# General > Technical Support >  New Imac User needs Help

## greentrees

Afternoon All..
I recently purchased an imac (only ever used pc before) and would appreciate some valued help and advice should there be any imac users out there..

Thank You

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## *Martin*

Did you try the iMac before buying it?

Is there a specific reason you bought one over a PC?

You may want to be a bit more specific in what it is you're looking for.  I could tell you how to switch it on, load the internet and navigate to meatspin (but I doubt ANYONE would want that)

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## RecQuery

> Did you try the iMac before buying it?
> 
> Is there a specific reason you bought one over a PC?
> 
> You may want to be a bit more specific in what it is you're looking for.  I could tell you how to switch it on, load the internet and navigate to meatspin (but I doubt ANYONE would want that)


No need to _spin him around_ with technical terms now.

With stuff like this, just ask. Don't ask if you can ask, just ask.

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## Kodiak

I would say just sell the Imac and buy a good PC.  My Son just bougt a 8 Core X 2,8 GHZ  with 16GB Ram, 1 GB Graphics Card,  1 TB HD PC for £325.  Much better than any IMac.

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## greentrees

No i didn't try one before buying one, have recently got a ipad and think its great, as my pc needed replacing urgently and reading lots of reviews about the imac i thought it would be better and more trouble free.... i'm not sure how to transfer my files over...

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## *Martin*

Could you post a link to where your son got that deal?

I wasn't saying don't get an iMac, I'm just curious as to why someone would get one over a PC especially without trying one.

Greentrees I'm assuming you wish to transfer pics and music?  Can you not just borrow a USB HDD and copy and paste?

-----------------------------
Rec, once again I'm forced to spread the love around before repping you some more!

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## John Little

I've got IMAC - and it's great.

Welcome to the world of computers that work.

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## Green_not_greed

> .... i'm not sure how to transfer my files over...


I've had Macs for years and echo what JL says - they are far more reliable and robust than pcs.

If its only file transfers that you need to do then as Martin suggests a USB HDD would be ideal.  The Mac will immediately recognise the HDD and files.

If thats too small for your needs, or you dont want to buy one, then its relatively easy to set up the Mac as a server on the pc either through a hub or an RJ45 switcher cable.  Depends what Mac OS you are running.  See http://guides.macrumors.com/Networki..._with_Mac_OS_X

Good luck.

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## squidge

> I'm just curious as to why someone would get one over a PC especially without trying one.


They are so beautiful

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## Nettie

> I've got IMAC - and it's great.
> 
> Welcome to the world of computers that work.


Well said! could not agree more.  Persevere with the iMac and you will never touch a PC again!

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## Photographer

Hello newby.  & 'welcome' to the fold. Apple are well aware of the problems that ex Windows user have when they first encounter the Mac.
So I would add to the sound HDD advice so far a good read of the information available on the Apple website http://www.apple.com/uk/support/
To avoid (most) annoying comments about your use of a Mac try using the forums on the Apple support page or (usually a bit more fun) the forums on 'Mac Rumours'  http://forums.macrumors.com/
New mac users are welcomed on both with open arms.
Happy to help on PM if really desperate. ;-)

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## greentrees

Thank you mac users for all your support, it does kinda feel like joining a new family. I'm just fed up with crash's, virus's and slow slow processing etc etc.. there seems so much to learn, does anyone have an opinion on wether the magic mouse or trackpad is better, i've only ever used a mouse before?

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## TAFKAL

To all those dissers of macs - how long does you pc take to start up? My mac takes 8 seconds to start from cold and is instant from standby. That's a good a reason as any... I hate the computers at work where you switch it in, go for a brew and it's still thinking about starting when you get back.You will love your mac - its a computer that just, well, works. Get some antivirus software. Although macs generally don't get viruses there are a few that they are susceptible to. Nothing like what a windoze computer gets though  :Wink:  without antivirus I had 2 in 6 years  :Wink:

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## billmoseley

my wife uses an imac and leaves her nice and smooth works really well on hair removal

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## pumkin

Apple = Rolls Royce
PC = Rusty old bike

People go for Mac's because the craftsmanship & technology it offers is quite simply put, beautiful.

If anyone would _prefer_ a PC over a Mac, they need their head examined.

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## EDDIE

The downside with buying a mac is there twice the price of a pc the upside is they last twice as long and are more reliable the thing with apple products the hardware is built for use with there software thats why its so reliable were with pcs there is so many people building with different bits of hardware  and there trying to get windows to run on it perfectly but they just cant nail it on the head.
When me laptop breaksdown next time im going to get a mac and u can buy software for the mac so u can run software thats designed for windows so u can u have the best of both worlds.

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## RecQuery

Couple of things to clear up regarding the whole Mac vs PC thing. It's a misnomer really, both are common names for hardware and now that Apple have dropped PowerPC (architecture/CPU) and they only run on i386/x86-64 - basically Intel stuff - then Macs could technically be classed as PCs as again the term is used to denote architecture/hardware not operating system. At one point you could buy what was called a Hackintosh which was basically the same components used on 'Macs' packaged into a different box. The same plant making motherboards/CPUs/graphics cards for a 'Mac' is also making the same components to the same specifications for other companies (not all of them but some). If anything due to the small form factor and restricted air flow of an iMac - not a Mac Pro or Macbook/Macbook Pro - you could argue that they have a lower hardware life.

