and Audio

  Movie Editing iMovie (included with every Mac), Final Cut Express, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier

  Audio MPEG-3, AIFF, WAVE, Apple Lossless, AAC support iTunes (included with every Mac), Audacity with LAME supports free direct recording of MPEG-3 from audio input

  MIDI support Apple Garageband (included with every Mac)

  Mixing and notation software Passport Music (formerly GVOX) Encore, Sibelius, Apple Soundtrack, Apple Logic Pro, Apple Logic Express, Steinberg's Cubase.