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

Waiting For My Mac Pro

M

macro

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2007
97
0
It was '95 when I got my first Power Mac. Great 'puter, too expensive. Went to PC. Now, I am doing photography professionally and just ordered a MacPro as my older Vaio PC is a waste for photoshop and Nikon Capture NX. I need the speed and dedication. So, a couple questions.

As I said, it's been a while since my last Mac. What can I expect for CS3 and Capture NX on this new Mac? Just asking this in a round about way.

Basically, I am asking what to be careful of and am also asking if there is anything I need to be more careful of than others in a general way. I am not going to employ windows on this as the Vaio PC is still good.

Do I need anti-virus or anti-spyware while using the Mac interface?

Sorry to be so general, just am looking for some experienced input for a new user of Mac. any advice will be welcomed. Thanks.
 
No, you don't. At least not yet. However as Macs get more popular, it might become necessary in the future. At the moment, there is virtually no risk at all.
 
There has been 1 actual virus for OS X, and a couple proof-of-concept ones. What you need to remember though is that there is hundreds of thousands of viruses for Windows, so as for anti-virus, I say why bother; as long as you make sure those emails are from people you know, don't worry about it. As for spyware on a mac, i've yet to see any.
 
Thank you for the quick responses. Been a while and I have to say, I am looking forward to the Mac. Hours spent on the PC, were anyone honest about it, are 4:1 keeping it running correctly versus actually getting work done. Again, thank you.
 
And that one virus had to actually be installed by the administrator. It didn't bypass any OSX security systems with the exception of the actual user.

Common sense is a wonderful thing...
 
Capture NX is not ready for 10.5 Leopard as of today. If your new machine comes with Tiger (10.4) preinstalled, resist the temptation to install that Leopard "drop in" DVD upgrade unless you're willing to forego NX for awhile.

It shouldn't take Nikon long to get their installer (or other troubles) sorted.

I agree no need for concern with antivirus/spyware software, and no need to turn your new MacIntel into a windows box.

Check with Adobe on Crossgrading CS3

Enjoy it!
 
macro said:
Thank you for the quick responses. Been a while and I have to say, I am looking forward to the Mac. Hours spent on the PC, were anyone honest about it, are 4:1 keeping it running correctly versus actually getting work done. Again, thank you.
Click to expand...

I agree with you about PCs. Much of your time is spent in maintenance, and the only exception is if you stay permanently disconnected from the internet.
Antivirus software is a serious impediment to actually doing work.
 
Yes don't install leopard!! not yet anyway :) I have to install 10.4 now because of a lot of little quirks. I tested it at first and everything seemed to be ok...but not so much.

Photoshop CS3: works but the text input boxes are screwed up, especially the crop tool, you can't enter 10x14 and get it to enter in both boxes without using the sliders.

Eizo hardware calibration software for the ColorEdge series doesn't work (and the main reason for me installing 10.4)

Aperture: works after the updates

CS2 suite seems to work but haven't used it much yet.

Scanmaker pro doesn't work, silverfast does with the i800 though.

Flip 4 mac beta is a little buggy at times

Safari 3 randomly crashes sometimes.

I love time machine's auto backups, and how it easy it is to recover something, but just isn't worth the con's. The CS3 and Eizo updates are pegged for mid january so not too much longer. 10.5.2 should be released then as well.

Keep 10.4 and prepare to be treated :) you should be a very happy camper.
 
Thanks for the warning concerning Leopard. I 'believe' it is preinstalled, not positive, so I will see what gives with my supplier and if I can bypass Leopard and just use Tiger for now. I also have to get back to Nikon support and see if I can download the MAC version to supplant my Windows version, which I can no longer get to work on the PC, without additional cost. I will also upgrade immediately to CS 3. Been putting this off as I wasn't sure I would make the switch to MAC or not.

Also, this is a really hospitable forum. Thanks.
 
CS3 is universal now, so it runs much better on Intel Macs than CS2 did. It should very smoothly pending you feed your machine a good amount of RAM.
 
Definitely stick with Tiger. It's the OS X equivalent of XP, while Leopard is effectively Vista. You can do everything in the older OS, with less eye candy, fewer resources, and a much lower number of system crashes and hangups.
 
Thanks for the warning concerning Leopard. I 'believe' it is preinstalled, not positive, so I will see what gives with my supplier and if I can bypass Leopard and just use Tiger for now. I also have to get back to Nikon support and see if I can download the MAC version to supplant my Windows version, which I can no longer get to work on the PC, without additional cost. I will also upgrade immediately to CS 3. Been putting this off as I wasn't sure I would make the switch to MAC or not.

Also, this is a really hospitable forum. Thanks.
 
heatmiser said:
Definitely stick with Tiger. It's the OS X equivalent of XP, while Leopard is effectively Vista. You can do everything in the older OS, with less eye candy, fewer resources, and a much lower number of system crashes and hangups.
Click to expand...

So says you... but my experience with Leopard has been awesome on my MacPro. Don't mean to start another Leopard debate, but your blanket statement suggesting that Leopard is like Vista is asinine. Just because you have trouble with Leopard doesn't make for a bad experience for everyone else. Actually, I would say the majority of Leopard users are happy when they do the install correctly. Sure, it's got a few quirks that are typical of new releases, but there are no major deal breakers on my machine.
 
macro said:
Thanks for the warning concerning Leopard. I 'believe' it is preinstalled, not positive, so I will see what gives with my supplier and if I can bypass Leopard and just use Tiger for now. I also have to get back to Nikon support and see if I can download the MAC version to supplant my Windows version, which I can no longer get to work on the PC, without additional cost. I will also upgrade immediately to CS 3. Been putting this off as I wasn't sure I would make the switch to MAC or not.

