Want to learn Mac

[networkingNut]

I would really like to learn Macs. I was looking at getting a Mac Mini as to my knowledge Mac in programs such as virtual box are a no go because of the apple EULA however I bit a reluctant to spend £400 plus pounds straight away. I was considering going to the Apple Store in Birmingham for advice but am wondering if any one can give some advice on where to start, what to get etc.

 

Dont know why it took me so long to realise that actually knowing other OS's such as MAC and Linux may actually be beneficial.

 

Thanks everyone

nN

[Guest theeldergeek]

I would really like to learn Macs. I was looking at getting a Mac Mini as to my knowledge Mac in programs such as virtual box are a no go because of the apple EULA however I bit a reluctant to spend £400 plus pounds straight away. I was considering going to the Apple Store in Birmingham for advice but am wondering if any one can give some advice on where to start, what to get etc.

 

Dont know why it took me so long to realise that actually knowing other OS's such as MAC and Linux may actually be beneficial.

 

Thanks everyone

nN

 

Beneficial? In what way? It might put another feather in your cap, but believe me, a Windows machine can do just as much as a Mac. Neither is better for your average user.

 

I use a Mac a lot at work, and whilst I quite like the GUI of the Mac, Windows 7 is just as intuitive.

 

If I had £2000 to spend on a Mac or a PC, I'd buy a PC any day.

[EduTech]

I was thinking the same as you about a year ago now, i know that a Mac cannot give you anything more than a PC or visa versa although yes Mac does handle the media/graphics side of things in my eyes much better.. unless you have a really good PC.

 

anyhow, i wanted to learn mac mainly to add to my knowledge as Mac's are appearing more and more now in schools mainly in secondary for media/english etc so it is good to have a bit of knowledge as even so they cannot do anything different they do work slightly different.

 

what i did was speak to our local CLC who are Mac based and asked if they would loan me one for a short while save me purchasing one.. we also had one in school that was being used by our Media Department whom were using it to also get some knowledge of a Mac OS.

 

So Guessing that you dont have on in your school that you could borrow, might be worth speaking to your local CLC if you have one that is and see if they could possibly loan you one?

 

James.

[networkingNut]

Like Edutech its really just to add to my own knowledge. we don't really have any use for them at work as all the packages we use are available in Windows. I will approach my local CLC and see what they say.

 

I have always been a PC person but the arrival bootcamp has put a different view on it from my perspective.

 

I did think about buying a Mac, bootcamping Windows and then placing Linux in a Virtual Box, although I think this may be overkill.

 

Thanks

nN

[PaulCoram86]

I've just recently brought a Mac and I love it. Mac stores are fantastic you can get all the help you need in their and they let you play around with them to get a fill for things. They are very easy to use and couldn't recommend one more.

 

Yes I agree with others who replied where you can do just as much with a mac compared to a Windows machine but is a pleasure to use and its nice to use one after fixing Windows all day

[patty04]

i brought my first mac (mac mini G4) of ebay for £150. i am now on a Macbook (blackbook, intel core 2 duo, 2gb ram, 250gb hdd, dvdrw) £1200 brand new from pcworld. i have to says it great bit of kit.

 

but i wouldn't of paid that amount of money straight away. without try a mac out first and seeing what all the whoha was all about. thats why i brought the mac mini to try out first.

 

But as people are going to tell you, you can buy better spec pc/laptop than what you pay for for a mac.

macs are for some people, not for others. so try it out at a apple store or see if you can get an intel one of ebay to try out.

 

my mac mini is now used as a media center in the bedroom, and i control it with my iphone.

[patty04]

I did think about buying a Mac, bootcamping Windows and then placing Linux in a Virtual Box, although I think this may be overkill.

 

Thanks

nN

 

Just a heads up, linux doesnt do well on the Macbooks i have tried it on, the linux just seems to be really really slow(like running xp on a windows 95 based pc)

 

but the windows part works great, but i tend to use parrels more than boot camp. and that way i dont have to leave the mac OS.

