Supporting Macs

No one is talking down to you, and certainly no one hates you because you prefer Windows PCs over Macs. To each their own, as I said in my earlier posts. Problem is, you seem to be ignoring everything that everyone has told you here. Some people have made some recommendations on which books you might want to look into. Now I haven't checked them out, but I hear that the O'Reilly books are VERY good, especially if you're looking for something technical and not something that caters to those people you've mentioned as examples. The O'Reilly books tend to be VERY concise if you're a power user (I used to own an older version of Running Linux some years ago and I loved it). So long as you use the books along with your Mac you should be fine, but be aware that exploration is key in learning something. Yes, you might crash the system in the process...expect it. Just don't save anything that you might miss if the Mac were to crash in the process. Since you're main computer is the PC, this won't be much of an issue. I can't tell you how many times I've fubar-ed my Slackware box in the process of learning something new. Thankfully most of my general use is on the Mac now. ;)

I still think that the Mac mini will be a good starter computer for familiarizing yourself. It's not a powerhouse (was never meant to be), but it can keep up quite well (I tested out the Mac mini at the Apple Store and was quite amazed at its performance considering what it is). Of course, I would probably wait until the Intel version comes out, but if you need one now you won't be left out in the cold with the transition. I have an iMac G5 and I'm quite happy with it even if it'd not an Intel Mac. I know that it will be supported for quite some time before it's not capable of running OS X anymore. And I could always move to Linux once it's considered obsolete by Apple. :)

As for replacing a computer, it's really up to you. If you want to buy the Mac, then you're going to have to accomodate it. It's a pain, I know....I've had to do it a few times myself when I added the systems that I have, but it was for the best.
 
i would be one to say not to get the newer intel macs. right now, they are fast, but right now, no-one owns them. Support is about supporting people who have problems with their computers. if no-one has an intel mac, then you can't help them with specific powerpc problems (like classic). sure, the user base will grow on intel, but that won't be for years yet. if you get a mini now, then you will have the powerpc architecture to use, and not much cash outlay. then in a years time, you can spend another $500 getting a new intel mac mini, and be in control of the best of both worlds.

the intel macs will not be able to run any system older than 10.4.4, locking out any kind of backwards supporting. the powerpc macs still have classic support, so you can troubleshoot peoples classic troubles too.
 
If you want a book recommendation.....I'd recommend Mac OS X, The missing manual (as previously mentioned here). [Actually, anything published by O'Reilly is generally pretty good. I really like some of their Linux and programming books].

If you want a machine recommendation, I recommend the intel 20" iMac with 256MB Vram and whatever amount of memory you wish to pay for or can afford. (The 17" is just fine as well). The Mac mini is a good machine, but as Nixgeek recommended, I'd wait for it to go to the intel platform.

For the record....I don't own an Ipod. I don't think Macs are any better than a windows based PC (Ok, maybe the OS is, but...) and I DO accept what you are trying to do (It just seems to me you are going about it on a .... lets say different path) :D

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
 
FarmerPete, you mentioned earlier about the fact that your KVM has PS/2 ports and Macs only have USB ports. Surely it's a simple matter to get a convertor? You could easily add a cheap Mac Mini to your existing KVM setup without having to replace any of the other machines.
 
Shookster said:
FarmerPete, you mentioned earlier about the fact that your KVM has PS/2 ports and Macs only have USB ports. Surely it's a simple matter to get a convertor? You could easily add a cheap Mac Mini to your existing KVM setup without having to replace any of the other machines.
Click to expand...

In the past, when I've tried using PS2 to USB converters on the PC end with my KVM it works fine untill I switch to another computer. It doesn't like emulating the mouse/keyboard when using the converters, so the PC thinks that you just ripped the mouse/keyboard out of the sockets.
 
Wouldn't a better option be to switch to USB components? Get a USB KVM, a USB keyboard and mouse, and add a Mac mini (my suggestion).

You'd be able to get away with one set of peripherals for all three computers; you'd be using better components, and you can justify the price because it benefits your PCs as much as the Mac. Not to mention the fact that you'd be more than saving the same amount of money by using the Mac mini instead of anything powerful.