Also, this is a really hospitable forum. Thanks.
Click to expand...

if it come's as a drop in, you could always install it, and if you have any problems just archive any files you've loaded and reinstall 10.4.
 
The machine does come with Tiger. I ordered it through Amazon as there was a $150.00 rebate. I will get it on the 26th. I should have ordered it with 1 day shipping as the Xmas rush was something I did not consider. Not that it matters much, I will still have to do a lot of CD burning to transfer a thousand or so photos from my external and PC HDD's. Need to do that anyway as I have been so crunched for time lately that I got lax in the back up modes.

thanks very much for the info. One last thing, I have read that the 1 GIG RAM the machine comes with is lacking for the overall performance of the MP in a lot of pro apps. Any thoughts on the amount of RAM that should be added? I was thinking of boosting it, after I see how the "off-the-shelf" machine works, to around 3-4 Gigs.
 
Macro: Just something to think about....pick up an Ethernet crossover cable at CompUSA / Office Depot (they're usually yellow ethernet cables) for a couple of bucks and network your 2 computers.

That way, you can share a folder between the two, and copying those 1000+ photos will likely only take a few minutes. Will save a lot of time over burning them all, then copying each CD back onto the new machine.

Hope this helps,

-Bryan
 
Thanks Bryan. Great idea. I just happen to have a couple ethernet cables around my studio somewhere.
 
macro said:
Thanks Bryan. Great idea. I just happen to have a couple ethernet cables around my studio somewhere.
Click to expand...

Just make sure it is a crossover ethernet cable and not the ordinary variety...the crossover has a few wires..well crossed over :) . For some reason the regular cables won't work when going from computer to computer.

Unless you have a hub and a couple of regular ethernet cables then your in business!

You might already be aware of this but I didn't want you to get a bad surprise when it comes time to transfer!

The pc should automatically show up under the network section in the finder, so it should be smooth sailing.
 
Thank you for the responses. Nikons Capture NX will not work with Leopard either and CS 3, I have heard, is buggy on L. the Mac Pro I ordered this morning comes with Tiger so there should be no problems.

I read an article today that said that PS CS 3 needs 3 GB of RAM to run and that is absolute minimum. If multi tasking one needs more RAM and I have no idea how much would be needed for keeping email and a browser open at the same time as running the editing software. I think I am going to upgrade the RAM before I even get the computer. Any thoughts. I am running the old CS at this time. I really love the Capture NX but it will no longer run on my PC as the PC is registry disabled as to that program. (Don't tell anyone but this was part of my excuse for going back to MAC :rolleyes: )
 
Good. and you're getting Leopard also "in the box" for when NX is ready. I'm on Leopard no issues at all, workflow thru Aperture. I'm not shooting much RAW at the moment and that is what I like NX for... I can wait awhile.

About RAM... I like OWC (Macsales) and prefer the plain old cheaper type... The NetList RAM comes with a different style heat spreader and seems to run hotter. I first bought the Netlist and still have it, though not in my Mac Pro. I had to return two of the four sticks for replacement and that was a very straitforward process with OWC. No problems with my four 2GB sticks of the less expensive type.

The price of memory has really dropped and I advise that it is unwise to purchase memeory smaller than 2 GB per stick at this point. For about $320 USD you get 8 GB on four sticks leaving 4 slots open and running cool.

Enjoy your new machine!
 
I Find Leopard More Stable Than Tiger And Certainly Nothing Like Vista

My experience is fewer system crashes and hangups under Leopard than I had under Tiger. Have 10GB of RAM installed in an old 2005 Quad G5 and 12GB in a 2.66 Mac Pro. I think it's not fair to negatively equate Leopard with Vista. Perhaps 10.5.2 will eliminate any big bad bugs you think are in there. But so far for me they haven't surfaced. 10.5.1 seems like Buttah to me. :)
heatmiser said:
Definitely stick with Tiger. It's the OS X equivalent of XP, while Leopard is effectively Vista. You can do everything in the older OS, with less eye candy, fewer resources, and a much lower number of system crashes and hangups.
Click to expand...
THX1139 said:
So says you... but my experience with Leopard has been awesome on my MacPro. Don't mean to start another Leopard debate, but your blanket statement suggesting that Leopard is like Vista is asinine. Just because you have trouble with Leopard doesn't make for a bad experience for everyone else. Actually, I would say the majority of Leopard users are happy when they do the install correctly. Sure, it's got a few quirks that are typical of new releases, but there are no major deal breakers on my machine.
Click to expand...
I agree. Could be a case of operator error heatmiser is experiencing, i.e. a bad install of Leopard. Or it could be the model Mac he's trying to run it on. Or it could be not enough RAM inside. Or it could be the special combination of applications he needs to run. But the Leopard 10.5.1 system I'm using is far from outright bad and buggy nor anything disastrous like the abortion Vista is.
 
Very accurate info. I feel like a kid again. I just bought 8GB RAM from OWC and will install it as soon as the computer arrives. That gives me 9 GB (1 GB from the purchase off the shelf) if I install it correctly.Zero if I screw it up. I mix chemicals in a darkroom better than I get the upper, lower drawers of a Mac that I have not seen yet. Good challenge, I'm sweating already.
 
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