Why Should I Buy A Mac? Some questions

	Why Should I Buy A Mac? - Some questions
	Discussion by FirefoxRocks with 23 Replies. Last Update: April 29, 2009, 10:03 pm (View Latest)	Page 1 of 2 pages.

FirefoxRocks

Now that I've had a chance to use a Mac computer, it seems too easy to use once you know where stuff is. Being a fast learner, I don't like it very much. Because I am used to using Windows, I have some questions about Macs for the Mac experts around here.

1. Where is the text editor? Gedit (or Pico) in Linux, Notepad in Windows, ??? in Mac.
2. iWeb. As I understand from reading the page on Apple, iWeb allows you to instantly publish your photos, movies, etc to the web with a few clicks. Where do you write the HTML code in this application?
3. Are there any virus/spyware that are compatible with Mac that I can install/run?
4. Is there Windows Live Messenger for Mac? Most of my friends use Windows Live, so that is one of my must-have applications.
5. Are there different flavours of Mac OS X? For Windows Vista, there is Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, Ultimate and Starter. I have a variety to choose from that way.
6. Is Microsoft Office for Mac the same as Microsoft Office for Windows? With the same features and everything?
7. Is it true that Linux applications are Mac-compatible?
8. Where is the taskbar? The Dock is similar to the All Programs menu, and the Menu bar has a clock, but where is the taskbar?
9. Is there any Speech Recognition technology in Mac?
10. The final question: Is there such a feature as User Account Control? There is in Vista (which is the biggest reason I like it), and in Ubuntu (which I enjoy very much). If Mac doesn't have it, that will definitely by a huge issue for me, as the whole point of upgrading to Vista is to experience the fun and exciting UAC!

I'll find out if Mac is for me, or that I should stick with Windows and Ubuntu.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

1. It's called TextEdit it's in the Applications folder.
2. I don't know, I usually just edit my website on cPanel directly.
3. Yes there is. It uses the same engine that powers the most used Linux antivirus, ClamAV, the Mac frontend is called ClamXAV. Of course there are plenty others. As for spyware and viruses themselves, there are no known Mac virus that is active nor spyware.
4. Yes, it's called Microsoft Messenger for Mac, however, it doesn't have A/V nor games built into it. It's like MSN Messenger 7.
5. No, that's the beauty. Who likes being confused with so many different packages when I can have basically EVERYTHING in one package for $129 (cheaper than Windows Vista Ultimate in order to get everything).
6. It is basically the same thing, think of it as Microsoft Office 2003, but a Mac version. Microsoft Office 2008 is the Mac version of 2007.
7. Most Linux application can run on Mac, as long as its POSIX compatible. You may need some tweaking.
8. The Dock is basically your taskbar. Your minimized programs appear there. to find your way through dozens of window, you use expose (ex-pose-eh). On most Macs it's buttons F9 through F11. F12 brings up Dashboard. F9 is view all windows, F10 is view all windows in the same application and F11 is show desktop. Of course these buttons can be remapped.
9. Yes, OF COURSE! (System Preferences --> System --> Speech)
10. Yes and No, yes when you're installing software and making changes to the system folders (quite rare since only drivers and software that requires installation of kernal extensions require writing to the system folder ... that or just the Installer requires it just in case it does). No, because no programs get full administrator access and mess up the system folders. The system security in Mac is so simple that you must be deliberately running a malware in order to get hit. I have yet seen anyone accidentally run a malware on their Macs at my school (which is more than 25% of the laptop population). Remember that each Mac .app is basically a folder with that extension, all the files required to run that program are compiled inside that folder. You will never see them placing files into the system folder unless for the reasons I stated above.

With Apple computers, you must adopt their old slogan "Think Different." Also remember MacOS X is basically UNIX with a fancy desktop shell. Plus, UAC is annoying as hell. I like Linux/UNIX (incl. Mac)'s security better, plus, most people turn it off, so it's basically useless at that point.

Also, the whole point of the Mac since its conception was ease of use. Which was why Microsoft took the idea and made Windows from Apple (which took it from Xerox since they didn't want it at the time).

xboxrulz

Sun Jan 13, 2008 Reply New Discussion

toby

For 3 and 4, there are third party things that are better, eg I believe aMSN is cross platform with a/v.

What they call flavours, we'd call new versions, like Tiger and Panther. Mac is unix, not Linux, but both of them are posix.

