The Mac Thread

[Shorty]

People, I've been meaning to do this for a while but I figure it'd be fitting to ring in the New Year with this, the forum Mac thread. From the guy who brought you the now-famous iPod thread comes The Mac Thread - a thread created especially for the Mac owners of the Forums.

Whether you're hunched over a humble 12" iBook or surveying the breadth of your digital domain on a fully-loaded Mac Pro with a 30" Cinema Display or two, this is the thread for all questions Mac-related. Thinking of buying a Mac and not sure which one to get? Already bought one and you want to get started? Need a hand on choosing or configuring peripherals and accessories? Got some juicy info on Leopard or any of Apple's upcoming product announcements? Software configuration issues? OS X tips and tricks? Found a bitchin' new laptop bag for your MacBook Pro? Feel like bragging about all your shiny Apple equipment? This is the thread for all that.

And now a brief word on what this thread is not. It's not yet another "Mac vs PC debate" thread. Comparisons between OS X and other operating systems are fine within reason, but I don't want this to be another polemic slagfest between Windows and Mac. If you want that, you can make your own thread. This also isn't a thread on potentially (or actually) illegal stuff, such as "hacking" OS X to put on standard PCs. If you want to get a cracked version of OS X running on your homemade biege box that's your business, but we won't provide support for that here. It's called the "Mac" thread for a reason. :P

With that said, go nuts, guys. I'll be interested in what people come up with. 8)

[Pai Mel]

Do you think disabling unnecessary fonts actually make your computer faster? I've read somewhere that it does but I can't really tell the difference. Got about 128 fonts enabled atm. However it is a pain scrolling through Photoshop's font menu when you have too many enabled.

[Shorty]

For Mac? I dunno. I haven't really heard a definitive answer on that front. If it's a pain to scroll through them all and you really don't need them, then I think you can do it. Otherwise, I think it's a fairly useless "tweak".

[StorminNorman]

I've found that programs, including the Finder, will load a lot quicker if you have fewer fonts enabled at a time. OS X still doesn't have a useful built-in font manager, though.

[Shorty]

I'm guessing everyone knows about the Spotlight shortcut (Apple + space)?

[Pai Mel]

What do you think is the best DivX/avi to Mpeg2 (DVD compliant) converter?

I heard Apple's Compressor isn't all that great. I usually default to using ffmpegX.

[Queenie]

It's about time we got a thread for macs!

people probably know that on powerbooks and stuff you can scroll by using 2 fingers at the same time on the mousepad thing.

command + tab. Saved me many times.

Command+Option+Escape= Force quit. It just automatically quits ANYTHING. Foolproof.

I found a program in Nextbyte in adelaide for running windows on your mac (third party). It seems that boot camp has now evolved to a stage where people are trying to make a profit of people's unawaredness. Currently Boot Camp is 148mb, so it's not such a big download (unless you on 56k, then it's about 12 hours of hell).

If you're into buying games for macintosh, too, then have a look at this site:
www.tryandbyte.com.au

you can pay by mail, and it's remarkably cheaper than in any other stores where you can buy mac games (which at the moment is only david jones and nextbyte.)

Oh yeah, and I screwed up the folder where I have classic (on my old powerpc), and i can't run classic anymore, bar starting it up on the hard drive like that. Info on a place where I could download classic (possibly for use on an intel processor) or buy it would be helpful!


MAC 4 LYF!

[StorminNorman]

As far as I'm aware, Classic doesn't even run on Intel Macs.

Besides which, it's been six years, can't you like... learn to let go?

[Shorty]

I use Parallels Desktop for Mac (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/) to run Windows on my MacBook Pro. It's slower, but it allows you to boot into Windows and other operating systems (including Linux) without having to reboot your Mac.

[Dr Skinnybones]

I'm interested in buying a Macbook Pro

* when is the next release of OSX? Is it coming in the next few months?
* are there plans to put Core 2 Duo Extreme into Macbook Pros?

[Shorty]

1. According to Apple, OS X v10.5 (Leopard) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X#Mac_OS_X_10.5_.28Leopard.29) is due out in Spring 2007. So yeah, the next few months.

2. AFAIK, there aren't any plans to put Core 2 Extreme processors into the MacBook Pro range. The MacBook Pros do come with Core 2 Duo processors (not the Extreme version) at 2.16 and 2.33Ghz depending on the model and from what I hear, they're pretty quick. So you're not exactly missing out.

[Vicious]

I have an older iMac G3 that I bought for my mom for $10 USD with 192mb of RAM from a thrift shop (months ago). I think it has Mac OS 9 . . . is there anyway to get OSX on there and have it run decently while turning down some of the eye candy? She's been bitching about not having her own PC to surf the net on so I thought it would alright . . .

Would it be as easy as installing XP or am I in for a challenge?

[Shorty]

Well, you're installing a new operating system so it's not going to be trivial. :P

As long as your system meets the system requirements (http://www.apple.com/au/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html) (and most importantly, has a FireWire port because OS X won't install without one), you should be good to go. I would definitely recommend a RAM upgrade though, as I don't think 192Mb would cut it. The minimum's 256Mb, but OS X loves memory so get as much as you can afford. 8)

From what I remember about installing OS X on my MacBook Pro, it's not a hugely difficult process. The installation program will ask you a few basic questions and you do have the option of customing what's installed to the hard drive or you can just go with the default installation. If you have any documents or important data installed on there, I'd recommend backing them up too. If you have any pre-OS X programs you need to run (and given how long OS X has been out for, there aren't that many of them), you can run those in Classic mode.

So, like I said, it's not going to be trivial. But as long as your system fits the requirements and you have some experience installing operating systems, you should be fine. :thumbsup:

[The Brett]

I'm thinking of replacing my current iBook with a Mac Mini. Now, there is actually method in this madness- I have an office at my University (since I'm a President of one of the faculty associations) so I don't need to bring a computer to uni. I also rarely take my laptop away with me, and if I'm going somewhere where I'll need a computer there's usually one available. My idea is that it would basically be like a little portable multimedia unit for me, with OSX and Windows installed, heaps of hard drive space and every program under the sun sitting there ready to use. Almost like a big USB drive, you might say, with more functionality. Plus, having Civ 3 at my disposal all the time couldn't hurt. :P

Thoughts?

[RawkSuga]

is it true that with macs you cant upgrade parts but you need to buy a new mac all together? Unlike pcs?

Im a graphic design student and they encourage us to use macs over pcs.
Personally i have a pc but getting a mac someday has crossed my mind.

[Shorty]

The Brett: You could use a Mac Mini for that purpose, but you could also install OS X to an external USB hard drive (it can be done, though I haven't tried) and target boot from that whenever you need it). But that would only work as long as the computer you're using is a Mac and it's a FireWire drive IIRC. Booting Windows from an external drive is another matter entirely. But a Mac Mini would probably be better suited as you can just "borrow" a keyboard and mouse whenever you need to use it. Though I'd still recommend a laptop as a true all-in-one portable computing system, your plan is at least somewhat workable. :P

RawkSuga: Depends on the Mac you're talking about and your definition of "upgrade". The laptops aren't really upgradeable except for RAM and hard drives, but that's a general laptop thing. The desktops are more upgradeable, except for major things like processors and motherboards. But most people tend to just replace the entire computer if they need to upgrade that many components. It's marginally cheaper to do so anyway and you can still keep the old Mac as a file server or sell it on eBay (there's a pretty big market for used Apple gear). So the short answer is "yes, in certain circumstances".

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

So the short answer is..

You should copyright that phrase now:

The Short Answer, with your host, Shorty.

[Queenie]

On my LACIE 250gb external hd I have got both CLASSSIC (os 9.0) and OSX folders so I can boot it from there if I so choose. The main reason it's a good idea to have a classic folder is so that you can still play old games like Starcraft and Diablo on there.

I didn't know you could upgrade the graphics shorty.

[RawkSuga]

The Brett: You could use a Mac Mini for that purpose, but you could also install OS X to an external USB hard drive (it can be done, though I haven't tried) and target boot from that whenever you need it). But that would only work as long as the computer you're using is a Mac and it's a FireWire drive IIRC. Booting Windows from an external drive is another matter entirely. But a Mac Mini would probably be better suited as you can just "borrow" a keyboard and mouse whenever you need to use it. Though I'd still recommend a laptop as a true all-in-one portable computing system, your plan is at least somewhat workable. :P

RawkSuga: Depends on the Mac you're talking about and your definition of "upgrade". The laptops aren't really upgradeable except for RAM and hard drives, but that's a general laptop thing. The desktops are more upgradeable, except for major things like processors and motherboards. But most people tend to just replace the entire computer if they need to upgrade that many components. It's marginally cheaper to do so anyway and you can still keep the old Mac as a file server or sell it on eBay (there's a pretty big market for used Apple gear). So the short answer is "yes, in certain circumstances".

Ahh i see
what does an average mac cost these days a desktop one
thats preferly good for a graphic designer

[StorminNorman]

Well... Apple splits the Mac line up into "Pro" and "Consumer" models.

You could be looking at upwards of $6000 for a well-specced Mac Pro and decent monitor. On the other hand, as student, you're unlikely to need anything more than an iMac or MacBook. Apple have pretty generous educational discounts too.

[Shorty]

As with a lot of computer gear, you get what you pay for so the more money you put down, the more capable equipment you'll be able to buy. It all depends on how much you're willing to throw down. Apple gear is great for graphic design and DTP work, which is why a lot of professional graphic designers and publishers use Macs. Whatever you buy, I recommend it has a decent size screen as that'll give you a larger canvas to work on. For desktop, maybe a 20" iMac. Or you could get a 15" MacBook Pro laptop. Either one of those would be good starting out. And as Norman pointed out, you can get some pretty good educational discounts.

Let us know how it goes. 8)

[ZeRgY]

Mummy always said that if I can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all...

*blushes*

:O

[Shorty]

And what did she say about saying stuff that made sense? :P

[Shorty]

Okay, obviously the Mac users among you have been pretty quiet so I think I'll break the silence.

Today, I discovered quite a sizeable bulge in my MacBook Pro's battery. Being quite familar with the "Sony exploding battery" fiasco, I immediately removed it and took it in to the Apple store to get it replaced. Bottom line, I am confined to AC power until about mid-next week.

