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May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

post #1 of 34
4/24/08 at 4:33am
Thread Starter 
Well, he finally did it!

For about a year I have been trying to convince my
business partner, Parker, to give up his PC and go MAC.

This week Parker made the move. He ordered a 20"
iMac with 2GB ram and Parallels/XP Home preinstalled.

The one thing I am very proud of is that HTF has one
of the better active Mac support communities out there.
I know that when I have a question it gets answered far
quicker on this forum than on MacRumors.

I am certain Parker will have a lot of questions as he is
in the process of carrying over all his PC stuff to Mac. I
think that having Parallels and XP on his iMac will make
that process much easier. In time I think, like most of us,
he will completely give up the crutch of XP and use OS X
exclusively for all his software needs.

If any of you have any advice on how Parker can best move
his photos, documents, bookmarks and other stuff to Mac it
would certainly be appreciated.

Welcome aboard, Parker!
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post #2 of 34
4/24/08 at 5:56am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

I assume that the photos are all in standard formats (TIFF, JPG, etc.) Those can just be transferred directly. iPhoto works OK and will read everything directly, although I don’t have much familiarity with that app, as I pretty much use Photoshop.

As for documents, if you created them using Word, all of the Mac office products will read those created on XP quite easily. The same is true for Excel. As I recall, when I switched to a Mac as I left the corporate (PC) world, there might have been a few compatibility issues with a couple of obscure PowerPoint features, but as I no longer make presentations, I don’t really care.

I agree that you won’t look back, as I only use XP for a very few apps that won’t run under OS.
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post #3 of 34
4/24/08 at 6:07am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Grats Packy! For me its still not one or the other but BOTH by necessity of being a gamer.

I recommend ya grab a Western digital USB drive, from Costco if you have one, and grab Microsoft's Sync Toy and drop all your data onto that, then simply take that drive to the mac and import it to the various app's spots in your home directory on the Mac...
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post #4 of 34
4/24/08 at 6:30am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Super! Welcome aboard.

Parker -- what will you use for web development on the Mac? (I'm guessing you can't manage HTF with iWeb )
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post #5 of 34
4/24/08 at 8:29am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Dreamweaver works just as well (if not better) on a Mac

Welcome aboard Parker :T One thing you should consider doing is bumping up that ram to 4 gigs right of the hop. Ram is very cheap these days and if you're running two OS's at the same time having as much as you can will help a great deal....it'll be the best $50 upgrade you'll do.
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post #6 of 34
4/24/08 at 9:11am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

I so far have not installed XP on my MBP, mostly because I'm too cheap to buy yet another OEM copy of XP. That, and with SP3 coming out soon, I may as well just wait for that. I don't really have anything I need under XP anyway. I've pretty much moved what gaming I do to the PS3 (even though I have a number of PC games I never beat), and any other PC only programs I had I used so rarely that I figured I wouldn't miss them, so I may not even bother getting XP (or Vista for that matter).
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post #7 of 34
4/24/08 at 12:09pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Way to go Parker! You won't regret it. As for file transfer, I just used and external drive to move files. For bookmarks/favorites I was using Opera (my default browser) and firefox on Windows so I just moved everything in the FF profile folder and Opera folder to the corresponding folders on the mac (Safari is default browser now, I dropped Opera). For IE favorites I'd say export them out of IE and import in Safari.
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post #8 of 34
4/24/08 at 1:41pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daryl L
Way to go Parker! You won't regret it. As for file transfer, I just used and external drive to move files. For bookmarks/favorites I was using Opera (my default browser) and firefox on Windows so I just moved everything in the FF profile folder and Opera folder to the corresponding folders on the mac (Safari is default browser now, I dropped Opera). For IE favorites I'd say export them out of IE and import in Safari.

Ditto on the external drive. Having a backup provides considerable peace of mind.

'm a recent convert still trying to figure it all out. I have fusion instead of parallels. I was hoping to install a few PC games, but that part isn't working out so much...
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post #9 of 34
4/24/08 at 7:26pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

But the new iMacs are coming out next week!

Ditto the comment on the RAM. 4GB can be had for less than a hundred bucks. You'll be happy you have it if you find yourself using Parallels often.

Photos, documents and bookmarks are easy. Pictures can be dragged and dropped right into iPhoto if you plan on using it. Documents (assuming these to be MS Office) can just be copied to the Mac and will open natively in Office 2008 for the Mac. Not sure what browser you're using on the PC side, but nearly every browser has an option to export bookmarks, which can then be imported into the Mac counterparts.

