New at mac, ex PC girl...Thanks in advance!

[perfectforever]

Got my "new" Mac from a guy that had lost it in some conference and then got it back; in the meantime he went out and bought a G5.

However, when he got the "old" mac back the original software and disks where gone, therefor, he was willing to sell for a good price.

As I am a PC girl, I have no idea what software I am suppose to have and if I am missing anything. Also don´t know what to look for to make my powerbook better. In order words, I am totally blind to the need of my new "baby" so any suggestions comments and advice are very welcome. Thanks! this is the info on my "baby"....

Machine Name: PowerBook G4 17"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,7
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.67 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.1f3

Programs:
Toast 9 Titanium
Safari 3.1.2
QuickTime 7.5
Microsoft Off 2008
Preview 3.0.9 (not sure what this is?)
Sherlock 3.6.1 ( not sure either?)
TextEdit 1.4 (kinda know what is it for, but what´s wrong with word?)
Automator 1.0.5 (NO IDEA??)
Dashboard 1.0
Dictionary 1.0.2 (would love to have a better one...)
DVD player 4.6.5 (is this the best?)
Mail 2.1.3 (looks primitive, what´s the difference between this and Entourage?)

 

[Schtumple]

look on ebay for the restore discs, just try "Powerbook G4 1GHZ restore discs" or something like that.

Failing that, buy a cheap copy of "Mac OS X Tiger" and "iLife 06", I don't know how much you know about macs, but Mac OS X is the operating system of Macs and iLife is a set of multimedia apps that come bundled with a new mac.

Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) and iLife 06 are both previous versions of what is currently available, but given your system specs, I doubt you'd see great performance from Leopard (10.5) or iLife 08, plus they can probably be had at a cheap price now...

Once you get those discs you can re-install Tiger, restore everything back to the complete factory defaults and then install iLife 06, which will give you rich multimedia apps.

Hope that helps

 

[MacDawg]

Good advice from Schtumple!
Welcome to the Mac world, and don't hesitate to keep asking questions

We will walk you through the whole process!

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[mad jew]

It's hard to say what you need without knowing what you use it for... The best I can do is give you a brief description of what you've already got.

• Toast 9 Titanium - burning optical media (CDs and DVDs).
• Safari 3.1.2 - internet browser.
• QuickTime 7.5 - media viewer (movies).
• Microsoft Off 2008 - Erm, productivity suite. Arguably better than the Windows version of Office.
• Preview 3.0.9 (not sure what this is?) - Viewing PDFs, images etc.
• Sherlock 3.6.1 ( not sure either?) - I don't think Apple even knows. It's redundant now. It was meant to help find random stuff for you on the internet, like movie times etc. It's useless now.
• TextEdit 1.4 (kinda know what is it for, but what´s wrong with word?) - This came free with the computer. It's a simple word processor, which is faster than Word but has less features. Could be good for quick notes.
• Automator 1.0.5 (NO IDEA??) - Erm, not easy in a nutshell. Basically it helps you map out simple tasks that would need to be done on a larger scale. It can do things like rename a massive folder of photos in one hit, plus other random stuff.
• Dashboard 1.0 - displays things called widgets. This is the reason Sherlock is useless. Widgets are random little mini-apps that can do almost anything you like. There's a calculator, a clock and a weather widget to name a few.
• Dictionary 1.0.2 (would love to have a better one...) - Erm, it knows words and shiz. I find it decent, but look online if you want something better.
• DVD player 4.6.5 (is this the best?) - It's okay, but get VLC for other movies too.
• Mail 2.1.3 (looks primitive, what´s the difference between this and Entourage?) - I prefer the layout and speed but use what you're used to, I guess.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Tell us what apps you used a lot in Windows and we can offer equivalents. In the meantime, the more you mess around with your new Mac, the faster you'll learn all its intricacies. It's a lot more intuitively designed than Windows in my opinion. Don't approach the Mac with a 'what would Windows do' attitude, but rather a 'how would I do this' one. Best of luck.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Congrats on the mac