I also managed to fix a problem I've had since installing Boot Camp (which wasn't getting the Mac to automatically boot into OS X - that was fixed by restoring the drive to a single partition using Boot Camp Assistant), and that's getting the unit to "hibernate" or "safe sleep". For the past few days, I've been losing my session whenever I run out of power and I eventually discovered that it was because the laptop's sleep mode had been changed and I hadn't set it back to hibernate. Current Intel Macs use a sort of hybrid "safe sleep" mode that keeps power to (and thus the contents of) the RAM by running it off the battery when the lid is closed and the system is sleeping but also saves the memory to the hard drive as a backup so that if power is lost, the session can restored from there instead (you might notice that if you open the lid and the screen is greyed out with a white progress bar across the bottom - it means your laptop is waking from hiberation).

I've also been a bit annoyed at how often I'm asked for the Administrator password ever since I made myself a regular user. For this reason, I now try to change system settings as little as possible (which I suppose can be a good thing :P).

Also, who's looking forward to Leopard?

[Pai Mel]

Hey, if you have any designer friends, try and get them to calibrate your Mac's screen with an Eye-One Match Pro. It makes everything look better. Lucky for me my bro is into photography - he imported a monitor calibrator from the US and these things apparently cost like $2000 over here.

Looking forward to what Leopard can do. Don't think I'll install it on my G4 though. I want a slow computer. Not a very slow computer, hehe. I wish CPU upgrade cards were cheaper. It makes more sense to just get a Mini instead.

[Shorty]

Actually, OS X upgrades usually don't make the system slower at all. They may even improve performance (http://www.chip.com.sg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=77) because Apple optimises existing features with each new release as well as adding new ones.

[Pai Mel]

I dunno... they've already had many updates since 10.0.

10.5 is adding all these new animations and Time Machine and desktop spaces. I can't imagine it running as fast as it is now on my Mac. Heck my video card doesn't even support Quartz Extreme.

My Mac is almost twice as fast running OS 9. But it doesn't look as nice. :p

[Shorty]

Are you running a desktop or a laptop? Because you'd have to go pretty far back to find a G4 that doesn't support Quartz Extreme (like, a first-run PowerMac G4 or a first-run PowerBook G4).

[Pai Mel]

I have the Gigabit Ethernet model. Dual 500MHz. ATI Rage Pro with a whopping 16 MB of video ram. 896 MB SDRAM. About 1/2 a terabyte of HD space. Lol, def. time for an upgrade, methinks. I still love it to bits though. Foist computer (and only) I've ever bought.

At least I know that I can install Leopard if I wanted to, unlike Microsoft Vista which requires a fairly new PC.

[Shorty]

Yeah, that's a little thing that impresses me about Macs. You can go a shockingly long time without upgrading your hardware. Unless you're me, that is. 8)

[patFX]

Anyone know how to use the Apple external modem in Windows via Boot Camp without it disconnecting everytime I launch HL2 and BF2 or try to login to WoW?

[Queenie]

which video card in the mac pro is better?

Ati X1900 XT 512mb vram

4x Nvidia 7300 GT cards (4 running at same time) 256mb vram

Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512mb Vram.

[Vicious]

which video card in the mac pro is better?

Ati X1900 XT 512mb vram

4x Nvidia 7300 GT cards (4 running at same time) 256mb vram

Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512mb Vram.

Go with the X1900XT, the 4x 7300 is probably based on their own drivers and probably won't play well with Bootcamp (let alone performance is questionable), and the Quadro is a professional level CAD/Modeling card (isn't meant for gaming).

[StorminNorman]

Is it still possible to turn a GeForce into a Quadro by flashing the firmware and changing the drivers?

[Vicious]

Is it still possible to turn a GeForce into a Quadro by flashing the firmware and changing the drivers?

Yes, there's been softmods through drivers for almost every generation. Of course the hardmod comes along a bit sooner, but it's primary just driver stuff that gets used when it's detected to be a Quadro.

[StorminNorman]

Well, given that NVidia's chips are basically overgrown DSPs, and the actual graphics processing is done via the software driver (something they finally admitted to with the 8800 series), it's not hard to do that kind of thing with their cards.

[Vicious]

Well, given that NVidia's chips are basically overgrown DSPs, and the actual graphics processing is done via the software driver (something they finally admitted to with the 8800 series), it's not hard to do that kind of thing with their cards.

It's worth mentioning though the last working softmod I've seen was the 6 series with RivaTuner, so they may have changed stuff recently.

I haven't seen any mods for the GeForce 7 or 8 series.

It's a way of getting a cheap quadro if you really need one though.

[StorminNorman]

Theoretically, it should be even more possible to do it with the 8800, as they stripped away the last vestiges of actual graphics hardware in it and turned it into this crazy "stream processor" thing.

Maybe the driver code has been tightened up to make it harder to do the softmod.

[Vicious]

Theoretically, it should be even more possible to do it with the 8800, as they stripped away the last vestiges of actual graphics hardware in it and turned it into this crazy "stream processor" thing.

Maybe the driver code has been tightened up to make it harder to do the softmod.

Possibly, although they may have locked stuff on the GPU. No one seems to know anymore.

[Shorty]

Did my Mac thread just get taken over by a bunch of graphics nerds from the Tom's Hardware forums? :P

Kidding, guys. Loving the discussion.

[Flock]

Im planning on getting a new mac sometime this year as my current first gen emac really doesn't cut it anymore. I'll be using it for uni where i will be studying graphic design and thus running CS3 on it, I also plan on playing through all the pc games ive missed in the past 5 or so years but nothing really that modern, so can a macbook with 2 gig of ram handle this kind stuff? When does it start to choke when using Cs3 apps, namely Illustrator, Photoshop and Dreamweaver or would i be better served getting one of the older macbook pros for about $500 more. $500 could really break this deal for me though i might have to look at a pc if thats the case. :(


I'm not one to work in 100's of layers or anything btw.

[Pai Mel]

I'm running Photoshop CS3 on a G4 Dual 500 MHz and it runs perfectly fine. So it takes a lil longer when applying filters, but I hardly even use filters. The main tools and image adjustment functions are instantaneous. CS3 runs even slightly faster than CS2. But if you are on Intel the speed increase would be huge since Photoshop wasn't Universal till CS3.

The MacBook is not really that much weaker than a MacBook Pro, despite the big difference in price. Search online for some benchmarks and you'll see. Just make sure to get Core 2 Duo as they are 64-bit. Core Duo was 32-bit. OS X Leopard will bring out the real speed of the 64-bit Core 2 Duos.

[Shorty]

The "big name" apps that haven't yet switched to Universal Binary run pretty well on Intel hardware, from what I've heard. You're on the right track with the 2Gb of RAM (OS X loves RAM) and the current hardware should run the PowerPC stuff through Rosetta well enough. It'd be interesting to see what the performance gains will be when stuff like Photoshop goes UB (if it hasn't already - I'll confess to being a bit out of the loop when it comes to the photo/DTP software market).

[Pai Mel]

I was disappointed with the no announcement of upgraded Mac Minis at the WWDC. I was hoping they'd get upgraded to Core 2 Duos. Want to upgrade real bad, but don't want to spend too much. Don't really need another screen and I don't like white iMacs, I prefer black or brushed aluminium so it blends with my other equipment.

[Shorty]

Aren't the new iMacs going to be brushed aluminium?

[Pai Mel]

There's rumors that an iMac Pro will be released so that there's a Pro version for each range: for laptop, for desktop (mini being a desktop), and the iMacs. And possibly it will be brushed aluminium. But if it's a Pro version then it may well cost over $2000.

I just want a second Mac at the cheapest possible price for node processing and other more processor extensive apps while I keep my trusty G4 for internet browsing, web server and email.

The Mac minis have a nicer colour than the current iMacs. You can also hide them by mounting on the VESA slot on the back of an LCD monitor with a special mounting kit.

[Flock]

i guess im leaning towards a macbook, anybody how far one can push them in terms of gaming? whilst i will not be using for much gaming, its always nice to have option. If i get a macbook i can spend the money i save on good monitor like a lg L204.

[Pai Mel]

I can't really answer that. I've pretty much given up gaming on the Mac. You may want to ask here: http://insidemacgames.com/forum/

The weakest link in the specs of the MacBook is the integrated video card: Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory. So don't expect to be able to drive a 30" Apple Cinema Display with it.

Only the MacBook Pro or iMacs (except the cheapest 17" iMac) have a dedicated graphics card.

[Shorty]

The 30" Cinema Displays require a dual-link DVI card to run them, which I don't think the MacBook has.

[StorminNorman]

i guess im leaning towards a macbook, anybody how far one can push them in terms of gaming?
Macbooks use Intel DodgyGraphics<tm>, which is fine for World of Warcraft and most older 3D games. Apple recently refreshed the MacBook Pro line to use NVidia 8600M chips, which makes them pretty damn powerful for gaming.

I really wish Apple would start putting real graphics chips into the iBook/Macbook line again.

I specced up a mid-range Pro the other day, and it came out at just under $4k without AppleCare.

[Zace]

I am buying a MacBook this weekend. Don't really want it for gaming, more for Music/Video/Photos.

With my salary sacficing costing me about 1400 with AppleCare. Not buying a MacBook Pro as they don't really look portable. I've gotta lug it all around Canada for the next 12 months!!!

[Pai Mel]

I really wish Apple would start putting real graphics chips into the iBook/Macbook line again.



If they did that no one would buy the MacBook Pro. In any case, an integrated graphics card is more power-efficient than a dedicated graphics card. Some people do prefer to have a longer-life battery on their laptop rather than a portable gaming beast.

[Manny M]

I'll be the proud owner of a macbook within the next two weeks (specs in the laptop thread).

As a user who really knows nothing but Windows, what kind of tips, hints, shortcuts and useful apps can you guys inform me about to make my transition to OSX relatively simple?

[Shorty]

I have a few hints.

- The Apple button is like the control button except if you're running Windows via Boot Camp, in which case it's like the Windows button.
- Right-clicking is Ctrl+click.
- Apple+left/right to skip to the end of the line and Option+left/right to skip a word.
- Apple+Q quits most programs.
- If a program freezes but the rest of your operating system, Ctrl-click
- If you need to search for anything on the Mac, activate Spotlight by pressing Apple+space.
- Installing applications is usually pretty simple. Open the DMG file (it'll appear as a new drive in Finder) and drag the application's icon to the Applications folder. And that's it.
- To get Apple updates, click on the Apple logo in the left corner of the Menu bar and select "Software Update".
- Speaking of software - Opera and/or Firefox for Web browsing, Transmission for BitTorrent, Adium for IM, Flip4Mac for playing WMVs in QuickTime, Burn for burning CDs.

If I think of any more, I'll put them up.

