Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mavericks Edition

ACT

No Mac version of this Contacts/calendar program is available, but don’t let that stop you. Export and Import commands are the bread and butter of address and calendar programs. Your ACT life can find a happy home in any of several Mac programs:

• OS X’s free, built-in Contacts app.

  Tip

  Contacts syncs with Google Calendar on the Web, which opens up a fascinating possibility: All of your computers (Macs, Windows, iPhone) can maintain synchronized calendars, with Google Calendar serving as the mother ship.

• Outlook for Mac (part of Microsoft Office for Mac).

• BusyCal (www.busycal.com), which is networkable. That is, if you have more than one computer in the house, you can check your Rolodex from any machine on the network.

In any case, here are the instructions for transferring your addresses from ACT (version 5 or later) to the Mac:

1. In ACT for Windows, start by choosing File→Data Exchange→Export.

   The Export Wizard dialog box appears.

2. From the “File type” drop-down list, choose Text-Delimited. Specify a folder location and name for your exported file (call it Exported Contacts, for example). Click Next, and click Next on the next screen, too.

   Now you’re asked, “Which contact or group records do you want to export?”

3. Click “All records,” and then click Next.

   Now you see a list of the fields (information tidbits like City, State, and Zip) that ACT is prepared to export. You can save yourself time later if you take a moment now to remove the ones you don’t need (click a name and then click Remove ...