Mac Mini - Windows (nearly) Convert

[Ogi]

Hi,

Just got my first Mac, a really nice bit of kit - the Mac Mini.

I've got it on the internet, updated fully, got my 60 day trail of ".mac"!

Now what?!?

I'm going to do some photo editing/manipulation but what software doe you guys get?

Do I need a Firewall?
Do I need Anti Virus?
Do I need M$ Office?

As you can see I'm from a Windows background so don't really know what I'm doing as yet!

Can you recommend some sites for reading?

If you think of anything else to recommend, feel free to post!

Cheers in advance,
Carl.

 

[jimoblak]

>I'm going to do some photo editing/manipulation but what software doe you guys get?

iPhoto comes with your Mac. You may also use Photoshop from Adobe.com (commercial) or GIMP from gimp.org (free)

>Do I need a Firewall?

OSX comes with one in your preferences

>Do I need Anti Virus?

This is part of your .mac account but you can also purchase software like this separately. While the Mac has less viruses/exploits written for it, it only takes one to hit you hard.

>Do I need M$ Office?

That depends... do you? It is available but you can get along nicely with the iWork applications from Apple or with OpenOffice from openoffice.org (free)

As you can see I'm from a Windows background so don't really know what I'm doing as yet!


- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[jmgalvin]

Look in the Applications folder and see what's there. To make it easier to launch apps, you can drag the icon for any app (not its folder, but the app itself) from the Apllications window to the dock on your desktop.

I assume your machine came with Appleworks - a useful alternative to Office. Not as complete for heavy business use, but fine for all common tasks and it saves as and opens Office documents - .doc, .xls,.ppt. I assume you're a student, parent/husband/wife of a student, or teacher so, if you wanted MS Office Mac at home, you'd get the educational version (exactly same as the non-ed version) at a place like CompUSA for $139 or so and includes 3 licenses. The bundled Mail app on yu machine will do a fine job of handling email.

You can play with photos and do very basic editing in iPhoto. If you do put a lot of photos on the machine, IPhoto is handy for keeping track of them all - in various albums. If you want to do much better editing, Photoshop Elements will do just about anytihing you need for $80 to $100.

There are no no viruses for OSX. Any antivirus software you buy does not "protect" against virues since there are none. My company has a bunch of macs that have been connected to the web since the beginning of the commercial web and we've never had any problem and have never had any AV running.

You're gonna have to play around with the thing and see how things work, what's there, etc. Macs are a bit simpler than pcs, but changing still requires some getting used to.

 

[jimoblak]

There are no no viruses for OSX.

This might be misleading. Viruses appear on my Mac OSX all the time when I share files with Window users and Mac OS9 users. While they do not affect OSX right now, OSX can still be a conduit to spread these viruses. If you care about your fellow Windows users and Mac OS9 users, you might invest in anti-virus software. (Although they should have invested in their own antivirus software as well.)

There will be a Mac OSX virus so it makes sense to manage your computer well. It is foolish to believe that BSD/unix systems are immune from viruses.

Most exploits will require you to enter your administrator password. Simply watch what processes ask you to enter your password.

A handy program to prevent exploits is 'Little Snitch' from versiontracker.com. This program augments your native OSX firewall and monitors each application that attempts to access the internet.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[chiph]

From what I understand, most of the virii on Macs are of the MS-Office macro virus variety. So if you're exchanging documents with friends/coworkers, you'll want anti-virus just for that reason.

You'll want a hardware firewall in any case -- you need to protect your Windows machines, as well as protect yourself from DOS attacks (let the firewall box get swamped, you can keep on working).

BTW, welcome to Macintosh. I've had my mini (my first Mac) for a couple of months now, and it's excellent. It just works.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
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[Ogi]

Hi,

Thanks for that, I'll use my free trial on .mac and see what it really offers, not too much at the moment to warrant the payment asked.

I'll see about purchasing Photoshop, we use it at work so see what I can arrange to reduce the cost.

My DSL connection runs through a D-Link 604+ Modem/Router and is firewalled so unless I use a direct connection I should be okay.

I'll stick with Appleworks for the time being, funds are very low as I thought I'd get the Mac and then realised my car needs insuring....D'Oh!

I'm looking around at versiontracker.com, loads of stuff there, will keep me busy for months!

I've downloaded and installed Americas Army, still the same problem though! PunkBuster, every day there is a 490K download, damn annoying but at least I can play it!

One thing guys! "Virus" is the word for those nasty little things, regardless of numbers, "Virii","Viruses" etc are all made up words! Wver since a collegue of mine went on a mission to search out the correct term for single/multiple virus (viruses,virii ) I inform people of this little tit-bit of information!!!

Many thanks for all your input, I'll be watching this area to see if I can help any! My speciality is/was Citrix.

Carl.

 

[jimoblak]

1) There is no need to limit yourself to AppleWorks when OpenOffice.org is free and in some respects, better than Microsoft Office. Embrace the open source world!

2) If you are the primary user of a Photoshop license at work, the EULA may allow you to install the same software at home. Consult the EULA and your boss for details.

3)

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=viruses

oy. vernacular. oy.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[Ogi]

1) Already use it on my laptop!

2) Didn't realise but we use PC's at work

3) D'Oh!!!!! But will pass that on

Nice one!

Thanks for all your input!
Carl.

 

[SimonDavis]

I had the same question when I first got a Mac. I got it because I was tired of fighting with Mac users without really knowing what I was talking about.

I have to say, I'll still use Windows in my office - the Mac just won't talk to our network very well, but I do like it!

I have a G5 tower, single 1.8 that I use for;

- Photoshop
- Webdesign (Dreamweaver MX2004)
- A webserver - I have a couple of domains just for messing about with. OSX has Apache 1.3.x built in, and it works just fine as a webserver.
- I have MS office 2004, becuse that's what we use in the office. Open office is supposed to be good, but has some speed issues - docs taking a long time to open etc, but it's free, so I guess if you have the time, it probably a good alternative.
- Music - I have 2 x 80gb sata disks, so plenty of room for storing my DC collection, and loading the Ipod.
- Webcam - I got an Isight, and we use it sometimes to let Granny see my daughter, as I live in a different country to my family.

None of which Windows won't do, but the Mac does it all just as well.

You'll find it frustrating to start with, but will gradually get to like it. I'm on my second Mac now, and have moved my wife to them (she got my old Imac when I bought the G5, heh).