[Manny M]

So Nero is a go zone with Mac?

[Shorty]

There is no Mac version of Nero.

[Manny M]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...

So is 'burn' the Mac equivalent? I'm beggining to think that i'm going to HAVE TO have a Windows boot on my mac to do 50% of my tasks. Annoying.

[Maxi]

Apple + mouse click opens a link in a new tab in firefox.

I figured that out by testing! My Macbook arrived today. Hard to use... kinda... but that could be because I'm used to using windows. Anyway, I can act smug to Quatters now, which always = win!

[Queenie]

Apple+ Q sucks compared to the almighty power of...

Apple + Option + Esc (it's like ctrl+alt+del except this one works no matter what you're doing) and It doesn't have a crappy end now screen, it just ends it no fuss.

[Shorty]

You're only supposed to use Apple+Option+Esc when your program is frozen, genius. :P

[please_salt_the_fries]

yeah macs are far more intuitive, it shouldnt take you too long to get the hang of it all, its just your used to using a PC.

you'll find that lots of things that you never thought about, just kinda work on a mac, give it a day or 2.

[Flock]

Macbooks use Intel DodgyGraphics<tm>, which is fine for World of Warcraft and most older 3D games


thats all i really want it for, wow and some old pc games i missed over the years.....

2gigs of ram and it should be running CS3 super.

can't wait to get my macbook!

emac ftl.

[StorminNorman]

⌘ IS COMMAND DAMNIT. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_key)

Get it right, you non-Mac-using heathens.

- The Apple button is like the control button except if you're running Windows via Boot Camp, in which case it's like the Windows button.

Actually, the command key has no Windows equivalent. You're right in that Windows mimics it with Ctrl, but the two keys are not the same.

- Right-clicking is Ctrl+click.
Actually it's right-click. Macs ship with two-button mice now, too. (Laptops still don't, but Control-click is far less irritating on a laptop than on a desktop.)

- If a program freezes but the rest of your operating system, Ctrl-click

What? If a program hangs, Command-Option-Escape is the required shortcut to force quit it. Pretty similar to Ctrl-Alt-Del in this function.

- If you need to search for anything on the Mac, activate Spotlight by pressing Apple+space.

WARNING: Command-space conflicts with another shortcut (for switching scripts/input methods) on some Macs.

- Speaking of software - Opera and/or Firefox for Web browsing, Transmission for BitTorrent, Adium for IM, Flip4Mac for playing WMVs in QuickTime, Burn for burning CDs.

Safari is a better browser than Opera or Firefox. Firefox is slow as a dog, and looks hideous on the Mac. If you need a Gecko-based browser, then Camino (I think it's still called that) is a much more Mac-like choice.

Also, there's no Nero for Mac because the company that makes it also produces a Mac product named Toast, which is pretty much Nero for Mac. On the other hand, the Finder has much better burning functionality than Windows, so you may find you don't need a disc-burning utility at all.

I find that Macs are far more keyboard-shortcut friendly than Windows. When I'm on a Mac, I use shortcuts for everything that has them, whereas in Windows I barely use more than the standard cut/copy/paste/save/open set.

And remember, you have the full power of a complete Unix command-line sitting there if you find the GUI too cumbersome.

[Wayne Knight]

Would it be worth holding off purchasing a Macbook until Leopard is released? Are there any new features that make it a must have over Tiger? Do you expect Macbooks to be available from the Aust site with Leopard on them immediately when it is released? What do you expect it to cost on its own?

Also what are they like for wireless setups? Are there any particular routers or other pre-requisies that need to be met?

[clarky]

What are the benefits of me buying a Macbook Pro over a regular Macbook, Maccies?

[SOX]

What are the benefits of me buying a Macbook Pro over a regular Macbook, Maccies?
Bigger screen, not white (less easily stained), more RAM, much better graphics cards.

[craptest]

Im waiting for the imac update (September?). Hopefully they go brushed silver for all the desktops.

Not a fan of the super glossy macbook screens. I know theyre popular but theyre friggin dumb. Irritating reflections.

[Shorty]

I believe you can actually choose between a glossy or regular screen for your MacBook.

[craptest]

I believe you can actually choose between a glossy or regular screen for your MacBook.u sure? thats news to me

[StorminNorman]

You can, and it doesn't even change the cost, which is nice. Go to the Apple Store (http://store.apple.com.au) and spec one up. It's in the BTO options section there.

I prefer gloss screens as they have better colour contrast.

[Manny M]

You can't. You can only choose with the Pro, the macbook comes with glossy only.

[Shorty]

He's right. I must've gotten confused with the Pro ordering screens. My bad.

[Pai Mel]

Im waiting for the imac update (September?). Hopefully they go brushed silver for all the desktops.


Yeah, if Mac minis are end-of-line then I'm also hanging for an upgraded iMac, as long as it's in the $1500-$1600 price range. Black or brushed metal look, but NOT white (wish my Wii was piano black).
Also I hope they incorporate LED backlighting too as LEDs have a longer life span than fluorescent.

And Leopard! Every new incarnation of OS X has been better and faster, unlike Windows updates.

Basically if they release it this year, I'll be a happy chappy.

Still crossing my fingers though for a Mac mini with Core 2 Duo. Or even an AMD dual core 64 bit.

[Dr Skinnybones]

Leopard is meant to hit in October. That gives me 4 months of saving time!

[Maxi]

Can someone tell me how to check the specks on my mac... pretty much hard drive space (or is that it at the bottom of those windows?), CPU speed, RAM, and all that jazz.

I knew all this stuff for Windows, but you know, my Macbook is still a little confusing.

Oh, and I found Comic Life last night. It is the best app EVER!!!!

EDIT: And some more, to get a window to stretch to the screen, do you have to manually drag it, or is there a quicker way to do it?

Yeah, I think that's about it now...

Edit 2: OK, so you know that bar down the bottom with all the icons on it. Is there anyway to make it smaller. I'm pretty sure I saw a Macbook demo unit with a smaller one, and when you scroll over the icons they get bigger... Dunno if I made myself clear there, but if you understand what I'm talking about and can tell me how to do it, thanks!

Edit 3: In Windows, you can use the F5 key to reload an internet screen, is there a shortcut for this in OSX?

[Pai Mel]

Click the Apple logo at the top left of your screen, then About This Mac, then More Info.

Look what I fond at Dick's:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/46735cde030d43922740c0a87f9c06e5/Product/View/XC4513

I got all excited, but then I noticed it doesn't have a DVD-Burner, has 2 x 256 MB RAM shared with graphics, and no Apple Remote. Boooo.

[Shorty]

Can someone tell me how to check the specks on my mac... pretty much hard drive space (or is that it at the bottom of those windows?), CPU speed, RAM, and all that jazz.

I knew all this stuff for Windows, but you know, my Macbook is still a little confusing.

Go to the Apple menu and select "About this Mac" to get a basic overview. You can get a more detailed view (as in AIDA32-level detailed) of the system by clicking on "More Info" in that window or by typing System Profiler into Spotlight.

(Note: I'll be mentioning Spotlight a lot here because that's how you can find pretty much anything on the system, including files, Web sites and even system settings.)

EDIT: And some more, to get a window to stretch to the screen, do you have to manually drag it, or is there a quicker way to do it?

Depends on the application. Some apps will fully maximise when you click on the green button on the left-hand side of the window bar. Otherwise you'll have to drag the window manually like you said.

Edit 2: OK, so you know that bar down the bottom with all the icons on it. Is there anyway to make it smaller. I'm pretty sure I saw a Macbook demo unit with a smaller one, and when you scroll over the icons they get bigger... Dunno if I made myself clear there, but if you understand what I'm talking about and can tell me how to do it, thanks!

The "bar" is called the Dock and its settings are located in the Dock section of System Preferences (or you can just type Dock into Spotlight to go straight there). There you can set all kinds of settings including size, magnification and where the Dock will sit on the screen (I have mine on the left-hand side).

Edit 3: In Windows, you can use the F5 key to reload an internet screen, is there a shortcut for this in OSX?

Depends on the browser, but usually it's Apple+R (the equivalent of Ctrl+R - the Apple button is basically like the Ctrl button in Windows).

[Maxi]

A couple more questions which have come to mind. Don't be surprised if I keep asking, I only got my macbook on Thursday!

1) When I make films with my camera, it saves them as .avi's, but I can't watch this in Quicktime, and when it asked me to search for updates, I wasn't connected to the internet, so I cancelled it, and now it won't ask again. So how can I get .avi's running on my laptop?

2) If I want to get an mp3 player, would it "just work" on my macbook? I'm talking about something that isn't an ipod btw. I'm guessing it should, but I'd rather get an answer than test it with one of my brother's mp3 players :P

[Shorty]

1) Depends on the format that your camera uses for video. AVI is really just a container file and it's the video/audio codecs inside it that matter. Consult your camera's documentation to see what format video it uses.

2) If it's one of those drag-and-drop ones, it'll show up in Finder like a normal drive and you can just drag-and-drop your music onto it. If it requires special Windows-only software, you'll probably need Windows.

[Maxi]

OK, so I got the video working! But!!! No audio, and unfortunately on the Quicktime site it has NO downloads for audio codecs... Could someone help me out here? For some reason all my porn has sound.... but not everything else does... how about my tv shows??

Also, I use my psp as a flash drive a lot, will I brick it if I plug it into my Mac?

[Pai Mel]

Search for VLC. It's a media player. Unfortunately Xvid & DivX are the most popular compression engines for video, a format which Quicktime doesn't really support.

VLC can play almost anything though and it's available for both PC/MAC and it is freeware.

[Queenie]

I downloaded so much porn one weekend that I needed all sorts of players to support them, but I ended up using

-illegal copy of Realmedia player

- Mplayer (which does avi and some others)

-coupled with conversion software visualhub eliminated my file unhappiness.

[Pai Mel]

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[Pai Mel]

http://ffmpegx.com/

^ For transcoding avis to any other format (eg. DVD)

[Pai Mel]

I was inspecting the 24" iMac today at Myers. Imo, they don't really look that great, specially since they were surrounded by all these shiny aluminium laptops and small desktop PCs. Certainly not as sleek as Apple's Cinema Displays.
And I don't like the white keys on the keyboard. The old Apple Pro keyboard I have with black keys looks nicer. Some kids were having awful fun distorting their faces with the webcam though.

[Shorty]

As far as all-in-one desktops go, I think the iMacs are pretty sleek. I mean, they're not going to be quite as sleek as the Cinema Displays, but then again the Cinema Displays don't have a whole Mac inside them either.

