PC USER NEEDING 2 SWITCH 2 MAC!! ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE!!

[Skiniftz]

If your gong to be that pedantic about this Mac MAC issues then why don't you write MAC as M.A.C. seeing as its an acronym. Then nobody would get confused (not like anybody did).

...because one doesnt need to. All caps implies an acronym. "Mac" however is an abbreviation, hence it inherits a capital "M" as its the name of something, but the other letters should not be in caps, unless of course it was an abbreviation of MACINTOSH, which it isn't because that would imply that the word "MACINTOSH" was an acronym. Which it isn't (or if it is it's a secret one). I mean who knows - perhaps there is an acronym, and Maybe Apple Computer Intended Never To Only Sell Hardware? Of course Many Acronyms Can Include Names To Offend Some Humans and because they are in caps, Many ACronyms I Need TO SHout.

 

[Kimberley]

Well I hope you like it! Ok - I guessed you were in the UK. Your USB cable connection is not going to work with the Mac. The PowerBook comes with ethernet built in, so no problems there - you can just connect it straight into the cable modem until you get your wireless sorted out.

Now the relevance of the MAC / Mac issue. You are going to have to tell your ISP (NTL? Telewest?) the MAC address of your Mac. (to my critics: notice how the caps make the distinction). Kimberly - a MAC (Media Access Control) address is a unique number that is associated with your computer's network ports. The cabled network socket in the PowerBook has a unique MAC address, and you must tell your ISP this number before the computer will work using your cable modem. (Cable companies in the UK usually allow 5 MAC addresses to be registered; note "MAC" has nothing to do with "Mac" - every networked device that uses Ethernet has a MAC address) ISP's do this to restrict the number of computers that you connect to their network.

The easiest way to find out the MAC address of a PowerBook is this:

Open up the system preferences (it looks like a white square with an Apple logo on it in the dock along the bottom of the screen).

Click "Network"

If you see a list, pick "Built in ethernet", then "configure".

Click the button in the row that says "Ethernet"

You should see a number called "Ethernet ID:" - it will look something like this 00:0a:95:12:34:56 - this is a MAC address, and it is the number you will need to tell your ISP.

Note that when you go wireless, the Airport interface will have a different MAC address - you can get this in the same way, but choosing "Airport" rather than "Built-in Ethernet".

Now - how confusing would this have been if you didn't know the difference between MAC and Mac?

My ISP is Telewest. Thanks for the advice, I'll try it out when I get my Powerbook. Sounds pretty straight forward - but I'll see! The 'Mac' 'MAC' issue kinda makes some sense in this case.
I'm used to using macs at University, so i'm used to where to find everything and how it differs, but just not too sure with the technical side of it. If I get any problems I'll let you know - my orders not shipping for another 2-3 days! So I just have to wait!