Are you thinking of replacing your Windows computer with a Macintosh but a bit hesitant to take the plunge? Here are answers to some frequently asked questions that may help you decide to proceed:

• How will I open all my Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents?

You can buy Microsoft Office 365 for Macintosh (or just transfer your existing license). That's right, you can run Office on your new Mac. In fact, MS has a long history of selling Macintosh products. Word was one of the earliest programs for Macintosh, at a time when WordPerfect was the dominant word processor for PCs. Excel wasn't far behind, and PowerPoint followed.

Alternatively, Apple's own iWork package, consisting of the word processor/page layout program Pages, the spreadsheet program Numbers and the presentation program Keynote, can open and save as the corresponding Microsoft documents.

• What about my other programs?

Many of the other major programs - Adobe Creative Cloud, TurboTax, and Quickbooks, to name just a few - are available for the macOS, and most everything else has a Macintosh equivalent you'll be very happy with. Apple's iLife suite - including Photos and iMovie - will not only replace the equivalent Windows programs but will likely make you wonder why you ever were happy with them

• What about my other hardware?

All digital cameras will work with Photos, but if you're currently using the manufacturer's software and prefer to keep using it, all major camera brands have Mac versions available. Most recent scanners and nearly all printers have Mac drivers available. Most camcorders will work with iMovie and Photos. External hard drives and thumb drives are supported and, in fact, can usually be used without reformatting.

• There are some Windows programs I simply cannot do without. Isn't that a dealbreaker?

Well, no. There's a commercial program available, Parallels Desktop, that lets you install Windows without partitioning your drive and run it while you're running the macOS normally, as if Windows is just another Mac programs. Not only that, you can easily transfer files from one OS to the other by simple drag-n-drop. Both retail for about $80 but can usually be purchased at lower prices. Parallels let you use most any Windows version you want to, and you can even install multiple versions of Windows and run them independently if you'd like.

• Okay, you've convinced me. How can I transfer my files?

Apple has your back on this. When you boot up a new Mac for the first time you're asked whether you want to transfer files from another computer or hard drive. The other computer can be a PC running Windows. Apple provides you with a link to follow on the PC to download and install the required utility. Once it's installed, all your songs, photos, movies, documents, address book entries, even email messages, get put in the right place. One caveat - if your music is in the form of protected Windows Media files, which isn't common on recent computers, you'll need to first install iTunes on the PC and let it import them and convert them.

Of course, if you're in the Jacksonville area, you can get me to take care of all of this for you.