Hi! Um, I'm interested in getting a mac. But I don't know much about them. Do I need to consider that after I buy a Macbook, is there going to be lots of other software I'll need to buy to install? Or is everything I'll ever need already going to be on it? haha Just for the basics of the computer... I'm not talking any video editing software just yet.
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potential mac user has software question
- Thread starter Cajunqt
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speakerwizard
macrumors 68000
email, web, photos, video, audio, text editor (opens word), pdf viewer all there, flash, java, come through apple update, ichat included, msn downloadable, more file types supported out of the box than any pc (pdf, raw, psd etc)
iTim314
macrumors 6502
New Macs come with a bundle of Software called iLife, none of which is a "free-trial." It's yours to use and keep.
iLife Comes with iTunes (Digital JukeBox) - iMovie HD (HD Movie Creation) - iPhoto (Camera Import and Photo Management) - iDVD (Burn Home-Movies and DVD Menus) - iWeb (Easy Website and Blog Creation and Pulbication) - and Garageband (Music & Podcast Composition & Sharing)
There are also many other independent pieces of Software.
Safari - Default Browser
iChat - Instant Messaging Client for AIM, Jabber, and ICQ (any Maybe Yahoo, correct me if I'm wrong.)
Mail - Email Client
iCal - Calendar with Event Input and Management
That's just a few. There are many other tidbits, but I won't list them all. I recommend you purchase Microsoft Office for Mac. In This day and age, it's somewhat of a vital collection of Software. The Student & Teacher edition is the cheapest, and you can order that off the Apple Store at http://www.apple.com/store.
Hope this helps.
iLife Comes with iTunes (Digital JukeBox) - iMovie HD (HD Movie Creation) - iPhoto (Camera Import and Photo Management) - iDVD (Burn Home-Movies and DVD Menus) - iWeb (Easy Website and Blog Creation and Pulbication) - and Garageband (Music & Podcast Composition & Sharing)
There are also many other independent pieces of Software.
Safari - Default Browser
iChat - Instant Messaging Client for AIM, Jabber, and ICQ (any Maybe Yahoo, correct me if I'm wrong.)
Mail - Email Client
iCal - Calendar with Event Input and Management
That's just a few. There are many other tidbits, but I won't list them all. I recommend you purchase Microsoft Office for Mac. In This day and age, it's somewhat of a vital collection of Software. The Student & Teacher edition is the cheapest, and you can order that off the Apple Store at http://www.apple.com/store.
Hope this helps.
wyatt23
macrumors 6502a
since i got my mac, everything i could need has been free.
throw out some potential ideas of what kind of software you're going to be needing. you need to figure, if you need MATLAB, you're gonna have to buy that or a less capable open source version. Are you going to need Photoshop, or will The Gimp be good enough?
some questions to ask before 'what software is there?' is 'what software do i need?'
obviously if you NEED AutoCAD, you're not gonna want a mac unless you bootcamp/VM windows.
throw out some potential ideas of what kind of software you're going to be needing. you need to figure, if you need MATLAB, you're gonna have to buy that or a less capable open source version. Are you going to need Photoshop, or will The Gimp be good enough?
some questions to ask before 'what software is there?' is 'what software do i need?'
obviously if you NEED AutoCAD, you're not gonna want a mac unless you bootcamp/VM windows.
oh dear
right now i have a pc.... and i use the usual stuff... plus firefox for my web browser, and thurnderbird for email... itunes will b fine for my music. I also have my kodak easyshare stuff... i assume that can be used on a mac? haha i have no idea.. i'm pretty clueless... i just don't want to buy a macbook... get it.. and then realize that i have to buy a whole bunch of other stuff to be able to use it.
right now i have a pc.... and i use the usual stuff... plus firefox for my web browser, and thurnderbird for email... itunes will b fine for my music. I also have my kodak easyshare stuff... i assume that can be used on a mac? haha i have no idea.. i'm pretty clueless... i just don't want to buy a macbook... get it.. and then realize that i have to buy a whole bunch of other stuff to be able to use it.
zero2dash
macrumors 6502a
Firefox and Thunderbird have OSX versions available and they're all the same price...free.
Kodak drivers are more than likely supplied on the Kodak website, you may have to dig around their product support section to find them but then again most likely your equipment will work without needing to install drivers.
What other software do you use, especially any that costs money?
Office?
If you want to pay for a Mac office suite, get iWork. Otherwise, NeoOffice is a Mac port of OpenOffice that most people use (instead of OpenOffice itself, which requires X11, also free - to run).
No need for antivirus.
Acrobat Reader is available and free.
GraphicConverter is a great free Mac app for working with lots of pictures. (since there is no Mac version of IrfanView)
Macs have built in disc burning support (cd and dvd), no need for extra software.
If you're worried about app support, check versiontracker.com to see if there are Mac versions available, and whether they are free or not. Most likely, you don't use many pay apps anyway under Windows and therefore will not need to pay for extra software if you buy a Mac.
