Thinking of Switching To MAC

[DigitalSwag]

Hello All,

I am looking for general advice from persons in the know when it comes to switching from Windows to MAC.

I am soo - tired of viruses/maleware/instability/malfunctions, etc...

The new Mac Book Pro seems quite appealing to my eyes and if it runs as good as they (at the Apple store) would have me believe - I will make the change by summer.

I was hoping that some persons here with experience in both systems might give me some advice or let me know what I must lookout for if I were to make the change.

It seems to me that most people consider this as significant as converting from Catholisism to Judaism or visa v. Every Windows user tells me "DON'T DO IT!!" resoundingly. Every Apple user I've talked to says "you'll NEVER go back."

I am so - confused. and at the prices these units go for MAC or Windows I can't afford to make a mistake one way or the other.

I mostly use my pc for creating documents in MS Word, Excel spreadsheets, surfing the net with Firefox, listening to music, and I'd like to make photo albums & create and edit short videos this summer with my divi camera. I do play a few games but I am not a "gamer" by any means.

Any advice or input is gratefully appreciated. Major Geeks has been "THE" best site on the entire Internet when it comes to help that I have found in the 12 plus years that I have been on the net.... and yes-yes, I am old now at 42.

[Adrynalyne]

Mac would suit you fine for what you want.

As for games, you'd probably have to look into Apple Boot Camp, so you can duel boot with XP.

Thats right, the new Intel Macs allow you to have it all

[DigitalSwag]

Thank you "A",

I was delighted when Apple teamed with Intel, though I am surprised they didn't team with AMD instead. Seems to me it would have been a good alliance. But I understand that some of the folks at Apple and Intel go way back in the manufacturing business together.

Anyways, the dual boot idea has been very attractive to me - I suspected this would be possible when I heard Steve Jaabs talking at the MACWORLD expo (well via my quicktime player I mean - not in person).

Anyhoo - I must probably buy a MAC for Dummies book or something like that. Boot Camp, and the Apple stores Genius bars will be helpful too I suspect.

In my personal experience it is ALWAYS better to ask those who have first hand experience... in this case in both PC and MAC.

Thanks "A"

I value your input greatly

[Adrynalyne]

I envy you. I have a PowerPC Powerbook, and they are just too expensive to buy often

I've no doubt you will be delighted with the MacBook Pro. there are some OS quirks you'll need to get used to, but once you move away from the "Windows" way of thinking, you'll have a great time. For example, I resisted Expose for a long time, and now that I am used to it, Im in love.

Im not 100% on this, but Im pretty sure the iBook line is being retired for a 13in. Macbook w/ Intel CPU.

So, if price is an issue, you may want to hold off just for a wee bit.

[DigitalSwag]

A,

Hopefully, by summer I should be able to get a Mac Book Pro with a 23" HD flatscreen & fully loaded with my preferred MAC software and RAM. It is either this or I go to Hypersonic/Monarch PC/Widow PC/Velocity Micro or something similar, and purchase a monster AMD 64 w/ SLI. I'd prefer the MAC at this point. I can only do this once though ($$$ is an obstacle) so I don't want to screw myself up financially by picking the wrong rig.

As it stands I am gaining the opinion that I will prefer an OS that was custom made for the hardware. That fact compiled with Apple's knack for creating aesthetically, and ergonomically designed computers is attractive. Throw in the fact that the OS is based a a much more stabel kernel, and 99.8% or of all spyware, viruses, trojan's, maleware, etc., is aimed towards the Window platform, and I think I -- well I just built my own case for the switch over right there.

I'd like to ask you a sidebar question. Do you know who I can ask or if I should ask about getting my custom status option under my profile? I have been wondering about this since I read it. I didn't know if you had to commit some great act of courage or one can simply ask?

[Adrynalyne]

Well...

A custom title is usually pushed on ya, but I tell ya what...PM Kodo and ask him lots of technical questions and a custom title, and see what he comes up with.

Tell him I referred you :D :D

Regarding Mac ram...get it from crucial.com. Order from Apple with the min. amount, then get extra ram from them. Much, much cheaper, and they guarantee compatibility.

I paid 70 bucks for 512mb PC2700 for my PB. Apple charges quite a bit more.

[DigitalSwag]

Wow!! Good price! Much better than the Apple store... When it comes down to it these manufacturers are all Pirates of one kind or another. ::

[DigitalSwag]

Thanks "A" - I sent Kodo a PM.