Also, if you're thinking of going from Xp to Mac instead of Vista on the same computer, check your motherboard can run Mac OS's.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

QUOTE (toby)

Note that your last comment is illegal and cannot be discussed on Astahost. To legally run MacOS X, you must have Apple hardware (I know this sucks for some, but Apple has really good computers.)

xboxrulz

Sun Jan 13, 2008 Reply New Discussion

FirefoxRocks

QUOTE (xboxrulz)

3. Yes there is. It uses the same engine that powers the most used Linux antivirus, ClamAV, the Mac frontend is called ClamXAV. Of course there are plenty others. As for spyware and viruses themselves, there are no known Mac virus that is active nor spyware.
Link: view Post: 116760

So you mean I cannot find viruses/malware applications to run on a Mac?

QUOTE (xboxrulz)

5. No, that's the beauty. Who likes being confused with so many different packages when I can have basically EVERYTHING in one package for $129 (cheaper than Windows Vista Ultimate in order to get everything).
Link: view Post: 116760

Well I prefer choosing different packages rather than having everything. That's (one of the reasons) why there's something called Firefox and Opera, if you know what I mean.

QUOTE (xboxrulz)

8. The Dock is basically your taskbar. Your minimized programs appear there. to find your way through dozens of window, you use expose (ex-pose-eh). On most Macs it's buttons F9 through F11. F12 brings up Dashboard. F9 is view all windows, F10 is view all windows in the same application and F11 is show desktop. Of course these buttons can be remapped.
Link: view Post: 116760

That will seriously take some getting used to.

QUOTE (xboxrulz)

With Apple computers, you must adopt their old slogan "Think Different." Also remember MacOS X is basically UNIX with a fancy desktop shell. Plus, UAC is annoying as hell. I like Linux/UNIX (incl. Mac)'s security better, plus, most people turn it off, so it's basically useless at that point.
Link: view Post: 116760

Of course you have to think differently and have an open mind to try new things. The desktop shell, as you call it, is not "fancy" in my opinions, I'd rather run GNOME over that (I haven't tried KDE yet). If I get Windows Vista, I would want the UAC prompt to pop up when I point to menus and click Start. The security in Linux and Macs are probably better, but I still would prefer having UAC.

QUOTE (xboxrulz)

Also, the whole point of the Mac since its conception was ease of use. Which was why Microsoft took the idea and made Windows from Apple (which took it from Xerox since they didn't want it at the time).
Link: view Post: 116760

I just read about this in some newspaper.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

QUOTE (FirefoxRocks)

So you mean I cannot find viruses/malware applications to run on a Mac?

Well I prefer choosing different packages rather than having everything. That's (one of the reasons) why there's something called Firefox and Opera, if you know what I mean.

That will seriously take some getting used to.
Of course you have to think differently and have an open mind to try new things. The desktop shell, as you call it, is not "fancy" in my opinions, I'd rather run GNOME over that (I haven't tried KDE yet). If I get Windows Vista, I would want the UAC prompt to pop up when I point to menus and click Start. The security in Linux and Macs are probably better, but I still would prefer having UAC.
I just read about this in some newspaper.
Link: view Post: 116824

Nope, there hasn't been any active viruses or malware in the wild as far as most people know, maybe there are but only researchers have the backup copies.

You can customize what to install or what to not install if you do a fresh install in the Mac installation manager, but the default installation has everything installed.

It took me a day to get use to it, but it beats constantly cycling through ALT+TAB or WIN+TAB. I work very efficiently with the expose, but that's just me, for some it may come to be a terrible functionality.

If you play around with Finder (Explorer in Windows), you can find very cool things that aren't really documented unless you yourself are a programmer and read the technical manuals. GNOME is bland and dull, I don't quite like it. Compared to KDE, GNOME is quite slow and bulky. MacOS X runs much faster than both and have very good eye candy. Vista is just butt slow, even on a new machine with comparable specification.

xboxrulz

Mon Jan 14, 2008 Reply New Discussion

Jeigh

A big reason you should consider a mac is the simple change and experience of trying what there is offered out there. I personally have not owned a mac, mostly because I'm poor, but if I had the surplus of cash I would heavily consider getting one. Not only are they loved by many, so obviously not a bad choice, but they will give you a modified perspective on home computing. Seeing a different way that things are done might take some adjusting in your head but in the end you might find you like it much more. If you think about it, you're only used to windows from being forced to use windows for so long, not necessarily because you like it ^_^

But yea, your above questions have been answered and on top of it macs seem just to be an appealing breath of fresh air. If you are interested I say give it a shot.

