Easiest way to help a friend with his first Mac?

[iMerlin]

Hello all, Ive been away from the boards for a while which usually means my Mac has been purring like a kitten!

But I finally convinced my buddy, who has always used Windows, to convert to Mac. He did so by getting the 27" iMac i5. VERY NICE. It should be at his doorstep Thursday so Ive been trying to prep him for the iMac arrival.

My thought was to get a large external drive and copy all my apps and other goodies onto the drive for him to copy over once the iMac is there.

I've read of people actually bringing the machine to someone else's house to setup something like this, but what benefit would that provide other than being able to drink a couple of beers while you wait? Im sure speed is somewhat better... any other benefits to that?

Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

Sounds cool. It work with the ext HD way too, and you can drink beer at his house No need to carry heavy and clumsy iMac back and forth

Just remember that if the app came with installer like Photoshop, you need that installer to run it properly.

Oh, and tell him to register and ask if he needs help

 

[iMerlin]

Sounds cool. It work with the ext HD way too, and you can drink beer at his house No need to carry heavy and clumsy iMac back and forth

Just remember that if the app came with installer like Photoshop, you need that installer to run it properly.

Oh, and tell him to register and ask if he needs help

Good point about the installer but Im a little confused about that. When I got my iMac I already had my MBP. Instead of doing migration assistant I simply grabbed what I wanted off of my MBP and copied over to my iMac on my network. Worked like a charm and I dont recall needed any type of installer for Adobe CS3. I do think I had to re-register it though, is that what you're referring to Hell?

 

[Hellhammer]

Good point about the installer but Im a little confused about that. When I got my iMac I already had my MBP. Instead of doing migration assistant I simply grabbed what I wanted off of my MBP and copied over to my iMac on my network. Worked like a charm and I dont recall needed any type of installer for Adobe CS3. I do think I had to re-register it though, is that what you're referring to Hell?

Yeah, that and it may cause some issues as the installer creates some files to other locations too. What apps are you going to transfer? You can't use your CS3 license and CS5 is just around corner anyway

 

[iMerlin]

Yeah, that and it may cause some issues as the installer creates some files to other locations too. What apps are you going to transfer? You can't use your CS3 license and CS5 is just around corner anyway

Stuff like Onyx, Handbrake, Plex... So no dice on CS3 huh? I just wanted to get him up and running and I know he uses PS on Windows.
What about MS Office for Mac? I actually bought the student version which I think came with 5 licenses. That shouldnt be an issue, right?

 

[Hellhammer]

Stuff like Onyx, Handbrake, Plex... So no dice on CS3 huh? I just wanted to get him up and running and I know he uses PS on Windows.
What about MS Office for Mac? I actually bought the student version which I think came with 5 licenses. That shouldnt be an issue, right?

Those can be downloaded too. Well, legally you can't and I'm not sure can you use the same key for more than once but you can try it of course. You can try the Office for Mac too.

If he wants to use PS on Mac, he can call Adobe and get his license to changed from Windows to OS X, they only charge like couple tenners for that.

 

[rdowns]

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/ - text
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/ - videos
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ - text
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343 - keyboard shortcuts

 

[stukdog]

I've found it's best to let new Mac owners build up their apps as needed. It helps them know each one, why they want it, etc. Just be there to answer the "Is there an app that does this?" questions.

 

[iMerlin]

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/ - text
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/ - videos
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ - text
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343 - keyboard shortcuts

Ahhhh, the keyboard shortcuts... my best friend for a full year after I made the switch! Good links rdowns. Thanks!

I've found it's best to let new Mac owners build up their apps as needed. It helps them know each one, why they want it, etc. Just be there to answer the "Is there an app that does this?" questions.

Ya know, normally thats my mind set as well. But this guy was such a hard sell on Mac for some reason I want to help get him up and running comfortably and quickly.