Questions about the new iMac

[oxymoron]

I am considering getting the new iMac. 24", 2.4 ghz, with 2 gigs of ram. As a longtime PC user, this is going to be a big change for this ol' dawg. I have a couple of questions and would appreciate any comments.

I mostly just browse the web, do my banking, chat with friend's and family, etc. I am not a gamer, but I am also really into Second Life. I hear in the Second Life group that the new iMac has real problems in-world. Very slow frame rates, crashing, etc. I am not sure why that would be. The hardware specs, especially compared to the lame PC I am on currently, seem to be plenty robust. Anyone have experience with Second Life on the new Core Duo iMacs?

I also hear that I could run Windoze XP with a program called Boot Camp. Not sure about Vista. Can you still even buy a disc for XP?

Also, how is Apple support? I don't have any buddies that are on a Mac and am sure I will have quite a few questions.

Thanks!

[Poiuyt]

1. Congratulations on your decision to consider a Mac!

You won't regret getting one.

I can't help you on Second Life as I don't use it myself. I do have a friend who is into it (and has a Mac) and I've never heard him say anything bad. There are plenty of Mac forums that would be able to help. I've never needed to use the official Apple support. I've always just used forums. Help for Macs is usually considerably easier than for PCs.

You can run Windows on the newer Intel Macs using Boot Camp (which is part of the OS 10.5). There are also third party applications called Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion that each have their own advantage. Yes, you can still buy Windows XP. I think you need Service Pack 2. Be aware that when you run Windows, you are still susceptible to the same kinds of viruses and problems that affect PCs. FWIW, I just use the Mac OS and have never felt the need to run Windows software.

Good luck and feel free to ask for advice here. That iMac you're looking at is a great one.

[oxymoron]

3. Thank you

I think I'll be picking this baby up this weekend. Thanks for the info Poiuyt! :)

on edit: Are there any forums that you would recommend? Thanks

[Poiuyt]

5. Here are some good forums

I usually go to Apple's discussion forums first:

http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

These are also very good:

http://www.macfixitforums.com/
http://forums.macnn.com/index.php?
http://forums.macrumors.com/
http://forums.dealmac.com/list.php?4
http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

[oxymoron]

10. Thanks Poiyut (nt)

:-)

[moggie]

2. Yes, you can run Vista via Boot Camp

Haven't done it myself, since I don't use Windows, but it's supported. Look at Apple's description of Boot Camp:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html

This does mean dedicating a disk partition to Windows. Using VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop is less hungry of disk space, but they're not good for anything which needs fancy 3D graphics.

When you're not in Sadville Second Life, that fast processor will hardly break a sweat.

People's experiences with Apple support vary. On the only occasions I've had to use it (hardware problems), it's been excellent. For software questions you'll find plenty of help available from users, without needing to go to Apple.

You'll love the display: I have last year's 24" iMac, and it's beautiful, as well as a hell of a lot quieter and cooler than the Linux PC I used before.

[oxymoron]

4. Thanks for the info

I am sold on the iMac. And yes, that display is amazing! :)

[Andrea]

6. Good move

You'll love your new iMac. I started out on a computer on an old IBM AT with DOS (ha, I'm really, really old!). Within a year or so of starting on that system, my mom insisted I learn to run her Mac Classic. It seemed bizarre - a mouse? I was used to everything being menu-based. A visual interface? How strange! It didn't take long to win me over. I've always run Macs at home and PCs at work. Macs do everything PCs do, just faster and easier. So it might be a big change for you ol' dawg, but it will be an easy one.

I never run Windows on my Mac - just no need to. I don't do Second Life, so can't help you with that. But, regarding support I can help. You will find plenty of Mac communities online and people are generally really friendly and glad to help. There are some incredibly knowledgeable people out there. I have an old Mac I've upgraded a bit, so I belong to a Google group for G3 through G5 users that has some real geniuses on it. I'm sure there are groups for new systems that are just as good. There is a site I really love called EveryMac.com . It has specs for every Mac out there, Q&As on every model and forums for every model. I also really like MacLife magazine.

There is a lot of really good open source software out there for Macs, too. I like a website called OpenSourceMac.org for a jumping off place. I use an open source office suite called NeoOffice. It's much like MS Office, but I think a little nicer. It's also completely compatible with Office. Since it is open source, it is available for free. After you try it out and see how much you like it, you can donate to the folks that produce it. Personally, I think it's only right to donate what you can afford. They just gave you a beautiful program that saved you, what, $400? (I'm not affiliated with them.)

Feel free to pm me if anything ever comes up that you think I might be able to help you with.

Enjoy!

[moggie]

7. Whoa there!

NeoOffice "completely compatible" with Office? Not even Office is completely compatible with Office, as you'll know if you've ever had the misfortune to work in a place which has various versions of Office in use. There's an Excel spreadsheet I unfortunately have to use from time to time which fails miserably in NeoOffice (and in every other Excel alternative I've tried, as well as versions of Excel both older and newer than that which was used to create it). I do like NeoOffice, and for me it's infinitely preferable to Microsoft's crap, but it's certainly not 100% compatible.

[Andrea]

8. I'll rephrase

I should have said, In my experience, it's completely compatible with Office. I haven't tried to use the same spreadsheet in both programs. I've created in one and opened in the other. And, of course, I haven't been using your spreadsheets at all. ;-)

[GoneOffShore]

9. Have you tried Numbers in the iWork08 suite

It seems, so far to translate Excel docs seamlessly.
(keeping fingers crossed)

[moggie]

12. Some

In an earlier thread, I posted the long list of errors it threw up when loading the aforementioned Excel spreadsheet.

[oxymoron]

11. Thanks for the info, Andrea (nt)

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. I made the switch myself in October

and yes, I run cross over on this machine for the few... I can count them in one hand, apps that are windows based that I use.

And I was happy they ran since they are very good apps... but I find myself using mac apps I'd say 99% of the time. For the really RAM hungry mapping software I still have access to a windows screamer (Hubby is a gamer) and we are considering "downgrading" the screamer to XP due to the IT nightmares I have to go through. That said... I find a good MAC OS based web design software... (no, not dreamweaver, I ain't gonna buy a second license, too much money) and my use of that machine will be reduced (maybe) to mapping software.

Of course if we get XP Pro... I might load it on the laptop for that use specifically, and just run bootcamp and Norton's

Word to the wise for everybody though. Now that Macs are becoming more popular, we will have to start worrying about getting a cold... I have found CLAMXAV more than adequate for my cold fighting measures (and not at the price Norton's wants. aka free)