iMac: The Darkside?

[colorider]

Pulled the trigger on an iMac yesterday after owning nothing but PC's all these years. Now the fun begins!

First off will be to find an app to run my MS Office stuff. Assuming there are openoffice offerings just like for a PC. I may lose the ability to use some of my old mapping programs, but find i'm using them less and less anyway. PS Elements should load up fine and of course iTunes should be MUCH better!!

Looking forward to the darkside!!!!

::012::

(Rem, looking to you for "do's" and "don'ts". Also, I got the BLUE model)

 

[jajpko]

Pulled the trigger on an iMac yesterday after owning nothing but PC's all these years. Now the fun begins!

First off will be to find an app to run my MS Office stuff. Assuming there are openoffice offerings just like for a PC. I may lose the ability to use some of my old mapping programs, but find i'm using them less and less anyway. PS Elements should load up fine and of course iTunes should be MUCH better!!

Looking forward to the darkside!!!!

::012::

(Rem, looking to you for "do's" and "don'ts". Also, I got the BLUE model)

Congrats Rod, I have the PC and will probably stay with it. I'm thinking of getting the new Iphone when it comes out, maybe... lolj
Have you a program to change your mp3 music files to Itunes, preferably all at once?

 

[colorider]

Have you a program to change your mp3 music files to Itunes, preferably all at once?

Hmmm, assumed I could simply copy over my present iTunes directory/folder and iTunes on the Mac would access my song files fine. :question:

 

[rem]

Congrats on the move, Rod. Well done. You should have no trouble using your current iTunes files, or just about any other file for that matter. If you have issues, please contact me. I can probably assist.


The iMac is a nice unit. I hope you got at least 4 GB ram. I don't think they come with any less anymore. Did you get the flash drive ?? Mt. Lion? Anyway, you're gonna love it. If you're really into MS Word and such, you can purchase a Mac version and it works beautifully. I hate Microsoft, but Word is the universal language.


Anyway, happy Maccing. I guess you named it Mac. Enjoy !! R ::008::

 

[mobyfubar]

Both OpenOffice and MS Office are available. Garmin BaseCamp is available if you use Garmin GPSs.

I'm a Linux guy but got a Macbook Air for work last year and found I really like it. I still prefer Linux but I can be pretty happy in OSX now.

Every OS is perfectly capable of ticking me off ::025::

 

[jajpko]

Hmmm, assumed I could simply copy over my present iTunes directory/folder and iTunes on the Mac would access my song files fine. :question:

Sorry, I thought you had your files on a PC in mp3 format.. That is how mine are, and I will need to change over when I get the new Iphone. At least that is what I've been told...

 

[AVGeek]

Sorry, I thought you had your files on a PC in mp3 format.. That is how mine are, and I will need to change over when I get the new Iphone. At least that is what I've been told...

The iPhone and Mac environment can handle MP3s just fine. I have about half to 2/3 of my library as MP3, the rest are iTunes...

I went Mac 4.5 years ago, and won't go back to PCs, though I do have to deal with them at work. MS Office 2011 is the Mac version of Office 2010, and I use it all the time, especially Excel. If you don't need to share a lot of Office files, you can also purchase the iWork suite; it will read and export to Office formats, but has some superior features (Keynote, especially). If there is anything you absolutely have to use a Windows machine for, you can also use Parallels or VMWare to run a virtual install of Windows. You will need a licensed copy of Windows for the install; Parallels can also use an image of your old PC.

 

[JonnyCinco]

you should have just ditched iTunes.....that program blows

 

[creggur]

Welcome to the Dark Side! Made the switch about 5 years ago with absolutely no regrets!

Finally got the iPhone about six months ago (Verizon got them literally three weeks after I went with an Android) and we are an All-Apple household now. The beauty is the lack of constant support needed with a PC. I deal with Windows all day at work - when I get home I just want the stuff to work...and they haven't disappointed yet!

It's an easy transition - I promise!

*edit* Oh, and the iMac is a nice box - you're sure to enjoy!

 

[AlsoRan]

I went to the darkside 4 months ago. Mainly because I just wanted the system to run without nagging problems and that was always annoying with the PC. I still have the PC for work, but running the iMac has been good so far. I have the OS X Lion and I think that has helped, but there is a learning curve which I am still on. Some things that were a simple mouse click are now a secret button (or two) away. Finding out these are sometimes a hassle and the documentation sucks, but I think this can be pieced together over time.

I am enjoying the trouble free operation though. All good.

