Tyger

All I know about system restores is that if it doesn't work 100% then you are in alot of trouble and may have to start from scratch from your dedicated backups - which I am SURE you have of course... *cough* Ultimately you answered your own question... :D

Well if you JUST use it for webhosting maybe... But there are many more features that I use all the time. iCal functionality - shared calendars, one-click photosharing, iDisk storage, webmail, bookmark and address book syncing, free software downloads. The oneclick integration throughout iLIfe is sooo easy with .Mac. There are other ways to do the same thing, but .Mac offers true one-click system wide online integration solutions. A Mac noooob may find this the way to go. .Mac will have quite a facelift this year.

Welcome aboard. At last people are awakening from the mediocre crud that is Windoze. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/03/21/te...s_to_buy_a_mac/ Always buy your Macs from the UK online store. You can build to order and configure your own in detail which cannot be done at a store. Delivery is fast and reliable. Have a go at the .Mac 30 day trial. It makes all the iLife softare suite hang together such a cool way. I suggest waiting until Leopard is released as there will be a hardware refresh for all iMacs and Mac Pro and probably others. Also iLife 07, the updated software suite, will be free on any Mac you buy after the release. My expected date for Leopard is no later than May 11th. Any detailed q's feel free to PM me.

I've been away - back now evidentally. This item is scheduled for April '07 for around £200. Fully integrated, touchscreen controlled etc. When I know more I will divulge.

A pimp and a drugdealer. In my spare time I put the little plastic divider into TicTacs sweet containers. Orange/white is my speciality.

You will not get OS X running on a PC. Period. Some geezer got a hacked dev copy of 10.4.3 or something half running once. That's it. 10.4.8 will NOT run. Don't waste your time. People who want the best OS have to buy Apple hardware. Apple hardware runs OS X and Windows at native speeds. If you want both OS your ONLY solution is to get a Mac. Vista is pretty?? So what!!??? OS X has been pretty for 6 years!!! The released Vista is a toned down and reduced version of what it was supposed to be. It's already had its security hacked - anyone can get superuser permissions following instructions off a website. So much for security. Microsoft are freaking about this. If you haven't heard it yet you soon will. Microsoft's so called virus-checker thingy in Vista doesn't even stop many well known active wild viruses!! What a joke. Personally I can't believe anyone would be dumb enough to waste money on this OS. DO YOUR RESEARCH!! Don't you see? Mac OS Tiger has done all Vista can do for 2 years! And Leopard is just round the corner. Wake up people for goodness sake. *sigh*

*sigh* *Passes CIJ a sledgehammer* ;) Sorry you are having problems, but it comes with the territory. I wasn't getting into a debate about which is better at all - I was just making a point that not all manufacturers provide crippled operating systems with their machines in reply to a comment from Sagitar. Hence the If I was near Sunderland I would gladly help. Anyone?

Yet ANOTHER reason to look at VALUE FOR MONEY and not just the price on the box. There is a company that provides a best in class FULL NON COPY-PROTECTED OS free with any machine or to buy new for about £80. http://www.apple.com/macosx /

The Mac is on 24/7 365 and I watch TV on it. This leaves me plenty of time to switch on the girlfriend. Hence Macs also improve your s*x life. :P

There are LOADS round my way. Can you use any old SD card for storage rather than the £30 ones Nintendo provide? I know you can use Gamecube memory cards but they have minimal storage capacity. I quite fancy a Wii....

PCs ARE as bad as I make out, but as you have nothing to compare to so you wouldn't know that. 99% are happy with their PCs are they? hehe Carry on with you head in the sand and be happy.

"Just use whichever one you like best, it makes naff all difference anyway once they're up and running" @Mike_B Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no. *sigh* It makes all the difference in the world. And to be able to KNOW "whichever one you like best" isn't it probably a good idea to investigate what's available rather than repeating parrot fashion what you have heard on the oh so reliable grapevine about Macs and Linux? Your take on viruses is absolute twaddle - you clearly haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about and are just repeating "facts" you have heard. Don't worry - you are not alone. Mac OS X is based on BSD using the MACH kernel - not Linux. For PC hardware owners - Linux is a FAR superior and more stable and secure alternative to Windows. What Kazi says is food for thought - why did you buy a Lexus and not a Fiesta? Why do people take extreme lengths to investigate the best car for them and yet buy a computer without a second thought!? WEIRD! PS Even if you do have a PC and NEED a virus-checker - as many have said - Norton blows chunks.

