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After 15 years using PCs my two friends are buying their first ever Mac today...
- Thread starter Poncho
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Congrats!!!! I switched a year ago and will never look back. (Even though I fix windows for a living 
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Good for them. Let's hope they enjoy the experience.
Now, it's your job to be particularly patient with them and to help them make the transition. After 10 years of you trying to convince them, that's the least you can do.
Now, it's your job to be particularly patient with them and to help them make the transition. After 10 years of you trying to convince them, that's the least you can do.
A hiccup
Well here's a thing!
The first thing they did was to access their Hotmail accounts on line as their shared home PC got bricked by a virus two weeks ago.
What happens? They can't do it. They phone me up to tell me that their new Mac has a virus. They can't open new e-mails. They can see them but they can't open them. It's got to be a virus because the new Mac shipped with the Firewall turned off. They're not happy.
Anyway, turns out they'd downloaded and installed Safris Beta 4. Doesn't work with Hotmail.
What you gotta do is go to Safari Preferences, then Advanced, then check Developer, then go to Hotmail and pull down the new Developer menu and click on Firefox Mac and then you have tricked Hotmail into thinking you have come from Firefox. Shame that was their first Mac experience though.
Still, they now LOVE IT!
Well here's a thing!
The first thing they did was to access their Hotmail accounts on line as their shared home PC got bricked by a virus two weeks ago.
What happens? They can't do it. They phone me up to tell me that their new Mac has a virus. They can't open new e-mails. They can see them but they can't open them. It's got to be a virus because the new Mac shipped with the Firewall turned off. They're not happy.
Anyway, turns out they'd downloaded and installed Safris Beta 4. Doesn't work with Hotmail.
What you gotta do is go to Safari Preferences, then Advanced, then check Developer, then go to Hotmail and pull down the new Developer menu and click on Firefox Mac and then you have tricked Hotmail into thinking you have come from Firefox. Shame that was their first Mac experience though.
Still, they now LOVE IT!
Kinda silly of them to use a beta level browser and then automatically assume virus.
Anyways, Safari's always had problems with Hotmail. My wife won't give up her Hotmail account and she always gets the "login loop" when using Safari.
She's fully switched to Firefox and has zero problems.
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They will forever thank you for showing them the Mac way!
When I bought my first Mac in 2003, I was the first in my social circle to make the switch. Everybody thought I was nuts, but now they all own Macs too. In fact as of this week I'm directly responsible for switching 27 friends, family, and co-workers over to Mac!
When I bought my first Mac in 2003, I was the first in my social circle to make the switch. Everybody thought I was nuts, but now they all own Macs too. In fact as of this week I'm directly responsible for switching 27 friends, family, and co-workers over to Mac!
We can all thank the likes of Google and the web2.0 community that tack "Beta" onto everything and push it out to everyone for people not understanding what the word "Beta" means. I wouldn't blame end users for that one.
OK that's a little silly, but consider where they came from. And how the non-technical press print stories about "computer problems = virus" all the damn time.
Thats true, but Apple is also to blame because when you go to the Safari main page the main thing Apple advertises for download is Safari 4 beta, its not some extra option you have to click on, or some page in the developer connection which is where it really belongs, Apple also doesn't talk about the huge system changes installing it makes to your operating system, especially in java related apps, which can be really annoying when they dont work.
Set up their hotmail accounts for them in Mail. They'll love it a lot more. Plus then they can use those cool stationaries the odd time if needed (like his wife etc) and it's just a lot better than hotmail.... especially if you use safari 4. in safari 4 you can't actually SEND messages no matter what user agent you change it to i believe.
Why specifically did they make the switch? Was it the PC-killer virus? The fancy marketing? The superior software? The Steve Ballmer arrogance?
mt
mt
I'd bet it was the pc killing virus. Rampant malware is what convinced me to go mac six years ago. Not having to reinstall the os and watching it erase your hard drive is a bonus as well.
My depression baby dad finally went to an ibook last summer, and he's loving it. His only complaint is that his grandson keeps getting up earlier than him and beating him to the machine!