 

[colorider]

you should have just ditched iTunes.....that program blows

Not sure if it blows - but it sure is a memory hog on a PC.

 

[colorider]

Congrats on the move, Rod. Well done. You should have no trouble using your current iTunes files, or just about any other file for that matter. If you have issues, please contact me. I can probably assist.


The iMac is a nice unit. I hope you got at least 4 GB ram. I don't think they come with any less anymore. Did you get the flash drive ?? Mt. Lion? Anyway, you're gonna love it. If you're really into MS Word and such, you can purchase a Mac version and it works beautifully. I hate Microsoft, but Word is the universal language.


Anyway, happy Maccing. I guess you named it Mac. Enjoy !! R ::008::

Yeah, they come with 4GB of RAM and I may look into adding more later on. Mt. Lion and the big-honking 27" monitor!!!

It's suppose to be here Monday so today I'm backing up all my pictures and data to a couple portable drives.

::012::

 

[coastie]

I have had an IMac for three years now and it runs like the day I bought it. Once you get over the learning curve and if you like using things that just work then you should like it.

 

[Maxified]

I'd add more memory. Mountain Lion does a lot and therefore uses lots of memory. Try http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27 for some decent prices on mostly quality stuff for Macs. Their memory prices are excellent.

I've been using/owing Apple's since 1980 but have owned/used lots of Toshibas, Dells, Gateways, Packard Bells, HP's, etc. along the way. My wife and I still use PC's at work but both of us choose iMacs for our personal desktop computers. There are video tutorials from Apple or on YouTube that will guide you to the answers to your Apple questions.

 

[AlsoRan]

I'm new to the iMac so a question for all - are you running any extra anti-virus software? The Apple Store seems to infer that it's not needed?

Maybe I'm just nervous coming from PC's where you need to load it up with security.

 

[JonnyCinco]

Not sure if it blows - but it sure is a memory hog on a PC.

not only that...make sure you hard drive doesnt crash too many times (or buy too many new computers) or iTunes wont let you load the music you paid for

 

[rem]

I may have misunderstood what you said (hey, I'm old and it's late), but you can authorize up to 5 computers for downloading. You can also de-authorize a computer. You just can't have more than 5 going at one time for downloading from iTunes. Before you replace a computer, try to remember to de-authorize it. If your hard drive crashes, well, I'm not sure. I'll try to find out about that. If you can erase and re-format, iTunes will recognize it as the same computer.


If I've missed the mark entirely, just slap me down and call me Lucy. R ::024::

 

[creggur]

I went to the darkside 4 months ago. Mainly because I just wanted the system to run without nagging problems and that was always annoying with the PC. I still have the PC for work, but running the iMac has been good so far. I have the OS X Lion and I think that has helped, but there is a learning curve which I am still on. Some things that were a simple mouse click are now a secret button (or two) away. Finding out these are sometimes a hassle and the documentation sucks, but I think this can be pieced together over time.

I am enjoying the trouble free operation though. All good.

Google is your friend when you're first switching over. Simply type whatever you want to do "on a mac" in Google, and I guarantee someone has had that question before and it's likely been answered on a Mac forum somewhere.

As to your other question - have never run anti-virus software on any of my Macs - never had an issue. Don't know anyone with a Mac that does, actually...

 

[colorider]

I'd add more memory. Mountain Lion does a lot and therefore uses lots of memory. Try http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27 for some decent prices on mostly quality stuff for Macs. Their memory prices are excellent.

I've been using/owing Apple's since 1980 but have owned/used lots of Toshibas, Dells, Gateways, Packard Bells, HP's, etc. along the way. My wife and I still use PC's at work but both of us choose iMacs for our personal desktop computers. There are video tutorials from Apple or on YouTube that will guide you to the answers to your Apple questions.

Thanks for the link for RAM!!

 

[colorider]

I may have misunderstood what you said (hey, I'm old and it's late), but you can authorize up to 5 computers for downloading. You can also de-authorize a computer. You just can't have more than 5 going at one time for downloading from iTunes. Before you replace a computer, try to remember to de-authorize it. If your hard drive crashes, well, I'm not sure. I'll try to find out about that. If you can erase and re-format, iTunes will recognize it as the same computer.


If I've missed the mark entirely, just slap me down and call me Lucy. R ::024::

This is how I understand it as well. I only use iTunes on my wife's iPad on on our desktop, so doubt this will ever be an issue..

Thanks for the reminder about de-authorizing.