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Just got my iMac

HazRutter

HazRutter

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 2, 2009
212
0
England
Its a 2.66ghz 20" model...

What should I do now then, what software shall I get, external drives, peripherals, create an admin account, enable any firewalls or whatever?

Also, in the UK the @ button is assigned to the " ' " key, but on this new keyboard it is assigned to the "2" key, I would think there is a setting to change this somewhere but it is on the keyboard as well, what can I do?
 
I guess your waiting eh? I say, if the current iMacs will suit your needs, get it.. Its wicked :)
 
HazRutter said:
Its a 2.66ghz 20" model...

What should I do now then, what software shall I get, external drives, peripherals, create an admin account, enable any firewalls or whatever?

Also, in the UK the @ button is assigned to the " ' " key, but on this new keyboard it is assigned to the "2" key, I would think there is a setting to change this somewhere but it is on the keyboard as well, what can I do?
Click to expand...
Congrats on your new toy. Lots of good times ahead.

If you burn CD and DVD's, my first recommendation is to pickup Toast 10.

Another good thing to do is to pickup an external hard drive and run Time Machine backups.
 
HazRutter said:
Its a 2.66ghz 20" model...

What should I do now then, what software shall I get, external drives, peripherals, create an admin account, enable any firewalls or whatever?

Also, in the UK the @ button is assigned to the " ' " key, but on this new keyboard it is assigned to the "2" key, I would think there is a setting to change this somewhere but it is on the keyboard as well, what can I do?
Click to expand...

Must have programs IMO.

Adium for IM
Perian for Codecs
Flip4Mac for WMA codecs
Firefox for browsing the web Safari is good but I just like FF better
Bowtie for iTunes Remote
Stuffit for unarchiving your files (deals with lots more files rar's and such)
MacTheRipper for ripping DVD's
Handbrake for Encoding those ripped DVD's

The Keyboard can be changed in System Preferences/International/Input Menu Choose the one that you want from the list and check off on the bottom to show the Input in the menu bar so you get the little country flag on the top menu bar next to the clock.
 
Migration to new Mac

Need advice as to what to do about getting files from old computer (G4) to new imac. I do have an external hard drive, large enough to copy all files from old computer .
At present haven't gotten the imac. Will in a day or two.
 
zeldahof said:
Need advice as to what to do about getting files from old computer (G4) to new imac. I do have an external hard drive, large enough to copy all files from old computer .
At present haven't gotten the imac. Will in a day or two.
Click to expand...

6 Pin Firewire 400 cable and Migration Assistance.

On your new mac when you first boot it up it will ask you if you want to move any data and it will guide you through the process. The best and fastest way is with the Firewire cable.
 
congrats on getting an new imac. i just got one and they are wicked sweet. You can do so much with them. I recommend upgrading the memory though, unless you already have 4gb.
 
4gb RAM is the next thing on my list, would anyone recommend Parallels over VMWare Fusion or vice versa?
 
nando2323 said:
Must have programs IMO.

Adium for IM
Perian for Codecs
Flip4Mac for WMA codecs
Firefox for browsing the web Safari is good but I just like FF better
Bowtie for iTunes Remote
Stuffit for unarchiving your files (deals with lots more files rar's and such)
MacTheRipper for ripping DVD's
Handbrake for Encoding those ripped DVD's

The Keyboard can be changed in System Preferences/International/Input Menu Choose the one that you want from the list and check off on the bottom to show the Input in the menu bar so you get the little country flag on the top menu bar next to the clock.
Click to expand...

Im going to ask a dumb question but honestly i dont know the answer thats why im asking. I see you suggested MacTheRipper and Handbrake. My question is two fold, the first is can MacTheRipper rip say blockbuster dvds you rent? also what does handbrake do exactly? thanks
 
I tried to change the @ and " keys but it has still stayed the same, I have the little great Britain flag in the corner also, any suggestions?
 
Someone should make a "Just got an iMac thread, what next" thread. It'd be very useful for a ton of people...including me soon.
 
I'd like to suggest the following software as well:

VLC for watching videos
Onyx or Xupport for maintainance
NeoOffice for word processing/spreadsheet stuff

The rest really depends on what you plan on doing with your iMac. Are you into photography? video production? watching movies? Music? Depending on your budget and needs there's tons of great stuff out there. Personally I find Photoshop to be absolutely indispensable and probably use it more than anything else. The iLife suite gets used quite a bit too. My wife is the CFO of the family, so she does the home finances on Quicken.
 
Congratulations on buying an iMac, Im sure you'll be very happy with it.
Recommend Time Machine as listed above, its really useful - especially for my mate who managed to destroy his macbook with a glass of wine recently.

Kev.
 
gixxerredliner said:
Im going to ask a dumb question but honestly i dont know the answer thats why im asking. I see you suggested MacTheRipper and Handbrake. My question is two fold, the first is can MacTheRipper rip say blockbuster dvds you rent? also what does handbrake do exactly? thanks
Click to expand...
Yes, MacTheRipper removes copy protection from discs so you can make your own copies.

Handbrake is basically a conversion tool that takes a DVD and converts it to other formats.
 
My favorite app has to be AppCleaner. It's a must download for any Mac user.

I was about to purchase AppZapper before I stumbled upon this nifty little application.
 
Interesting

Chris Blount said:
Yes, MacTheRipper removes copy protection from discs so you can make your own copies.

Handbrake is basically a conversion tool that takes a DVD and converts it to other formats.
Click to expand...


When you say "converts it to other formats" what do you mean. Im assuming when i use MacTheRipper and rip it to my Hard Drive isnt that all i need to do to view the movie? or are you saying once you rip it you than have to convert it into itunes to watch it? thanks :)
 
gixxerredliner said:
When you say "converts it to other formats" what do you mean. Im assuming when i use MacTheRipper and rip it to my Hard Drive isnt that all i need to do to view the movie? or are you saying once you rip it you than have to convert it into itunes to watch it? thanks :)
Click to expand...
Yes, you can rip it to your hard drive and watch it using the DVD player software. If you want to convert it so iTunes can handle it for the iPhone, AppleTV or whatever, your need HandBrake.
 
HazRutter said:
I tried to change the @ and " keys but it has still stayed the same, I have the little great Britain flag in the corner also, any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I think you're out of luck. The UK Apple Store shows they British layout as having both the "@" and the "€" symbols over the "2" key.

zeldahof said:
Need advice as to what to do about getting files from old computer (G4) to new imac. I do have an external hard drive, large enough to copy all files from old computer
Click to expand...

If you are running Leopard on your G4, just make sure you back your entire machine up in Time Machine. Then when your turn on your new one, you can "restore" your new machine with the G4's backup, in essence making your new iMac look exactly like your old G4 (same files, file locations, desktop picture, settings, etc.).
 
Could anyone tell me the best way to run Parallels / fusion, as in the way to save the most HD space or to make it run the best...Thanks
 
HazRutter said:
Could anyone tell me the best way to run Parallels / fusion, as in the way to save the most HD space or to make it run the best...Thanks
Click to expand...
I have Fusion and have the hard drive limit set at 80GB. Right now my virtual Windows is about 30GB and will grow as needed up to 80GB. So basically, you first decide how large you ever want the virtual machine to be and it will start small and grow as you add applications or files.

On the memory front, I have 4GB of RAM in my iMac and allocate 2GB to Fusion. That seems to work pretty well although you should be able to get away with allocating 1GB.
 
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