iMac G5

In My Humble Opinion
21

Thanks for the cite!

Alrighty then. I’m taking the plunge. Cable modem here I come. I’m taking my good ol’ infected pc off and I’m sticking the Apple on.

Fingers are crossed.

One thing that does bother me. You said that 90% of machines out there are windows based, so hackers, virus writers don’t bother. I know this is a slight hijack, but why does ANYONE bother with virus writing? It seems to me that the only people that benefit from writing viruses are those companies that sell virus software. Now if my suspicion is true, then I would agree. If there is an organized attack against microsoft software by anti-virus software companies, then the prudent thing to do is to create viruses for that platform. But if it is just some kid who wants to prove to the world that he can hack anything, then why hasn’t Apple been a target? Is there security just that good? And if it is, why hasn’t Apple taken off as a mainstream product?

The amount of money and time I’ve spent on trying to get/keep crap off of my computer has been, quite frankly, obscene. I don’t believe I should have to shell out any money for stuff like this, but that’s not going to happen. But there must be some serious drawbacks to the Apple OS for companies not to convert. The premium paid for this apple laptop should, if all said here is correct, pay for itself not only in anti-virus nonsense, but the time and aggrevation spent trying to get my windows system running again after being infected.

Is the security so great that it makes networking difficult to impossible? Or is it just a matter of critical mass, where MS has such a large marketshare that software, etc. available for windows trumps any benefit from a pure apple environment?

Hope that made sense.

I’ll be trying the cable hookup later this evening.

22

It once was (though nowhere near on the scale of MS-DOS and Windows). A fellow named John Norstadt got tired of it and wrote a freeware antivirus app called ‘Disinfectant’, and it nuked every Mac virus out there. Every time a new one came along, he’d have an update almost as quickly as you’d hear the news of the new virus. He was damn good at what he did, and the product remained free, and it was pleasantly non-intrusive and didn’t create system instability. (For awhile there was a competing product, Gatekeeper, but GK was a lot more intrusive and faded from the scene). Essentially, Norstadt single-handedly stomped out the brushfire of Mac viruses in the early days, and they just never came back in a big way.

That’s not the only factor — low market share has a lot to do with it, and the intrinsically secure design of MacOS X has a lot to do with it (but little to do with why OS 9 wasn’t drenched in viruses, and it wasn’t).

23

I’m pretty sure this isn’t true. Ahhh, here’s a cite. Try Crucial for inexpensive memory.

24

Apple’s security is mostly just common sense: don’t enable administrator access out of the box, don’t enable unnecessary network ports by default, and don’t allow mail programs to automatically run executable code (that’s a biggie). For a variety of reasons, Microsoft didn’t or doesn’t follow these simple guidelines, with the result that Windows is a hugely insecure OS in its default state.

As for why Apple hasn’t taken off as a “mainstream” product, there are a lot of reasons which have little to do with the Apple of today. Macintoshes were atrociously expensive (not the modest premium you pay today, but seriously expensive) and difficult to develop for. Apple’s leadership in UI development seriously stagnated in the '90s, allowing Windows to close much of the gap between it and the Mac OS, which was starting to grow seriously crusty. The biggest reason, though, is that the Mac is a single-vendor product; whereas a business has 10 or 12 companies competing to sell him Windows machines, with Macs he either takes or leaves what Apple offers.

I’d say that’s about right.

Not at all. I’ve heard some mixed-network admins complain about this or that aspect of Mac networking, but that’s usually a matter of the Mac OS complying to Windows security models, which it does well but not perfectly.

There used to be a saying in business in the 60s and 70s: “No one ever got fired for buying IBM.” Since the early '90s, substitute “Microsoft” for “IBM.” Software availability is surely part of it, but the corporate world has standardized on Windows, plain and simple.

25

The first time I actually had my hands on a PowerBook, I got a little tingle of joy when I discovered that nearly everything is disabled out of the box and has to be specifically enabled. Want to install an application? Please enter your administrator password. The term we use in security is “That which is not explicitly permitted is denied.” This goes a long way in preventing things from sneaking in.

More from Nonsuch about networking Macs and PCs:
Not at all. I’ve heard some mixed-network admins complain about this or that aspect of Mac networking, but that’s usually a matter of the Mac OS complying to Windows security models, which it does well but not perfectly.

Yeah, it can be a bit of a tussle to make the two play nice and communicate openly. Sharing a printer that’s on a PC so the Macs can use it is well… interesting if there’s not a Mac driver for it. Doable, certainly, but it involves more meddling with SAMBA and open-source generic drivers than I’d expect a typical home user to cope with.

