Does the new iMacs require any kind of maintenance

[ravinder08]

Ordering iMac i7 next week.

Moving to Mac for the first time, I was wondering if any of you use any maintenance Programs on your iMacs?
Want to make sure I keep my machine running smoothly.

Thanks

Rav

 

[mstrze]

No...Macs run, and run well without any outside fiddling.

 

[R94N]

There are a few out there that you can use, but the operating system does most of it for you in the background. it's not like Windows XP


Some good programs/tools:

Onyx, which does a few things. More information on the page I've linked to.

iStat Pro, which is a Dashboard widget that can help with troubleshooting.


As long as you keep your Mac updated, and back up important data, you shouldn't have too many problems.

 

[ravinder08]

Thank You,

So glad I'm making the switch to Macs, hopefuly It'll be worth it.

Rav

 

[R94N]

Great, hope all goes well for you!

 

[MathijsDelva]

You can also use MainMenu or MacKeeper. But, it's really not necessary. Those programs mostly make you think you need to buy their app. You should be fine. The only thing i advise you to do is regularly launch the disk utility app and fix the permissions & check the harddrive for errors.

 

[d88co88]

There are a few out there that you can use, but the operating system does most of it for you in the background. it's not like Windows XP


Some good programs/tools:

Onyx, which does a few things. More information on the page I've linked to.

iStat Pro, which is a Dashboard widget that can help with troubleshooting.


As long as you keep your Mac updated, and back up important data, you shouldn't have too many problems.

^^ What he said. It's always good to keep notice of the temps on your mac especially if you notice something wrong. Other than that, an iMac is one of the most maintenance free computers IMO.

 

[mstrze]

I wouldn't get any of the above programs UNLESS you feel something is wrong. I read about WAY too many people in these threads obsessing over fragmentation and internal temperatures when they are well within acceptible levels. I think the more minutia you know (temps and such) the more you will obsess when there is absolutely nothing wrong.

Your Mac is designed to work and essentially keep working well as long as you own it.

 

[ravinder08]

I wouldn't get any of the above programs UNLESS you feel something is wrong. I read about WAY too many people in these threads obsessing over fragmentation and internal temperatures when they are well within acceptible levels. I think the more minutia you know (temps and such) the more you will obsess when there is absolutely nothing wrong.

Your Mac is designed to work and essentially keep working well as long as you own it.

No preventative maintenace required then.

So unless you notice anything obviously wrong don't bother looking problems.
If it ain't broke don't fix it theory.

CHEERS

Rav

 

[MacInLaw]

In short, not really.

You don't need to worry about antivirus, defragmenting, etc. In fact, I don't recommend running Disk Utility and repairing permissions/scanning the disk unless you need to. (Here's why.)

The only thing you should probably do is get an external hard drive and use Time Machine to do periodic backups. It is an extra expense, but it's worth it.

Other than that, Macs are designed to be virtually maintenance free. It's a little weird if you've come from Windows to get used to not running antivirus apps, third-party firewalls, etc., but that's why OS X is better and easier than Windows.

 

[HLdan]

No preventative maintenace required then.

So unless you notice anything obviously wrong don't bother looking problems.
If it ain't broke don't fix it theory.

CHEERS

Rav

Agreed with everything the others were saying in regards to not bothering to install softwares to do any maintenance, the Mac is very well automated so you can get work done. Just understand one thing though, that automated experience is on Mac OS X, so if you install Windows be prepared for the same old Windows experience you get with a common PC, provided that you were planning on installing Windows. The Mac itself won't give you a better Windows experience.

 

[mstrze]

The only thing you should probably do is get an external hard drive and use Time Machine to do periodic backups. It is an extra expense, but it's worth it.

I second this. It's an expense that will be well worth it if your internal drive should ever crash. I have my backups on a 1.5TB drive that I bought for just a little over $100US.

Backing-up regularly would be about the only preventive maintainance I would suggest. And Time Machine, included with every iMac, makes this simple and a process that runs in the background without you hardly knowing about it.

 

[Spike88]

I recently installed iState Nano (which is a little system monitoring widget from Apple download site) to monitor internal heat and memory usage. Being a widget, it only pops up when I want it to. So far, I've learned my iMac has "remaining" 2.8 Gigs of RAM and its internal temps are within normal operating range. To me, this little widget is great to understand "what's under the hood", and is worth viewing a few times each week. Especially during peak usage tasks. To me, this FREE "monitoring" widget is worth it.

To me, backups (direct connection or Network based) isn't part of "maintenance" (as in `optional` or only perform when needed task). IMO, backup devices must be part of "base system". re: iMac system and backup device - both are bought at same time. And, both are used together (as mandatory inclusion item). Just like a computer needs a keyboard and mouse "as mandatory items" as well...

.

 

[/V\acpower]

Agreed with everything the others were saying in regards to not bothering to install softwares to do any maintenance, the Mac is very well automated so you can get work done. Just understand one thing though, that automated experience is on Mac OS X, so if you install Windows be prepared for the same old Windows experience you get with a common PC, provided that you were planning on installing Windows. The Mac itself won't give you a better Windows experience.

The fact that Boot Camps install all the necessary drivers in just one click is for me a better Windows experience.