That's very useful info for Windows PC users! There's nothing like hogging 20% of your CPU resources on anti-virus, spyware and adware! PAYING for it aswell would be even worse! So thank goodness this slowdown is FREE! BARGAIN! Ohh hang on! Wouldn't it be better if there was an OS that was written that was impervious to viruses spyware and adware so you wouldn't need this software!? Just IMAGINE using your full CPU resourse for ACTUALLY BEING PRODUCTIVE!?? *shock horror* OOHH DOUBLE hang on!! There IS an OS like that! It's called Mac OS X! http://www.apple.com/getamac :D (you didn't SERIOUSLY think I could resist that did you!?? )

hahah *** help us. It is "experts" like that who are damaging the future of IT. I meet people like that all the time. It fascinates me to see them writhe and squirm when presented with facts that I ask them to dispute and prove me wrong. They can't obviously, and either scream or shout or crawl back to where they came from. It is very sad. Ignorance is bliss.

Like I said - you took it the wrong way. I hope for your sake you get a Mac mini. If you DO then I would be happy to give you some basic pointers/links/advice that would make the "switch" easy and enjoyable (and ultimately turn you into a Mac advocate - but I won't mention that bit ;) )

@Aido: lol Touche!!! Well unless you have my Remote Desktop password and know how to access my VPN or can access the site logs or am standing behind me I am not sure how you know what browser I am using unless it was a lucky guess!!! I await the info on my desktop ;) @ Brettster *deep breaths* Have you any idea how many times I have heard that line? "It's about the numbers" Sorry - but you are absolutely and utterly immeasurably incorrect. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong you are. You are so wrong that you go right round the other side of being wrong that you are almost come out right (but you are not right of course). Here is a summary. There are about 214000 PC viruses. There are NO Mac viruses. (PLEASE don't link me to proof of concept viruses indicated on websites of companies trying to sell Mac anti-virus software) OS X has been out almost 6 years. Virus coders love notoriety - it is WELL known there are no OS X viruses and the 1st one ever would make global tech news. There are NO Mac OS X viruses in the wild. None. Zero. Nada. THIS IS BECAUSE OS X HAS BEEN WRITTEN WITH SECURITY IN MIND FROM THE GROUND UP AND IS NOT THE HOTCH POTCH OF ANCIENT DEGENERATED FLAWED CODE THAT IS WINDOWS. IS THE CRAPNESS OF WINDOWS SO INGRAINED IN THE MINDS OF PEOPLE THESE DAYS THAT THEY CAN'T GRASP THE FACT THAT IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY AND THAT AN OS CAN BE WRITTEN THAT IS IMPERVIOUS TO VIRUSES!!!????? THAT is why there are no Mac OS X viruses. NO other reason. Research and you will see I am right. Time will also prove me right. As this has been the case for almost 6 years, nothing has changed. The valid point you made about SOME developed software being slightly ahead on the PC can be the case sometimes. BUT again you miss the point. MACS RUN WINDOWS 100%. If you find a particular piece of software that your life will end if you don't run the latest build THEN BOOT UP WINDOWS AND RUN IT ON YOUR MAC!! Can I not be any clearer??? Macs run OS X AND WINDOWS!! THERE IS NO SOFTWARE THAT WILL NOT RUN. A PC is a box that runs only Windows. A Mac is a box that can run Windows and OS X. You can run these SIMULTANEOUSLY. (yes I am well aware of Linux et al but I am talking mainstream for simplicity) If I had 1p for every time I am continually faced with the same old urban myths I would own this planet. What I DON'T understand is why this happens. I really think it may be because people have been stuck for such a long time with a perception of what computers are like based on their experiences with Windows that they just can't get their heads round the fact that there is something out there that is SO much better in just about every way. It SOUNDS like BS to them I guess. *shrug*

I actually agree with most of what Aido just said! *gasp* ;) (I will let the virus bit pass - five and a half years and still no virus in the wild.... wouldn't there be ONE by now..? OS X CANNOT be "turned over" like Windows has been because OS X has been written properly...anyway...) hey! how the hell do you know what browser I'm using!? You have access to the site stats or something!? :o I actually find Firefox 2 a bit unwieldy. I used to use Omniweb, and Firefox until the recent version 2 release. I have dabbled with most browsers including Camino - although not for many months now - but now I actually prefer the tab functionality and bookmarking features in Safari. And it's fast. Anyway I can't wait for Vista to come out. That is gonna switch more people to OS X than anything before it! Just wait and see! :)

Ummm HELLO!????? That was meant as a genuine jest to lighten the thread - it in NO way was meant as a dig at you - if anything it was a ***** take out of my own posts showing that I really don't take all this very seriously. But hey, whatever. Pretty sad you are so defensive don't you think? People like you are NEVER happy. You should be embarrassed at your post. Go and buy your Dell and self-perpetuate the situation. /gives up