[Surfers Do Charlie]

Hi guys

I'm looking at buying one of the new iMacs next week, with Boot Camp installed, but to be honest I'm so sick of the problems I've had with spyware and stuff on my pcs for the last 10 years, that I don't want Windows on my machine.

This is probably a dumb question, but if I never start up the windows os, will my Mac OS still be at danger from any nasties that the windows one could pick up from the other side of the partition ?

How easy would it be to uninstall windows and just keep the installation cd if I ever want it in the future ?

Thanks in advance...

[Surfers Do Charlie]

Originally Posted by Surfers Do Charlie

Hi guys

I'm looking at buying one of the new iMacs next week, with Boot Camp installed, but to be honest I'm so sick of the problems I've had with spyware and stuff on my pcs for the last 10 years, that I don't want Windows on my machine.

This is probably a dumb question, but if I never start up the windows os, will my Mac OS still be at danger from any nasties that the windows one could pick up from the other side of the partition ?

How easy would it be to uninstall windows and just keep the installation cd if I ever want it in the future ?

Thanks in advance...

I think I've answered my own question now - just spoke to the guys at Apple and XP doesn't come pre-installed, you download it yourself.

But I guess you all probably knew that....

[otaku244]

Originally Posted by Surfers Do Charlie

Hi guys

This is probably a dumb question, but if I never start up the windows os, will my Mac OS still be at danger from any nasties that the windows one could pick up from the other side of the partition ?

I can't say for sure, but I figure it's a lot like having a dual boot linux/XP system (as OS X is basically a linux distribution).
Viruses CAN load into the XP part and, if programmed to, propagate into any storage they are connected to. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY WILL AFFECT THE NON-WINDOWS OS! This is because XP runs on languages that are not supported by the other OSs. So they may copy into the OS X partition, but they will be benign (and easily deleteable).

If you are truely paranoid about this possibility with windows, disable the OS X partition in your Windows environment so that XP can't access it. You could also reciprocate on the OS X side, but that won't be necessary (yet) since OS X in all probability won't be able to run such malicious programs.

[Adrynalyne]

Anything that infects XP will not affect OS X.

[otaku244]

Originally Posted by Adrynalyne

Anything that infects XP will not affect OS X.

Sorry, but that is NOT true. There are 1 or 2 viruses (out of the hundreds of thousands out there) that ARE cross compatable. I will admit that you have a better chance of getting struck by a meteor than you do of getting them, but they are out there.

Fortunately, much of the security vulnerabilities found in Apple OS are exposed from rigorous preemptive "proof-of-concept" testing. Apple snuffs them out quick. They have hundreds of security protocols over XP that also keep viruses from being effective.
Don't let anyone tell you that 'the reason why OSX does not have viruses is b/c no one writes them.' People do. It's just that their security inside OS X is like a brick wall compared to XP's screen door.
As Apple gains popularity, we will see more viruses (cross compatable or otherwise). However, I would find it hard to believe any would be as affective as those found for XP.

[Surfers Do Charlie]

Originally Posted by otaku244

I can't say for sure, but I figure it's a lot like having a dual boot linux/XP system (as OS X is basically a linux distribution).
Viruses CAN load into the XP part and, if programmed to, propagate into any storage they are connected to. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY WILL AFFECT THE NON-WINDOWS OS! This is because XP runs on languages that are not supported by the other OSs. So they may copy into the OS X partition, but they will be benign (and easily deleteable).

If you are truely paranoid about this possibility with windows, disable the OS X partition in your Windows environment so that XP can't access it. You could also reciprocate on the OS X side, but that won't be necessary (yet) since OS X in all probability won't be able to run such malicious programs.

Thanks for that, although after years of working with Windows, I am paranoid about either getting infected or having to run multiple anti-spyware programs that slow down my machine. I'm looking to buy the machine towards the end of next week, so I'll check it out and I may be back to you to ask how to disable the OS X partition from the Windows side if that's okay.

As a side issue, what security systems do I need to put in as soon as I get the machine ? I guess I'll still need a firewall installing, but do I need to put in an anti-virus program ? I picked up this link in another thread:

http://www.unwantedlinks.com/macsupport.htm

but I'd appreciate a quick list of what you reckon I need to install to be covered.