The files can be transferred by connecting an Ethernet cable between the Mac and the PC and using file sharing, but you may just as well get an external hard disk (if you don't already own one) to help facilitate the transfer. After all, when you're done you can reformat the drive and use it with Time Machine to keep your data backed up.
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post #10 of 34
4/24/08 at 8:46pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Very Nice - Another Welcome to Parker
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post #11 of 34
4/25/08 at 6:16am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Guys. The verdict is still out as I haven't even gotten it yet. There is definitely going to be a learning curve.

I already have a WD MyBook 750G USB drive so I will be doing a lot of transfering of files. I will also take your advice and pick up the extra RAM.

Thanks for the congrats and welcome. I look forward to seeing how this all works out.
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post #12 of 34
4/25/08 at 8:35am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

The iMac is a great machine, especially for a one-piece. It can drive two monitors and is nice and speedy. The one negative to Apple is the optical drives they put in their computers. They are either garbage Matsushita models, or Pioneer ones that have been crippled through firmware. They don't like them to make any noticeable noise, so they speed cripple them. If you do a lot of stuff with optical discs, you may want to get an external (preferably firewire) drive. With desktops, I just yank out the drive it comes with and replace with a Pioneer, which you can usually get for no more than $35. Unfortunately, the iMac is not that simple.

When you have the computer, you can use System Profiler to find out what manufacturer the drive is. If it is Pioneer, you are at least going to get reliable burns, though slow speeds. I don't know why Apple uses those garbage Matsushita drives sometimes. It's the only real wart in the system.
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post #13 of 34
4/25/08 at 9:01am
Thread Starter 

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

I never knew that, John.

I don't use the burner on my Macbook Pro much, but on my
Mac Pro I get very satisfactory results.
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post #14 of 34
4/25/08 at 11:07am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

If it hasnt arrived yet I'd watch the apple store VERY closely next tuesday and wednesday. It might even pay to wait to unbox it till then...

Updated iMacs coming next week? - Engadget

You get a 30 day protection from this kinda thing by Apple which is kinda nice, just would be a shame to get it all set up over the weekend and find out you coulda gotten a nice speed boost if you had waited a week. I doubt we'll see Blu Ray drives till June (and note I didnt say what YEAR, I've been wrong the last two!) but ya never know.
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post #15 of 34
4/25/08 at 11:31am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Switcher help: David Pogue now has published: Switching to the Mac (Leopard Edition) -- The Missing Manual

I haven't looked at it, but Pogue's books are uniformly excellent.
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post #16 of 34
4/25/08 at 12:42pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Parker, you want to look at the Mac Update bundle purchase ASAP. This is a good deal for Parallels, and if any of the other apps suits you, all the better.
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post #17 of 34
4/25/08 at 6:40pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein
I never knew that, John.

I don't use the burner on my Macbook Pro much, but on my
Mac Pro I get very satisfactory results.
Like I say Ron, some come with Matsushita drives, which are just junk. If you have one, you are better off in the long run to replace it or use an external Pioneer. The burns are likely to be unreliable down the road, and you haven't had the Mac Pro long enough to learn that yet. You just start noticing the discs you burned 2 years ago have become unreliable. If it has a Pioneer, at least it is a decent drive and will burn just fine. It has just been speed crippled, so it won't read as fast as it could. It's not a big deal for everyone, but if you are often taking large files off CDs or DVDs, it really makes a difference between waiting 2 minutes to read a full disc and taking 10 minutes.
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post #18 of 34
4/25/08 at 11:09pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Ok, I have opened it up. I picked it up from Mac Mall. Should I return it them or take it to the Mac Store for the upgrade to the newest model?

The only thing that I have noticed with the iMac that bugged me is that the CD Rom as it is very noisy.
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post #19 of 34
4/26/08 at 5:39am
Thread Starter 

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

First of all (and there may be a few who will not agree with me), I
do not think it is necessary to put 4GB of ram in his iMac.

Initially he will use Parallels as a crutch to get familiar with Mac.
On my Mac Pro I only have 2GB ram and Parallels runs fine dividing
1GB each between the operating systems.

....I mean how often is Parker going to need to run Parallels?

Secondly, he got his iMac from Mac Mall with Parallels and XP
preinstalled. I may be wrong, but he isn't going to be able to
go to the Apple store and simply get a 4GB iMac with those programs
installed in them. I think that is something exclusive to Mac Mall.

I am hoping that if he truly wants to upgrade to 4GB you guys
can supply him with a link to buy it online (he needs 2 more GB)
and that the iMac can easily be opened up and upgraded.

