[chagle]

Hello all,

Well I've done it - Placed my order last night for my iMac! :-)

I've not gone with the 20" Vanillla system - I customized it a little:

2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
256MB VRAM
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
250GB Serial ATA Drive
SuperDrive 8X (DVDR-DL/CD-RW)
Apple USB Modem
WL KYBD & MSE + MAC OS X-GBR
Country Kit-GBR

I've ordered the extended service thingy and also the subbie to .Mac - You got £40 off...

Delivery of a little slower as it's a customized job! But in the meatime, I can ask lots of questions and read my 2 newly purchased Mac books! :-)

[3g-g]

Ooo, that's the same as mine 'cept mine is a 2.16 and I didn't get the wireless mouse and keyboard!

I tell ya, once it's here, as everyone else that's gone Mac will tell you, you'll wonder why you ever had a windows system in the first place!

:)

[Hands0n]

Nice one Chagle - as 3g-g says, you'll wonder how you ever did without after a very short while.

Just to keep myself in single-browser mode I eschewed the Mac Safari browser for Firefox - saves me having to switch brain cells as I move betwixt Windoze and OS X. Other than that, I've pretty much moved everything over to the Macs.

Grab hold of Mac Format magazine - its a good read and has lots of tutorials and stuff. They also do a Podcast on iTunes which is well worth downloading and having a listen to - I've got the lot since mid-last year.

[Ben]

Congratulations! Lovely spec, I'm sure you're going to love it.

[@NickyColman]

Congrats!! Once you go Mac you will never go back!!

[chagle]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your feedback!

I'm currently taken out a £1 subbie for MacUser magazine - £1 for 3 issues, can't be bad. But certainly looking at Mac Format!

Does anyone else subscribe to .Mac?

Also, does anyone know (can't find it but read it in a book somewhere) if the iMac does actually come with built in speakers? If so, any good?

Also (more questions) I've read a lot about not actually shutting Mac OS X down but putting the system to sleep - Usually with my Windows PC I shutdown all the time.. is 'sleeping' the Mac the better option. I'm also thinking about power consumption.. :-)

... more questions to follow!

[miffed]

Welcome to the fold :D

Yes mate , the iMac does indeed have built in speakers , The quality is pretty good IMO
When I first got it , I was a little "unimpressed" with the quality - but when you take a step back and remember that the sound is coming from that that LCD display in front of you ( which also house your entire computer !) you sort of put it all into perspective
So depends what you need really - for general use ( music / movies ) I think the in built speakers are fine , but if you wanted to use it as a hi-fi replacement you may want to expand

[Hands0n]

To answer a couple of your questions ...

Speakers:
You could hardly go wrong with a set of Harman Kardon Sound Sticks
(for example on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-SoundSticks-Computer-Speakers/dp/B00005B9AQ) - although I bought mine at the Bluewater Apple Store). The sound from these is delicious in the extreme. They're pretty good on the eye too :D

Sleep or Power Off?:
I never turn my kit off - the Macs both go to sleep at the default option - I've not felt the need to change it. There are a number of options to play with. My HDDs go off first, then the system goes to sleep later. The power consumption at sleep is very low. But even if you decide to power off, the restart time on OS X is very fast - less than 30 seconds usually.

I did float around some of the other Mac publications but settled on Mac Format as it is a pleasant read, light and easy but with very good content and a decent DVD each month, a Forum and of course those Podcasts.

[3g-g]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your feedback!

I'm currently taken out a £1 subbie for MacUser magazine - £1 for 3 issues, can't be bad. But certainly looking at Mac Format!

Does anyone else subscribe to .Mac?

Also, does anyone know (can't find it but read it in a book somewhere) if the iMac does actually come with built in speakers? If so, any good?

Also (more questions) I've read a lot about not actually shutting Mac OS X down but putting the system to sleep - Usually with my Windows PC I shutdown all the time.. is 'sleeping' the Mac the better option. I'm also thinking about power consumption.. :-)

... more questions to follow!

No to .Mac, but I don't really know enough people to make use of it properly, I like the idea of having a wee network drive to backup things on and what not.

As far as the sleep thing, I still shut down, probably more than I need to, but that's purely a Windows habit I think! I'm trying to get into the way of sleeping! The shut down feature though, from clicking the shut down to actually turning the power off at the switch, 8 seconds. That's it! Start up as well, that can't be more than 20 'till you have full functionality, not like XP where you think it's started then you click on the start button and the egg timer comes up for another minute!

Lastly, speakers. The inbuilt ones are good, however I initially ordered some HK soundsticks, but that was holding my order up for a week, so I got some JBL ones instead, I just like the bass! Back to my hardcore raving days! ;)

[chagle]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your feedback.

I have a decent set of speakers for the PC currently, so I guess I'll simply migrate them to the iMac -- Just wasn't sure how good the inbuilt ones were.