My depression baby dad finally went to an ibook last summer, and he's loving it. His only complaint is that his grandson keeps getting up earlier than him and beating him to the machine!
They will forever thank you for showing them the Mac way!
When I bought my first Mac in 2003, I was the first in my social circle to make the switch. Everybody thought I was nuts, but now they all own Macs too. In fact as of this week I'm directly responsible for switching 27 friends, family, and co-workers over to Mac!
I've had two close friends switch to Macs over the last two months so I guess I may catch you up in a few years lol.
Its actually been awkward when people have asked my advice over which laptop to go for as I cant really recommend a windows one any more as I think its worth paying that bit extra for OS X. But then its horrible as if they do go out and spend like a grand on a laptop only to hate it then its all my fault lol.
But i can quote both friends as having said they "love" their macbooks so all is good
It was the viruses they kept getting on their PC.
Over the last three years they've had to tear down and re-build three or four times; the last virus just took out the core files completely.
Me, on the other hand, have been surfing the net and downloading etc quietly and fuss-free for the last 10 years, first on an original blue iMac, then an eMac and than a Macbook and I think they they just thought 'Why doesn't he have any problems?'
But it was them going into the Apple store and actually seeing an iMac that finally tipped them (0h, and me saying 'Just get a Mac' every time they had a problem'.
Now, where I work people say Macs suck, are not 'proper' computers or are used exclusively by homosexuals. If that's the case then I am proud to be out.
BTW, hey can't get hotmail accounts working in Mail because their Hotmail accounts aren't old enough to set up without paying a fee; you have to pay to get POP now with Hotmail because Hotmail twigged that you don't see the ads on the Mail website if you get your e-mail delivered to your desktop via Apple Mail or Entourage etc
Over the last three years they've had to tear down and re-build three or four times; the last virus just took out the core files completely.
Me, on the other hand, have been surfing the net and downloading etc quietly and fuss-free for the last 10 years, first on an original blue iMac, then an eMac and than a Macbook and I think they they just thought 'Why doesn't he have any problems?'
But it was them going into the Apple store and actually seeing an iMac that finally tipped them (0h, and me saying 'Just get a Mac' every time they had a problem'.
Now, where I work people say Macs suck, are not 'proper' computers or are used exclusively by homosexuals. If that's the case then I am proud to be out.
BTW, hey can't get hotmail accounts working in Mail because their Hotmail accounts aren't old enough to set up without paying a fee; you have to pay to get POP now with Hotmail because Hotmail twigged that you don't see the ads on the Mail website if you get your e-mail delivered to your desktop via Apple Mail or Entourage etc
To be honest, you have to be pretty stupid to get a PC Virus in the first place (Unless its the likes of Conficker), used Xp with NO PROTECTION for 5 Years, and still do, a Reinstall every year to keep things going and its been fine.
But, atleast with OS X they wont experience the slowdown you usually get from XP.
But, atleast with OS X they wont experience the slowdown you usually get from XP.
Stupid? Nice. I'm guessing there a lot of stupid people out there who are actually smarter than you.
I used to agree with that statement but I cant any more.
I got caught out last year (admittedly was running no anti virus software but consider myself IT savy enough not to go opening files or downloading things that are obviously suspect)
But anyway, it seems that these days you can get one pretty easily even if you know what you're doing.
As much fun as it is to be a Mac user and point out the viral troubles of our hardware-impaired friends and neighbors, our supremacy on the malware front could change any day. Hackers have ignored Macs because Windows has more holes to exploit and because they can inflict more damage with Windows. Sooner or later, someone is going to see Macs' anti-viral superiority as a challenge. Then all hell will break loose.
Eternal vigilance ... and all that.
mt
Been loving Mac since 2007. I use to build power gaming PC rigs. I dont game anymore really. Moving to Mac was actually my best move, You can see in my sig line...I am a fanatic!
PC's, I abhorrently hate them. If was to see a PC on fire...I'd prolly dance around it naked, with a beer and laughing maniacally.
PC's, I abhorrently hate them. If was to see a PC on fire...I'd prolly dance around it naked, with a beer and laughing maniacally.