jgmegiel wrote:
I a new mac used and have to do a powerpoint presentation, how? Is there a compatable program ?
Do you need to do a presentation, or do you need to do a PowerPoint presentation?
PowerPoint is presentation software by Microsoft, part of Microsoft Office. If you want to use it, you need to buy it from Microsoft.
Apple has its own presentation software, called Keynote, and it's quite well regarded. However, it is not bundled with Mac OS X, and you have to buy it from Apple, either by itself, or as part of a suite called iWork, which is a sort of counterpart to Microsoft Office.
If you need compatibility with PowerPoint, but can't afford to buy it, you can try OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Both are free; they are based on the same software and they are designed for a high degree of compatibility with MS Office. There is also NeoOffice, based on the same software as the other two; it is supposed to be more Mac-like than the others, but, although theoretically free, it requires a (relatively) small fee to download, which means it's not really free. None of the three is as well polished or well supported as MS Office or iWork, but they do work quite well.