imac 21.5" configuration help

This is what I'm getting guys.

Imac 21.5 @2.7ghz
Iris pro graphics
16gb ram
512gb ssd

I get a slight discount of just over £100 as I qualify for the employee purchase programme.

The ssd is expensive, but what the heck, it's a one off and I'm not going to be buying another computer anytime soon!

Think I might get the trackpad instead of the magic mouse, what do you guys get on better with?
 
Good choice... you won't regret the SSD - they use really good quality and quick units, so it'll be nice and fast compared to what you're used to. Only other option I might suggest is to go back to the 256GB SSD and use the spare money to buy a 3-4TB external drive to store your music/videos/iphone sync files (easily configurable in itunes to use external drive).

Definitely track pad... the gestures work really well and it's a lot less laggy than the mouse. The mouse is horrible to use... neither me nor my wife can get one with it (and it's not just one mouse or one computer - they're all the same).

If you're in doubt... go down to the apple store and check them both out to see for yourself.
 
crinkleshoes said:
Good choice... you won't regret the SSD - they use really good quality and quick units, so it'll be nice and fast compared to what you're used to. Only other option I might suggest is to go back to the 256GB SSD and use the spare money to buy a 3-4TB external drive to store your music/videos/iphone sync files (easily configurable in itunes to use external drive).

Definitely track pad... the gestures work really well and it's a lot less laggy than the mouse. The mouse is horrible to use... neither me nor my wife can get one with it (and it's not just one mouse or one computer - they're all the same).

If you're in doubt... go down to the apple store and check them both out to see for yourself.
Click to expand...

Thanks I did post in the software forum, do you have any advice on account setup, I'm a bit lost with it all.

There will be 2 users using the machine, I was thinking about setting up the admin account first and then using 2 standard accounts for day to day use?
 
Nice and simple... quite like windows in a way.

First account you setup is the primary admin user, then you can add additional accounts. You can set it to open at login screen, or you can have one of the accounts log in automatically.

Personally, I have my account as the primary admin user. My wife is also setup as an admin so that she can install software.

But the choice is yours, you can set it up as you have suggested.
 
crinkleshoes said:
Nice and simple... quite like windows in a way.

First account you setup is the primary admin user, then you can add additional accounts. You can set it to open at login screen, or you can have one of the accounts log in automatically.

Personally, I have my account as the primary admin user. My wife is also setup as an admin so that she can install software.

But the choice is yours, you can set it up as you have suggested.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to update/install apps from the administration account which sync across to all standard users?

Also is it not possible to Install apps and update with in standard accounts, don't they just require administration password?

Sorry for all the questions I was just hoping to use the administration account as a place to install apps and update apps and change settings, but only if it meant any changes synced with the standard users, otherwise I guess it's pointless.

Cheers
 
Updates/installs from admin account will sync across all users, yes...

Install apps with admin user/password... probably but I'm not sure as both users are admin and I'm admin on my work laptop so haven't tried.
 
1. Yeah, if the app is installed in Applications.
2. Yeah. It'll prompt for the admin user and password

OS X is pretty safe to use the machine as an admin account, unlike say older versions of Windows. It will prompt for the password when an non-App store application requests elevated privileges to update, eg MS Office or Adobe apps.

It's always been the way with OS X. Windows as usual adopted someone else's idea many many years later and called it revolutionary...
 
I think I maybe complicating things so I may just set 2 admin accounts.

It's only because I read something about apple suggesting using a standard account.

In windows when I installed programs as an admin user I would get a message about how I would like to share the program or not.
How do I go about installing apps for just me or sharing them across all users, is it the same concept for mac?
 
I've hit the buy button! cant wait now. I've been wanting an imac for so long.

I ordered the trackpad instead of the magic mouse, bit of a blind buy that, but it seems the trackpad gets good reviews compared to the magic mouse.
 
Seems that sleep mode is the way to go with imac, rather than turning off if I use it every day.

Is it best to use display sleep or the other mode where it sleeps the hdd also.

I'm thinking display only?

Also what kind of maintenance should I do, with windows I did a defrag, and a regular check using programs like malwarebytes, I take it this sort of thing is not needed anymore?

Sorry for all the questions!:o

Thanks
 
Unless it's changed recently the OS X default is to backup the contents of RAM to the hard drive then keep the RAM powered. Allows a rapid wake, but doesn't lose any data if power is lost. It's sort of halfway between sleep and hibernate on a typical Windows machine.

Generally my Macs only get rebooted when there's a software update that forces it. Have a read up on Power Nap as well - it does all sorts of useful stuff while asleep. Bit like humans!

As for maintenance just leave it alone. OS X has daily, weekly and monthly maintenance scripts that run automatically. Fragmentation isn't a problem for 99.9% of users.
 
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