Alright you Mac dorks.....

MJ5150 · #1 11-06-2009, 08:16 PM

So I broke down tonight at the Apple store and let my wife buy an iMac. It's a 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 with 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. It is the 27" monitor one. It came with Snow Leopard 10.6 and iLife.

First thing I did was buy Fusion so I can run Windows 7 on it.

We haven't even hooked it up yet, I gotta do that as soon as I finish this thread. Then I'll tinker around with it and see what all the fuss is about these things.

-Mike

warwick.hoy · #2 11-06-2009, 08:18 PM

1 tera? That's a lot of itunes.

MJ5150 · #3 11-06-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

1 tera? That's a lot of itunes.

No joke. My new Gateway has 640GB and I was all excited about that.

I'm going to commandeer it the next time I watch a Pens game on line. The monitor is amazing. Better than my plasma.

-Mike

Sterling_Bass · #4 11-06-2009, 08:22 PM

That's an incredible machine. If I had the money, I'd get that model for the house, but my current MBP suits my needs. Give Snow Leopard a chance; it's a wonderful OS. Oh, and enjoy the new Magic Mouse!

MJ5150 · #5 11-06-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sterling_Bass

....enjoy the new Magic Mouse!

Apple definitely chose a fitting name for the mouse. That thing is magic. I just wish the wireless keyboard had a 10 key on it.

I will give Apple props...it was very simple to hook up. My wife did it while I was down here typing this thread. Granted that it is an all-in-one type machine, but it all came on and worked without any fuss. A couple clicks through a welcome screen and she was using it.

-Mike

anyonefortennis · #6 11-06-2009, 08:55 PM

Boot camp is free

I've been a windows developer for 5 years and just started some OS X coding and like it quite a bit. Windows will be my bread and butter for a while tho.

Cool free apps:

Gimp -> mspaint
Adium -> multiclient chat

tplyons · #7 11-06-2009, 08:56 PM

Cool... enjoy.

I've been thinking about picking up a copy of Windows 7 for my MBP.

Pilgrim · #8 11-06-2009, 09:31 PM

Good luck. I can't even open a program on a Mac. Not a bit intuitive to me, and the terminology makes no sense.

But they're great for those who like 'em.

Jim Campbell · #9 11-06-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Good luck. I can't even open a program on a Mac. Not a bit intuitive to me, and the terminology makes no sense.

But they're great for those who like 'em.

me neither.....2 grand for a computer and there is not even a manual.....i've been thinking i'd take some instruction

NJL · #10 11-06-2009, 10:30 PM

mike:

little snitch
adium
thunderbird (can us certificates and encryption)
true crypt
firefox 3.5+
enable spaces
backup with timemachine
superduper
xmarks
appcleaner
dropbox
onyx
chicken of the vnc
tunnelblick (vpns)
handbrake
1password
command then space= spotlight.. start typing a file name, app, contact, email, etc.. it's quick
lastly - you got bash right there

scottice · #11 11-06-2009, 10:34 PM

You'll love it!!!! Congratz!

MJ5150 · #12 11-06-2009, 10:43 PM

Tight...thanks NJL. I'll start DLing some of those tonight.

We went with Fusion since you can run both OS's at once. My understanding of BootCamp is you pick one to boot to and you have to restart the machine to get to the other OS. Am I wrong?

-Mike

synterx · #13 11-06-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

me neither.....2 grand for a computer and there is not even a manual.....i've been thinking i'd take some instruction

If you can't get going without a manual, take a trip to your local book store. There are literally dozens of very well written books on getting up to speed. A few are direct comparisons between Windows and Mac - do it this way on a PC, do it this way on a Mac...you won't need any instruction beyond that.

BTW, to open an app? If it's not in the Dock at the bottom already, just open up the Applications folder and double click the program you want to open. That's it. If you want to keep the program icon in the dock, click on the icon while the program is open, and choose "Keep in Dock". From then on you simply click once on the programs icon and it will open.

