Recovery / re-install - Newbie Q

[mba123]

Hi guys, new to macs - got my first one this week so a bit of a newbie Q...

As ever with computers they eventually become slow/run-down/download a dodgy file etc and a fresh install is required....usually by sticking XP in the cd drive

What's the deal with macs? Is a portion of my SSD reserved as protection / to re-install ML if ever required?

Or do i need to portion off a section myself?

Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

Hi guys, new to macs - got my first one this week so a bit of a newbie

Congratulations and welcome!

As ever with computers they eventually become slow

Time doesn't make a computer slow. Its performance is determined by what you have running at any point in time, barring hardware issues.

If you're having performance issues, this may help:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X​

a fresh install is required....usually by sticking XP in the cd drive

What's the deal with macs? Is a portion of my SSD reserved as protection / to re-install ML if ever required?

Yes. OS X: About OS X Recovery
Apple - OS X Recovery restores your Mac with a few clicks.
Hands on with Mountain Lion's OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery | Macworld

Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Portables Fast Start: The New User's Guide to Apple Notebooks

 

[mba123]

Thanks - will have a good read of these links

No problems at present with my mac - just want to make sure I've sorted everything that needs to be before it's too late.

 

[Weaselboy]

What's the deal with macs? Is a portion of my SSD reserved as protection / to re-install ML if ever required?

Partly... your new Mac will have a Recovery HD partition, but that does not contain the full install of the OS like some Windows machines. It only allows you to boot and redownload the OS from Apple's servers.

 

[kodeman53]

As ever with computers they eventually become slow/run-down/download a dodgy file etc and a fresh install is required....usually by sticking XP in the cd drive

Forget what you know about Windows.