I’ve not had much luck getting the two beasts to share files easily either, but I just use Web space as a file parking lot. With a desktop FTP client on both machines and a good broadband connection, it’s pretty painless to plop something on the webserver and snag it from another computer. (Also handy for distributing large files to friends)

FWIW - Once the tax return comes, I’m planning on buying a Mac, (probably an iMac G5, depending on what what Unca Steve unveils today at MacWorld - do I hear a G6?) which will make the house all-Mac. I’m looking forward to not having to worry about zero-day threats and the patch-of-the-month club. I spend far too much time at work worrying about all that bad stuff - I just want to be able to use a computer at home.

26

Most virus crackers are script-kiddies that exploit easily-violated holes to engage in the electronic equivilent of vandalism. Given a secure system, or one in which vulnerabilites are not well known, they’ll move on to look for another, just like an inexperienced thief will look around a house for an open window.

The problem is two components of the same issue; as you note, Microsoft has a gigantic portion of the desktop marketshare, although less on the server and essentially none on the supercomputer/cluster markets. Becaues of this, their pricing, while cheap, can be competitive in bulk, many people are familiar with their applications and way of functioning, and in desktop machines, where reliability isn’t paramount (in the minds of accountants), the lack of robustness is less an issue that commonality. Also, since IT people are generally more familiar with Microsoft operating systems and Windows-compatible applications, it is perceived as being less costly to stick with Windows.

The truth, as known by Mac OS users, is that Macs are ridiculously easy to configure, network, and maintain by virtue of applications and services that communicate through well defined protocols and insisting that hardware vendors meet rigorously applied specifications. As for server type applications, the largest portion of the market is currently controlled by open source Linux and *BSD based servers; unfortunately, these OSs are still struggling to provide user interfaces that can be used intuitively by a neophyte user, though they’ve come a long way in the past few years, particularly Mandrake and Ubuntu Linux. Mac OS is, in fact, essentially a FreeBSD mod with a Mac-“look & feel” graphic interface atop it.

Companies, like the one I work for, want to commonize on one OS for everything, and because the moneymen are most familiar with Microsoft, they assume that it’s the best thing to use rather than to risk trying a small-source or “free” (in the case of Linux/BSD) OS that was recommended by some crunch-head with a hard-on for penguins and who keeps babbling about something called “eye pee vee six” and transport layers. Never mind that our servers bounce up and down like a kangaroo while Amazon runs unhindered on FreeBSD.

So, companies continue to do what they’ve always done because a) “It’s what we’ve always done”, b) “All of our applications run on Windows”, and c) “Why risk changing anything when it all works so mediocrely well now?”

As an individual, unless you have a need for some app, like a game, that will only run on Windows OS and hardware, I’d invest in a Mac or an Intel box running a desktop-friendly form of Linux; the latter for someone who doesn’t mind a bit of tinkering, the former for the user who just wants the damn thing to work.

Stranger

27

I’m a little late getting here, but thought I’d chime in:

Boscibo, I’ve been using Windows since about 1993, and about four months ago my wife and I got an iMac G5. (I started a thread on it at the time, and got some great information.) It is wonderful. A Windows user will have some unlearning to do, but once you catch on to the internal logic of the system, it is perfectly clear. Now I think that, if one were designing the first computer OS ever, and making everything as simple as possible, it would come out a lot like the Mac.

Say you want to uninstall a program. In Windows, you go Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Pick your program->Uninstall->Confirm->etc., etc., etc.

In OSX you just drag the program to the trash. That’s it.

There are a few minor issues on which I prefer the PC:

  • The single-button mouse. I miss my scroll-wheel.

  • The keyboard is more sensitive than the PC keyboards I’m used to, and I eenndd uupp hhiittiinngg double-keys a lot.

  • The keyboad shortcuts for getting around text. I like the way ctrl + arrow key lets you jump ahead or back one word on the PC, and as near as I can figure this isn’t an option on the Mac.

And that’s about it. I’m not much a of a computer whiz, so I don’t really need to add memory and whiz-bangs and all that, and for my needs the Mac is terrific.

One other thing: I got the student discount too, but declined some of the options like wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, discounted MS Office Suite, etc. Now I wish I’d gotten them.

And I did spring for the three-year service plan, instead of 180 days. I forget what it costs, but the peace of mind was totally worth it.

28

a) Obtain USB multi-button scroll-wheel-inclusive PCish mouse. b) Plug c) Play

Some of the best keyboards ever made were designed for the Mac. Not so many are original equipment (although the vintage “Saratoga” ADB Extended keyboard I use is one that was). If you like your PC keyboard better, and it’s USB, well, plug, and, …you know…

In text, you mean? Option-arrowkey on the Mac. (And we had it first, of course ;)). Shift-option-arrowkey to select as you go.

