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[whitetrashanth]

Hi should be getting my QUAD in a couple weeks time,.... iv been using microsoft,.. for like 10 years now and know it pritty well, self taught and have an amazing catalouge of saved favourites in my internet explorer, i know all the good downloads pritty much for my pc in hand,...

only thing is,..

iv never really used a mac properly before and will be new to EVERYTHING


here, if it is atall possible could be put down thier favourite MAC sites,... best downloads for mac, which may include the following:

MSN messenger with web cam?
any anti - virus/ adware stuff i might need (although i hear you dont but just security stuff)

special add on s

peer- to peer network programs for download as im not sure what will work on them! ( i use eMule, soulseek and winmX right now, not THAT much but would be helpful)

maybe just special mac sites, that are just generally very usufull and help ful

basically ANYTHING you think i might NEED or WANT (very differnt things but both applicable) as a first time MAC user!


thanks alot

 

[MBHockey]

Somethings tells me you don't need all that power for surfing the web and using p2p programs

I don't know about MSN Messenger, but if video is important to you, i guess the official client is your only choice (i'm not sure if it supports video or not).

For p2p there's programs such as Xfactor, Acquisition, Poisoned. You can search macupdate.com for "p2p" to find others to try out.

It's always a good idea to use anti-virus, i suggest ClamX AV, to prevent spreading viruses to your PC using friends/family (even though they cannot infect your Mac).

I believe there is only one anti-spyware app for Mac, called MacScan. However, i find that to be useless since there's no spyware or adware for Mac.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

macrumors.com

versiontracker.com for downloads and updates

adiumx.com for an AOL client

 

[whitetrashanth]

sounds cool

well i WILL need the power, seen as il be using music editing softwear, CAD/CAM programs,.. and ALOT of photoediting,..

as il be doing graphic design and illustrastion and i do ALOT of photograhy, and find it to **** slow on my 3 Ghz p4 computer,.... very interested in getting appature ACtually,...

but these questions are things i know doubt will find out naturally, but its nice to get a "heads up" before i delve into it,.. its nice to come to a RESOURCE like this and find all what i want in one bit, im sure it will be helpful for alot of others too, seen as iv never used a mac before these questions will appear dumb, but i really havnt looked into it as i wouldnt know where to start!

cheers so far

 

[iGary]

You'll also need an adequate surge protector/power conditioner.

Supposedly, the Quad's are going to have liquid cooling just like the previous top-end machines. You'll want to get something with about an 850AW rating - these machines draw a lot of juice.

 

[DarkNetworks]

MSN messenger with web cam?
any anti - virus/ adware stuff i might need (although i hear you dont but just security stuff)

special add on s

peer- to peer network programs for download as im not sure what will work on them! ( i use eMule, soulseek and winmX right now, not THAT much but would be helpful)

maybe just special mac sites, that are just generally very usufull and help ful

basically ANYTHING you think i might NEED or WANT (very differnt things but both applicable) as a first time MAC user!


thanks alot

MSN with webcam? No not able to do so..unless..aMSN or Mercury...

virus/anti virus...either Norton AntiVirus or Virex i suppose but i'm not too worried about getting virus on OS X...

P2P: Limewire...it works...or else i would recomend Azureus(bittorrent) i dunno if it's P2P but i use it...lol...

 

[scotsman]

Hi
Try Acquisition for P2P, it's quite reliable

 

[whitetrashanth]

a serge protector bloody elll,.. really? ,.. is that really neccesary,.. ?

 

[eva01]

a serge protector bloody elll,.. really? ,.. is that really neccesary,.. ?

of course it is neccessary i have like 4 in my bedroom alone

 

[katie ta achoo]

a serge protector bloody elll,.. really? ,.. is that really neccesary,.. ?

Yes. VERY.[

Your AC will turn on, causing a big surge, and say bye-bye $30k PowerMac. Would you rather repair a $30k computer or get a $20 surge protector?

**easy choice**

 

[zelmo]

a serge protector bloody elll,.. really? ,.. is that really neccesary,.. ?

I've had 4 surge protectors get zapped in the past 10 years, and each time the connected equipment survived. Every piece of worthwhile electronics in my house is protected. If you're spending upwards of $3,300 on a Power Mac, not to mention RAM, monitor, printer, and other accessories, how do you justify not protecting that investment?