I think perhaps a pencil and the back of a fag packet would be alot cheaper and easier. No viruses Small investment Short learning-curve Both items replaceable for little or no expense Storage space may be an issue. Bingo. :)

hehe *sigh* OK I said if you have any q's PM me but whatever, for the sake of saving yet another poor soul from the IT pits of doom I will press on. a) You have fallen into a classic trap associated with PC ownership - basing a machine's performance on harware specs. (and it still seems you haven't factored in the virus checker price) More on this later. B) Your research has gone so deep and yet you have no concept of what a Mac is capable of despite me posting links that would have answered most of your questions. If you are not going to take on board the info I give you what's the point? In my first post did I not post this link http://www.apple.com/getamac ? If you had looked you would have seen THIS page http://www.apple.com/getamac/office.html which clearly shows Microsoft Office runs natively on the Mac and has done for years. Aido's evaluation copy sounds like a good idea... FACT: An example - Excel was WRITTEN on the Mac and ported to the PC! Where these urban myths come from about the lack of Mac software is beyond me. OK - The Hardware Trap. About the only way to differentiate between PCs is to compare hardware specs. Companies go to great lenghts to paste big red numbers all over theire little beige boxes in order to make them seem faster. Just like football stats PC users will happily quote their figures all day. This can be TOTALLY misleading and not in any way show the real world performance of the box. This is due to MANY factors such as harddrive spindle speed, shared RAM/gfx memory, frontside bus speeds, quality of motherboard components etc etc BUT one thing that is more important than all this is what OS you are running. (don't forget to knock off about 15-20% of your PCs performance from having to run all the spyware, virus, popup and firewall software in the background, you can knock this off your HD space too) You are comparing Apple's with pears *cough* OS X is written from the ground up to be hosted on multicore processors. Much of it is multithreaded and runs beautifully on Core Duo processors (which are dual core) as do many Mac apps including the iLife suite (which I am sure you have researched) is all written to take advantage of this multithreading and multiprocessors. The high end Macs have TWO dual-core processors! XP cannot take advantage of this in the same way and although is supposed to be a multitasking OS looks like a joke running next to OS X. In real terms despite the big red numbers on the box the Mac mini would be a much more useable and productive machine due to the OS and the software rather than anything else. THAT is critical. YES it could do with more RAM as Aido pointed out and YES the hard drive isn't huge and could do with a boost (but like Aido dsaid again how much space HAVE you used on your current PC?) - both these are cheap upgrades - or maybe you could keep your eyes out for a refurb with higher specs - the machines available change frequently. Aiport is 54Mbps wireless networking built in as is Blutooth so you can sync all your phone info with your Mac. You have a CDRW built into the Mac mini above - you can sell your external drive and help pay for your RAM upgrade :) Generally PCs of this price will only contain an OEM version of XP so check carefully they are not BSing you. Personally I wouldn't give XP home to my worst enemy. Just one thing. This is a hi-tech piece of equipment we are talking about. You do not get an amazing computer for the money you are prepared to spend. You will get one that will do the job. If you could stretch your budget some more you could get a machine that would last you much longer and perform alot better. You get what you pay for. Apple generally don't make budget machines they make premium quality computers. Shame you are so far away Lexxy as I would be perfectly happy to demo an old Mac to you and watch your jaw hit the floor. PC World sell Macs these days and despite their sales staff you may well be able to get an idea of the speed of them there. http://www.apple.com/uk/buy/ that may help too. You need a demo from someone who knows what they are doing else how can you possibly know what you're missing? Good luck. Aido went and blew it on his last line. Mate you really are not doing Lexxy any favours. She thinks I am an *****, I don't give a damn cos if she simply does the searching she will come to know how much I am helping her. Despite your good intentions Aido, you are not giving (all!) the best advice. ;-P

