iMac coming tomorrow, anything I should get?

Se7ven

Se7ven

Se7ven

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So my iMac was meant to be delivered today but I wasn't home and they are going to deliver it tomorrow (the actual scheduled delivery date) so i will be at home.

Anyway, this will be my first mac and I have no idea about them, is there anything I should download or get for it that is essential ?

apart from the obvious stuff I would download after a format on windows, is there any mac-only stuff i should be aware of?

Thanks :)
 
I don't like the mouse but by all means give it a fair go before you chuck it.

I, personally, would leave third party apps for the time being and have a good look around what the OS does out of the box - which is a lot. The iLife stuff is pretty good and will definitely keep you busy for a while.

Boring stuff like Silverlight, flip4mac etc. you'll come across in due course. A lot of things will be things like "I did X task on a PC with Y software and now I need the Mac equivalent" which I'm sure most on here will have an answer for.
 
well my current install list is;

MSN Live Messenger
ImgBurn
uT
Photoshop
Nero
Winrar

also Codecs

any problems with these?
 
I had the higher specced of the 21.5" delivered, it arrived and on that very morning I had a letter regarding £3000 I owed toward student loans. iMac had to go back the next day without even unwrapping. :(
 
Se7ven said:
well my current install list is;

MSN Live Messenger
ImgBurn
uT
Photoshop
Nero
Winrar

also Codecs

any problems with these?
Click to expand...

You need perian for codec, don't need Nero, I never have, nor need winrar, I use something else.

Get little snitch and istat
 
The default unzipping thing is ok but for a nice slot in replacement that works in the same way but supports pretty much any format check out The Unarchiver just extract the .app from the zip, drag it to your apps folder and run it once by double clicking it to set which file formats you want it as the default for.

As mentioned Perian will give Quicktime support for many more codecs, Flip4Mac will add WMV support.

There is an official MSN app however I prefer http://adium.im/.
 
Se7ven said:
well my current install list is;

MSN Live Messenger
ImgBurn
uT
Photoshop
Nero
Winrar

also Codecs

any problems with these?
Click to expand...

Quite a few of that stuff is windows only.

Instead of nero/imgburn i would just get Burn
I use UnRarX instead of Winrar
I also use Transmission instead of uTorrent, but that is more personal choice

Codec wise get Perian and you are pretty much set, although I play most video with VLC player.
 
Looking along my dock I see the following:
Adium
iPlayer Downloader
Photoshop Elements
Cyberduck (FTP client)
Transmission (BT client)

..Perian and flip4mac are essential too as already mentioned!

HTH
Adam
 
Look here mate.

Failing that continue asking on here.
I switched about 2 years ago and this forum has been invaluable and never failed in providing me with suggestions/answers/remedies to problems.

Enjoy it. :)
 
Don't understand why you guys clog your macs up with all that junk from the offset!

Seriously, don't install anything! Wait until you hit a problem, and you need an app, then install it. You will find the OS does most things well.

I just suggest you read up about the OS, learn about spaces, expose, hot corners (very useful) and all the other bits and pieces apple don't tell you about unless you go looking.
 
Se7ven said:
well my current install list is;

MSN Live Messenger - Adium
ImgBurn - Built in tools, or "Toast" by Roxio
uT - Transmission
Photoshop - Yes
Nero - See above
Winrar - Unrar X

also Codecs - Perian + Flip4Mac

any problems with these?
Click to expand...

I'd also recommend using Safari before diving straight for Firefox.

I don't bother with iStat.. it's an iMac, not a server.
 
ok guys its here and I like it so far :)

one thing that jumps straight out at me is the difference in font anti alaising(sp?) its not as sharp as on the PC, as if true type isnt turned on.

is there a way to change this?, or is it just safari?
 
That's how it's meant to be displayed. Windows isn't as "true" to the original.
 
Se7ven said:
ok guys its here and I like it so far :)

one thing that jumps straight out at me is the difference in font anti alaising(sp?) its not as sharp as on the PC, as if true type isnt turned on.

is there a way to change this?, or is it just safari?
Click to expand...

OSX is more accurate to the font, Windows is sharper to improve readability on the screen. It's pretty subjective as to which one you think is better. I'd give it a few days to get used to it but if it still annoys you go into system preferences > appearance and you can choose to turn off text smoothing for certain size fonts. I think it looks too sharp without though.

Se7ven said:
my mac makes a funny noise every so often, like its trying to alert me of something but I have no idea what...
Click to expand...

Software updates?
 
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