[Pai Mel]

If you want to run BitTorrent only during offpeak times this is how I do it.

1. Use iCal to launch BitTorrent at 2:00 AM every day. Just use iCal's alarm feature to 'Open File' and select the BitTorrent application. It's pretty straightforward to set this up so I wont go into detail. You just need to familiarize yourself with iCal, basically.

2. I haven't found a way to quit BitTorrent automatically using iCal, AppleScript (cause I'm not familiar with its syntax), or Automator, so I wrote a simple Unix script that I saved in /etc/periodic/daily with the filename 'kill.bittorrent'.
But in order to give the kill.bittorrent script permission to run you have to type this command in a Terminal window (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) while logged in as an Admin:

sudo chmod 555 /etc/periodic/daily/kill.bittorrent
(then type your Admin password)


This is the script:

#!/bin/bash
#
# kill.BitTorrent by Pai Mel
#
# Kills BitTorrent after x seconds.
#
#clear; printf "\nKill BitRocket in how many seconds? \n"
#read i
#printf "\nKilling BitRocket in $i seconds..."

sleep 31500
kill -TERM $(ps -auxwww | grep BitTorrent | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}')

# killall -v BitTorrent


Scripts in /etc/periodic/daily get executed everyday at around 3:15 AM, so the script is run, then it counts x seconds until 12:00 PM, and terminates BitTorrent.

There's probably better BitTorrent clients out there that have scheduling built in but I couldn't be bothered trying them out. The original client works well for me.

[Maxi]

Well, now that I've had my macbook for almost a week, I just want to say to anyone who's thinking of getting one, make sure you like the screen size. I mean, I can stand it, but it is small. Really small... so you better make sure that you can live with it.

I'm saving at the moment to get the 23" cinema display. That will be rocking when I get it.

Also, another problem I've run into, when I insert a DVD (Superman Returns >_>) the computer spits it out again. This doesn't happen with any other DVD. I tested the DVD in other players to make sure it works, and it does. Does anyone know why it would do this? I mean, I know Superman is a shit superhero and all, but I should still be allowed to watch the movie!!

Edit: And a tip for Windows users that I just found out accidently! apple+tab changes window!! YAY!!

[StorminNorman]

As I said on the previous page, it's the command key. Only non-mac-using heathens call it the Apple key, because they are too stupid to know better.

As for your DVD, the Mac will do this if the disc is not the correct region for the drive.

[Maxi]

What the hell?? The DVD was purchased in Australia!! What is this!!

[Shorty]

As I said on the previous page, it's the command key.

Only after the Macintosh was introduced. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_key) Before then, the key was known as the "open Apple" key because there were two kinds - an outline or "open" Apple key and a solid Apple key that only appeared on the Apple Lisa.

Interestingly enough, if you connect a Windows keyboard to a Mac (for whatever reason) the Command key gets mapped to the Windows key.

[Zace]

Brought a Black MacBook with 2 GIG RAM and a 200G HD. +1 for the Mac Converters. Or as my friends said 'Ugh, a MacBook. Could you get any emoer!'

Damn the unenlighten.....

[Maxi]

OK, another question, how do you access the network? I want to get some files of Quatters's computer, but I have no idea how to get onto the network with a mac... thanks in advance!

[Shorty]

I got one word for you, Maxi - SAMBA. Go to Finder and press Command+K. Then enter "smb://" followed by the hostname or IP address followed by the shared folder you want to access (say, it was the share "pr0n" on computer "quatters", you'd type "smb://quatters/pr0n"). It should ask you for a username and password. Give it one (Guest usually works if he's enabled guest access) and you're in.

[Quatters]

Hey, my pr0n folder is not so easy to find!

He's actually after my music, he's got all the pr0n!

[Bob the Destroyer]

Important question: What kind of settings could I play WoW on with a MacBook?

This is critical here people

[craptest]

Brought a Black MacBook with 2 GIG RAM and a 200G HD. +1 for the Mac Converters. Or as my friends said 'Ugh, a MacBook. Could you get any emoer!'

Damn the unenlighten.....You got the BLACK? Isnt the black macbook rather overpriced when compared to the similar spec white macbook?


Im still unsure whether to wait and see what the new Imacs (September?) are like or just go ahead and buy a white macbook now.

[nintendo]

Actually when I worked out the pricing for my MacBook (I purchased the black one as well) it only worked out to be something like $200 more. Plus, the black is WAY sexier lol.

[clarky]

Black looks too much like PC Laptops. If I was to get a Mac I'd want it to stand out...

[Shorty]

What, you mean the large Apple logo on the lid won't be enough? :P

[StorminNorman]

Only after the Macintosh was introduced. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_key) Before then, the key was known as the "open Apple" key because there were two kinds - an outline or "open" Apple key and a solid Apple key that only appeared on the Apple Lisa.
http://ikaruga.homelinux.net/~tim/macintoshusersguide.jpg
God is on my side.

[Shorty]

Yeah, the Command key was introduced with the first Apple Macintosh in 1984. So I was right. 8)

Cool manual, by the way. If you want to talk about seriously old computer junk lying around, I'm pretty sure there's a copy of Windows 1.0 lying around the house on a set of 5.25" floppies. 8)

[Manny M]

Ok, finally I have my hands on my nifty little macbook.

First impressions: VERY sleek, and incredibly zippy. Very happy with the performance so far... although I haven't put it to any real tests.

I'm still trying to get my head around its nuances, and the lack of support for my fav proggies is a little annoying, but i'm sure i'll find some new ones soon.

Had a bitch of a time getting my airport to work with my router. I don't know why, but it would just lose the connecton incredibly easy, and was very temperamental. All of a sudden, it seems to be working like a dream. Coincidentally, my work lappy went into hibernation mode at the same time, so i'm assuming the airport card doesn't deal with interference too well.

There are a few niggling issues with it, but i'm sure it's all customisable. First order of questioning though... how do I get images to view as 'thumbnails' in a folder? I loved the preview the thumbnails option provides in Windows. Is there an OS X equivalent?

Also, I downloaded VLC, and it seems to be working ok... just ok, not great. My eps of Heroes are glitchy and look like utter crap, but a couple of other movies seem to run ok. I don't have that issue when viewing them in Windows. Any ideas?

I'm sure i'll keep annoying you lot with a bunch of silly questions as I come across things.

Cheers

[StorminNorman]

Yeah, the Command key was introduced with the first Apple Macintosh in 1984. So I was right. 8)

And, therefore, when talking about the Macintosh, you should refer to it as the Command key. Only if you're using an Apple II should you call it an Apple key, and even then, it's called Open-Apple.

Cool manual, by the way.
It really is. It was written back when Apple felt it necessary to explain fundamental UI concepts to users, so the first part is a complete tutorial on using the GUI at all. It even goes so far as to explain things like the relationship between the mouse and the arrow on the screen, how to double-click, how to drag-and-drop, how to use menus, and all sorts of absolutely fundamental stuff that is only ever assumed these days. As manuals go, it's quite friendly and well-written too, and deliberately avoids complex technical terms (this is, after all, a Macintosh manual, for a computer that smiles at you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Mac) when you turn it on).

This was one of four manuals I got with my Centris 660AV about ten years ago (it was secondhand) from a good friend. They're all quality publications of the kind you never get anymore with computers. Not even Macs.

If you want to talk about seriously old computer junk lying around, I'm pretty sure there's a copy of Windows 1.0 lying around the house on a set of 5.25" floppies. 8)

The same friend that sold me the Centris also gave me a bunch of manuals, including the one for the Macintosh Plus, an early version of the legendary Hypercard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercard), and System Software* 6.0.8. They're all quite interesting reads.

Hypercard, by the way, is probably the single most amazing computer program of all-time. Imagine a program that combines the functionality of PowerPoint, Macromedia Director, a relational database, HTML and AppleScript, and you're starting to scratch the surface of what could be done with Hypercard. Hell, Myst was originally made with it.

You know your web browser's pointing finger cursor? It came from Hypercard. Hell, the design of the web itself was inspired by the program.


And Apple gave it away free with every Macintosh sold.

*: The original name for the Macintosh's operating system. The "software" was dropped for System 7. Apple introduced the Mac OS name with System 7.5, although the first version to actually use the term was Mac OS 8.

[Shorty]

There are a few niggling issues with it, but i'm sure it's all customisable. First order of questioning though... how do I get images to view as 'thumbnails' in a folder? I loved the preview the thumbnails option provides in Windows. Is there an OS X equivalent?

You can enable thumbnails in Finder (http://osxdaily.com/2007/03/13/how-to-get-image-thumbnail-icons-in-the-os-x-finder/).

Also, I downloaded VLC, and it seems to be working ok... just ok, not great. My eps of Heroes are glitchy and look like utter crap, but a couple of other movies seem to run ok. I don't have that issue when viewing them in Windows. Any ideas?

Considering the gamut of codecs that downloaded videos tend to run, it's hard to give a simple answer to that question. I personally recommend having more than one media player handy so you have a backup you can switch to if a video looks particularly glitchy in one. You've done well getting VLC. May I also suggest MPlayer?

And, therefore, when talking about the Macintosh, you should refer to it as the Command key. Only if you're using an Apple II should you call it an Apple key, and even then, it's called Open-Apple.

Yes, sir! :P

I dunno, maybe calling it the Apple key just shows my age. That and actually knowing what a 5.25" floppy disc is.

[StorminNorman]

There's a Mac version of DivX that you can get from their site that will really help. VLC "does its own thing" with codecs, and some of them are pretty bad.

I'd actually avoid using MPlayer if you can, as the developers are a bunch of pig-headed arseholes.

[Shorty]

I actually managed to snag a free copy of DivX Pro when they were giving them away one day. 8)

[Maxi]

On VLC, one of my porn movies that kept freezing up in windows, now works fine on my macbook using VLC!! Thank you Apple, for making porn friendly computers!

[Shorty]

Remind me never to borrow your laptop. For anything. :P

[Manny M]

The 'Apple Key' has an apple on it. Seems pretty logical to me.

Ok, after spending a little more time with my macbook I must say that i'm extremely dissapointed with the wireless functionality. I don't know what the deal is, but the connection itself seems very unstable. If i'm in my bedroom, the damn thing can see my router... then claims it has trouble connecting to it, after a re-try it then claims that it can't see it at all. If I turn it off, then on again, it'll see it again, but won't be able to connect for some strange reason. Then, out of nowhere, it'll just work... albeit pretty bloody slowly (it felt like I was browsing the net using dial-up). All this in my bedroom... the room NEXT DOOR to where my router is. My Acer laptop never had an issue picking my router up anywhere in the whole house.

