Windows person moving to a Macbook Air (advice)

[Queen6]

For security run ClamXav I have used it since the get go, and never found anything or had a positive. OS X is safe by default, all the same it`s worth running the ClamXav sentry if you are dealing with a mixed environment, think of it as helping our "Windows" brothers & sisters out. What`s passed on to you may not infect your Mac, however it may cause issue for family, friends & colleagues...

ClamXav is very customisable, I limit the "Sentry" on demand scan to a very few specific folders; Downloads, Documents, Dropbox & Desktop, unless there is any change in the files the "Sentry" will not consume any significant resource. Same folders are set up for an automated scan daily in the small hours. My older machine is a MacBook Pro 4.1 (2.4Ghz Penryn) the impact of ClamXav is negligible at best.

If you are going to be receiving mail/data/documents and forwarding on ClamXav offers an elegant solution that costs you nothing. Once I am happy with Lion & the apps my new Air will pickup the workflow and ClamXav will be on board, in the professional environment passing data with a malicious payload does you no favours, be it corporate or freelance

 

[deeddawg]

Forget the $150. If you're a student you can get it for $70. Just google Microsoft Office Mac Student Discount

Microsoft link (yes, it's real): www.theultimatesteal.com -- gets you to the Academic version for $100 which includes Outlook unlike the Student Edition

and before you spend the money at Microsoft, check with your school as they may have an even better deal on MS Office via a Microsoft Select program.

For example, at my school, Mac Office 2011 Academic is available for $57 through this program via e-Academy.

6) Any other tips or things I should know?

Just use and explore OS X for a while before spending a bunch of time or money on accessory programs, tweaks, etc. You might be surprised at how much functionality is already built in and may find you don't need to buy a buy of "extra" applications. Not to say you won't find a need for them, but give yourself some time to truly learn the stock setup first.

 

[jcg878]

I'll suggest a modification of some of the above advice to say that 1) You may not need a mouse, and if you do, don't just jump on the Magic Mouse. I personally hate the shape of it and prefer a Logitech mouse. 2) Any portable hard drive will do for Time Machine backups.

Enjoy!

 

[ts3]

Hello guys,

I have been an iPhone owner for 2 years and I have finally decided that I am going to buy myself a mac
I am going to buy a Macbook Air so I can take it to university do mainly browse the net and do some work on it (obviously)
I don't really play games, so I think a Macbook Air 13 will be ideal
But I have a few questions I was hoping someone could enlighten me

1) Coming from a PC will I find it very difficult to get used to whole new OS?
2) Is it hard to install Windows on a mac should I require to?
3) Are there any accessories for the 13" model that are a must?
4) What is the best office software? (to create spreadsheets, letters, graphs etc..)
5) Is an anti virus needed?
6) Any other tips or things I should know?

Thank you

I switched a few weeks ago & the experience is enjoyable. Some shortcuts are different & the way the Finder and the menus work are different but they're not difficult to get used to. I google a lot I also keep a virtual sticky note (there's an app for those) on the desktop with some tips as reminders (e.g. command + L to get to the address bar of a window, fn+del to delete to the right of the cursor b/c the delete button deletes to the left, similar to the backspace button on a PC).

Early on I looked at some of the video tutorials on the apple website & found some useful tips, e.g. about the difference between closing a window with the red cross button versus actually quitting an app with the command + Q shortcut.

Another useful thing I did was practice the touchpad gestures, they're neat but take some getting used to. Best way was to go to system preferences -> trackpad and look at the demos, then try them.

Don't go overboard installing stuff early on, you might not need it or like it later. E.g. I installed flash early on & just uninstalled it today. It seems to heat up the macbook quite fast. When I need to look at flash websites I do this through chrome rather than safari & it works.

OTOH, you might want to get java from the apple website early on as it does not come preinstalled (I couldn't log on into a network that runs a cisco clean access to check the security of the laptop without java).

Having an iPhone should help make the transition easier. Enjoy