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Love at first sight...

coday182

coday182

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 26, 2006
237
0
Jamestown, IN
My friend who is going to college this year showed me his new laptop today. It's a macbook pro. I always knew that mac was a little less vulnrable to viruses and that it was a little more stable than windows but I never really cared. Well after playin with it for a little bit i have decided that when I get a laptop for college I want to get a Mac. Specifically a MacBook Pro. I'm like in love with it lol. I even went to an Apple store today. So anyways... I have a few questions for the tech guys....

How well can they share files with a Windows based PC?
(I will be interning and eventually working at an office with windows based PC's)

If all the computers in my house are Windows based can I still hook it up the the network... More specifically... If the network is wireless can the MacBook automatically tap in to it?

If I don't have a wireless network, and it is all with cables, is there some sort of bluetooth adapter that I can use to access it with my MBP?

I am starting my senior year of high school right now. I would really love to have a MBP but I don't know if I should wait to get one.

If there are any other points you think you should bring up, please do so.
 
1. They Share files very well I connect to my Windows 2K PC wirelessly with my MBP

2. Yes you can still hook up to the network and it does great wonders wirelessly. Very Good Wireless card on the MBP and it has great range!

3. Umm not sure of your question but it comes w/ bluetooth already installed

4. If you can hold off till next year do so, if not buy it now and be happy for a year :) I am!

Other Tips: Look at what your buying, if you have the money definatley get a MBP... however, if it is an issue, what do you use your computer for? You can downgrade to a MacBook and you might still be happy w/ it. However the backlit keyboard and ambient light sensor are pretty nice :).

EDIT: Be carefull though I have heard scatterred reports of some colleges not liking Macs on campus.. very few but some do. However w/ Boot Camp it should clear up any problems, oh thats another thing if you wait till Lepoard is released than you'll be even better off :)
 
As long as you are using standard networking protocols - you probably are - all you have to do is turn on your Mac, click "Yes" when it asks if you want to join your network and you're set.

If it's an all-wired network you just plug the Cat-5 cable into the ethernet port, the network should be Cat-5 cables so you just plug one into the computer.

As for vulnerability to viruses to say it's "a little less vulnerable" is putting it mildly. There have, in the past 5 years been 4 (four) instances of malware - that's viruses, worms, etc. - for the Mac. All of them have been patched up since and there are currently no threats to the Mac platform. You can surf the web all day without so much as a firewall and get absolutely nothing.

Macs and Windows PCs network very easily and there are very few files that will not work on a Mac, .exe being an example. So long as you are using standard file formats you can share them between Macs and PCs just as you would between just PCs. CDs, DVDs, USB thumbdrives etc. all just work. I've been using my Mac for nearly two years and have never had to install a driver, OSX just recognises what it is I'm plugging in and away it goes.
 
coday182 said:
Sweet... When is that supposed to come out?
Click to expand...

Late 2006/early 2007. Most likely early 2007. There will be a big preview of all the new features for OSX 10.5 Leopard at the World Wide Developers Conference in early August.

There is also likely to be a heavily updated MacBook Pro released around this time too to capitalise on the new mobile version of the Core 2 Duo processor that has just been released.
 
Wow you guys reply unbeleviebly (sp?) fast.

So anyways. If I plug an ethernet cable into a MBP will it ask me for a password or will it automatically connect to the internet? If it helps there are a bunch of PCs in my house all running off of the same internet connection that feeds into one computer. To get on the internet you have to have logged in to XP with ur username/password. How will all that affect how I connect with a Mac?

Also... Is there a way i can still make the wired network wireless for my mac? Airport express maybe?

Thansk for all your help guys. These are very very helpful forums and when I get my mac i will know where to go for help!
 
coday182 said:
Wow you guys reply unbeleviebly (sp?) fast.

So anyways. If I plug an ethernet cable into a MBP will it ask me for a password or will it automatically connect to the internet? If it helps there are a bunch of PCs in my house all running off of the same internet connection that feeds into one computer. To get on the internet you have to have logged in to XP with ur username/password. How will all that affect how I connect with a Mac?

Also... Is there a way i can still make the wired network wireless for my mac? Airport express maybe?

Thansk for all your help guys. These are very very helpful forums and when I get my mac i will know where to go for help!
Click to expand...

Best way to set up your network would be to get a router that handles both wired and wireless connections. The internet connection comes in from the modem to the router and all the computers link to the router. It would also add a level of protection for your PCs.

A router is very easy to set up and once it's done all you need to do is make sure you've got the wireless in your Mac switched on (just a click of the mouse) and it will recognise the wireless connection. Then, if you've set up a password on the router to protect the wireless network it will ask you for that. Enter it and away you go.

Macs automatically find the strongest connection and access the internet using that connection. You don't have to change any settings. I access the internet/networks/email etc using all sorts of connections, dial-up, wired networks, wireless networks, secure wireless networks etc and have never had to change a setting - it's just seamless. If I'm using Mail to download my email from gmail using a wired connection to a network but decide to go outside, I just unplug the cable, select the wireless network I want and keep going.
 
Wow. After learning all this stuff I am even more in love with mac. Now I have to have one now but I know i should wait for the new one to come out.
 
coday182 said:
So how long does it take to get used to using mac if you've been a PC guy all ur life?
Click to expand...