[IanTheGeek]

switching to mac!??! NOOO!!! hahahaha... j/k...

Best of luck with your decision.

[otaku244]

Originally Posted by Surfers Do Charlie

As a side issue, what security systems do I need to put in as soon as I get the machine ? I guess I'll still need a firewall installing, but do I need to put in an anti-virus program ?

OS X already has a built in firewall. You just need to make sure it is running. So unless you want one that reports intrusion attempts, I wouldn't worry about it.

Antivirus.... I used Virex for a while, but all it kept detecting was benign XP viruses that managed to load onto my system one way or another. I had to delete them manually b/c Virex wouldn't. After three years of surfing the web, I have gotten 0 Mac-compatible viruses.

I have just tested MacScan on my PB and found nothing.

To be honest, I got tired of checking and finding nothing. Virex got corrupted and it made my life miserable for a month getting it off. I didn't reinstall it since my .Mac account didn't provide updates any longer.

What I do now is I have a copy of Ubuntu (a linux distrobution) that i can boot from a disc if something goes wrong and I believe I have a security threat. I have an external HDD that I back up all my files to. I keep my install disc on hand. If something were to go wrong, I'm just going to wipe the thing. The amount of time, agravation, processor cycles, and battery life invested in finding nothing is more than the alternative of just wiping and restoring.
I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but I guess after deleting hundreds of viruses DAILY from XP machines that came my way, I stopped caring about that which was not giving me any trouble.

[Surfers Do Charlie]

Originally Posted by otaku244

OS X already has a built in firewall. You just need to make sure it is running. So unless you want one that reports intrusion attempts, I wouldn't worry about it.

Antivirus.... I used Virex for a while, but all it kept detecting was benign XP viruses that managed to load onto my system one way or another. I had to delete them manually b/c Virex wouldn't. After three years of surfing the web, I have gotten 0 Mac-compatible viruses.

I have just tested MacScan on my PB and found nothing.

To be honest, I got tired of checking and finding nothing. Virex got corrupted and it made my life miserable for a month getting it off. I didn't reinstall it since my .Mac account didn't provide updates any longer.

That's useful info - thanks. I'm going to run with the standard firewall and run MacScan every so often to keep a check on things. The Ubuntu os looks cool, but I figure it probably needs a bit more knowledge than I have to run it.

I'm looking forward to entering the world of the Mac - I'm not even running XP, I'm still running Me and it's about as stable as a blancmange...

[otaku244]

Running Window F*** ME?!

I could see why you would want to make the switch.

About the MacScan, though, I was saying that I tested it on my comp when you referenced it and found nothing. In the interest of saving space on my PB, I deleted it after checking thuroughly that it was working properly.

As for Ubuntu, if you can handle the learning curve of OS X, you can play with ubuntu. It runs from a LIVE CD (a.k.a.: it boots from the cd as the primary OS. No hard drive needed or affected). By default, it should load properly at boot time. I keep it on hand for a multitude of reasons, but I have never had to use if for utilitarian purposes yet (and I hope it stays that way!). It's free and you can download it online. I use similar Linux CDs to fix PCs or replace existing Window OSs.

[Adrynalyne]

Originally Posted by otaku244

Sorry, but that is NOT true. There are 1 or 2 viruses (out of the hundreds of thousands out there) that ARE cross compatable. I will admit that you have a better chance of getting struck by a meteor than you do of getting them, but they are out there.

Name them please. To say they exist, but give no links or explanation helps nobody.

[Surfers Do Charlie]

Originally Posted by otaku244

Running Window F*** ME?!

As for Ubuntu, if you can handle the learning curve of OS X, you can play with ubuntu. It runs from a LIVE CD (a.k.a.: it boots from the cd as the primary OS. No hard drive needed or affected). By default, it should load properly at boot time. I keep it on hand for a multitude of reasons, but I have never had to use if for utilitarian purposes yet (and I hope it stays that way!). It's free and you can download it online. I use similar Linux CDs to fix PCs or replace existing Window OSs.

Yeah, yeah....although running Me maybe is the right word - mine's like an arthritic mould, it's so slow.

So you don't replace OSx with Ubuntu ? That's makes sense now - I was wary of wiping my brand new os to replace it with something I'd never come across, but if you run it over the top of OSx directly from cd I can see the point. I'll give it a go as soon as I've got to grips with the new Mac.