A few questions to help me make up my mind...

[DarkGashX]

A few of these questions I am about to ask may of been asked before, if they have I apologize in advance. Don't let the length of my post put you off, you may skip to the questions if you wish .

I have been using Windows for 7 years now. I have put up with it until now. I decided to upgrade to Vista and have had nothing but hell, thats a little off topic but I thought I would answer the common "Why are you going Mac?" question usually asked. I think it is time for a change. (there are other reasons but this isn't one of 'them' threads).

I have been playing with Mac OSX 10.4.8 on a friends Mac and on some in store. I like the Operating System, seemed very, very stable and solid but I don't have the freedom to do whatever I want on the Macs instore and my friend doesn't really want me messing with his system so I have come to MacRumors to ask my questions. Enough yap, here they are:-

1 - I create videos often and like to use the format XVID to encode to in Windows, is it possible to do a direct encode from Final Cut, iMovie HD or the upcoming Adobe video editing tools?
2 - As with 1, I also view videos in XVID, is that possible in Quicktime/another player with a codec or will I be forced to use VLC?
3 - This one is at Mac Gamers, I know the Mac isn't a gaming machine but I wondered if anyone with a 20" (24" preferably) iMac could comment on Prey, Sims 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 or World of Warcraft performance on the Mac I.E. Settings and FPS. These are the only games I play often (minus Prey) and was just thinking if they run ok on a iMac (with the Mac version of the games of course).
4 - Answered: I am 'not' sure if the mouse I was using in store was the mighty mouse or not but it was a white mouse with the Apple logo on it with a small grayish button thingy that acted as a scroll wheel. Silly question I know.
5 - Do Macs Crash I.E. BSOD/Black SOD?
6 - Is there a "WinRAR" for mac [with GUI]? (I know there is a RAR by the makers of WinRAR but that does not have a GUI).

The last questions I have are on the latest Mac rumors.

7 - I plan to get an iMac in May, but, I hear Leopard could be coming out along with new iMacs and the Mac Pro in April, June or October. Which month is it most likely to be?
8 - Is it worth waiting for?

Lot of writing I know but I just had to ask, I thank you all for helping me out .

Oh, almost forgot, hope this is ok to ask, if anyone has any programs they would like to recommend or would like to have a chat to me about Macs/help me with some other small questions (didn't want to overload my first thread), please PM me your MSN/Windows Live address or AIM and I would be happy to chat .

 

[n-abounds]

4 - I am 'not' sure if the mouse I was using in store was the mighty mouse or not but it was a white mouse with the Apple logo on it with a small grayish button thingy that acted as a scroll wheel. Silly question I know.

Well this is the only question I can help you with.

It was definitely a Mighty Mouse

 

[Vinnie_vw]

1. I don't create videos, but I'm sure a google-search would help
2. you can install perian, a quicktime plugin, or use vlc or mplayer
3. don't play games, but I guess it depends more on the hardware-specs than the OS
4. answered + don't get that mouse
5. nope, there are a few bugs with the Finder (the Mac's explorer) and networked drives. Other than that, crashes can happen in relation to buggy software, but it's much much more stable than Windows.
6. there are several unrarring-applications. I'm not sure if they have a gui, but they do unrar everything.
7. I won't speculate. My advice is if nothing has arrived by June, just buy and enjoy it.
8. Everything is 10x better after a wait.

For apps, check out the sticky thread in the applications-section in this forum.

 

[DarkGashX]

1. I don't create videos, but I'm sure a google-search would help
2. you can install perian, a quicktime plugin, or use vlc or mplayer
3. don't play games, but I guess it depends more on the hardware-specs than the OS
4. answered + don't get that mouse
5. nope, there are a few bugs with the Finder (the Mac's explorer) and networked drives. Other than that, crashes can happen in relation to buggy software, but it's much much more stable than Windows.
6. there are several unrarring-applications. I'm not sure if they have a gui, but they do unrar everything.
7. I won't speculate. My advice is if nothing has arrived by June, just buy and enjoy it.
8. Everything is 10x better after a wait.