Takes a little while, you sort of have to forget all your old PC habits. You'll have a tonne of questions but that's why we're here.
 
coday182 said:
So how long does it take to get used to using mac if you've been a PC guy all ur life?
Click to expand...

It took me about three months to get really, really comfortable with the new Operating System. After three months and 1 day I found myself getting a headache when using a windows machine. Seriously!

Get a Mac and enjoy! But if you get bad hardware don't be too disappointed, Dell & Co. also deliver faulty hardware. I was lucky, my 12'' PB works just like it worked the first day I bought it, but I read some threads where people were not so lucky. Macs (hardware) are not perfect, just like any other electronic device.

Good luck!
 
Cybix said:
be happy, buy one now. you wont regret it!
Click to expand...

11 days until WWDC.

I dont think that`s too much to wait for. The current MBP is good too. But if you wait for 11 more days you`ll have a very strong chance of getting a better/newer hardware for the same price.
 
Tymmz said:
It took me about three months to get really, really comfortable with the new Operating System. After three months and 1 day I found myself getting a headache when using a windows machine. Seriously!

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Same goes for me too. Not quite three months...but, the windows headaches started my second weekend after having my first Mac.

Also, as far as things being simple, like hooking up to your network, either wireless or via ethernet; theres a reason the commercials say that Macs just work. Example, at my parents, they have cable, I use wireless DSL at my house, I can just plug into the cable modem, wait a few seconds, and I'm on. No fuss at all.

They do their damnedist to get along wherever they are. It's great.
 
Wow it all seems so easy lol. It just makes me wonder why more people aren't on Mac's. I bet in the near future Macs will be more common than pc instead of vice versa.
 
coday182 said:
Wow it all seems so easy lol. It just makes me wonder why more people aren't on Mac's. I bet in the near future Macs will be more common than pc instead of vice versa.
Click to expand...

It seems that Macs are for intelligent people.:rolleyes:

Having a Mac makes you intelligent.:D
 
FAT32 or something Mac-specific?

OK, I've been away from Macs since System 7.1. But this weekend I'll be setting up my college-bound daughter's MacBook system. By system, I mean

MacBook
2GB RAM upgrade
160GB SATA drive upgrade
1 or 2 AirPort Extremes
inklet printer
400GB external USB hub

I want to make sure it works (via WiFi) on our Windows XP home network. My question is about file systems. All four of our XP drives are formatted in NTFS, which Macs can't read. I plan to format the the new backup drive in FAT32, transfer my daughter's files to the FAT32 drive, then transfer the files to the Mac.

Does MacOS use just one file system? Or will I be presented with a choice: FAT32 or something Mac-specific? I want our other PCs to be able to read files that are on the MacBook.
 
Macs = intelligent people

Roco said:
It seems that Macs are for intelligent people.:rolleyes:

Having a Mac makes you intelligent.:D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple had facts to prove this. But you can imagine how an ad campaign built around this finding would alienate PC users. And who knows? Linux users may be smarter still. (I don't use Linux or Mac.)

I remember when the finding came out years ago that the TV show whose viewers had the highest average IQ was MASH! (And no, I didn't watch it.) How did researchers arrive at these findings? I don't know.
 
PaulinMaryland said:
OK, I've been away from Macs since System 7.1. But this weekend I'll be setting up my college-bound daughter's MacBook system. By system, I mean

MacBook
2GB RAM upgrade
160GB SATA drive upgrade
1 or 2 AirPort Extremes
inklet printer
400GB external USB hub

I want to make sure it works (via WiFi) on our Windows XP home network. My question is about file systems. All four of our XP drives are formatted in NTFS, which Macs can't read. I plan to format the the new backup drive in FAT32, transfer my daughter's files to the FAT32 drive, then transfer the files to the Mac.

Does MacOS use just one file system? Or will I be presented with a choice: FAT32 or something Mac-specific? I want our other PCs to be able to read files that are on the MacBook.
Click to expand...

Firstly, OS X can read NTFS drives just fine. It's the writing that is the problem. You however can easily set up a shared network and transfer files back and forth. And you can make it even easier if you install Bonjour on your PC - then you don't even need to know the IP addresses of the Mac and the PC.

Secondly, you can format the MacBook's drive to other filesystems - UFS (UNIX Filesystem) and MS-DOS (FAT32). But it is highly recommended that you stick to HFS+ because apps in OS X sometimes don't play well with a non-standard filesystem.
 
Raven VII said:
Firstly, OS X can read NTFS drives just fine. It's the writing that is the problem. You however can easily set up a shared network and transfer files back and forth.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean by "a shared network". A network share that uses FAT32?

Raven VII said:
And you can make it even easier if you install Bonjour on your PC - then you don't even need to know the IP addresses of the Mac and the PC.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll look into Bonjour. I hadn't heard of it, and when I clicked a link that someone provided--on a Microsoft or Apple page--the page had been removed.

Raven VII said:
Secondly, you can format the MacBook's drive to other filesystems - UFS (UNIX Filesystem) and MS-DOS (FAT32). But it is highly recommended that you stick to HFS+ because apps in OS X sometimes don't play well with a non-standard filesystem.
Click to expand...
I'll stick with HFS+, then, for the MacBook itself. I think I'll keep the exernal drive as FAT32, on general principles. It's nice to have one lowest common denominator.

Thanks for all these pointers!
 
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