You've got a top laptop, the one that intro-ed me to macs in the first place

If you're new to macs I take it you'll want a lot of info on your new 'baby'
1) It's got a PowerPC processor (not Intel), so you can't run windows on it
2) The computer specs seem to indicate about 40% the speed of a current Mac Mini (from GeekBench tests)
3) If you can, get your friend to show you some basics of mac usage, but most of it is point-and-click...if you still need pointers, go to the apple web-site and check-out the tutorials there

and mad jew is pretty much right about the apps. if you want to know what apps you might be interested in, just ask on the forums

 

[perfectforever]

Don´t know a thing about MAC! still somehow confused, being blonde and a girl, doesn't help (sorry, had to joke a little).

looked closer at my internal help "manual" and it keeps referring to "tiger" however, thats the only place where I find the "tiger" reference; in other words I might already have "tiger OS X" nevertheless, I will check around to see if I can buy the software. I do not have the "iLife 06" so that gotta be a definitely most! How can I get my system specs ready for Leopard? Would love to have the latest, if possible.

Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!!

look on ebay for the restore discs, just try "Powerbook G4 1GHZ restore discs" or something like that.

Failing that, buy a cheap copy of "Mac OS X Tiger" and "iLife 06", I don't know how much you know about macs, but Mac OS X is the operating system of Macs and iLife is a set of multimedia apps that come bundled with a new mac.

Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) and iLife 06 are both previous versions of what is currently available, but given your system specs, I doubt you'd see great performance from Leopard (10.5) or iLife 08, plus they can probably be had at a cheap price now...

Once you get those discs you can re-install Tiger, restore everything back to the complete factory defaults and then install iLife 06, which will give you rich multimedia apps.

Hope that helps

Have a lot to learn...

Good advice from Schtumple!
Welcome to the Mac world, and don't hesitate to keep asking questions

We will walk you through the whole process!

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[mad jew]

You do already have Tiger, but it can be useful having the discs too. They're good for basic computer troubleshooting. Tiger is one version of OSX old. Apple has released a newer version called Leopard which includes new versions of some of the apps you mentioned (obviously ). Here are some of it's new features.

 

[perfectforever]

WOW, thanks again!

That was great, thanks again...altought I am not that "new" at computers so I do understand "operating systmes, Quicktime, dvd burners etc.."just Mac its a mystery to me...

Ok applications:

I am a Marketing P.R. Sales consultant. Work with anything from Art, Culture, to basic Marketing and Sales training. My clients list compiles international companies and governments (embassies/consulates) all sizes and shapes.

need to handle a lot of photos, new website, etc..

entretainment - music (lots) and videos/movies

Web-design

BTW getting Photoshop CS3 Extended tomorrow, or suggestions?

It's hard to say what you need without knowing what you use it for... The best I can do is give you a brief description of what you've already got.

• Toast 9 Titanium - burning optical media (CDs and DVDs).
• Safari 3.1.2 - internet browser.
• QuickTime 7.5 - media viewer (movies).
• Microsoft Off 2008 - Erm, productivity suite. Arguably better than the Windows version of Office.
• Preview 3.0.9 (not sure what this is?) - Viewing PDFs, images etc.
• Sherlock 3.6.1 ( not sure either?) - I don't think Apple even knows. It's redundant now. It was meant to help find random stuff for you on the internet, like movie times etc. It's useless now.
• TextEdit 1.4 (kinda know what is it for, but what´s wrong with word?) - This came free with the computer. It's a simple word processor, which is faster than Word but has less features. Could be good for quick notes.
• Automator 1.0.5 (NO IDEA??) - Erm, not easy in a nutshell. Basically it helps you map out simple tasks that would need to be done on a larger scale. It can do things like rename a massive folder of photos in one hit, plus other random stuff.
• Dashboard 1.0 - displays things called widgets. This is the reason Sherlock is useless. Widgets are random little mini-apps that can do almost anything you like. There's a calculator, a clock and a weather widget to name a few.
• Dictionary 1.0.2 (would love to have a better one...) - Erm, it knows words and shiz. I find it decent, but look online if you want something better.
• DVD player 4.6.5 (is this the best?) - It's okay, but get VLC for other movies too.
• Mail 2.1.3 (looks primitive, what´s the difference between this and Entourage?) - I prefer the layout and speed but use what you're used to, I guess.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Tell us what apps you used a lot in Windows and we can offer equivalents. In the meantime, the more you mess around with your new Mac, the faster you'll learn all its intricacies. It's a lot more intuitively designed than Windows in my opinion. Don't approach the Mac with a 'what would Windows do' attitude, but rather a 'how would I do this' one. Best of luck.