I don't know why you're setting yourself goals that the computer be faster than what you're using now. You said it yourself: you don't plan on using games on the Mac (and why would you?), and I would guess with your lack of field experience with Macs that you're not a graphics or video specialist. In which case, the Mac is going to be used in a similar capacity as the ones you'd be supporting: web-browsing and e-mail perhaps, with a little bit of playing around in iChat, and the iLife suite. You don't need even close to powerful. You just need at least 512MB of RAM to have a satisfactory experience, and any processor in the last five years will do fine, especially if you're mostly steering clear of the fancy stuff anyway.

The Mac mini is perfect for you.
 
We shall see. I'll have to look at cost vs beneffit of the two options. I do do some high end stuff on my secondary PC. I have done a bit of video editing/encoding. I do use it for some intensive stuff every once in awhile. A lot of watching movies while I'm doing other stuff. Internet is also a big one. I would never want to switch to a 1 keyboard/mouse/monitor setup, since I often am browsing the web on one PC while using the other PC. I Might be able to get away with a seperate monitor setup with a KVM hooked to the periphs, but that could be tricky.

Anyways, thanks for the help guys, I'm not sure 100% what I'm going to do, but then who ever is. You've been helpful to say the least.
 
So set up a KVM with just the Mac mini and the secondary PC, allowing you to keep it, but only replace its keyboard and mouse.

You'd be keeping all avenues open. The Internet is a perfect use for a Mac since you avoid all the security issues, and Safari is a very admirable web browser. You can also use the Mac mini for DVDs (but there is no way to hardware-decode other region DVDs regularly, unlike on a PC. You CAN software-decode them, if you like, with VLC).

Video Editing and Encoding you're probably best off doing on the PC if they're more powerful.


I still say Mac mini.
 
FarmerPete said:
We shall see. I'll have to look at cost vs beneffit of the two options. I do do some high end stuff on my secondary PC. I have done a bit of video editing/encoding. I do use it for some intensive stuff every once in awhile. A lot of watching movies while I'm doing other stuff. Internet is also a big one. I would never want to switch to a 1 keyboard/mouse/monitor setup, since I often am browsing the web on one PC while using the other PC.
Click to expand...

If you like to do video stuff, welcome to the world of Macs. Watching movies can be done on any machine, but you have got to love the widescreens on the iMacs ;) As mentioned earlier, macs are great for surfing and whatnot, and you get the side benefit of avoiding alot of the malware and whatnot that is out there.

When you compare macs and pcs, compare them with like features. The price difference is usually not as much as generally reported. Plus, you know the mac stuff will play nice with each other. :)
 
jwoods said:
If you like to do video stuff, welcome to the world of Macs. Watching movies can be done on any machine, but you have got to love the widescreens on the iMacs ;) As mentioned earlier, macs are great for surfing and whatnot, and you get the side benefit of avoiding alot of the malware and whatnot that is out there.

When you compare macs and pcs, compare them with like features. The price difference is usually not as much as generally reported. Plus, you know the mac stuff will play nice with each other. :)
Click to expand...

I have copies of Adobe Primere Pro and Sony Vegas Studio for PC. I'd have to dig for some boxes to see if I could install either of those on a Mac from my origional disks. Most of the time I do my design on my primary PC and then will copy it over to secondary for the encoding/burning/uploading. I have a gigabit network so I can transfer stuff really fast from PC to PC. When I do video editing on my main PC, I'll hook up a second monitor to it so I can have a full screen monitor of what my video is going to look like while still having all of the controls/timelines/etc open. I don't do stuff with videos THAT often, but when I do it is worth it to have the second monitor.
 
Honestly, I don't know if they will or not. I would suspect not. You might need to get the native versions, which at this point in time (if they even made a mac version) would probably be PPC based, not intel based. Adobe in particular has already stated they would not be shipping universal binaries until later on in the year. (I believe they said they end of the year, but.....)

The second monitor option is available on the intel iMac.
 
The iMac nor the Mac mini will stand up to the PC's video-editing and encoding; the graphics cards in both of them aren't exactly top-of-the-range (though neither is *crap*), and you've already got a very high-end computer with software that does the job.

No sense playing around if you've already got something that does the job more than admirably. Just use it for general user-level computing and word processing and what not.
 
