Question on my just ordered iMac

[JulesNYC]

Hello! First-time poster, long-time reader here. I ordered my first ever mac on Friday, using my corporate discount and Black Friday promo. I purchased a 20" iMac, 2.16 GHz C2D, 2gig RAM, 256 VRAM, 250 HD, Applecare, etc. At such a bargain I rushed to purchase it before the day was over. In my rush, I now have a question for you mac experts.

The iMac I ordered comes with a built-in Airport Extreme Card, but does that mean I will be ready to connect to my apartment's wireless network or do I have to purchase something else?

 

[tilman]

The iMac I ordered comes with a built-in Airport Extreme Card, but does that mean I will be ready to connect to my apartment's wireless network or do I have to purchase something else?

Most wireless networks like yours use either the 802.11b (a little slower) or 802.11g (a little faster) standard. The Airport Extreme Card supports both out of the box.

 

[JulesNYC]

Most wireless networks like yours use either the 802.11b (a little slower) or 802.11g (a little faster) standard. The Airport Extreme Card supports both out of the box.

Awesome. I was worried I had to buy something else and connect my imac with an ethernet cable in the meantime. Thanks! Now I can relax and just wait. Anxiously.

 

[Arcus]

Welcome to the Apple world Jules. This is a great place to get info. Your gonna love your iMac.

Did you come from the Windows world? Did you purchase Parallels?

 

[Zwhaler]

And don't the new iMacs support the 802.11n signal? I heard about that on here but never really looked into it.

 

[jholzner]

And don't the new iMacs support the 802.11n signal? I heard about that on here but never really looked into it.

Kind of. They include an N card in them but Apple does not provide the needed drivers yet. It's a pre-spec N card anyway since the final specs haven't yet been approved.

 

[JulesNYC]

Welcome to the Apple world Jules. This is a great place to get info. Your gonna love your iMac.

Did you come from the Windows world? Did you purchase Parallels?

Thanks Arcus. Yeah, I've been a windows user forever...since my Gateway 2000 back in 97. I've always been a fan of Apple though...I used it a bit at my first job out of college. Finally making the big leap now though.

I'm not getting Parallels. I don't think it's worth it for me, since I'm still holding onto my IBM Thinkpad. I'll use that if I need anything from my Windows past.

 

[Paul S]

Mine connected right up, straight out of the box. I got the MS Office package, since I use Excel and Word quite a bit at work, so being able to work on some things at home is a plus.

 

[JulesNYC]

I just wanted to say that I received my iMac yesterday and was able to wirelessly connect to my network and the web instantly. The whole "out of the box" experience was amazing and pain-free.

 

[dalvin200]

I just wanted to say that I received my iMac yesterday and was able to wirelessly connect to my network and the web instantly. The whole "out of the box" experience was amazing and pain-free.

yup.. i remember when i got my imac in march.. i had delivery in the morning, and i went home from work at lunchtime, and within 10/15 mins i was back posting onto MR that's i was all set up etc.. !!!

such a breeze..

 

[Killyp]

Same for me, I was amazed how I just switched my MacBook Pro on, connected the LAN cable (didn't have wifi when I first got the MBP) and it just worked, which is far far more than I can say for any of the numerous PCs that have been connected to my LAN over the last few years...