For apps, check out the sticky thread in the applications-section in this forum.

Thank you both, just a question, why should I not get the mighty mouse? And perian says AC3 cannot be decoded but it plays :s ?

 

[eXan]

1 - I create videos often and like to use the format XVID to encode to in Windows, is it possible to do a direct encode from Final Cut, iMovie HD or the upcoming Adobe video editing tools?
2 - As with 1, I also view videos in XVID, is that possible in Quicktime/another player with a codec or will I be forced to use VLC?
3 - This one is at Mac Gamers, I know the Mac isn't a gaming machine but I wondered if anyone with a 20" (24" preferably) iMac could comment on Prey, Sims 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 or World of Warcraft performance on the Mac I.E. Settings and FPS. These are the only games I play often (minus Prey) and was just thinking if they run ok on a iMac (with the Mac version of the games of course).
4 - I am 'not' sure if the mouse I was using in store was the mighty mouse or not but it was a white mouse with the Apple logo on it with a small grayish button thingy that acted as a scroll wheel. Silly question I know.
5 - Do Macs Crash I.E. BSOD/Black SOD?
6 - Is there a "WinRAR" for mac [with GUI]? (I know there is a RAR by the makers of WinRAR but that does not have a GUI).

The last questions I have are on the latest Mac rumors.

7 - I plan to get an iMac in May, but, I hear Leopard could be coming out along with new iMacs and the Mac Pro in April, June or October. Which month is it most likely to be?
8 - Is it worth waiting for?

1. Never use XVID myself, I just encode everything to H.264, but I'm sure with some plug-ins XVID should work

2. See 1

3. For benchmarks go to barefeats.com and search for the ones you are interested in, but be sure, WoW flys on the current Macs! (not mini and MacBook though)

4. It was Mighty Mouse.

5. If the entire system crashes, its likely because of defect hardware. (RAM is the first suspect).

eMac, which I had for 3 years, crsahed only twice or so, my current iMac G5 once (I've had it for over 1.3 years now) and my MacBook never.

Some applications do however crash sometimes, but thats because they are not coded good.

6. I use UnRarX, its simple, stable and free.

7. Noone knows when Macs are going to be updated.

8. Get it now, if you need it now. Leopard will be just 129$, I'm sure it isnt a lot.

 

[Vinnie_vw]

Thank you both, just a question, why should I not get the mighty mouse? And perian says AC3 cannot be decoded but it plays :s ?

Well from what I hear, it's that any mouse works well in MacOSX, there are way better logitech- and microsoft-mouses out there, and MM is more of a eyecandy-toy than something really functional.

Not ALL hardware from Apple is good. I'm sure there are fanboys that will disagree with that statement. Generally, probably best if you go to the store and play around with it for a while.

 

[DarkGashX]

Well from what I hear, it's that any mouse works well in MacOSX, there are way better logitech- and microsoft-mouses out there, and MM is more of a eyecandy-toy than something really functional.

Not ALL hardware from Apple is good. I'm sure there are fanboys that will disagree with that statement. Generally, probably best if you go to the store and play around with it for a while.

Again, thank you. The mouse will come with the Apple system (if I buy it now) so there is only one way to know if I like it or not I guess and that is to have it myself!

 

[elbruelsio]

As far as the mouse goes I think its annoying. I don't like the fact that if you click and drag something you cannot lift the mouse off your desk surface as it releases the click. I have a logitech mouse that works quite well with OS X.

With regards to a purchase decision. Buy when you need it. I just bought my first iMac a week ago and I couldn't be happier. Leopard is more than likely a couple months away and I needed a computer now, badly! If you can accomplish everything you need to do with your current setup then I'd say wait so you don't incur the added expense of purchasing Leopard. I didn't have this luxury, however.