I am just as much in the dark about upgrading memory on an
iMac as he is, but I would hope it is a "do-able" and non complicated
procedure.
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post #20 of 34
4/26/08 at 5:55am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker Clack
Ok, I have opened it up. I picked it up from Mac Mall. Should I return it them or take it to the Mac Store for the upgrade to the newest model?
There is no "newest model", not yet anyway -- wait at least until Tuesday (for some reason upgrades generally happen on Tuesday's), but so far all we have is a (very believable) rumor.

Ted
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post #21 of 34
4/26/08 at 6:41am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Parker, congratulations on getting an iMac. I made the leap last year and am loving it. My iMac has 2Gb of RAM in it and it runs nice and fast. I didn't use Parallels and went completely "cold turkey" using only Mac OS-X.
I recently upgraded to the new Leopard OS and have found it to be very stable, fast and reliable.

You can add extra memory yourself if you want - there's a slot on the bottom of the iMac - the only visible screw on the entire case! The instructions for the 2007 model iMac are here on the Apple website.


I'm not sure what software you use for HTF design and management, but Transmit is a very good Mac FTP client. Dreamweaver is excellent for HTML and Adobe are very good at letting you crossgrade from PC to MAC versions if that's applicable.

I must admit I haven't noticed the DVD drive being noisy, although I don't really use it that often.
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post #22 of 34
4/26/08 at 6:45am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Parker, I seriously doubt you need 4GB of memory. 1.5-2 should be just fine. The optical drive shouldn't be noisy. Have you tried more than one disc?
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post #23 of 34
4/26/08 at 8:27am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Sure we don't need 4 gigs of ram but given how unbelievably cheap it is now its a cheap upgrade that will come in handy from time to time...esp since I suspect he'll be multi tasking a lot and since he's asking about serious photo editing he'll use the ram.
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post #24 of 34
4/26/08 at 11:12am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

I just helped a friend switch of a G3 500Mhz iMac to one of the new 20" models. I also noticed the optical drive was a bit on the noise side when in use.

I would imagine 2GB of RAM should be fine. That being said, I ordered 4GB for my MacBook from Other World Computing (macsales.com). Because I use PhotoShop. I just checked, (2) 2GB sticks for the iMac is $89.99.

Enjoy the new machine!

-Keith
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post #25 of 34
4/26/08 at 11:34am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

I have 2GB in my MacBook Pro and it's great: Parallels, iMovie, etc all work fine. My wife uses a 2GB dual-G5 system to run Adobe CS3 for graphic design without issue (and she previously survived on 512 MB).

If you want 4GB, go for it. But unless you are doing significantly memory intensive work, I'd bet you'll be fine -- perfect really -- with 2GB.
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post #26 of 34
4/26/08 at 8:26pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Sorry Packy, not sure what kind of protection you get from Mac Mall against 30 day obsolescence. Its just rumors right now so I say go nuts and if there does happen to be a siginficant upgrade (say to the VERY unlikely inclusion of BD readers) then you can contact Mac Mall and see whats up.
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post #27 of 34
4/27/08 at 1:09am
Thread Starter 

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

....and I apologize...I read the very first comment about upgrade
iMacs but because there was a smiley face next to the remark I
thought it was a joke.

Talk about bad timing! I pushed the iMac on Parker last week
not having any idea that Apple was planning on upgrading the iMac.

That being said, perhaps Mac Mall would take the iMac back and
exchange it.

I'd wait and see how significant an upgrade this new iMac is going
to be.
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post #28 of 34
4/27/08 at 8:50am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein
.Talk about bad timing! I pushed the iMac on Parker last week
not having any idea that Apple was planning on upgrading the iMac.
DaveF's Two Laws of Computers
1) The best time to buy a computer is tomorrow.
2) Don't look at computer prices for six months after buying one.

After breaking #1, don't break #2
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post #29 of 34
4/28/08 at 5:45am

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

iMac's updated today, on a MONDAY!

Apple updates iMac as expected - Engadget

Edit: looks like minor speed bumps. I wouldn't sweat it!
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post #30 of 34
4/28/08 at 1:21pm

Re: May I introduce the newest Mac convert to this forum.....

Looks like they've upgraded the CPU by a little bit (the 2.4 is now the base model when it used to be the upper 20" model) Also the CPU and graphics have been upped on the 24" model. Hard drives specs have been tweaked a bit.

Nothing too drastic - the overall design is still the same.

Parker, enjoy your Mac and do let us all know how you're getting along.
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