 

[iEdd]

Oh ****, looks like I've gotta get some surge protectors. Though obviously with a laptop I'd guess that a surge would just fry the transformer in the power adaptor and the laptop would survive.

 

[SummerBreeze]

I would recommend VLC Player, it will open pretty much any video file you have, even when Quicktime fails you. Also, take a look at some of the Widgets that are available, they can really increase your productivity.

 

[nbs2]

I'd suggest http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/. It's a good site for widgets. I didn't think much of them at first, but now I need them.

 

[whitetrashanth]

**** best, get me self one of those then! wow,

also, iv been hearing about these WIDGETS,.. can somone please DEFINE EXactly what one is? just to clarify things in one simple easy to read consice sentance

thanks

 

[whitetrashanth]

sorry also,... on windows iv been meaning to swap my internet explorer to firefox or sumit,.. but havnt been arsed to do so for ages,.. as my broadband is well fast and i have virus protection anyway,..

but for MACS... otherthan the supplied safari,.... what would be the bEST?!

 

[nbs2]

widget - a little applet that runs on the dashboard (a pseudo HUD) that is designed to provide a certain type of information/certain use that would normally entail launching an application, without doing so; many widgets rely on the internet for content to access certain customized information; in a sentence "My favorite widget provides me with weather information for the next 6 days."

browsers - many will debate firefox and camino. I used to have camino as a backup, then moved to firefox. Some may even say opera. each has a strength and weakness. Camino was built for the Aqua (mac) interface, but I believe is still in beta. everybody will have an opinion. I have a copy of FF that works just fine for me.

 

[Texas04]

As far as video: iChat AV is ALL you need, espechially with a Quad
P2p, look at Other Mac Sites Sections on the bottom left of http://www.macrumors.com
http://www.macbytes.com
-Virus protection, most likely you will have to pay, but a virus or anything is very rare.
-VLC Media Player is a need (FREE)
-Fire is a good Aim Client (FREE)
-Adobe Photoshop
-Firefox (FREE)
-DIVX codec for mac (FREE)
-OSXvnc (FREE)
-Chicken of the VNC (FREE)
-Microsoft Office for OS X
-MactheRipper (Free)
----Rips DVD's
-Transmit (FREE)
--FTP client
-Audacity (FREE)
---Music Editor (Though you should have garage band so this should not matter)

and thats about it...

 

[dubbz]

of course it is neccessary i have like 4 in my bedroom alone

I don't have any at all.

 

[whitetrashanth]

widget - a little applet that runs on the dashboard (a pseudo HUD) that is designed to provide a certain type of information/certain use that would normally entail launching an application, without doing so; many widgets rely on the internet for content to access certain customized information; in a sentence "My favorite widget provides me with weather information for the next 6 days."

browsers - many will debate firefox and camino. I used to have camino as a backup, then moved to firefox. Some may even say opera. each has a strength and weakness. Camino was built for the Aqua (mac) interface, but I believe is still in beta. everybody will have an opinion. I have a copy of FF that works just fine for me.

thankYOU

 

[whitetrashanth]

As far as video: iChat AV is ALL you need, espechially with a Quad
P2p, look at Other Mac Sites Sections on the bottom left of http://www.macrumors.com
http://www.macbytes.com
-Virus protection, most likely you will have to pay, but a virus or anything is very rare.
-VLC Media Player is a need (FREE)
-Fire is a good Aim Client (FREE)
-Adobe Photoshop
-Firefox (FREE)
-DIVX codec for mac (FREE)
-OSXvnc (FREE)
-Chicken of the VNC (FREE)
-Microsoft Office for OS X
-MactheRipper (Free)
----Rips DVD's
-Transmit (FREE)
--FTP client
-Audacity (FREE)
---Music Editor (Though you should have garage band so this should not matter)

and thats about it...

A-MAZE-Zinnnng

 

[bodeh6]

You will need one of these UPS. I have a smaller one on my PC and they work great

http://apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR900

 

[Eidorian]

Bits on Wheels > Azureus

I used to use Azureus. I was very annoying by its 25-40% CPU usage. I finished all of my torrents and switched to Bits on Wheels. Now my torrent program only uses 4-10% of my CPU.

http://www.bitsonwheels.com/