Mon Jan 14, 2008 Reply New Discussion

FirefoxRocks

Yeah well Macs are quite expensive and I need to be really sure that I want one before I get one. My dad isn't really interested in them, although I have told him my brief experience on the Mac.

One thing that is major and missing from Mac is User Account Control, which throws me off on decision making.

Mon Jan 14, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

It's really your decision, my friends and I spend hours on Photobooth, iChat and many other things that PCs don't offer (or have no good alternatives).

I bough the Mac because it comes with a great UNIX system and I don't have time to tweak it when I'm on the go, so Mac was obviously the best choice for me. I have a Macbook.

xboxrulz

Mon Jan 14, 2008 Reply New Discussion

monahan

1. Where is the text editor? Gedit (or Pico) in Linux, Notepad in Windows, ??? in Mac.
openoffice writer or BBEdit for HTML or text editing.

2. iWeb. As I understand from reading the page on Apple, iWeb allows you to instantly publish your photos, movies, etc to the web with a few clicks. Where do you write the HTML code in this application?
iWeb really isn't meant for this. Its just supposed to be simple and easy to use and having to deal with HTML would impede on that for some people. I dont use iWeb, so I wouldn't really know.

3. Are there any virus/spyware that are compatible with Mac that I can install/run?
There are viruses for the Mac, but the mac isn't as big a target as windows is.

4. Is there Windows Live Messenger for Mac? Most of my friends use Windows Live, so that is one of my must-have applications.
Use Adium.

5. Are there different flavours of Mac OS X? For Windows Vista, there is Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, Ultimate and Starter. I have a variety to choose from that way.
No, but I would say that is is a GOOD THING that that is the case. You don't want multiple versions, just one that does everything.

6. Is Microsoft Office for Mac the same as Microsoft Office for Windows? With the same features and everything?
Features are the same and files created on a Mac will be openable in the windows version and vice-versa.

7. Is it true that Linux applications are Mac-compatible?
Yes, use X11.

8. Where is the taskbar? The Dock is similar to the All Programs menu, and the Menu bar has a clock, but where is the taskbar?
At the top of the screen.

9. Is there any Speech Recognition technology in Mac?
Yes, go to system prefs and there is a tab for speech right there. click "turn speakable items" to on.

10. The final question: Is there such a feature as User Account Control? There is in Vista (which is the biggest reason I like it), and in Ubuntu (which I enjoy very much). If Mac doesn't have it, that will definitely by a huge issue for me, as the whole point of upgrading to Vista is to experience the fun and exciting UAC!
Of course! just look in system prefs.

Fri Feb 15, 2008 Reply New Discussion

monahan

Here are soem great Open Source alternatives you can use on the mac.

Web Browsing

Mozilla Firefox
The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world's best browser.

Camino
Based on the same Mozilla foundation as Firefox, Camino is a more native OS X app. Fast and simple.

Video Player / Video Podcasting

Miro
Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than quicktime). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others.

IM - Instant Messaging

Adium
Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, MSN, and Jabber. Beautiful, themable interface.

Application Launching

Quicksilver
Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. Warning: start using Quicksilver and you won't be able to imagine using a Mac without it.

Software packs

MacLibre
Installs a pack of great open source apps (including many on this page) and keeps them updated for you.

Email

Mozilla Thunderbird
Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.

Utilities

The Unarchiver
Uncompress RAR, 7zip, tar, and bz2 files on your Mac. Many new Mac users will be puzzled the first time they download a RAR file. Do them a favor and download UnRarX for them!

RSS

Vienna
Very nice, native RSS client.

RSSOwl
Solid cross-platform RSS client.

Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Cabos
A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.

Transmission
Very nice torrent downloader.

Running Windows Software on Macs

Q Emulator
Run Windows programs on your Intel Mac at near native speed. Works on G4 / G5 Macs too, but much slower.

Podcasting

Juice
Solid podcasting client.

Video Playback

VLC
Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.

MPlayer
The interface and buttons are not as nice or as Mac-like in feel, but it may play even more video files than VLC.

MPlayer
Perian
A plugin that allows quicktime to play additional video formats. (Included in Democracy Player.)

iPod Ripping

Senuti
Get music off of your iPod onto any computer.

iPodDisk
Copy music off your iPod in the finder, like a regular disk drive.

