Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Newbie: Using Peripherals on a Mac ?

retrospek

retrospek

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 28, 2004
678
406
UK
Hi all,

I'm expecting my Mac Mini to arrive soon. I've never used a Mac before and have a question on using USB peripherals with it.

With a Windows PC you should nearly always load the peripheral software onto the PC before you actually plug the peripheral into the machine itself.

Is this the same with a Mac ? Or doesn't it matter ?

For example: I have a Kodak digital camera that plugs into USB. Should I load the Kodak Mac software before I plug it in ? or can I just plug my devices into the Mac without the software ?

Sorry for the Newbie question :D I guess Mac forums are going to get quite a few of these Newbie questions during the coming weeks :p

Mark
UK
 
Digital Cameras: just plug them in. OSX supports most cameras. Printers: just plug them in. Video Cameras (DV) just plug them in. It just works :D
 
As for my camera (canon) and scanner, I can just plug it in. Only note that it's wise to put your camera into trash before plugging out (that is, if your Mac sees the camera as a external drive). My brother has a minolta camera and, after he forgot to move his camera to trash, his pictures got erased when plugging out.
 
I wouldn't install the camera drivers unless they give you some added functionality that you can't live without. iPhoto does basically everything that all the free camera software does, and now with the latest version, alot more.
 
crazzyeddie said:
I wouldn't install the camera drivers unless they give you some added functionality that you can't live without. iPhoto does basically everything that all the free camera software does, and now with the latest version, alot more.
Click to expand...

Heck most of the time a new camera will not even come with drivers for OSX ( but they almost always come with a CD of drivers for Windows)
 
Thanks for the quick replies everyone....

Now I just need for the Mini to arrive ! My current ship date is 28th January, but I'm in the UK and not sure if this means it will arrive at my house on the 28th, or if I need to wait another week for it to be delivered..

Thanks,
Mark
 
FWIW: I have an older Kodak digital - five years old, in fact - and my Macs accept it with iTunes with no Kodak software installed. As mentioned above, you seldom need to install anything. The one noticeable exception is mouse software - if your mouse has a scroll wheel, for example, you probably need to load software to recognize it (the buttons will work, but not the advanced features).
 
retrospek said:
Thanks for the quick replies everyone....

Now I just need for the Mini to arrive ! My current ship date is 28th January, but I'm in the UK and not sure if this means it will arrive at my house on the 28th, or if I need to wait another week for it to be delivered..

Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
In general, that wpuld be the ship by date. So as to when you get will depend on when it actually ships (yes, Apple does sometime ship before the ship by date) where it is shipping from and if you paid for expedited shipping. As I understand it, Apple does some shopping from Irelean, so the shipping delay may not be that long.

Have fun with it when it does arrive.
 
Kodak

I'm running a Kodak without any of the Kodak software installed. The one potential (minor) issue that I run into is that if I plug the camera in without iPhoto launched first, it launches iPhoto but doesn't load the camera. So, I have to launch iPhoto first, then plug in the camera. (Or, if I forget, the camera causes the Mac to launch iPhoto, then I have to repress the "share" button after it's loaded.) Again, minor issue when compared to dealing with Windows.

Enjoy your new Mac!!!!!!

John.
 
jsw said:
The one noticeable exception is mouse software - if your mouse has a scroll wheel, for example, you probably need to load software to recognize it (the buttons will work, but not the advanced features).
Click to expand...

My experience has been that scroll wheel mice also "Just Work." I guess if you have a scroll wheel mouse with a bunch of extra buttons you might need drivers, but a standard three-button scroll wheel mouse is supported natively in OS X. I'm using one right now.
 
Logitech, Targus, and dare I say it Micosoft mice, work fine, with no need for any drivers, all them mice I'm talking about are 2 button, with scrollwheel (also usable as a button)

All the features work with no need for any set-up. That's the beauty of Mac, it's plug-n-play, instead of plug-n-pray. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back