 

[benlangdon]

hey im willing to sell you a tiger disc if you want.
i bought it 4 months before leopard came out.

 

[perfectforever]

Yes, love my Mac!

However since we are at the beginning of out relationship, I have a lot to learn...so thanks for the support!

Congrats on the mac

You've got a top laptop, the one that intro-ed me to macs in the first place

If you're new to macs I take it you'll want a lot of info on your new 'baby'
1) It's got a PowerPC processor (not Intel), so you can't run windows on it
2) The computer specs seem to indicate about 40% the speed of a current Mac Mini (from GeekBench tests)
3) If you can, get your friend to show you some basics of mac usage, but most of it is point-and-click...if you still need pointers, go to the apple web-site and check-out the tutorials there

and mad jew is pretty much right about the apps. if you want to know what apps you might be interested in, just ask on the forums

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Tiger is the Operating system (Mac version of Windows if you will). Tiger refers to a certain release of the operating system a bit like Windows 2000, Windows XP & Windows Vista does. The Mac operating system known as OSX (pronounced O S 10) works like this:

10.2 = Jaguar
10.3 = Panther
10.4 = Tiger
10.5 = Leopard (latest version)
10.6 = Snow Leopard (future release)

These are all paid updates that occur roughly every 18 months or so. In between these updates are many free updates like 10.4.2, 10.4.3 etc. These become available when you run Software Update.

I think knowing this will help you with a few other things too.

 

[benlangdon]

BTW getting Photoshop CS3 Extended tomorrow, or suggestions?

umm im not totally sure that will even run on a powerbook.
im not 100% but i seem to remember something about that.
i know final cut cannot, or at least most of it.

i would highly suggest buying more ram, as ps can take a lot of it.
i have a mbp and 2gb or ram, and i still feel it lag when working with big photos and multiple ones.

 

[mad jew]

That was great, thanks again...altought I am not that "new" at computers so I do understand "operating systmes, Quicktime, dvd burners etc.."just Mac its a mystery to me...

Sorry if I came across condescending then. I didn't know how much you know.

need to handle a lot of photos, new website, etc..

I use iPhoto for my photos. It's included on your Mac. Just be sure to manage your images entirely through the app, and avoid the temptation of using Finder (Mac's name for their Explorer equivalent) to move or modify them, or it'll screw up the iPhoto database. For web design, you'll really have to go with whatever your work is using. If you're making a personal site, then look at iWeb for something simple, albeit sometimes limited.

entretainment - music (lots) and videos/movies

I use VLC a lot for movies. For music, I use iTunes. It's a lot faster on the Mac. Once again, don't modify or move the actual tracks in Finder but use the app for everything or you'll run into the same problems as iPhoto.

 

[perfectforever]

Yes, I am starting to see a dim light now...

helps a lot, Thanks!

Tiger is the Operating system (Mac version of Windows if you will). Tiger refers to a certain release of the operating system a bit like Windows 2000, Windows XP & Windows Vista does. The Mac operating system known as OSX (pronounced O S 10) works like this:

10.2 = Jaguar
10.3 = Panther
10.4 = Tiger
10.5 = Leopard (latest version)
10.6 = Snow Leopard (future release)

These are all paid updates that occur roughly every 18 months or so. In between these updates are many free updates like 10.4.2, 10.4.3 etc. These become available when you run Software Update.