DVD Ripping

Handbrake
DVD ripper and MPEG-4 / H.264 encoding. Very simple to use.

CD / DVD Burning

Burn
CD and DVD Burner. Burn any video to a disc that plays in your DVD player!

Privacy

Vidalia
This TOR frontend keeps you anonymous on the web using military-grade techniques. For use with Firefox see: TorButton.

Word Processing / Office Suites

Bean
Very fast and easy to use word processor. Live word count, autosaving, more.

NeoOffice
Built on OpenOffice.org. Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

AbiWord
A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

Wifi Scanning

KisMac
The best wireless scanner for Mac. Find wireless access when you're on the go.

Sound Recording

Audacity
Simple sound recording tool.

Graphics, Photo, Publishing

Seashore
Based on Gimp, but doesn't require X11.

Xee
Fast image viewer and image browser.

gimp
Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features (requires X11).

Inkscape
Vector graphics application (requires X11).

Scribus
Desktop publishing. Complicated install, but a nice app.

FTP / SFTP

Cyberduck
Very good all-around ftp program.

OneButton FTP
Simple, fast FTP, with a focus on "advanced queuing".

Fugu
Not as polished as Cyberduck (and only for SFTP) but has a side by side interface showing your files and the remote files.

HTML / Text Editing

Smultron

Text / html editor. Integrates with Cyberduck for editing websites.

Nvu
Visual tool for making websites (WYSIWYG html editor), comparable to Dreamweaver.

IRC

Colloquy
Great IRC client.

Sat Feb 16, 2008 Reply New Discussion

FirefoxRocks

QUOTE (monahan)

Don't you think I already use Firefox?

And by the way, I use Firefox, Opera, Safari, Avant and Internet Explorer only when necessary (but of course not on Linux).

QUOTE (monahan)

Application Launching

Quicksilver
Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. Warning: start using Quicksilver and you won't be able to imagine using a Mac without it.
Link: view Post: 118988

I use RocketDock for Windows so I think that the Dock in Mac would be sufficient for me

QUOTE (monahan)

Email

Mozilla Thunderbird
Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.

RSS

Vienna
Very nice, native RSS client.
RSSOwl
Solid cross-platform RSS client.
Link: view Post: 118988

QUOTE (monahan)

Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Cabos
A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.

Transmission
Very nice torrent downloader.
Link: view Post: 118988

Does LimeWire work on Macs? It's open-source, but I don't know if it is Mac-compatible. I use it on Linux.

QUOTE (monahan)

Running Windows Software on Macs

Q Emulator
Run Windows programs on your Intel Mac at near native speed. Works on G4 / G5 Macs too, but much slower.
Link: view Post: 118988

Is this something similar to Boot Camp (something that I've heard of)? Or is Boot Camp a partitioning utility thing? Also, is VMWare something similar to this Q Emulator thing?

QUOTE (monahan)

Video Playback

VLC
Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.

MPlayer
The interface and buttons are not as nice or as Mac-like in feel, but it may play even more video files than VLC.

MPlayer
Perian
A plugin that allows quicktime to play additional video formats. (Included in Democracy Player.)
Link: view Post: 118988

I think that QuickTime and iTunes would be sufficient for me on a Mac. MPlayer I use on Ubuntu, it's really basic and can play DVDs for me.

QUOTE (monahan)

Word Processing / Office Suites

Bean
Very fast and easy to use word processor. Live word count, autosaving, more.

NeoOffice
Built on OpenOffice.org. Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

AbiWord
A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.
Link: view Post: 118988

Well there is Microsoft Office for Mac, but it isn't open-source. I don't think my parents would buy that either, so OpenOffice all the way. AbiWord is quite simple and can run from my USB drive, I've never heard of NeoOffice before.

QUOTE (monahan)

Sound Recording

Audacity
Simple sound recording tool.
Link: view Post: 118988

I use Audacity on Windows and Linux as well as my USB drive. Very useful for some quick sound editing.

QUOTE (monahan)

Graphics, Photo, Publishing

Seashore
Based on Gimp, but doesn't require X11.

Xee
Fast image viewer and image browser.

gimp
Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features (requires X11).
Inkscape
Vector graphics application (requires X11).

Scribus
Desktop publishing. Complicated install, but a nice app.
Link: view Post: 118988

I use the GIMP, I have it on Linux and I use it on Windows. A bit hard to learn for beginners, but you get the hang of it once you explore more of its options. Once you learn the GIMP, Photoshop becomes easily (it could be the other way around, but I don't know).