29

Just a few general tips and comments:

  1. 512MB of RAM is the absolute minimum for decent performance, IMO.

  2. Recommended reading: MacOS X: The Missing Manual, by David Pogue. Technical without being overwhelming, breezy without being useless.

  3. I run my six-year-old iMac with nothing more than the built-in firewall. Haven’t lost an iota of sleep worrying about viruses or whatnot, and you’ll enjoy that liberty once you get used to it. :wink:

  4. If you’re not sure how to do a task on a Mac, oftentimes the answer is to just do the obvious thing. Too many folks have been conditioned by Windows to look for the complicated way to do something that they dismiss the obvious too quickly, IMO.

30

You have just solved the single biggest frustration I’ve had with the Mac. (And never mind that I could have solved it myself by just moving my left thumb to the left by one key.)

I love you, man.

31

Try Command-arrowkey in a program with a large block of text.

32

Waiting until today was a good idea. Apple now uses dual-core Intel chips. The iMac runs at 2 GHz (dual proc) and costs the same as the single-core version did yesterday. Pretty much the same on the notebook side, but they’re now called MacBooks.

33

That laptop looks pretty damned awesome!

34

So, the one I looked at in the store the other day was a 2.1 GHz single core, so I’m assuming the dual core technology means a 2.0 is faster than a 2.1? The Apple site says it is 2x faster.

35

You can’t compare processor speeds across different architectures (PowerPC vs. Intel) directly; however, the initial reports I’ve heard are that the new dual-core iMacs are significantly faster than the G5 iMacs.

Call it 1.5 times faster for a real-world estimate. :wink:

36

Told you so! WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) is another time Apple announces stuff (June I think). Of course they can randomly announce things too.
(Witness the once a week announcements late last year)

Brian

37

Ok, I’m on the web with my G4 and I’m limping.

Not the fault of the computer. I’m still getting used to the thing. It is, as people have stated, much easier to load my cd’s. It gets the info from the web in a flash. So that’s good!

However, is it now an overpriced laptop? I know technology is out of date the day you buy it, but with the release of this new laptop, will the G4 prices plummet? Perhaps I should look into returning it and upgrading before it’s too late.

Question for you Apple folks. What’s the best web browser? And how do I maximize the window? And how do I hide the toolbar on the bottom of my screen? I’m sure this stuff is easy, but I’m really wired for windows. I had no idea I was this bad. I can’t find anything, and I navigate like a moron. It has a touchpad, but unlike my current laptop, it won’t take a double-tap to activate a window. I have to click the key under the pad.

I feel like Homer searching for the **any ** key.

Feel free to laugh at me and help me in any way you can. I’m determined to make this relationship work.

38

I promise not to laugh.

[ol]
[li]You really need to keep two browers around, Safari and Firefox. Most sites will work fine in either. About once a month I find a site which will work in one but not the other. I use Safari as my main brower and open Firefox if a site doesn’t work.[/li][li]There are three colored buttons at the top left of each window – a red, a yellow, and a green. The red closes the window. The yellow moves the window to the dock (using a very cool animation). The green maxmized the window. Note that some applications disable some options for some windows. This is not common, but does occur.[/li][li]In System Preference select the “Dock” icon. There is an option with a check box to automatically hide and show the dock.[/li][/ol]

39

The green button doesn’t “maximize” the window in the Microsoft Windows sense of the word. We Mac folks don’t see much purpose to making your application take over your entire display! The green button resizes the window to the proper size sufficient to display all of its contents (or, if the contents are longer or wider than your display area, it will resize to maximum in that dimension and to the proper size to display all the contents in the other dimension).

It’s called a “zoom” button. We don’t maximize.

Oh, and for browsers, Camino is a nice Firefox alternative and Shiira is a nice Safari alternative.

40

I have a G-5 iMac that I got a year ago. the new ones rock. Mine had a serious recall the mid-plane was defective. Since the fix, It’s great.
IMHO, Mac and Windows have been inching closer together since the advent of OS-X. I was a long time hold out because it had more of the windows feel. I used Windows at work and just hated the cumbersome secretiveness.
Now, that I use OS-X, (I’m using 10.4.4) I find that it’s almost as intuitive as the previous Mac operating systems, with much greater stability because of the Unix base.
I’m a casual user, I don’t follow the jargon so well. and I couldn’t guess what some of the “must haves” in the magazines are for. Power users may laugh at me, but if I can use it, anyone can. :slight_smile: just sayin’