[teddybear]

I have used Macs for years, love them (two Mac tattoos but that's another story)

 

We had around 1000 macs in the various schools that we deal with and have recently got rid of 99% of them with only some of the new iMacs left that were purchased by the schools themselves.

 

I still use my black Macbook at home all the time, I love it and do prefer to use it over any PC.

 

The best thing would be to pick one up form ebay or there may be a local 'Mac User Group (MUG)' in your area. Pop along to one of their meetups, you never know if anyone has a spare Mac lying around.

 

Mac User Group Contact

[Guest theeldergeek]

I've just recently brought a Mac and I love it. Mac stores are fantastic you can get all the help you need in their and they let you play around with them to get a fill for things. They are very easy to use and couldn't recommend one more.

 

Yes I agree with others who replied where you can do just as much with a mac compared to a Windows machine but is a pleasure to use and its nice to use one after fixing Windows all day

 

 

Just to follow up my initial post, I do prefer my Mac at work as opposed to my XP machine, but that is based on the fact the former has a lovely big cinema screen as opposed to the latter which is a 19" Dell 'thing'.

 

If I could have a Windows 7 box with the same 24" HP screen as I used to use at home here (I'm not relegated to being a laptop user : another story) I'd use my PC more.

 

I'm pleased to have the Mac OS and Xserve experience as something I could add to my CV (if I needed to) but neither machine does anything better that the other, in my humble opinion.

 

In fact, today, my Mac actually crashed several times whilst using Firefox which ended up with me binning it and using Safari. My PC only restarted itself once

[Boon72]

i thought about getting a Mac like you in 2008, i bought a Mac Mini to connect up to my PC screen to try etc, i use Mac's now all the time and the PC is just for gaming, i've also convinced 3 of my sites to convert to Mac completely (Mac Pro server & iMac's) and they've sent me on 2 course's to complete my certification's (ACSP & ACTC) i have a MacBook for using between the 3 sites and ive also binned my PC at the office for a Mini. I still manage 2 windows sites and im currently moving over to server 2008 and windows 7 but i prefer Mac's now

[Robbocop]

Hi NetworkingNut

 

We have been selling Macs to Rugby School over several years now and they really like them. I don't know if you have any contact with them, but if you'd like me to put you in touch, let me know. There are some really nice people there you could talk to.

[Domino]

Like Edutech its really just to add to my own knowledge. we don't really have any use for them at work as all the packages we use are available in Windows. I will approach my local CLC and see what they say.

 

I have always been a PC person but the arrival bootcamp has put a different view on it from my perspective.

 

I did think about buying a Mac, bootcamping Windows and then placing Linux in a Virtual Box, although I think this may be overkill.

 

Thanks

nN

 

Personally, I've just bought a iMac 27inch, which is running OSX/Win7/ubuntu in triple boot and its great, also I didn't think too pricy, once you factor in a 27" IPS backlit panel of that quality will run you about 900 quid. and i paid 1300 odd for a core 2 duo with Radeon HD 4670, 4GB RAM and a 1TB HDD. but its still a lot to drop in one hit.

 

However, if its purely upskilling, maybe look at buying a copy of OSX server, which can be run virtual. As its that part which you'd probably want most knowledge of anyway, and isn't really missing anything the desktop OS has.

[HodgeHi]

I would look to buy a mac mini. At the end of the day if you find you love using the OS then great. If not bootcamp it and install the OS you do like. You only end up with a decent machine either way. Mac minis are one of Apple's good machines. I can't rate then highly enough. If you are sick of the loud noise coming from the fans on your PC then a mini is something to 'not hear'.

[srochford]

I think the key thing you get with a Mac is a rock solid implementation of Unix and I know that's why a good few people here buy them (doing maths and physics, not media stuff at all)

[DMcCoy]

Unix knowledge is a requirement, at least when you want to manage Macs.

 

Not that it's unix heritage is all roses, currently 10.5.8 has broken cupsd killing the clients with managed printers at times.

 

Apple do no better. 10.6.2 has broken DirectoryService which has a huge deadlock issue (fix in long awaited 10.6.3).