I think knowing this will help you with a few other things too.

 

[chaosbunny]

umm im not totally sure that will even run on a powerbook.
im not 100% but i seem to remember something about that.
i know final cut cannot, or at least most of it.

i would highly suggest buying more ram, as ps can take a lot of it.
i have a mbp and 2gb or ram, and i still feel it lag when working with big photos and multiple ones.

It does run, and not too bad either. I use CS3 Design Standard on a 15" 1,67 ghz G4 PowerBook. No problems. I have 2 gb ram though and that's definitely good to get!

 

[perfectforever]

hmmm..

love photoshop...I hope it works, thanks anyway...

umm im not totally sure that will even run on a powerbook.
im not 100% but i seem to remember something about that.
i know final cut cannot, or at least most of it.

i would highly suggest buying more ram, as ps can take a lot of it.
i have a mbp and 2gb or ram, and i still feel it lag when working with big photos and multiple ones.

 

[perfectforever]

Like I said before; blonde and a girl..use to the "condescending" remarks, don´t take them to heart...plus I really appreciate the help and advise. can I use "iphoto" to change images and so on?

Sorry if I came across condescending then. I didn't know how much you know.





I use iPhoto for my photos. It's included on your Mac. Just be sure to manage your images entirely through the app, and avoid the temptation of using Finder (Mac's name for their Explorer equivalent) to move or modify them, or it'll screw up the iPhoto database. For web design, you'll really have to go with whatever your work is using. If you're making a personal site, then look at iWeb for something simple, albeit sometimes limited.





I use VLC a lot for movies. For music, I use iTunes. It's a lot faster on the Mac. Once again, don't modify or move the actual tracks in Finder but use the app for everything or you'll run into the same problems as iPhoto.

Love the Adobe suite...happy to know it will work...

It does run, and not too bad either. I use CS3 Design Standard on a 15" 1,67 ghz G4 PowerBook. No problems. I have 2 gb ram though and that's definitely good to get!

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, iPhoto can modify photos to a degree, but it's more of an album-style app. Think Google's Picassa, but more user friendly and integrated throughout the system. It can hook into other apps for more serious editing though.

 

[perfectforever]

Thanks all for the help!

I am sure, I´ll be back!... downloaded VLC, checking iPhoto, checking restore discs ...sorry Ben, don´t want to buy online

have a great day!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Welcome to the world of Mac and welcome, also to the forum. You'll love the Mac and the forum is a great place for finding answers to queries; certainly, I've found it very helpful. Give yourself time to get used to the small (but still quite significant) differences between Mac and PC land, you'll find that your confidence and ease increases with time and feel free to post endless questions. I'm a recent switcher myself, and love the Mac. Good luck with it. Cheers.

 

[perfectforever]

Sorry, new questions...

Will these work on my Mac and do I want them?

Adium 1.2.3 -
Transmission 1.06 -
VMWare Fusion 1.1.1 -

and can I upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard?

 

[mad jew]

Adium and Transmission will be fine, but VMWare needs a newer Intel Mac. You can upgrade to Leopard, but it'll cost you. I don't personally use any of those apps.

 

[perfectforever]

Ok!

Thanks a lot Mad!

Adium and Transmission will be fine, but VMWare needs a newer Intel Mac. You can upgrade to Leopard, but it'll cost you. I don't personally use any of those apps.

 

[7031]

I am sure, I´ll be back!... downloaded VLC, checking iPhoto, checking restore discs ...sorry Ben, don´t want to buy online

have a great day!

You don't want to buy online? That could be a problem. Getting restore disks for an outdated OS in a store is anywhere between hard and impossible.

 

[chaosbunny]

You can upgrade to 10.5. Leopard, I run it on my machine with similar specs too. Definitely up the ram to 2gb though, since you also want to run Photoshop CS3. 10.5 & CS3 on a G4 with 1 gb ram could be disappointing.