Really can't get much easier I don't believe.

MJ5150 · #14 11-06-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by synterx

Really can't get much easier I don't believe.

I agree. My wife, who is a novice with IT skills, had the thing on and running in less than five minutes. She got on the internet no problem, started using the voice recognition and text to speech software, was tinkering with the photo editing tools, and copying over a big chunk of files from her old Dell PC. She even had the built in camera functional and taking pictures of me and her with it. Tomorrow she is going to give GarageBand a whirl.

Seriously, it cant be much easier. Well, with one exception....the red X at the top right corner on Windows, is now on the left. That will take some getting used to.

-Mike

NJL · #15 11-06-2009, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Tight...thanks NJL. I'll start DLing some of those tonight.

We went with Fusion since you can run both OS's at once. My understanding of BootCamp is you pick one to boot to and you have to restart the machine to get to the other OS. Am I wrong?

-Mike

fusion is totally on my list, but i'm using virual box, which is opensource and free.. fusion is really loaded with great features.. maybe if i get this rackspace gig (i interviewed for 2.5 hours today with them today) i'll come up with the 70 bucks to buy it, it's well worth it..

as to boot camp - to my understanding, just makes a dual boot sys.. search around and you'll see peeps doing tri boot systems.. oh, and apple fail at this point, snow leopard isn't ready to use win 7 in bootcamp at this point, but i think 10.6.2 (out as a release to dev's right now) may address this..

have fun and text me if you have any questions..

Jim Campbell · #16 11-06-2009, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by synterx

If you can't get going without a manual, take a trip to your local book store. There are literally dozens of very well written books on getting up to speed. A few are direct comparisons between Windows and Mac - do it this way on a PC, do it this way on a Mac...you won't need any instruction beyond that.

BTW, to open an app? If it's not in the Dock at the bottom already, just open up the Applications folder and double click the program you want to open. That's it. If you want to keep the program icon in the dock, click on the icon while the program is open, and choose "Keep in Dock". From then on you simply click once on the programs icon and it will open.

Really can't get much easier I don't believe.

thanx for the help......when i see the kind of things that five year olds can do with these things....it's very humbling

scottice · #17 11-06-2009, 10:58 PM

You may look into Parallels to run windows as well.
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

davec · #18 11-06-2009, 11:02 PM

welcome to the cult!

synterx · #19 11-06-2009, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottice

You may look into Parallels to run windows as well.
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

Parallels is cool. Cheap, and easy to find (even my local office depot has a few Mac titles, Parallels being one of them).

I've been using XP on Parallels with zero issues for 2 years now. Pretty wild to click one icon in the Dock and within 30 seconds have a complete XP PC staring at me.

I'm biased, being a mac head for 20 years, but if there is one thing that I can say about PC vs Mac, it's that with a Mac, I want to click around and try things, but when I do that on my PC, I get stuck so quickly. Trying to install a printer on my network for example. Took me a LONG time to figure it out on the PC. Had to install things, find IP addresses, yuck.

So you new Mac guys here, don't fret. It's different in many ways, but the same in just as many ways. The Apple forums at apple.com are fabulous. Don't feel dumb by posting seemingly stupid questions there.
You will be rewarded.

MJ5150 · #20 11-06-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottice

You may look into Parallels to run windows as well.

We did. The gal at the Apple store really pushed that on us. Fusion is made by VMWare. I use VMWare Server and ESX, so I like their products. I made the choice to continue to support VMWare.

Another thing.....through the entire sales process, we were assisted by a middle 20's woman who really knew her stuff. She focused in on talking to my wife on her level which was very impressive to me. I even tried to stump her with some questions about the processor and compatibility with various Windows apps. When you go to places like Best Buy all you get there is a bunch of pimple faced WoW geeks who tell you how lame the systems they sell are and how it's way better to build your own.

Sure, the Apple store had a couple geeky looking guys working there, but dealing with this young woman was nice. She even carried the box out to the car and loaded it up for us.

-Mike