Does anyone have a Mac?

Anthillmob

im fine thanks. had another baby end december 2007 called nathan. you should pop over to 'the arms' where im normally found.

how is DB these days?

brazilianwax

I've been a Mac user since age 3 I think I'm their biggest fan

Just one word of caution. Be careful with the whole 'no viruses on Macs' statements - there is NO reason that there couldn't be viruses for Macs. There is nothing more secure about the Mac OS - there are no viruses just because there aren't enough Macs to make it worthwhile to hackers.

If you run Windows on a Mac you CAN get every virus going. Just because you're running it on a pretty Mac doesn't make it secure.

Cloudane

Anthillmob wrote: »

im fine thanks. had another baby end december 2007 called nathan. you should pop over to 'the arms' where im normally found.

how is DB these days?

Awesome, congrats

DB is very quiet as tons of people left. But stable. I think the man himself has plans to breathe some life/publicity into the place again soon...

I will indeed venture into the arms soon :beer:



Ummm better pretend to be on topic.... yeah, with viruses in my case I said "lack of". I think one or two have been known. But it's not just because they're less popular - with its Unix base and secure design from the ground up (rather than security being bolted on as it is with Windows) it's inherently more secure and thus far more difficult to infect. Same with Linux

marko52

New at this just registered

i love my Mac and won't go back but

re virus
is there a anti virus for Mac's as the recent topic that Martin had, was that it looks like a get out clause for the online banking fraternity, if you dont have antivirus protection you may have to pay up

Any views or do i post a new thread

Cloudane

There is antivirus software - ClamXav for a free one - but its only purpose is to scan files for Windows viruses as a courtesy to PC users before passing those files on. There are no known viruses for OS X itself.

So as it stands at the moment (with the caution that brazilianwax suggests - don't get complacent as it could change one day) I would see using a Mac as the "reasonable precautions" against viruses that they ask for.

I'd be interested to see how the typical banking bureaucracy handles it though. I wouldn't rule out a situation like: "But you don't have AV software!" "Umm, it's a Mac." "But you don't have AV software!" "There are no known viruses for the Mac. I checked on numerous websites." "But you don't have AV software!" "Even if I did, it'd only be for files I pass on to Windows users, it has nothing to do with online banking." "But you don't have AV software!" ad infinitum. It's an argument that could be won once you took enough steps to prove it, but I think it'd be a hard time at first, facing the human robots that tend to deal with you at call centres.

And don't forget if you use Bootcamp to run Windows, then it's behaving as a very powerful and very pretty PC and as such you will need to install AV software.

Ad-Hoc

Welcome to the mac world, just a couple of links to get you started

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php

Neo Office is a free open office suite which is pretty much compatible with any MS office application - word/excel.

http://mac.alltop.com/

A really nice site with a comprehensive list/links to all things mac related such as software/tips/news etc.

If anyone really just wants a computer to surf the net, send emails & write the odd document, either build a pc for £100

http://forums.hexus.net/help-technical-advisory/138968-building-pc-help.html

or buy an original G3 imac on ebay for as little as £10 - £20.

Ad-Hoc

oh yeah.. mac household 2 imacs & 1 macbook.....

bigkasper

Hi guys & gals, I Currently run a Mac g3 as a server on my network runs like a dream using linux or mac os.
very pleased with it runs better than a standard pc for this purpose.

beer_tins

I've used a Mac before and I'm not the biggest fan. OK, they looks sexy and the OS hold your hand the whole time so it's great for newbies. However, you get more for your money with a PC and if you're like me and like tinkering and installing new hardware and software, the PCs the one to go for. Also, Macs DO crash, I've seen it happen quite a bit. The only computer that's never crashed on me is my work PC, which runs on linux.

Each to their own, I just think the PC does more of the stuff I use it for, but if you're using a machine for graphics, standard application and you care what your computer looks like then the Mac's the one for you.

Magpye

I've been using Macs since High school for various purposes. Macs stand up exceedingly well to prolonged usage. My six year old eMac still runs wonderfully albeit on an older version of OSX (need the dual boot for all my OS9 software) - compare this to my custom PC bought the year previous which has now gone in the bin despite numerous upgrades and tinkering - it's just too slow and not worth the hassle, quite frankly.

M4RKM

beinerts wrote: »

I've used a Mac before and I'm not the biggest fan. OK, they looks sexy and the OS hold your hand the whole time so it's great for newbies. However, you get more for your money with a PC and if you're like me and like tinkering and installing new hardware and software, the PCs the one to go for. Also, Macs DO crash, I've seen it happen quite a bit. The only computer that's never crashed on me is my work PC, which runs on linux.

Each to their own, I just think the PC does more of the stuff I use it for, but if you're using a machine for graphics, standard application and you care what your computer looks like then the Mac's the one for you.

just to clear up some erroneous information..

spec for spec macs are an affordable purchase, If we look at the £1149, 24" iMac, and compare it with a similar specced AIO computer..


Mac - 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2gb Ram, 320gb HDD, Wifi, Bluetooth, 24" Screen. AIO Design - £1149
Dell XPS One - 2.3Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2gb Ram, 320Gb HDD, Wifi, 20" Screen. AIO Design - £1099

So, a mac, is £50 more, for a higher spec... Argument Busted!

The OS doesn't hold your hand, IMO, it just works... it does what you ask it to do. Where as windows will load up a wizard all the time to do the simplest of things (adding it to a wifi network is so laborious on vista, whereas on the mac, you click the icon, select your network, type in password, BOOM! you're done!)

Macs do crash, but so does windows... macs crash less, and the whole OS rarely rarely crashes. You might have to restart the finder, but it is rare you have to reboot the whole computer!

Why PC's are supposedly easier on installing software, i don't know, both macs and pcs you can install software on, so that isn't really an argument..

If you compare like for like, you can't really change any hardware in the dell or the mac, apart from the ram. Yes you can upgrade HDD's if you're daring, but both like for like, they have a 320gb hard drive, so for the time being, you have plenty of space.. again.. argument quashed!

If your NOT comparing like for like, comparing a tower vs an AIO design, you're comparing a Ford with a BMW.. standard to premium, and it isn't a fair comparison, but yes, you might get the same spec for less money, but a tower, more cables and it overall will take up more room, an just plonking an imac on your desk, which is why, when writing this, i've compared like for like!