Concerning games... I am planning on starting a 10 day trial of WoW this weekend. I can come back and let you know how my experience goes if you'd like. However, if you do a search of the Games forum I think you will find plenty of posts that boast the iMac as an excellent gaming machine and plenty that will claim you *need* a MacPro for gaming. I talked with enough people that game on there iMacs who are quite pleased to convince myself of my purchase decision. (20" iMac, 2.13 GHz, 2GB RAM, 256MB ATI x1600)

Regards

 

[Collin973]

I'm not a big fan on the mighty mouse either. I got one included in a transaction and I've been less than impressed. The right click has never worked well for me, but the scroll ball is neat. For that kind of money ($60 or so for an MM), I'd by the Logitec VX revolution.

I don't think you mentioned what type of mac you are looking to purchase, but if you get a laptop, I'd recommend the wireless keyboard. It's a great accessory especially if you use an external monitor sometimes. I use it often and it always works. The apple wireless keyboard is an example of good apple hardware accessories.

Thanks!

 

[epochblue]

5 - Do Macs Crash I.E. BSOD/Black SOD?

This question irks me a little, because no operating system is perfect. OS X will crash eventually. However, in my experience, it crashes far less than Windows. In the four years I've had my OS X-based Macs, I've had 1 kernel panic. I've had a few SBoDs (Spinning Beachballs of Death), but a simple force-quit of the app usually fixes those.

So please don't go into this thinking that your Mac will never crash. It will crash; it just won't crash often.

 

[bfresh]

I too, am I newbie here. I have used PC's my entire life and am ready for a change. I am a bit apprehensive about a few things. First off, I am planning on getting into web design and am not sure what to expect with a Mac.
Second, I am taking a few programming classes(Java, VB, XHTML, ASP.NET,CSS) and I haven't been able to find anyone who uses Macs and applies these languages.

Any feedback would be great.

 

[DarkGashX]

This question irks me a little, because no operating system is perfect. OS X will crash eventually. However, in my experience, it crashes far less than Windows. In the four years I've had my OS X-based Macs, I've had 1 kernel panic. I've had a few SBoDs (Spinning Beachballs of Death), but a simple force-quit of the app usually fixes those.

So please don't go into this thinking that your Mac will never crash. It will crash; it just won't crash often.

I understand this, just wondered if it was a common thing?

 

[strydr]

I understand this, just wondered if it was a common thing?

not common, but also easy to deal with. In the rare chance that you actually have to "pull the Plug", the system comes right back, ready to continue working. If it's just a frozen App, just press " -Option-Esc", and force quit the bad app.

I currently use 4 Macs:
Mini (CD)- no freezes in 14 months of continious use
iMac- 1 freeze in the last 17 months
MBP- 1 freeze in 4 months (due to a bad Excel file)
MP- no freezes in 7 months

 

[live4ever]

XviD is just an open source MPEG4-part2 video codec and it works fine with Macs, there is a QuickTime XviD encoder component that will allow export from those apps (for more control you can always use MEncoder). Perian has been mentioned and works well in QT. I'd probably wait for Leopard if you're planning on buying in May.

 

[DarkGashX]

XviD is just an open source MPEG4-part2 video codec and it works fine with Macs, there is a QuickTime XviD encoder component that will allow export from those apps (for more control you can always use MEncoder). Perian has been mentioned and works well in QT. I'd probably wait for Leopard if you're planning on buying in May.

Again thanks (may sound like a broken record but showing my thanks). Ok I looked up that MEncoder and the latest version I could find was one back in 2003? Seems a little outdated?

I didn't want to do this but this may be an option, if I render videos I create in HD, is there a Mac app to convert it to XVID? Will take longer then a direct encode but an option all the same.

 

[DarkGashX]

Someone said to me Leopard is due in 3-5 weeks, I wont say who or how he knows but isn't there an Apple show in 3-5 weeks or something?