iMac Newbie

[Korky]

Hi Guys so finally got the 5K iMac and set it all up. Now I'm a newbie and a little lost...

Think however tho I've managed to get it all set and stopped my iMessages pinging on the Mac...think anyway as when I get an imessage the messages app pops open or a dot appears under it on the Mac.

Can I prevent this from happening?

Anyway main thing I want to do with the Mac is photos and videos of my little ones growing up. (Ok expensive way of doing it but just wanted the Mac and that was my justification)

What's best for me to use to do this? Is it Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro or is imovie just as capable on the Mac? Have used on the ipad etc.

Also what else do I need from apps/software point of view? Yes I will do my work on it at times but realise I need Office for Windows.

Have seen threads on here re anti virus protection etc and to be fair slightly confused with that but will revisit the thread soon.

Next step is to upgrade the memory with another 16Gb as ordered with the standard 8Gb

Any advice much appreciated and apologies now for all the silly novice questions I may ask in the future :thumbsup:

 

[GGJstudios]

Also what else do I need from apps/software point of view? Yes I will do my work on it at times but realise I need Office for Windows.

You can either run Windows on your Mac, either in Boot Camp or through virtualization with an app like Parallels, or you can opt for Office for Mac, which is quite compatible. There are a number of other alternatives, such as iWork, Open Office, etc.

Have seen threads on here re anti virus protection etc and to be fair slightly confused with that but will revisit the thread soon.

Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

​

Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

Next step is to upgrade the memory with another 16Gb as ordered with the standard 8Gb

For the uses you described, it's unlikely you'll ever use as much as 8GB, so buying more RAM is most likely a waste of money.

 

[rkaufmann87]

You likely do not need any Adobe software. Why not use iPhoto and iMovie? Both are preinstalled already. Both are very powerful and you already have them!! Don't assume they don't do much, you will be shocked.

As for an Office, you don't likely need Office for Windows either. You can download LibreOffice which is free or if you want to, you can invest in Office for Mac which gives complete compatibility with the MS Windows versions.

The whole idea is to move away from MS Windows, if you don't, you have to buy a commercial license of MS Windows, use either Boot Camp or Virtualization App such as Parallels or Fusion and then you're still stuck with all the un-pleasantries of MS Windows.

In some cases running MS Windows is unavoidable because there are some apps that only run in Windows. However mainstream apps such as Office have LOTs of alternatives which makes having Windows unnecessary.

As for security the previous poster is exactly correct. In most cases OS X runs best if totally left alone, do not add cleaning apps, antivirus apps, or any other third party utilities. In most cases OS X runs extremely well for many years if you simply run Software Update and install all recommended updates. That and a small amount of common sense such as not downloading apps from Torrent sites, not falling for email Phishing scams, not downloading any unsolicited apps etc..

As for the RAM, most experienced users only use either Crucial or OWC (www.macsales.com) RAM. iMacs are fussy when it comes to RAM and installing high quality products can save you a lot of time and pain. Both of these vendors are very helpful, provide great service and sell only high quality stuff. I prefer OWC because they specialize in Macs but Crucial is also very good too.

 

[Korky]

Thanks both for the replies...very helpful advice

As I won't be downloading from torrents etc and won't be visiting and 'dodgy' sites fingers crossed should be all fine without any anti virus.

Never played with iPhoto so will give it a whirl.

It's the office bit that confuses me so potentially hold off and see how I get on.

Thanks again for the replies so far.

 

[Steveatesh]

OP, I'm new to Mac too. I use it for photography (hobby) but also have to do standard office type work (for consultancy). On my PC I used the ubiquitous Office of course but like a previous poster said I am trying to wean myself away from Windows.

I did put Parallels on the Mac and have Office on it but to be honest I've found that Pages can do what I need for office style work. It's easy to work with and up to now has proved very capable. So has Keynote. I can use them as Mac software without Parallels.

I have not used iPhoto for editing pictures yet, I'm going to buy Lightroom for the Mac, a one off fee for an industry standard program. Photoshop will lock you into a subscription so it really does depend what you want from an image editing program.

When I changed to Mac I realized it's best to change your thinking too. There are alternatives already on the Mac, try them before you spend more money!

 

[Korky]

OP, I'm new to Mac too. I use it for photography (hobby) but also have to do standard office type work (for consultancy). On my PC I used the ubiquitous Office of course but like a previous poster said I am trying to wean myself away from Windows.

I did put Parallels on the Mac and have Office on it but to be honest I've found that Pages can do what I need for office style work. It's easy to work with and up to now has proved very capable. So has Keynote. I can use them as Mac software without Parallels.

I have not used iPhoto for editing pictures yet, I'm going to buy Lightroom for the Mac, a one off fee for an industry standard program. Photoshop will lock you into a subscription so it really does depend what you want from an image editing program.

When I changed to Mac I realized it's best to change your thinking too. There are alternatives already on the Mac, try them before you spend more money!