Whoa! FarmerPete must be a JOY to work with as a support tech. ;)

FarmerPete, I think you're in trouble here. They won't even SELL you a Mac unless you swear that Microsoft sucks in front of a notary.

All seriousness aside, I switched to Macs from Winblows in 2001 and David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual (as has been mentioned before) helped me get up to speed with keyboard shortcuts as well as a detailed overview of the system. Get the "Tiger" edition, the newest. That's for OS X 10.4, the latest os version. And I'm an expert user. I'm no granny, sonny!

I think there's even a "missing manual" for Windows users looking to learn how to use Macs. I was going to look it up for you on Amazon, but that comment about Mac fanatics and iPods and all that shn*t really set me off! Uh, oh! Wait. I AM a Mac fanatic (translation for some Windows users: MAC fanatic). And, um. Yeah. I, uh, bought an iPod. A cute green one. I thought about naming it iPodie, but that sounds . . . Um, well, yeah. Say it out loud and you'll see my problem.

As for video, Apple sells Final Cup Studio, and there's an Avid (Avid Xpress, I believe) version for the Mac (both around a grand). On the lower end is Final Cut Express (couple hundred smackers), and iMovie comes with all the Macs. I use iMovie for home videos. Premiere Pro doesn't exist for Macs. Adobe is chicken--because of Final Cut Pro, which is a powerhouse. Sony's app doesn't have a Mac version either.

Doug

P.S. You said you could do stuff with your PCs that couldn't be done with Macs. What exactly can your PCz do that the Mac can't do, besides having more GAMEZ? I wish I could play World of Warcraft too. Oh, wait . . . I can!
 
dktrickey said:
As for video, Apple sells Final Cup Studio, and there's an Avid (Avid Xpress, I believe) version for the Mac (both around a grand). On the lower end is Final Cut Express (couple hundred smackers), and iMovie comes with all the Macs.
Click to expand...
And then on the lower lower end is HyperEngine AV and Avid Free DV, both running around... oh, free. :D
 
dktrickey said:
P.S. You said you could do stuff with your PCs that couldn't be done with Macs. What exactly can your PCz do that the Mac can't do, besides having more GAMEZ? I wish I could play World of Warcraft too. Oh, wait . . . I can!
Click to expand...

I used to play WoW. Infact, my WoW character is what is financing me purchasing a Mac. Sold my account for $1500.

I just bought a Mac Mini. I figured that it would be good enough for now and by the time it is to slow to use, a nicer intel version will be out, and by then there will be a lot more universal apps out. I also got one hell of a deal on a Mac Mini from CompUSA. It was $500, but I got ~$250 in free stuff for buying it, AND I got $100 in gift certificates to local restraunts. We shall see how it works.
 
looking forward to hear your report as well as complaints. You'll find a lot of information on macosx.com, and if you ask nicely, there aren't many problems with Mac OS X that can't be handled –*unless you're trying to achieve something very Windows-specific that simply is handled differently on Macs. In such cases, there _is_ a learning curve, but most of the time, it's not a steep one, and the end-result pays for the change in thinking.
 
I swear to God if this $#!( DVD doesn't eject in the next 20 minutes I am returning the thing to the store. I don't have an icon for the DVD on my desktop. I held down F12 for 2 seconds. I tried going into the disk utility and ejecting the volume, but there is no volume listed. I tried going to the terminal and typing a some stuff that is supposed to eject it, and it didn't. I tried making a menu option to eject a DVD but it doesn't show on my menu. I tried rebooting, and nothing good happened. I tried opening up the DVD movie software that has an eject button, and when I do it says, "A valid DVD drive could not be found". Ugghh. USER FRIENDLY MY ASS! WHY DON'T YOU PUT A #$*( BUTTON ON THE COMPUTER TO OPEN THE DRIVE! Now I have to open the sucker up and force the CD out of the thing, or I have to return it and say goodbye to the DVD.
 
FarmerPete said:
I swear to God if this $#!( DVD doesn't eject in the next 20 minutes I am returning the thing to the store...
Click to expand...
I'd help... but I'd rather you returned it.

This is a perfect example of why I don't think you possess the temperament for supporting Macs. The solution isn't that hard... but you are already so emotionally over come that you can't find it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top