On the subject of widgets... I love them. Very nifty little things to have. Anyone have any recommendations on widgets to download?

[Shorty]

WRT the router problem, do you have Interference Robustness enabled? It's in the Airport menu on the top menu bar (click on the AirPort icon and make sure there's a tick beside it). Might solve the problem, might not. It's worth a shot anyway.

As for widgets, I highly recommend iStat Nano (http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatnano.html), which gives you all kinds of information about your laptop including memory and CPU usage, network information (such as interface IDs and IP addresses), bandwidth usage, uptime, the top five running processes, battery life, fan speeds and temperature readings. A very handy utility.

[Manny M]

Yep, i've got it enabled... didn't seem to make much of a difference. Stupid thing. If it keeps up, i'm going to be extremely pissed and i'm going to ring up Apple support. It's a small, portable laptop... wireless is a priority.

Neat.


Also, have any of you guys used Parallels? It's the software which enables you to run Windows withinOS X.

[Shorty]

I've used it. Like most virtualisation software, it isn't anywhere near native speed but it's not bad for basic stuff. Although 3.0 is now out with stuff like Coherence 2.0 and support for DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL 1.5, which is cool.

[StorminNorman]

Manny: You might want to check that the wireless module is properly hooked up. It's under the battery enclosure somewhere nowadays. Check your manual to see if it shows the procedure for getting to it (this won't void your warranty or AppleCare).

[Manny M]

Hmm, they may have stuffed it when they put in my extra bit of RAM.

Will do, thanks.

[Stevorooni]

Are those widget things like the gadgets in Vista?

I'm assuming Microsoft copied Apple

[Shorty]

Pretty much. Vista gadgets are the MS equivalent of Dashboard widgets.

[StorminNorman]

They're basically a kind of HTML/XML/Javascript applet that runs inside a special browser. From memory, there's actually a W3C standard for them.

You can actually load them inside a web browser.

[Bronze]

I've been looking for a decent notebook for a while now, and finally decided on a new 15" Macbook Pro, the lower spec'd one with 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 120GB HDD, 2GB RAM, led-backlit screen and 128MB 8600GT graphics.

I've never used OSX before (but I'm going to learn) but also want to know what peoples' experiences with Boot Camp have been like. I'm going to buy a copy of Vista Ultimate to use on it as well, for those times where I really need to use a program that'll only run on Windows.

Or perhaps that won't be necessary? I don't know, the only Apple thing I've ever owned is an iPod Mini/Nano, and the last Apple computer I used was an Apple IIe.

Advice appreciated guys.

[Maxi]

I only use Boot Camp for games. And it runs fine. It's simple to use, and set up and stuff. OSX is pretty easy to use. Look through this thread and you'll find some cool things to make using it easier. Prior to my current laptop, I'd only used Windows, and I'm finding OSX pretty easy to use, and I don't know... it's just... cool... somehow... don't ask.

Yeah, you shouldn't have any trouble.

[StorminNorman]

I've never used OSX before (but I'm going to learn) but also want to know what peoples' experiences with Boot Camp have been like. I'm going to buy a copy of Vista Ultimate to use on it as well, for those times where I really need to use a program that'll only run on Windows.

You may find that Parallels Desktop solves many of your Windows needs without having to boot directly into Windows. Most people I know that use Boot Camp do so for gaming only.

Incidentally, most games with versions for both operating systems run faster on Windows than on Mac OS X on the same hardware.

Or perhaps that won't be necessary? I don't know, the only Apple thing I've ever owned is an iPod Mini/Nano, and the last Apple computer I used was an Apple IIe.

It's possible to eventually replace all the stuff you need in Windows with Mac equivalents. Most popular programs have ports for both platforms, and there's quite often some program for the Mac that can fill in for a Windows program.

There's a few corner-cases where this doesn't happen. I'd suggest using Boot Camp to help you wean yourself off Windows.

Advice appreciated guys.[/QUOTE]

[Manny M]

Alright, a few more days with my macbook, and i'm loving it so far.

Just on the physical side of things, I purchased this (http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/australiastore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=9EC214BC&nplm=TJ700LL/A) carry case from the online store... superb. It's compact, it's funky, and the inner lining is like a microfiber velvet... gorgeous. Only thing is, it JUST has the room for a mighty mouse and your charger... but what else do you need. Adding those items does add a little bulk to the case, but it's still nice and sleek.

http://store.apple.com/Catalog/AsiaGeneric/Images/lm_incase_gray_sleeve_altview.jpg

I also bought a mighty mouse, and a Mini-DVI to Video Adapter. I'll try it out when I get home... shame there's no audio out option for it. The mighty mouse is ok... although it's not too good at registering a right-click, which is really dissapointing. I doubt i'll use it much to be honest. Very sleek though.


In the world of soft, I got my hands on Parallels Desktop, and it is fantastic. With it, i'm able to run Windows XP from within OS X, which makes it SO easy to just use the few apps I still need. Much better than wasting my time with a reboot... and it runs so damn quick. Really happy I bought 2GB of RAM now.

I've imported all my photos into iPhoto and created albums, i've mucked around with Photo Booth (FUN!), so i'm becoming accustomed to it all.

I've got Toast for burning... yet to use it, but it has a great virtual disk software which mounts images on the fly.

I was going to start looking at photo/video editing software, and there's a few on the market. Any recommendations? Final Cut Studio 2? Adobe CS2?

[Dr Skinnybones]

They teach Final Cut at my uni and it's a fantastic program, the reason I'll be getting a Macbook Pro later in the year. The uni uses Final Cut HD Express which is a good deal cheaper than Studio 2, and I would say Express does everything I need it to.

Adobe will be releasing Porduction Suite CS3 in the coming months, so there's an alterntive right there for you.

Have you tried playing around with just iMovie yet?

[Queenie]

yeah, my mum uses Final Cut HD something, I dunno, the really high end one, she gets it cheap through the school (she's a teacher) but one thing to note, is that with all this movie making, I'd invest in a separate hard drive so the films don't take up to much HD space.

[Shorty]

Better make that two. HD video takes up a metric shitload of space.

[Zace]

My first post on my new MacBook. Though I already made the mistake of calling my home directory something broing instead of something cool.I really should have bothered reading before just jumping right in....

[Maxi]

My first post on my new MacBook. Though I already made the mistake of calling my home directory something broing instead of something cool.I really should have bothered reading before just jumping right in....
Create a new account... I don't know if that will work or not, I'm just throwing it out there!

Also, how the hell do I take videos with the iSight?

And, how do I connect an external microphone? I mean, I connected one, but it didn't work...

[Manny M]

Is Final cut video only?

Also, tested out my mini-dvi to video adaptor using an s-video cable. Pretty impressive. Not as clear as i'd like it, but when it comes to playing movies, it doesn't make much of a difference. Only thing is, no audio out. I don't know whether there is something to hook up your sound card to external speakers (I can't find it), but i'll be damned if i'm relying on the macbook to provide the sound to fill up a room. Any ideas?

[Tales]

My first post on my new MacBook. Though I already made the mistake of calling my home directory something broing instead of something cool.I really should have bothered reading before just jumping right in....

Whatever you do, don't manually rename your home folder.

Also, Bronze, I have the exact laptop you're looking at getting. A 2.2ghz MBP. =]

[Dr Skinnybones]

Is Final cut video only?
How do you mean?
If you mean as a source, you can capture from DV cameras, you can import quicktime files (not sure about other file types, I never tried) and you can place titles and graphics.

Or if you mean in regards to soundtrack, you have upto 99 audio tracks. Adjust volume, put in fades, import sound files like .wav or .mp3.

Final Cut uses a timeline and you drag and drop video segments and audio clips. You set start and stop points. You can resize the video (and have picture-in-picture or split screen and other awesome stuff).

Once you get used to the tools you can get pretty damned creative. I enjoy using it a lot, it's heaps of fun and worth the price tag. Like I said before, you should see if iMovie fulfils your needs before you splah out.

[Queenie]

read the manual and look at what it says on the subject?

[JubeiSaotome]

I've tried to get used to Macs & I'm really starting to get sick of using them at college. At first I liked the look of their interface but the more I use it, the more flaws I find;

* Default mouse and keyboard shortcuts. - Sure, you could get a 2 button mouse, but this isn't my computer. At college, I'm using a mac from maybe 2 years ago at the most, so it has one of those shitty clear gel mouses that look alright but are shit to use.
* Keyboard & shortcuts - Extra button presses and different placements for shortcuts. Sure, I could reconfigure all of the keyboard shortcuts, but the question is, why should I have to go to this trouble to use a computer successfully? I'm at the point where, if I need to do monotonous work that I can grind at a decent speed on a PC, I'll go use a PC because I know it takes twice as long on a Mac.
* DS_Store - What a ****ing retarded idea for folder metadata, now my iPod has twice as many files. Good going, morons.
* Crashes & stalls - At least with a PC when a program crashes, you can tell when a program is crashing or messing up. OSX has the whole task list similar to PC, but it takes a whole 50 more keyboard presses to get to it. ****, it even suffers from the equivilent of a bluescreen, instead it's a tinted screen with 4 languages saying that the OS has crashed and needs to be restarted. So much for Macs not crashing.

Sure, Macs may have been awesome for certain things a few years back, but these days a PC can easily be as successful, if not more.

[D.C.]

Just a friendly warning to those thinking of jumping in when Apple next offer a special rebate offer (e.g. their last $199 rebate if you bought a laptop and iPod):

Expect to wait at least four months for a cheque they state should be processed within eight weeks.

The products are great, I've had no problem with my new (four month old) MacBook and iPod Nano. That said, it took a couple of phone calls and at least ten emails to actually get a proper response in relation to the fact I still hadn't gotten my rebate. Surprising lousy service from a normally good company.

[Shorty]

* Default mouse and keyboard shortcuts. - Sure, you could get a 2 button mouse, but this isn't my computer. At college, I'm using a mac from maybe 2 years ago at the most, so it has one of those shitty clear gel mouses that look alright but are shit to use.

Right-clicking's a doddle. It's called control-clicking, as in you hold down Ctrl and click on something. Boom, context menu. Yes, it means you have to touch the keyboard but exactly how many things can you do on any computer without touching the keyboard?