Thanks - I think this is exactly where I'm at, need to change my thinking and start using more of the pages etc

Will as earlier poster mentioned give iPhoto etc a try as it will probably do everything and more I need. If not as you suggest May take a look at Lightroom etc.

Which then leaves iMovie or Final Cut Pro etc...

Lots of research and playing needed I think

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks - I think this is exactly where I'm at, need to change my thinking and start using more of the pages etc

When I first decided to make the switch to Macs, I chose to fully immerse myself in the learning process, to ramp up quicker. I didn't install any 3rd party software at first, forcing myself to first try what came preinstalled on my Mac. Of course, I spent a great deal of time researching Macs and OS X before I made my purchase.

Lots of research and playing needed I think

I found that one of the greatest research tools is this forum. If you have any kind of question, chances are it's been asked and answered in this forum many times, sometimes hundreds of times. Searching this forum is a great way to find the answers you're looking for. You can restrict any Google search to just this forum by adding this after your search terms: site:forums.macrumors.com

Be sure to check the dates of threads you find by searching, as some can be several years old and may no longer apply. Many of the old threads do still apply, depending on the topic, and there is a wealth of information and links to other resources in those threads. Happy hunting!

 

[Korky]

When I first decided to make the switch to Macs, I chose to fully immerse myself in the learning process, to ramp up quicker. I didn't install any 3rd party software at first, forcing myself to first try what came preinstalled on my Mac. Of course, I spent a great deal of time researching Macs and OS X before I made my purchase.

I found that one of the greatest research tools is this forum. If you have any kind of question, chances are it's been asked and answered in this forum many times, sometimes hundreds of times. Searching this forum is a great way to find the answers you're looking for. You can restrict any Google search to just this forum by adding this after your search terms: site:forums.macrumors.com

Be sure to check the dates of threads you find by searching, as some can be several years old and may no longer apply. Many of the old threads do still apply, depending on the topic, and there is a wealth of information and links to other resources in those threads. Happy hunting!

Great search tip there - never knew that, thank you

 

[paxtonstafford]

also a newbie got a lot of use out of youtube tutorials david a. cox

many others but cox is legit and free



QUOTE=Korky;20432045]Hi Guys so finally got the 5K iMac and set it all up. Now I'm a newbie and a little lost...

Think however tho I've managed to get it all set and stopped my iMessages pinging on the Mac...think anyway as when I get an imessage the messages app pops open or a dot appears under it on the Mac.

Can I prevent this from happening?

Anyway main thing I want to do with the Mac is photos and videos of my little ones growing up. (Ok expensive way of doing it but just wanted the Mac and that was my justification)

What's best for me to use to do this? Is it Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro or is imovie just as capable on the Mac? Have used on the ipad etc.

Also what else do I need from apps/software point of view? Yes I will do my work on it at times but realise I need Office for Windows.

Have seen threads on here re anti virus protection etc and to be fair slightly confused with that but will revisit the thread soon.

Next step is to upgrade the memory with another 16Gb as ordered with the standard 8Gb

Any advice much appreciated and apologies now for all the silly novice questions I may ask in the future :thumbsup:[/QUOTE]

 

[Korky]

Ok next silly question: should I put imac in to sleep or shut down? At the moment it's in sleep but does that affect it in any way?

 

[colodane]

Sleep is fine, and is the preferred option to use most of the time.

Mine goes to sleep automatically after periods of non-use, including every night. This does no harm to the machine. Apple does a terrific job of designing the sleep mode, and the power consumption is very low during sleep. I have mine set to go into sleep mode after 3 hours. Hitting a key will wake it up.

You may also want to set it up to turn off the display after shorter periods of non-use. Mine is set to turn off the display after 1 hour. This will save even more power usage. Will come back to life with just touching the trackpad, etc.

Both of the above options can be set up to use with "hot corners" so that they can also be activated manually.

I only completely shut down my iMac when I will be on holiday for more than a couple of days. It also occasionally gets restarted when installing software updates. On the average, I'd say it gets a restart every two to three weeks.

 

[GGJstudios]

Ok next silly question: should I put imac in to sleep or shut down? At the moment it's in sleep but does that affect it in any way?

There are dozens of "sleep or shutdown" threads where you'll find many Mac users run months at a time without shutting down. Either is perfectly fine. One thing to consider is that there are maintenance scripts that run on a daily, weekly and monthly schedule. If your Mac is in sleep mode at the scheduled time, the scripts will run the next time your Mac is awake. If your Mac is shut down at the scheduled time, the scripts won't run until the next scheduled time. If your Mac is always shut down at those times, the scripts will never run, unless you manually run them or change the default schedule. You can manually run the scripts using the Maintidgit widget.

• Poll: Do you turn you MBP off?
• Should I sleep or shut down when I'm away?
• If you guys always sleep and never shut down...
• MacBook Pro: Sleep or Shut Down?
• Is it 'bad' to never shut an iMac down, but instead sleep it?
• Do you shut down or sleep your MBA?

 

[Korky]

Thanks again guys for the help

 

[steve62388]

Superbly written post that will garner lots or replies, welcome to the community.