QUOTE (monahan)

HTML / Text Editing

Smultron

Text / html editor. Integrates with Cyberduck for editing websites.

Nvu
Visual tool for making websites (WYSIWYG html editor), comparable to Dreamweaver.
Link: view Post: 118988

I think I would prefer a text editor for editing HTML sites, but I'm trying NVU on Ubuntu right now. I don't like WYSIWYG software much, but when needed, I do use it. I write HTML faster though.

Thanks for the list of software, I'm sure that many others will find it to be useful. As for getting a Mac, I don't think my parents are that interested in it.

Sun Feb 17, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

QUOTE (FirefoxRocks)

Don't you think I already use Firefox?

And by the way, I use Firefox, Opera, Safari, Avant and Internet Explorer only when necessary (but of course not on Linux).
I use RocketDock for Windows so I think that the Dock in Mac would be sufficient for me

I do use Mozilla Thunderbird but I am more used to using the web-based GMail interface and also for Windows Live Hotmail. As for RSS, I use Google Reader only when necessary and the in-browser "live bookmarks" to keep track of weather from Environment Canada. Otherwise, I don't use RSS all that much.
Does LimeWire work on Macs? It's open-source, but I don't know if it is Mac-compatible. I use it on Linux.
Is this something similar to Boot Camp (something that I've heard of)? Or is Boot Camp a partitioning utility thing? Also, is VMWare something similar to this Q Emulator thing?
I think that QuickTime and iTunes would be sufficient for me on a Mac. MPlayer I use on Ubuntu, it's really basic and can play DVDs for me.
Well there is Microsoft Office for Mac, but it isn't open-source. I don't think my parents would buy that either, so OpenOffice all the way. AbiWord is quite simple and can run from my USB drive, I've never heard of NeoOffice before.
I use Audacity on Windows and Linux as well as my USB drive. Very useful for some quick sound editing.
I use the GIMP, I have it on Linux and I use it on Windows. A bit hard to learn for beginners, but you get the hang of it once you explore more of its options. Once you learn the GIMP, Photoshop becomes easily (it could be the other way around, but I don't know).
I think I would prefer a text editor for editing HTML sites, but I'm trying NVU on Ubuntu right now. I don't like WYSIWYG software much, but when needed, I do use it. I write HTML faster though.

Thanks for the list of software, I'm sure that many others will find it to be useful. As for getting a Mac, I don't think my parents are that interested in it.
Link: view Post: 119014

LimeWire works on Macs since it is written in Java. As for boot camp, it's just a BIOS layer on top of Mac's EFI for dual booting. You can use Boot Camp to boot Linux too. I rather you use VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop for Mac to run Windows in your MacOS X installation than QEMU because QEMU will emulate everything, you don't want that since it will take a lot of resources. VMWare and Parallels uses virtual machining and splits the CPU and resources to handle multiple operating systems.

NeoOffice is basically OpenOffice but written in Java so that it runs on the Mac easier and to incorporate the Aqua look and feel. GIMP works on Macs too. You could also use TextEdit to make webpages.

xboxrulz

Sun Feb 17, 2008 Reply New Discussion

Darasen

I just wanted to add that Macs are not actually more expensive. This is a line I hear all the time and it drives me batty. Sure you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap PC for 500 dollars. However if you look the actual specifications you will discover that you are not getting a good deal at all. Apple simply does not bother making very low end machines.

For a short time I worked on AOL's help desk (an absolute nightmare!) There was an astounding amount of calls from users who could not run the AOL software on brand new machines. These were PCs that shipped with just enough ram to run Windows and nothing else. (It is hard to explain to people that the machine they just bought is total garbage.)

The cost of ownership for a Mac, in my experience, is much less than a Windows machine. Macs that are several years old still tend to run rather well and have a usefull life much longer than the average PC. Apple does not have the goal of making their own products obsolete every few years.

Thu Apr 3, 2008 Reply New Discussion

xboxrulz

QUOTE (Darasen)

Actually, even though I support Apple, I must say that I just built a gaming PC for $500 CAD, it was great, it was comparable w/ an iMac with some stuff obviously axed. Main reason? CPU, I use an AMD chipset/CPU. That's the bad thing about Apple choosing one manufacturer, you may get cheaper parts from the competition instead of sticking to one company.

xboxrulz

Thu Apr 3, 2008 Reply New Discussion