* Keyboard & shortcuts - Extra button presses and different placements for shortcuts. Sure, I could reconfigure all of the keyboard shortcuts, but the question is, why should I have to go to this trouble to use a computer successfully? I'm at the point where, if I need to do monotonous work that I can grind at a decent speed on a PC, I'll go use a PC because I know it takes twice as long on a Mac.

Excluding the shortcuts that are pretty much exactly the same if you swap "Ctrl+" for "Command+", some shortcuts will be different. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have both and I can quite successfully use either because I've learned to adapt to the little things when I'm using one or the other.

* DS_Store - What a ****ing retarded idea for folder metadata, now my iPod has twice as many files. Good going, morons.

Well, you don't see them on the Mac and you can safely ignore them on the PC. So I'm not seeing the problem, here.

* Crashes & stalls - At least with a PC when a program crashes, you can tell when a program is crashing or messing up. OSX has the whole task list similar to PC, but it takes a whole 50 more keyboard presses to get to it. ****, it even suffers from the equivilent of a bluescreen, instead it's a tinted screen with 4 languages saying that the OS has crashed and needs to be restarted. So much for Macs not crashing.

It's called a "kernel panic" and every operating system gets them. Even Windows (actually, especially Windows). They just call it the "Blue Screen of Death".

Also: Option+Command+Escape. As opposed to Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It's alright. You were only off by about, oh, forty-seven keys. :P

Sure, Macs may have been awesome for certain things a few years back, but these days a PC can easily be as successful, if not more.

Having used both for quite some time, I seriously doubt it. Windows is the more dominant operating system, but it isn't necessarily the better one.

[nintendo]

Your point about shortcuts seems moot to me, what about a person who has only used Mac, they would be initially used to the shortcuts inherrent to Mac and would find the Windows alternative equally as weird. Myself, Im having no troubles getting used to the shortcuts and stuff, and I havent even come accross a program crashing or anything like that.

[Queenie]

that may be because jubeisaotome is using a 2 year old computer ;)

[Shorty]

Only because 2 years for a public computer is, like, 500 years for a regular one. You know how people abuse public terminals...

[Manny M]

Does anyone here use Parallels and can drag and drop files from the Parallels explorer into a folder in OS X?

It claims simple 'drag and drop' of files from the Windows Virtual Machine in the Parallels Explorer, but the damn thing just isn't working for me.

Any ideas?

[Shorty]

Did you install Parallels Tools on the Windows VM?

[Manny M]

Nope. I've read around a bit, and i've seen it mentioned here and there, but as an 'old school' method of setting up a shared drive for both systems. Apparently, with version 3 of Parallels, the Parallels explorer was supposed to provide simple drag and drop functionality to the program... unfortunately it aint workin'.

[Mr Incredible]

Hey there everyone, just wondering if anyone knows of any better software then 360 connect to get a Mac streaming video, music and pictures to a 360?

I downloaded the free trial of it last night and I've been streaming full HD video from my Macbook wirelessly to the 360! It boggles the mind!

Anyway before I drop down 20USD, I thought I should consult the mages of the Hyper forums. :-)

[Pai Mel]

So a friend brings over his HD with the latest Leopard Beta and I gets all excited that I was going to be able to try it out on my Mac. But I didn't meed the minimum specs. You need:

You must have a Macintosh computer with:
• an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (800 MHz or faster) or G5 processor
• a DVD drive
• built-in FireWire
• at least 512 MB of RAM (additional RAM is recommended for development
purposes)
• a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported
by your computer
• at least 7 GB of disk space available, or 12 GB of disk space if you install the
developer tools


I missed out by 300 MHz. :( So unfair that a single processor 800 MHz G4 will be able to install Leopard but a Dual 500 MHz can't. Boo. Well I guess I'll have to start saving for that 20" iMac.

[Mr Incredible]

An iphone up on Ebay already...or is it? :-)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Apple-iPhone-8GB-Cardboard_W0QQitemZ120137404644QQihZ002QQcategoryZ 3629QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I had a good chuckle!

[dj-tinklez]

Speaking of iPhone, watch this scalper b***h get owned hard on launch day! (http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=66434CA6FE6500D6A04B9F946D779145 ?contentId=3641729&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1) Classic, haha!

[Shorty]

Yeah, I heard about that. Talk about stupid...

[nintendo]

Just a quick question for more knowledgable Mac users tahn myself, Is there a better program to use for instant messaging than MSN for Mac?

[Pai Mel]

Adium

it's kinda like Trillian and supports more than just MSN.

[Maxi]

Adium.

Shorty put that somewhere earlier in the thread and I've been using it, it's cool! You can download dock icons too, so mine is a Zelda set! :D

[StorminNorman]

I'll second the Adium recommendation. Great program. MSN for Mac is made of fail and AIDS.

[nintendo]

Thanks, Ill have a look at it when I get home.

[Manny M]

I don't find Live messenger to be too bad for mac. Seems to work much the same as the windows variety.

[StorminNorman]

Does it support the global address book yet? Has it even received an update in the last four years?

[Manny M]

*shrugs*

All I know is that I can chat to the people on my MSN list. Isn't that what it's function is?

[Shorty]

I'm with Pai Mel on this one. I use Adium.

[please_salt_the_fries]

yeh i use Adium too, its awesome

[StorminNorman]

All I know is that I can chat to the people on my MSN list. Isn't that what it's function is?
Sure, if you like crashes/hangs when someone tries to send you a file or some more esoteric part of the MSN protocol.

Seriously, use Adium and save yourself the pain.

[Manny M]

I've had NO problems with it whatsoever. But i'll give Adium a shot. I tried Trillian once, and hated it though.

[Maxi]

Um, guys, I've run into a MASSIVE problem!! How do I convert a song to MP3 in iTunes??

[nintendo]

I can agree with everyone now, Adium is seriously better than MSN, even if just for the tab convos. Also, I know it may be a stupid question but does anyone know if you can do voice and/or video convos in Adium? Or if there is another program I could use?

[StorminNorman]

iChat will, but you need to chat to other iChat/Jabber users.

[nintendo]

Ok, thanks.

Thats probably the only thing Ive found so far that I would class as an incovenience for my change to Mac. Not a big enough reason to not use it though, or change my opinion that Apple totally pws Windows. IM AN IBOOK FLIPPA!

[nintendo]

Ok, thanks.

Thats probably the only thing Ive found so far that I would class as an incovenience for my change to Mac. Not a big enough reason to not use it though, or change my opinion that Apple totally pws Windows. IM AN IBOOK FLIPPA!

[Manny M]

I grabbed Adium... seems ok, nothing really different in my eyes to Messenger.

What about browsers? I'm not entirely sold on Safari.

[Shorty]

There's a Mac version of Opera. That does me well.

[please_salt_the_fries]

i jus use firefox, same as pretty much everyone else, rock it dual with opera see which one you like more.

[Shorty]

Firefox is a good backup in case a Web site doesn't work well with Opera (not that there are many).

[StorminNorman]

I'm not entirely sold on Safari.
I don't know why you'd want to not use Safari, as it's the best web browser around right now, but if you do, then Omniweb might be a good replacement. It's based on WebKit, so you get the same speed and compatibility as Safari, but it has a different approach to its UI.

I'd recommend avoiding Firefox. Not only is the Mac version as slow as the other versions, but it has the added disadvantage of a nonstandard UI.

[Maxi]

I've been using Firefox since I got my mac, and I'm having no problem with it.

[Manny M]

I don't know why you'd want to not use Safari, as it's the best web browser around right now, but if you do, then Omniweb might be a good replacement. It's based on WebKit, so you get the same speed and compatibility as Safari, but it has a different approach to its UI.

I'd recommend avoiding Firefox. Not only is the Mac version as slow as the other versions, but it has the added disadvantage of a nonstandard UI.

Well i've given it a go because of its reported speed, but I just don't find it easy to use. I don't know why... maybe because it automatically opens links in new pages, pages which seem to get 'lost' behind other pages.

One thing I don't like about the mac, is it doesn't keep tab of opened screens to well. I know APPLE+Tab scrolls through the active apps, but I can't find an ALT+Tab equivalent in mac. Because of that, i'm finding safari to be a bit of a pain to use.

[Shorty]

If you're using Opera, "1" and "2" will switch back and forth between tabs.

[Queenie]

I just found out that there's already a version of the Opera browser pre-installed in most new macs. You'll need it for some web pages that don't load properly. Such as some myspace pages.

[StorminNorman]

Because of that, i'm finding safari to be a bit of a pain to use.
Command-tilde should do what you want.

A faster way is to use Expose.

[Pai Mel]

Should turn on tabbed browsing in Safari and set the preferences so that links open in new tabs rather than a separate window.

[Pai Mel]

Shift-Command-[ or Shift-Command-] to select different tabs in Safari.

Command-W to close current tab/window.

[Manny M]

Yeah, I enabled tabs, but I couldn't find the option to make it open links in a new tab... although I think i've now found it. Is it the 'open links in applications in a new tab' option? The applications part threw me off.

What's Expose? I've heard of it, but I don't know what it is.

[Pai Mel]

When I used a mouse (instead of a tablet) I used to use the middle button to open links in new tabs. That was the default setting for the scroll-wheel button. I guess you only have the crappy Apple mouse though so you don't have a middle button, haha. I know Command-Clicking on a link opens in a new tab.

'open links in applications in a new tab' option is for links from other appz. Say you click a clink from an email then it opens in a new tab in Safari instead of a new window.

Expose is the feature introduced since OS X 10.4 where pressing the F9-F12 keys brought a window up that lets you easily choose from the various screens open. F12 let you use Widgets. You may have to turn the feature on in System Preferences if those buttons don't do anything for you right now.

[Maxi]

So I've decided to start using Safari after the reviews (instead of Firefox) and it doesn't seem to be faster... Yet, but I've only started :P

OK, can someone tell me how to save usernames and passwords int the browser?? (Safari), I don't like puttng them in manually all the time!!

Also, Photobucket is slow as shit in safari...

EDIT: OK, so I have Safari working, and yea, besides the photobucket thing, it is better than Firefox! :D

[Wayne Knight]

Best wireless routers for use with Macbook anyone? (Apart from Airport)

And any good third party mice, pref wireless.

[Manny M]

The mighty mouse aint bad. Kinda have issues with it registering a right click at times though.

Actually, I don't know why I bought it to be honest, I hardly use my laptop on an actual desk.

[Shorty]

Any standard 802.11g router should work fine with the MacBook. The AirPort is basically an Apple-branded 802.11g wireless router. As for which router, I have had good experiences with my Netcomm NB5Plus4W wireless ADSL router.