As for the shutting down - I guess if it's only a short while before the systems available maybe a full shutdown I'll indeed do, maybe I'll break the habbit eventually and put the little thing to sleep! Bless, after all - it's going to be overworked by a novice!

Now... favourite application for your Mac? :-)

Glen.

[Hands0n]

Fave App? What is it you like to do on your Computing platform?

If its IM chat then Adium is a superb freebie - it works with most IM services and the nice bit is it works with multiple services concurrently, so I can chat with friends on MSN, GTalk and Yahoo without changing the IM client.

If you're using a Windows Mobile PDA or Phone with Activesync on the PC then "Missing Sync for Windows Mobile" is a must. There are other ways and means but this just works so well.

If you've a hankering for Windows occasionally then Parallels is a very well done bit of work. You can also use the VM technology to play around with other Operating Systems such as Linux and older versions of Windows. The "Coherence" interworking of windows with OS X is excellent.

Of course, iTunes is a must, whether or not you have an iPod. Possibly the best place on earth to locate and download Podcasts.

I use Firefox web browser instead of Safari - mostly because it is what I got used to and it works the same across platforms.

Other apps that I have used and continue to use:-
Zipeg - a Mac ZIP (and other) archive tool
Onyx - a system management utility, get this if nothing else!
Carbon Copy Cloner - system backup and restore utility, very powerful
VLC - media player supporting a wide range of formats

The thing is - there is a great wealth of software out there for you to look at. Much of it comes with GPL or similar free licensing, there is not very much need to go for paid-for stuff. I'm a bit of an advocate of the Open Source world although do also entirely accept the need for paid-for-licences. But in very many cases Open Source will more than do. Altruism does not mean cr*p software! But for sure, if you include the magic word "Mac" in your Google searches you'll mostly find what you're after within minutes.

[chagle]

Hi there.

I must admit, although I won't be using Outlook but Mac OS X Mail and address book, I would like the address book to be sync'ed with my N73. It's just so much easier to put everything into an address book on the PC/Mac and sync it across. Reading some of the Apple info, there is a sync built into the OS?

Looking into getting some decent CD/DVD writing/ripping software - For genuine backups. I do like to keep ISOs just in case.. I've seen "Toast" about.. is this the Macs equiv of Nero?

I'm probably planning on diving straight into Safari - I'll give it a go. I don't use Firefox, so might as well go with what Mac supply. Hey, I might love it! :-)

Although google is good, it's also great to get feedback from other Macoholics!

[miffed]

I was about to reply that my favourite app is Toast titanium , it makes an absolute doddle of cd & dvd burning
You can burn dvd's from virtually any file type . And toast does all the conversion for you

[chagle]

Hello.

Thanks for that... On their website about 10 minutes ago! :-)

[Ben]

Don't forget Flip4Mac, if it hasn't already been mentioned. The QuickTime plugin will let you watch .WMV format videos on your Mac through QuickTime, and acts as a plugin for your web browser.

[3g-g]

Flip4Mac as Ben mentioned, I also have Firefox, Thunderbird and Camino. Safari is rather capable I've found, more so on certain websites than FF is!

I have office and MSN messenger for Mac (which is pretty crap IMO) so I'll probably look for another IM client.

[Hands0n]

@3g-g have a look at Adium for an IM client, its very versatile.

[chagle]

3g-g - MSN messenger crap?... maybe I'll be looking at Adium - Looks pretty good.

I will miss not being able to Webcam with my family and friends.. Then again, there's always Yahoo Messenger for Mac. That also supports MSN/Live Messenger.

[Hands0n]

There are probably any number of ways of sorting out Mac/Windows webcam'ing. It won't be as seamless as everyone using Windows' MSN client - but to go cross-platform requires some abstraction layer, and what could be more ubiquitously available than Skype?

These are the kind of issues that arise as you move onto Mac away from Windows - nothing is impossible, but inter-working normally needs more thought and planning ahead.

The crazy thing is, they all use very similar or standards-based technology, but it is at the Server end is where the incompatibilities tend to arise. It takes non-partisan solutions to gain the cross-platform support, generally.

[3g-g]

3g-g - MSN messenger crap?... maybe I'll be looking at Adium - Looks pretty good.

I will miss not being able to Webcam with my family and friends.. Then again, there's always Yahoo Messenger for Mac. That also supports MSN/Live Messenger.

Yeah, from using a Windows version of Live Messenger for ages, including all the beta releases going to the Mac version I found it very poor and "feature-less", but that's only to be expected for a MS program on a Mac I suppose. I've been using Skype quite a bit lately, which having the inbuilt iSight camera and mic makes the program a dream to use!

I might give that Adium one a bash, see how that runs, cheers Hands0n. :)

[chagle]

Hello..

Never really thought of Skype. Mmmmm, good thinking!

