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Ordered new iMac. Now what do I do first?

C

cheapa55

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2007
907
11
I placed an order on friday Nov 23rd. The item shipped from Shanghai today and it's scheduled to arrive on Nov 29th. I'm impressed if it arrives on time. But back to my question. What do I do first?

I ordered the 24" 2.8ghz with 1gb RAM and 500gb HDD. and I already have the components below but don't know what order to do this (i.e. install vista first with dual boot or fusion first then vista).

upgrade to 4gb RAM
install VMware Fusion
install Windows Vista
install microsoft office 07 and/or mac office 04

I know I should start the machine up to make sure everything is running fine. should I run it for 24 hrs? or just boot up to make sure it works?

btw, I'm a first time Mac user. Any tips or links to how to maximize the mac is appreciated.
 
Same here. As I posted in a different thread, I also ordered Friday, nearly same specs but I went for the 2.8 GHz. Mine still hasn't shipped.

I have similar questions. I'll want to load Windows XP Pro on mine. Also going to get 4 GB RAM. Not sure of the best order to do things in.
 
Boot it up check it out, then power down and install the ram. Why do you need Fusion if you are using bootcamp, that sounds like a lot of HD space being used up on two windows installs.
 
cheapa55 said:
I know I should start the machine up to make sure everything is running fine. should I run it for 24 hrs? or just boot up to make sure it works?
Click to expand...

Definately boot it up first and see that everything is working. Then install your ram upgrade, boot that up to make sure that it is working as well. Not sure what to do about VMware Fusion as I don't use it
 
Turn it on and go through the initial start-up. Play around with it for an hour or so to check it's OK - and download any Software Updates and the like.

It's probably six of one and half a dozen of the other whether you install the RAM or BootCamp next. I'd be tempted to install the RAM, check it's showing up in System Profiler, run something relatively memory-intensive to see whether it causes any random freezes and then do VMWare/Vista.

One thing to bear in mind if you go for installing Office 2004. Remember to remove the Test Drive before installing from the discs. Makes life much easier.
 
Fusion doesn't handle programs that use 3D accelerated graphics as well as Boot Camp does, so some folks will use Boot Camp for games, and then Fusion for the convenience of running less graphically intense programs (i.e. Internet Explorer) in OS X without having to reboot their system.

IIRC, Fusion will allow you to use your Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine, so you don't necessarily have to have a two separate Windows installs when using Boot Camp and Fusion.
 
The way I'd do it:

1. boot up, have a play, and install any updates. Then you know it's working fine.
2. install the ram. Have another play, to make sure all is well with the ram.
3. install bootcamp, and put windows on. Install office for pc if you want it while you're at it.
4. install fusion - it'll pick up the bootcamp partition, and install the stuff it needs to run windows properly.
5. install office for mac if you want it. (it might be easier to just use windows office in vmware - you can use the 'unity' feature to make office run as a window in osx)

A good tip for vmware - use spaces, assign vmware to a particular space, and run it full screen. You have a nice big windows screen, but you can get to back to the mac with a key press (or a mouse click if you assign spaces to a button. 5 button mouse ftw!)
 
cheapa55 said:
I placed an order on friday Nov 23rd. The item shipped from Shanghai today and it's scheduled to arrive on Nov 29th. I'm impressed if it arrives on time. But back to my question. What do I do first?

I ordered the 24" 2.8ghz with 1gb RAM and 500gb HDD. and I already have the components below but don't know what order to do this (i.e. install vista first with dual boot or fusion first then vista).

upgrade to 4gb RAM
install VMware Fusion
install Windows Vista
install microsoft office 07 and/or mac office 04

I know I should start the machine up to make sure everything is running fine. should I run it for 24 hrs? or just boot up to make sure it works?

btw, I'm a first time Mac user. Any tips or links to how to maximize the mac is appreciated.
Click to expand...

1. Turn the iMac on and play with it and make sure everything is okay. The iMac is double boxed so it should be fine.
2. Shut the imac down and install the RAM. Instructions are in your little book, or with the RAM you purchased. Did u buy matched pairs?
3. Your iMac may not have Leopard installed, you may want to do this next before loading any new or additional software.

After doing all of the above install what you want and enjoy.
 
aristobrat said:
Fusion doesn't handle programs that use 3D accelerated graphics as well as Boot Camp does, so some folks will use Boot Camp for games, and then Fusion for the convenience of running less graphically intense programs (i.e. Internet Explorer) in OS X without having to reboot their system.

IIRC, Fusion will allow you to use your Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine, so you don't necessarily have to have a two separate Windows installs when using Boot Camp and Fusion.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I thought they required two installs. That is handy.
 
wow you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the good info. and yes, I will use Fusion for quick switches since I'm a windows user now. I'm trying to transition and we'll see how it goes.

i did buy matched pairs 2x2gb crucial mem from the buy.com deal

imac arrives on thursday from Shanghai.

and I didn't know I had to "install" boot camp???? but good to know.

any other suggestions?

how about links to how to best use your imac? or other links to useful forums?

Thanks again, you guys rule!
 
Personally, I think you should put on a pair of rounded specs, don a black turtleneck shirt, toss on a pair of jeans and sneakers, then sip on a bottle of SmartWater (or your favorite green tea).

Maybe even dance a little celebratory "I've got a new iMac" jig.

How'zat?
 
wohoooo!!! I got my iMac today. I haven't been so excited about a toy in a while and I buy a lot of them.

skipping all the small details..... now I'm in the process of installing bootcamp.

do I really need to print the install and setup guide? i don't have a printer at home.

2nd, can I install vista? should I do 64 bit or 32 bit? or does fusion only handle 32 bit?
 
Bootcamp is one of the few things I'd urge caution with before running headlong into. That's a new question. I suggest starting a new thread asking that question in the appropriate forum, which would probably be MarRumors' "windows" forum.

Congrats on the fun new toy!
 
Thanks, I did a little reading and I guess i can only install the 32bit if I'm not mistaken. But during the install I guess I figured out I can only do nfts format and not fat since its vista???

Thanks for the tip, i'll go visit the other forum. I have plenty of questions I hope to find answers to there. :)
 
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