Do everyday things right out of the box.

Before you can start emailing or chatting on Windows 7, you have to download the necessary applications. A new computer should be able to do these things and more from the get-go. And a Mac does. You get Mail for sending and receiving email, iCal for managing appointments and important events, Address Book for organizing your contacts, iPhoto for editing and sharing your photos, iTunes for all things entertainment, and a handful of other fun and useful applications you’ll wonder how you ever lived without.

Chat with multiplicity.

Any computer will let you video chat. But only on a Mac can you use iChat and the built-in camera to video chat with up to three people at the same time.1 Or use the iChat Theater feature to present photos, slides, movies, and more to anyone, anywhere in the world. FaceTime for Mac makes it possible to talk, smile, wave, and laugh with anyone on an iPhone 4, iPod touch, or Mac from your Mac over Wi-Fi.

Find files fast.

With so many files on your computer, finding a specific one can be a challenge. Not on a Mac. Features like Spotlight and Quick Look make locating the file you’re looking for effortless — even if you don’t know the filename. Say you’re searching for a document, and the only thing you recall about it is a sentence with the words “corporate partners.” Open Spotlight, type “corporate partners,” and your Mac generates a list of files that contain those words. And with Quick Look, you don’t need to open an application to verify that you’ve found the right file. Just select the document, press the Space bar, and Quick Look shows you a preview of it.