Hands0n - Thanks for your feedback! :-)

[Hands0n]

You're entirely welcome :)

Just give the various softwares a try. Its much simpler on the Mac. One of the first things you've got to get your head around is that installing and removing apps is so much simpler in OS X than in Windows. All you have to do, generally, is drag the application from the Applications or Utilities folder into the Trash bin and thats it. Everything about the app is gone.

There are some apps that take a bit more work, but these generally come with an Uninstaller program - but so far, these have been in the minority. Pretty much all that I've installed since running up OS X have been of the variety that you just drag and drop into the Trash. No corrupt or bloated Registry to worry about, no redundant or duplicate DLLs scattered around your hard drive. At first I had a bit of a problem with this .... even as someone used to Unix and Linux .... for some reason on OS X I just approached it with too much of a Windows PC mindset!

Best advice when you first power up your iMac - take one step back, deep breath, now take two steps forward :D You'll likely never look back again.

[chagle]

I shall enjoy the change I'm quite sure of that. I've been a little busy today here in my little office - Clearing one of my shelves - now known as the Mac shelf! Only got 2 Mac books at the moment, but hopefully in a few days it'll have a few other Mac things... when my iMac arrives. (as in the manuals/cds etc.)

Apple store say shipping date 7th - Which is fine as there's no way I could get to BW before then anyway.

Probably go to BW Saturday as they have one of their workshops at 11am! Might pop along there as it's free.

:-)

[3g-g]

Just another reason to make me feel happy about going Mac!

Ever been here? http://www.grc.com

I'd used it a few times when getting security set up properly on PCs gone past, and even with good firewalls etc I was still visible on certain ports, i.e. visible on the net to anyone scanning those ports. It wasn't a biggie as I'd set forwarding to blank pages etc, but it did take a bit of setting up. A pest, and for probably 99% of the computing public, something they've no knowledge or concern about. Particulalry worrying when they possibly shop/online bank etc via their computers! All naked and visible on the big bad web!

So, I went there tonight via my Mac and ran the shields up! test.

I'm invisible! Completely undetectable! And I haven't touched a thing on this computer WRT security! Superb! Not one packet sent back, no replys whatsover, truely stealth surfing!

[chagle]

Hello...

It's arrived - Just yesterday. Seemed to have taken ages for delivery..! But I did upgrade the CPU and grx etc. so that's why...

Taking a bit of getting used to - Including the KB, the @ sign I keep gettng wrong, it's in a different place! ;-)

I shall given you my feedback soon..! But it's big (20" iMac) but lovely!

[Ben]

I don't understand why modern Apple computers still insist on a different keyboard layout, but you should find that you adjust to it alarmingly quickly. If you don't/can't, you can always get a Microsoft keyboard as one of my colleagues did.

I'm glad it has finally come, hurrah for 20" iMac's! :D Enjoy!

[chagle]

Help....! :-)

One thing I want to get sorted is my iTunes...

I have all my music on a NAS - Buffalo Linkstation Pro.

I have of course configured iTunes when I was using Windows to use folder:

\\lspro\music\itunes

Always found the folder at boot time and I could play music without an issue.

But I have an issue with doing this on the Mac.

I have again correctly enter the new path in iTunes - but whenever I boot up iTunes says....

Something about some of the files in the music library weren't found.

But if I mount the itunes share manually everything starts working as normal. But once I reboot I have the same situation.

Help! :-)

[Ben]

Hey :)

Mount the share, then open Preferences and find your Login Items (maybe in Accounts or something like that). Authenticate and then drop the share from your Desktop into the Login items. Now, when you boot up, the share will mount automatically.

[Hands0n]

Ever been here? http://www.grc.com



I use it all of the time - it is essential stuff, even for non-Windows. Steve's an absolute genius. Excellent news on the Mac, just another reason these things don't get hit that often, if at all!

[Hands0n]

It's arrived - Just yesterday.

Way to go :) Now a whole new experience begins. It is "different" but you should find that the thing grows on you - OS X is just so superbly stable and functional. Everything just gets better :D

[chagle]

Hey :)

Mount the share, then open Preferences and find your Login Items (maybe in Accounts or something like that). Authenticate and then drop the share from your Desktop into the Login items. Now, when you boot up, the share will mount automatically.

Hi Ben

This is so strange and indeed frustrating. Done what you suggest.. and cannot get it to mount at boot time..

Again, I can manually mount it each time - but even with dragging the share into the Login items, it just doesn't do it! Grrrrrr...!

I found an item on Google and suggested using AppleScript:

mount volume "smb://lspro/itunes"

I can run it (to test the script) and successfully mounts the itunes share and places an icon onto my desktop.. then I've used AppleScript to create an application which again I've tried to put into the Login items and get an error 56.

[chagle]

Mmm. this is interesting.

Got my share mounted - so I've got a nice little icon on the desktop for the share. Drag it into Login items.. and quite happily says... "Volume" under the 'kind' heading (within Account > Login items tab)

... now when I reboot... under the 'kind' heading, it says.. "unknown" -- So I'm now puzzled. :-)