Kodak Easyshare does work on a mac. You will have to either download it from the kodak website (Link). You might be able to put your entire library on a CD or something like that. But OS X does come with iPhoto, which will probably be much better than easyshare. You don't have to download additional drivers to hook up your camera, Mac's automatically recognize what the device is that was plugged in. Thunderbird can also be used on Mac's.
If you want office, you will have to buy that, but other than that, you shouldn't need to buy anything else. If you do buy a mac, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you buy applecare with it. If anything goes wrong with your computer, apple will fix/replace anything for FREE!!! FOR 3 YEARS! We have a G5 Tower at home, and it died on us. It would have costed us almost $2,500 to get it fixed. Because we had applecare, it cost us NOTHING!
The other good side to getting a mac is that they live forever! At the high school district that I work at, we have many computers that are still working that are about 8 years old. So they really do live forever.
If you want office, you will have to buy that, but other than that, you shouldn't need to buy anything else. If you do buy a mac, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you buy applecare with it. If anything goes wrong with your computer, apple will fix/replace anything for FREE!!! FOR 3 YEARS! We have a G5 Tower at home, and it died on us. It would have costed us almost $2,500 to get it fixed. Because we had applecare, it cost us NOTHING!
The other good side to getting a mac is that they live forever! At the high school district that I work at, we have many computers that are still working that are about 8 years old. So they really do live forever.
We have a G5 Tower at home, and it died on us.
The other good side to getting a mac is that they live forever!
😕 seems a bit contradictory. And applecare is not free. It's an insurance. Saying that you payed 300 euros/dollars (or whatever applecare costs) to have something replaced "for free" does not make a lot of sense to me.
I never installed the Kodak Easyshare stuff on the Macbook, and the camera is recognised (name and model) in iPhoto. On the desktop I installed the EShare stuff but never use it.
Firefox and Thunderbird work just great. Not only that, if you copy and move your FFx and TB PROFILE from the PC, all settings, prefs, themes, and addons will be migrated over. Also, passwords, etc. Theyr'e all in the PROFILE, not the program.
NeoOffice is a great app, as is Pages, and TextEdit. They all do slightly different things, but work well. No need to rush and buy MS Office, IME.
Firefox and Thunderbird work just great. Not only that, if you copy and move your FFx and TB PROFILE from the PC, all settings, prefs, themes, and addons will be migrated over. Also, passwords, etc. Theyr'e all in the PROFILE, not the program.
NeoOffice is a great app, as is Pages, and TextEdit. They all do slightly different things, but work well. No need to rush and buy MS Office, IME.
Just to point out, he never mentioned it was free. He did say 'buy'. He also said he didn't get it replaced, but 'fixed'. Plus, if you pay 300 to get a 2,500 dollar machine fixed, I'd consider that free.
My G3 blueberry iMac has lasted 7 years fine with OSX. Macs usually don't break or become obsolete as fast as PCs do.
I second the idea of NeoOffice. It works great; better functionality than Word, IMO.
The only other programs I would recommend are:
VLC - for viewing AVIs and other Windows-based video files.
Flip4Mac - to view WM videos on the web.
Adium - an IM client that has better functionality than iChat in most ways.
VanNess
macrumors 6502a
Cindynjgirl79
macrumors 6502a
i had the same questions as u before i got my MB. you came to the right place. when i got the MB i opened the box and turned it on right away. everything i needed was on it, even some stuff i really don't need but happy to have. (GarageBand,iMovie HD) i have used iMovie in the past few months, sending clips of me to friends. lame but fun.
the guy who did live downstairs had wireless, so i just used his. got on the internet within mins of turning on my MB. if u don't have wireless connection already for your house. it's something u might want to get if u want to get the internet at your house. the guy did move so i had to get a wireless router for my pc. just got a linksys one, cheaper than the apple airport. set up was easy.
besides the wireless router, there's notthing else u really need. unless there is some programs u want. you really have everything on there u need for basic stuff.
hopes that helps. just get it, you'll love it. i love mine.
the guy who did live downstairs had wireless, so i just used his. got on the internet within mins of turning on my MB. if u don't have wireless connection already for your house. it's something u might want to get if u want to get the internet at your house. the guy did move so i had to get a wireless router for my pc. just got a linksys one, cheaper than the apple airport. set up was easy.
besides the wireless router, there's notthing else u really need. unless there is some programs u want. you really have everything on there u need for basic stuff.
hopes that helps. just get it, you'll love it. i love mine.
MisterMe
macrumors G4
Apple just replaced one of my AppleCare-insured two-year old eMacs with a brand new iMac (same RAM and HDD capacity) at no additional charge. How do you spell AppleCare? Oh yes, r-e-c-o-m-m-e-n-d-e-d!
Just thought I'd point out that since you are a firefox/tbird user switching will be even easier, it's pretty much just copying those files over...and assuming you use office then neo office will jump in and fit the bill of that (bonus if you already use openoffice).
Chadi