[Queenie]

I have no trouble using 2 wireless' at the same time.

I use the netgear router seen in the Animal Crossing ads.

[StorminNorman]

I have a LinkSys one that works fine for everything except the DS, which has no WPA support. :(

[Maxi]

OK, so just as I thought I had Safari all figured out, I've found some shortcomings!

1> How do I save files (pictures) to other folders than my main download folder? Or do I have to copy them across manually all the time??

2> Is there a spell check feature that I can get/activate?

[StorminNorman]

1> How do I save files (pictures) to other folders than my main download folder? Or do I have to copy them across manually all the time??

Drag-and-drop.

You can also right-click an image and select "Save As..."

2> Is there a spell check feature that I can get/activate?
Safari supports the system-wide spellchecker.

[nintendo]

Ok, so here is a most probably stupid question. But what would you guys recommend got BT. Im not sure as to what goes welll on Mac. Thanks.

[Shorty]

Transmission's a good BT client, at least until a Mac client of uTorrent gets released.

[nintendo]

Ok, thanks. I couldnt find a uTorrent link for Mac so I really didnt know what to use. Ill give Transmission a go now,

[dj-tinklez]

Transmission has been a great BT client for me but I only wish it allowed me to download individual files.

uTorrent is in the works (http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-for-mac-is-coming-an-early-review/) for Mac by the way.

[Shorty]

Yeah, I've read that article but all it says is that it's "coming soon".

[Maxi]

Can someone tell me how to sort a cd in itunes by track number? Coz it's really annoying that some tracks are out of order because the artist name is "Artist with artist2"

[Shorty]

Click on the heading for any column to sort the songs by that column. In this case, track number (which is the leftmost column).

[Manny M]

Does anyone else have a macbook which makes odd clunking sounds when you insert a CD into the slot drive? It's like 2 clicking sounds as it enters the slot, quite loud... you can even feel it through the macbook.

[Johnny360]

Can anybody fill me in on the differance between a normal PC and a Mac?

I'm looking into getting a new Laptop for work, And was considering getting a Mac book although I'm not too sure on all the differances from a normal PC.

As far as I understand, It's basically alot user friendly for n00bs like me?

And alot less prone to getting spyware/viruses?

[Pauly]

Mac runs a completely different operating system, Mac OS X. You can still run Windows on it if you want/need to use it but OS X is the main reason you'll be getting a Mac. After getting used to a few things you'll find it a pleasure to use and yes it is a lot less prone to getting corrupted with spyware and viruses. Go check em out in store.

[Maxi]

Does anyone else have a macbook which makes odd clunking sounds when you insert a CD into the slot drive? It's like 2 clicking sounds as it enters the slot, quite loud... you can even feel it through the macbook.
Ooh ooh!! Mine mine!!

I just assumed that that's what slot loading CD drives sounded like...

[StorminNorman]

It is. All the slot-loading drives I've ever use make a lot of noise when you put a disc in.

[Manny M]

Not the Wii, just makes a slight humming sound while it's trying to pull your disc in, but nothing like the big clunking sound in my macbook. Me no rikey.

Oh, and I got Parallels working properly now. Drag and drop heaven.

[StorminNorman]

The Wii is using some crazy Nintendo-magic to make the drive quiet, though. I've never seen a slot-loading drive on a PC/Mac that was as quiet.

[Queenie]

on the laptops, yes it makes noise. On the other slot loader we have (we found a $900 imac one day, so mum bought it for me and I use it in my room!) Imac, it makes no noise, but from time to time will just randomly start spinning the disc and making sounds as if it is interpreting data or something like that for no reason.

[Manny M]

I'm not talking about the noise it makes when it's reading the disc, i'm talking about the noise it makes when you insert a disc into the slot drive.

Just to clarify.

[Shorty]

Well, my MBP does make a bit of a noise when I insert a disc, but I figure that's just part and parcel of the slot loader. Speaking of which, has everyone with a SuperDrive downloaded and installed the latest update that came in the last bunch of Apple updates? If so, have they noticed any difference? Because I can't. :shrug:

[nintendo]

I havent noticed anything different at all. Mine makes those weird clicking noises as well. So do the 3 on display where I bought mine from. Could just be the design or something.

[Manny M]

Guys, any recommendations for an avi to DVD burning tool. Toast does is, but none too well going from a burn I did the other day... the video came out pretty blocky.

Nero Vision was the best I used, know of anything like it?

And any info on getting audio out to a TV? I've got the mini-dvi to video adaptor, but there's no bloody audio out with it. So stupid.

[StorminNorman]

...Not really. DVI doesn't carry audio. Just get a standard stereo miniplug-> stereo RCA connector.

[Manny M]

I looked into the audio out thing today and it seems like the headphone jack is also an audio out jack. So i'm getting a Toslink to mini-toslink cable for optical audio out today. Very excite!!

Back on the avi burning topic though...

[Shorty]

The new AirPort Extreme update for Intel Macs (http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/31/airport.extreme.update/) is out. So if, like me, you were experiencing constant dropouts of your Mac's wireless connectivity, help is on the way. 8)

[craptest]

New Imacs might be shown August 7. Im still unsure about whether I'll be getting a mac or not. I know what my wallet would prefer.

[dj-tinklez]

Guys, any recommendations for an avi to DVD burning tool. Toast does is, but none too well going from a burn I did the other day... the video came out pretty blocky.

Nero Vision was the best I used, know of anything like it?

I do all my AVI-to-DVD on my PC but have you tried the iDVD software that comes with the Mac? It takes ages to encode but it works. Or perhaps VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/) which is a great video encoder (though I've never done to-DVD), though you have to purchase it to get the most out of it.

[Manny M]

The new AirPort Extreme update for Intel Macs (http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/31/airport.extreme.update/) is out. So if, like me, you were experiencing constant dropouts of your Mac's wireless connectivity, help is on the way. 8)

Is this update for the Airport card in Intel Macs, or for connectivity to airport base stations?

If the former... thank ****EN christ. The problems with my wireless cutting out have been my only negative experience with my macbook so far.

I do all my AVI-to-DVD on my PC but have you tried the iDVD software that comes with the Mac? It takes ages to encode but it works. Or perhaps VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/) which is a great video encoder (though I've never done to-DVD), though you have to purchase it to get the most out of it.

Duh. I didn't even think to try iDVD. Will give it a shot. Failing that, i'll look into getting VisualHub.

Cheers!

[Shorty]

Is this update for the Airport card in Intel Macs, or for connectivity to airport base stations?

If the former... thank ****EN christ. The problems with my wireless cutting out have been my only negative experience with my macbook so far.

Yeah, it's for the AirPort in all Intel-based MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac minis. I'm glad it's out.

[Zace]

hey guys, just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a case for my laptop for travelling. Hard case or soft case? Im just getting a sleeve to keep it in my backpack.

[StorminNorman]

When I got my iBook G4, I bought a wetsuit-based cover for it that worked really well. I still have the cover, although the G4 is now in service as a friend's desktop computer after a lemonade incident rendered it useless as a laptop.

[Manny M]

Yeah, it's for the AirPort in all Intel-based MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac minis. I'm glad it's out.

Well, didn't do f*** all. My macbook still has issues where it can authenticate to my router, it gets an IP, but I can't ping the gateway. Then if I turn the Airport card off and on (within OS X), it is touchy about whether it can see it or not. If it can, it will then state that there was a problem connecting to it. It mainly happens in my bedroom, so i'm thinking there's interference (despite being next to the room with the router).

I'm now thinking of buying an airport extreme base station. Has anyone else got one of these?

My main reasons for buying one (despite only having bought a wireless router 3 months ago), is to see if it will fix my aforementioned issue with my macbook, but also so I can use the n technology to give me greater range and improved speed. See, when it works, it's fast enough, but yesterday I bought a NAS (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=278&language=en), which I wanted for data backup as well as (mainly) for 'remote' access of music and video files. Problem is, the drive runs like a real dog when I use wireless, even when my mac is right next to my router. When I plug my macbook into the router via ethernet, it's not too bad, but wireless is looking hopeless, so it looks like I can only effectively use it while my macbook is connected via ethernet, which kinda defies the point of me getting a NAS. I figured that speeds closer to LAN would solve my problem.

What do you guys think?

[Maxi]

New iLife and iWork are out. $99 each, $89 if you're a student. I'm thinking of getting both.
The fact that you can save them as Office files seems pretty cool, and makes Office for Mac kinda obsolete, which means I don't have to give that evil corporation any more money. Damn corporations! (before you criticise me, I am aware of what I wrote >_>)

Anyone have them yet? If so, what do you think of them?

[Manny M]

I just ugraded the firmware on my router to an open source type called 'tomato'. Works brilliantly, has a ton of features, and my wireless is flawless now. The generic linksys firmware i had was rubbish.

Don't think i'll bother buying an airport extreme base station then.

[pezhead015]

My PC died and I need a new computer. Im thinking of getting a Mac. I dont play games at all on my computer. I use it to download and listen to music and surf the internet and watch avi's. I dont do any photo editing or word processing just what Ive said. What are peoples thoughts? Ive got a 300gig SATA drive in my pc with all my music is there anyway I can hook that up to a mac (remembering my pc is dead, flat line, kaboom). I looked at the new imacs on the apple site and there is a 20 inch screen mac for about 1600 dollars would that suit my needs? What re your thoughts?

[Maxi]

I love my Macbook to bits!! I hate using Windows now tbh, and this is the first Mac I've used. Ever.

[Shorty]

pezhead: If you're handy with a screwdriver, you could remove the hard drive from your old PC, stick it in an enclosure (available at many computer stores) and hook it up via USB or FireWire. Then you can use it as a 300Gb external drive.

[Pai Mel]

You'll be able to read from NTFS formatted discs but you can't write to it so retrieving your files should be easy.

That 20" iMac is great value, specially if you need a new screen as well. I am thinking of getting one myself or the upgraded Mini. But you can also build a quadcore PC system for less than $1000 now, so keep that in mind too when making a purchasing decision.

If you're not power hungry, and it doesn't sound like you are, then I'd def. go the iMac - it sounds perfect for your use and you can bypass the atrocity that is Vista completely.

I run a Mac and 2 PC laptops and there is always some weird issues with the PC laptops that pops up and infuriates me. But the Mac runs fine, and it only annoys me because it is slow at 500MHz.

[pezhead015]

You'll be able to read from NTFS formatted discs but you can't write to it so retrieving your files should be easy.