hehe I have plenty of time and respect for anyone that is prepared to keep their eyes and ears open. When you have heard the same old lines trotted out again and again over the years it shortens one's patience so I state the facts concisely otherwise these threads can become drawn out and tedious. Your hours of research will have shown you therefore that you would be better off getting a second-hand or refurbished Mac mini direct from Apple (with a years guaruntee) for near to 330 quid. Even this machine would be more productive secure and capable than any new Windows PC in that price range. If you haven't yet come to this conclusion I am sorry but you have yet to complete your research. To be frank I couldn't care less how you think I come across, I just hope that ONE day you will realise that I am giving you the best advice. If this next PC you buy isn't as Mac your next one will be as people are gradually waking up to the fact that the Mac is ahead on all aspects. The only arguable way one could justify a PC purchase over a Mac is if on a restricted budget and to buy a build-your-own from a trusted and reliable source. For any BRANDED computer there are simply NO valid reasons to buy a PC. Sorry but that is just the way it is - this is not my opinion but provable fact. It's all publicly available info - but so much FUD is spread as fact (even by some Mac users! ;) ) that it is hard to see the wood for the trees. Many PC users on this forum will be switching to Mac in the coming years and once they have switched they will NEVER buy another PC and they will agree with every word I say. In 2006 I think I personally "switched" about 30 people, each one of whom has had their computing life transformed. You may well think I am an opinionated arrogant maniac right now, but I don't care - I am used to it and will be proved right in the end. :) Aido: Yes - let's save some people from mediocrety! PS Just to be clear - I earn no commission from Apple and am no longer involved in any business related to Apple products although I am an AAPL shareholder. My reward comes simply in seeing the excitement and transformation of people who DO switch and watching them start talking like I do! I regularly turn PC and Windows fanatics and Mac-hating zealots into Mac freaks. In a simliar way I offered to Lexy I have even BOUGHT Macs for people to try for a month - so far ALL of them have paid me back for it and thanked me. That isn't coincidence. All it takes is an open mind and some understanding that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean that it can't be many times better and advanced than what you DO know. Whatever. I'll shut up now. :)

Yes, quite alot. And - yes I would. :winky:

Exploits and vulnerabilities are totaly different to viruses. I never said OS X was invulnerable to exploits or bugs - THESE are why Apple releases security updates - NOTHING to do with viruses. Despite this - OS X is as near as damn it impervious next to Windows. I said clearly that PCs can run a crippled developers version of OS X and it is unupdateable and unsupported and is not fully functional. Why would anyone want to run a crippled OS X? So few people are doing this - just as a curiosity - it is immeasurable. Those PC users next computer will be a Mac where they can run BOTH OS 100%. You can ONLY do that on Mac hardware. There is very little you can teach me about IT Aido - PC's, Macs or anything else. I am not trying to be a pain in the *****, I am just stating facts that are all publicly available should one bother to research. Have you any idea how many more people would be flocking to Macs than already are if people took time to find things out? It suprises me that so many here who take time to choose such wonderful cars spend little or no time investigating before spending money on a computer. Ho hum.

Parthiban: No. OS X users have NO need for any virus protection to protect their own machines. The ONLY reason it would be worthwhile having a virus-checker on a Mac is to scan for PC viruses so as not to pass them onto PC-using colleagues. In NO way can any virus affect OS X. OK - umm. Listen. There have been NO viruses for OS X existing in the wild since it was released over 5 years ago. Proof of concept is just that - a theoretical virus. NO viruses have ever affected a Mac in the wild. OS X has for the 5 years it has been out been 100% invulnerable to viruses. As a Mac person Aido you should know this. If Mac users are spreading FUD then what chance do PC users have to leasrn the facts? Is it so hard to understand that an OS can be written PROPERLY??? People are SO USED to the abysmal Windows thast they just can't get their head around it. It's such a sad situation what people put up with. I have run OS X for over 5 years without a second thought to firewalls or virus-checkers without any problems whatsoever. YOU could be doing the same. The Month of Apple Bugs? lol Again this is all THEORY. You need to understand the difference between a VULNERABILITY and a real issue. You didn't mention Windows on the Mac cos it requires INSTALLING!?? hehe Windows users had better get used to installing it as they generally have to reinstall every few months when the whole thing dies on them. Installing Windows isn't that hard. OS X does NOT run on PC's. A hacked old unupdateable version can be run, but it is utterly useless runs very slowly and is already out of date and not all applications will run at all. It is very hard to install and about 6 people on the planet actually run it. Stop spreading FUD. Is it so hard to understand? - ALL software will run on Macs. Macs run OS X and Windows 100% and are the ONLY hardware you can buy that will do so. Again write it out 100 times. I just don't see why that is so hard to get in your head!! If you buy a PC you are limiting the amount of software you can run. If you buy a Mac you can run unlimited software. Got it?

Factor in the yearly virus-checker costs for Windows and the support costs you will have to pay and the fact that you are limiting the software you can run by using a PC and then see what is the best buy. Aido: Macs run Windows 100% (for those crazy enough to want to of course). Write it out 100 times. ;) MORE software runs on Macs than PC's - there are NO software compatibility issues.