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PowerPoint PC vs Mac: Compare PPT Features on Different Platforms

Nurma Febriana
Nurma Febriana
PowerPoint PC vs Mac

Table of Contents

PowerPoint PC vs Mac: Compare PowerPoint Features on Different Platforms

There are subtle differences between PowerPoint PC vs Mac. You know that PowerPoint has always been synonymous with PC (Windows). The fact is that PowerPoint was initially for the Mac. PowerPoint was a presenter at the time, but in 1987 got the current PowerPoint name.

At a glance, we see the  PowerPoint PC vs Mac differences. Many tools like Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, and Outlook reveal more significant contrasts between the two operating systems. Since you’re used to creating PowerPoint slides on a PC, you’ll notice some differences the first time you try the same thing on a Mac. PowerPoint also works well on Apple computers, allowing Mac users to quickly and easily create world-class presentations.

With a Mac, some unique features don’t appear on Windows. For example, some aspects of presenter view operate differently on a Mac, and there’s added AppleScript and Automator support. Dynamic Reorder is the most prominent additional feature for customizing layered objects on a slide.

Come on, check out our article on the differences between PowerPoint PC vs Mac.

We hope you enjoy it and it can be helpful for you.

PowerPoint PC vs Mac According to Two Perspectives

1. User Brain

Generally, some users sometimes like the features of PowerPoint PCs. Others, however, like the Mac PowerPoint features.

For example, Mac users can enjoy transparent images and hexagonal color codes before they finally appear for PC users.

With all that in mind, here are what we found to be the most significant differences between the latest* versions of PowerPoint PC and  Mac:

2. Developer’s Brain

If you want to know the difference between PowerPoint PC vs Mac  with a developer’s brain, here are some of the main things you need to know:

PowerPoint on Mac is not as powerful as the PC version of PowerPoint, i.e., it lacks essential features. A PowerPoint feature you can find on a PC, but it’s still on a Mac.

Twenty different features of PowerPoint PC vs Mac

1. Drawing Ruler

You can do many drawing pens on your touch screen in PowerPoint on PC. It might be beneficial to have the advantage in helping straight lines.

2. Keyboard Access to the Ribbon

You use the Alt key on a PC to open key commands and navigate the ribbon almost entirely without a mouse.

3. Photo Album

You can take hundreds of photos in one folder, then create a PowerPoint slideshow on Mac. 

4. Compare

A new feature lets you open two versions of a single PowerPoint file under the Review tab and identify the differences.

5. Picture Layouts

Macs have image layouts under SmartArt, but you still can’t select multiple photos and turn them into mechanical designs like our Windows friends.

6. Insert Screen Recording

This feature makes video tutorials from within PPT relatively easy on PC and makes animated GIFs quickly in this article.

7. Text to Speech

You press a button and have PowerPoint transcribe your voice. You can find this on Dell and HP brands laptops.

8. Reapply Master Notes

You can reapply these master notes by Right-clicking, so you reapply them on PC, but not on Mac.

9. Resize the Presenter View Window

On PC, you can easily resize Presenter View, which is very useful in this age of Zoom and remote presentations. Macs don’t support Zoom yet. But Windows already supports zoom.

10. Copy Paste Section

You can copy one section at a time, keeping the section names.

11. Black and White Display

Mac and PC have different color displays. That means the colors of slides created on a PC are different from those on a Mac. They will be lighter on Mac. There is a difference in screen color when opening Microsoft Office on Windows with Mac.

12. Import/Export QAT

You can’t place the Quick Access Toolbar under the ribbon on a Mac, and development can’t import or export customization files. On PC, you can import shapes from illustrators saved as emf. and ungroup them to create shapes that you can change their color.

13. Set Custom Font Theme

You can create templates for clients and set the font theme to something other than the default with Windows. PCs have a better ability to develop themes.

14. Edit Link

Macs can’t translate most objects that you embed in a PC PowerPoint presentation. Hyperlinks link them to the presentation file instead of embedding these files (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.). You can relink the Excel file you renamed and moved. The same goes for tables and spreadsheets. 

But, PowerPoint for Mac is great because you can insert PDF and EPS files directly.

15. Animation Timeline

You may find some functions that allow editing on one platform, but you can only view in slideshow mode from other platforms. Powerpoint PC has more control over animations by selecting a group and changing their state altogether (your Mac will have to do this one at a time). Mac doesn’t have the Animation Painter*, a time-saving tool that lets you apply animations to other objects in a presentation.

And Mac cannot enter appropriately formatted equations, video or animation triggers, and video trimming.

For example, the Motion Path animation in PowerPoint PC can be viewed on the Mac, but you can’t add or edit the motion path.

16. Compatibility Check

PowerPoint for Mac includes a compatibility report option and checks for issues– then tells you exactly what features need to be compromised and what won’t work.

PowerPoint PCs, especially 2013, have a similar compatibility checker that you can access from Files – but this option only looks at compatibility issues, no help for problems with the Mac version.

17. Keynote

The Mac has Keynote, which seems to be superior to Powerpoint in every way – and it’s cheap/free.

Keynote exploits multimedia features, resulting in better Mac slideshows with solid transitions and a more elegant UI.

18. Think folder

It would be best if you first did for both PowerPoint PC and Mac to create an empty folder for the presentation you make to hold all the media assets, including pictures, sound, and movie files. You must put it in this folder before inserting it as a link in PowerPoint. Before creating links to Word documents, Excel sheets, PDFs, or other documents, you must copy all these folders. You can share the entire folder and all its contents. For example, you are using dropbox.

19. Stay Current

It would be best to keep all your PowerPoint PC and Mac software up to date. You can check the latest service pack for Microsoft Office for Windows here: http://www.microsoft.com/powerpoint or for Mac here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac

The latest versions of PowerPoint (2013 for Windows and 2011 for Mac) have fewer compatibility issues than previous versions.

20. Font

Use the font as default on PC (Windows) and Mac. For example, Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, or Calibri.

Remember, We recommend that you space the text. You can add additional lines to a text box on the Windows or Mac version of PowerPoint.

See also:

PowerPoint’s New Recording Studio Helps You Tell Your Story in Your Words

How to Choose the Best Presentation Design Agency

8 Possible Presentation Design Trends 2022 We Need to Prepare

RRGraph Special Services, Compared to Our Competitors

Conclusion Difference PowerPoint PC vs Mac

PowerPoint PC and Mac, know that they are very different. You don’t have to master every little difference between PowerPoint PC vs Mac, but you do. Whatever platform you choose to run PowerPoint on, be it PC (Windows) or Mac, make sure you are using the latest version of the software because it reduces incompatibility issues and allows you to take advantage of the functionality. So that your presentation still looks perfect.

Let’s visit RRSlide to download free PowerPoint templates. But wait, don’t go anywhere and stay here with our Blog to keep up-to-date on all the best pitch deck template collections and design advice from our PowerPoint experts!

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