That 20" iMac is great value, specially if you need a new screen as well. I am thinking of getting one myself or the upgraded Mini. But you can also build a quadcore PC system for less than $1000 now, so keep that in mind too when making a purchasing decision.

If you're not power hungry, and it doesn't sound like you are, then I'd def. go the iMac - it sounds perfect for your use and you can bypass the atrocity that is Vista completely.

I run a Mac and 2 PC laptops and there is always some weird issues with the PC laptops that pops up and infuriates me. But the Mac runs fine, and it only annoys me because it is slow at 500MHz.


I actually just bought a new 22" chimei screen. Can I use that for a mac? Im happy to keep the chimei just for my xbox 360 but if that was to save me money in a mac purchase that would be ideal. Another thing was where is the best place to buy a mac? and is it worth looking for a 2nd hand one? Thanks for all your replies guys...

[Maxi]

So I put in a DVD, and it comes back saying "Supported Disc Is Not Available" :/

This is the second DVD in a box and the first one worked dammit!! This is the second time the ****ing thing has refused to read a DVD!! Is there anyway I can fix this shit without sending my laptop away??

[GrapeApe68]

Im on the market for a laptop atm, I thinking of the getting macbook (the smallest one 13 inch) but then I my friend was talling me just to buy a G4 ibook from auction (not ebay but private auction) and it will come with 12 months warranty and will cost around $400 (for a 1 Ghz / 1.3 Ghz)

I mean im only going to use it for work processing so it should do the job & also be about to run the new MAC OS (Leopard is it???)...

Your thoughts

They look pretty much the same as well

[Tales]

Im on the market for a laptop atm, I thinking of the getting macbook (the smallest one 13 inch) but then I my friend was talling me just to buy a G4 ibook from auction (not ebay but private auction) and it will come with 12 months warranty and will cost around $400 (for a 1 Ghz / 1.3 Ghz)

I mean im only going to use it for work processing so it should do the job & also be about to run the new MAC OS (Leopard is it???)...

Your thoughts

They look pretty much the same as well

You know that this is the iPod thread, right?

You also know that we have a mac thread?

[Shorty]

Just in case anyone is a little "WTF" about Tales's seemingly out-of-context post, I actually split the last two posts there from the iPod Thread (accidentally creating a few splits because my Intarwebs were able to send the command through but unable to load the next page that would confirm I did - hence I accidentally did it multiple times because I didn't know the first one already worked).

[Maxi]

So I have gotten hold of Starcraft, inserted the disc, but I can't install the darned thing.

It says that the installer isn't supported :/

Is this soemthing to do with the Intel chip in my laptop? Or is there something that I'm completely missing? Is there some way to get around this so I can install the game? I'm extremely bored, and need your help. Now!

[Queenie]

There's a download on the apple site,

go to

Apple.com/games, search for game articles, go to teh starcraft one, it should have linkies to patches and whatnot, notably one for universality and compatibility with OS X.

[Pai Mel]

Grrr, there's so long a wait for the new Apple wireless keyboard! *shakes fist*

I so need a new one. I've been using the Apple Pro keyboard that came with my G4 since 2000 but it's not as tactile anymore. Some keys get stuck if not struck right in the middle due to me having opened it twice for a thorough wash and clean - too much gunk and skin cells accumulate in the sexy clear plastic. And no lubricant I've tried lasts for long.

And I didn't buy one of the the white Apple Pro Keyboards as a replacement cause I just hate white goods (I would have preferred a black Wii too - what colour are your wriststraps now eh? :p). I hated the white iMacs!

The new keyboard is anodized aluminum and NOT see-through.

Anyway even though the new wireless keyboard is mega-expensive and should only be half that price (screw you Apple!) it's a must-have for me. The main reason is that desktop real-state is at a premium. I have a 6x8 graphics tablet (more for ergonomic reasons than anyfink else), and I always have to shift a bit between the tablet and the keyboard, which gets annoying. If I could rewind time, I would have bought a smaller graphics tablet but it's too late.

The new wireless keyboard is only about 3/4 the size of a normal keyboard as they've made away with the numpad and moved the arrow keys under the shift button. Some people won't like that. But it's ok for me.

I can also more the keyboard around freely without having to worry about the cord knocking over my coffee/tea.

But then I also have to find a compatible Bluetooth USB adapter or PCI card as I am currently toothless so that adds to the total cost. *shakes fist again* There was a Laser USB2 Adapter on Zazz last night for $20 but I couldn't be sure if it was going to be compatible or not.

[Clockw0rk]

I'll be in the market for a new computer at some point next year. Can somebody give me some Mac Buying advice? At the moment I'm considering either an iMac or a Macbook, I realise that portability is obviously a big difference between the two but is there anything else I should be aware of?

1gb of RAM is reasonably low for a PC these days, but most of the Macs I've looked at have 1gb as standard. Are Macs somehow different? How difficult is it to connect a Mac to a wireless network if everything else connected to it is a PC? Is software really that hard to find?

I'm a long-time PC user but I don't mind having to re-learn the interface or anything like that. I just want to know what I should look for when I'm going to buy one.

[pezhead015]

Is there any P2P software for Mac? Whats the best P2P for mac? Any best for music?

[Maxi]

Wireless is easy as shit to set up. I have my macbook and quatters's shitty windows computer set up on the same wireless.

I have 2GB in my macbook, but I always think that more is better.

Also, with the iMac and Macbook, the macbook only has a 13" screen, which is *tiny*. So figure that in when you think of buying one.

Software is pretty easy to find, but I guess it depends on what you wanna do.

[Clockw0rk]

Is there any P2P software for Mac? Whats the best P2P for mac? Any best for music?
You can get Limewire and bittorrent clients for Mac.

Wireless is easy as shit to set up. I have my macbook and quatters's shitty windows computer set up on the same wireless.

I have 2GB in my macbook, but I always think that more is better.

Also, with the iMac and Macbook, the macbook only has a 13" screen, which is *tiny*. So figure that in when you think of buying one.

Software is pretty easy to find, but I guess it depends on what you wanna do.
Thanks :D
My other thought was that if the RAM was upgradeable in a Mac Mini then I'd just grab one of them, up the ram to 2gb and get a nice monitor since I'm balls deep in keyboards and mice.

When is the new MacOS coming out, and is it worth waiting for the inevitable hardware upgrades and the new OS? I probably won't be buying one until sometime early next year.

[Maxi]

Check on the Apple website to see if the ram is upgradeable...
I think the new OS is meant to come out in autumn next year iirc. And it may be worth waiting for, because then the hardware in the computers may be upgraded too, which is always a good thing ^_^

Also, after I've had some problems with Safari, I'm back to using Firefox. It's sooooo much better ^_^

[Manny M]

I'm still unsure as to whether I 'like' Safari. I mean it works, but it's nothing special. I may give Firefox a go, but i'm being a little anal when it comes to using 'mac' products :P

Oh, and has the new OS (tiger? leopard? THYLACINE?!) been pushed back to mid next year?

[Shorty]

Safari's alright, but most people switch to Firefox or Opera the minute they get the machine anyway. It'd be like IE for the Mac if IE wasn't a broken piece of shit (ie. the default).

[StorminNorman]

I never understand why people use Firefox on the Mac. Safari is miles faster, uses actual Mac UI conventions and is actually better at rendering web pages.

Firefox is a slow, bloated pile of crud that you should only use when you don't have a viable KHTML-based alternative.

[Maxi]

No... Firefox is actually the most standards based browser, and it actually is faster (on my machine anyway). I find it much better to use than Safari. I've been using Safari for ages because a lot of people have been saying how good it is, but really, it's not that good :/

[nintendo]

Thats different to me, Safari runs a hell of alot better than Firefox. I downloaded Firefox as soon as I got my Mac, but I got rid of it within a day because Safari is just so much better.

[Maxi]

You see, thats the thing, I'd heard about how much better safari was, so I used it, but then it just started giving me the shits, so I started using Firefox, and yea, I think it runs better.

[ZeRgY]

I never understand why people use Firefox on the Mac. Safari is miles faster, uses actual Mac UI conventions and is actually better at rendering web pages.

Firefox is a slow, bloated pile of crud that you should only use when you don't have a viable KHTML-based alternative.

There's a difference between bloated and essential application. Also everyone knows Safari is behind in compliant rendering, I beleive Opera leads closely followed by firefox, with IE7/Safari trailing.

[Maxi]

Nah, it's Firefox, IE7, Opera, Safari. That's what my Javascript teacher at tafe said, anyway. (this is on compliance, not necessarily which is the best)

[nintendo]

Well we can go into the tech specs all we want, but I just also prefer Safari. I dont like the look of Opera or Firefox. Safari just suits me better.

[Maxi]

As I said, I'm not saying which one is best with that list, use whichever one you prefer, because really, what it's gonna come down too is which one you like. Most pages will display very similar on all browsers, so it's not a problem which one you choose. I just wanted to say that I stopped using Safari, so you know... I dunno... I've kinda lost where I was going :/

[nintendo]

Yep. Im definately a Safari user. I just downloaded Firefox to give it a shot again after the praise it was getting in this thread, but again I just cant stand it. Back to Safari for me lol

[Queenie]

Well funnily enough, Opera is built into Mac aswell when you get it... or at least mine came with opera...

[Shorty]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually come with the Mac.

[ZeRgY]

As I said, I'm not saying which one is best with that list, use whichever one you prefer, because really, what it's gonna come down too is which one you like. Most pages will display very similar on all browsers, so it's not a problem which one you choose. I just wanted to say that I stopped using Safari, so you know... I dunno... I've kinda lost where I was going :/

Try making a XHTML/CSS compliant site and say that :P But yeah, there's options available because everyone has different needs. But Safari doesn't render better :P

[nintendo]

Whats a program that you guys would recommend for photo editing on Mac?

Also, handy hint for those of us who dont know. I only just found out myself. But if you wanna screen cap, hole applebutton + shift + 4. Or, if you wanna capture just one window press the space bar after youve done the other part. Anyone know any other cool short cuts like that?

[Maxi]

I know apple+f fullscreens most video apps, but for dvd player its apple+0

[StorminNorman]

But Safari doesn't render better :P
It does, actually. Safari was the first browser to pass Acid2.

Safari's weakness is that it's too standards-compliant. Its quirks mode isn't as forgiving as Firefox/Gecko's quirks mode.

[Queenie]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually come with the Mac.

I wonder how come it got on my computer then?

and btw, this option was how i found it-

Finder --> Services --> Opera.

Just saying.