Moving onto the operating system OSX is based on BSD with some fancy graphics on top and it's own applications. BSD itself is based on Unix. Linux is also based on Unix.

People throwing around anecdotes about boot speed and performance are really being disingenuous. So much about it is based upon hardware and configuration. The system I'm on right now for example can do a cold boot (everything turned off, not hibernating or sleeping) to a usable OS (Linux Mint 12) in 5 seconds. The same system can boot to Windows 7 Home Premium in 7 seconds. Conversely I've seen OSX installs that have dragged to a crawl.

Basically what I'm saying is that it all depends on the individual user, the hardware they have and how they have set their machine up.

*EDIT:* I prefer PCs or rather Linux and Windows over OSX for many reasons, but not the usual propoganda that you hear. It's more to do with company ethos, practices etc. That being said in terms of technology OSX is fine, perhaps a bit lacking in the gaming department but it's getting better and it barely exists in the server market.

A system that someone has built themselves with good components or from a high end manufacturer (Not base Dell or Sony etc) will work just as well as 'Mac' hardware and be about 30% cheaper. The average PC however is built using cheap commodity OEM components and ships with a lot of crap those same companies install by default on top of Windows. Plus the average PC user is more careless with their hardware. That's where a lot of the better-build-quality myths come from.

We need to compare like-for-like with stuff like this, not your 5+ year old work computer managed by idiot sysadmins or the computer your friend got for £200 and lets anyone use.

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## secrets in symmetry

> Afternoon All..
> I recently purchased an imac (only ever used pc before) and would appreciate some valued help and advice should there be any imac users out there..
> 
> Thank You


Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like about Macs and OS X. Many of us can answer the simpler ones, and RecQuery can answer the geeky ones. 

Don't be put off by RecQuery's geeky post. He really knows what he's talking about, and he can also keep it simple for the non-geeks.

Geeky postscript....

I wouldn't say "BSD itself is based on Unix" - unless you take the fundamentalist view that "Unix" is what came out of AT&T in the 1970s, and everything that everyone else did was "based" on that.

Geeky tangent....

The NeXT Computer "cube" was a cool machine.  ::

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## Photographer

In general terms if you own a computer then it is a PC (Personal Computer). So I would say that my Apple machine is an Apple PC.  Simple really.
Like many other I started with a Windows machine, seven of them to be precise; most of which ended their lives in a blaze of glory flying out of one window or another. I will not say that it was hardware or software or me that caused most of the problems but more the dreaded trilogy.
To go digital as a photographer I was pretty much forced into the PC world and despite hours of study and effort I struggled to find a set up that would produce the final product (image) with any consistency at all. I know others have a different history but this is mine ;-)
On a whim or out of despair I purchased the now legendary 12" MacBookPro. Within and astonishing 2/3 months I+it where cruising through photo shoots, image production, accounting and communication and the Windows machines, about £3000 worth where turned off, despatched to 'ebay' and I never looked back.
I understand in the broadest sense the software variations beneath the bonnet that Linux, Unix and others bring to the equation but in reality I now know that if something goes wrong with the processing of an image the likelihood it is MY error. It probably was with the old machines but it was impossible to be sure, hence the frustration. Now almost by default I check what I have done first.
The Apple ethos has bought me reliability, style (underrated) and most of all the peace of mind to stretch myself knowing my machines can handle it even if I cannot.
They (Apple) are not for everyone, for sure. However I will say that if you put creating and producing your ideas over all they are the methodology to go for.

With all due respect.

Photographer

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## secrets in symmetry

> does anyone have an opinion on wether the magic mouse or trackpad is better, i've only ever used a mouse before?


In my opinion, it's a matter of personal taste, and also a matter of what you're used to:


I find the magic mouse less flexible if I've been using the trackpad for a while - but the mouse requires fewer fingers....

I find the trackpad needs too many fingers if I've been using the magic mouse for a while - but the trackpad is more flexible....

As others have said, an external hard disk drive (HDD) is good for transferring files from your old PC to your new iMac. You can then use the HDD for backups using Time Machine - assuming it's big enough.

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## John Little

One thing I do find annoying is that after purchasing Office for Mac, including Powerpoint for Mac, none of the macros work on stuff that I did on my old PC and I do not know what to do about it.  I have been thinking about buying a small laptop with Windows just for running presentations.

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## secrets in symmetry

Can't you "fix" the macros?

I have had problems importing Powerpoint presentations from Windows to Mac. I don't think these were caused by macros (I didn't write the presentations) - I suspect they were just badly written presentations! 

Buying a small Windows laptop just for running presentations sounds like a backward step to me. One of the best features of OS X is that it "just works" when you plug in an external monitor or a projector.

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## John Little

If you can tell me how to fix them I should be glad to try it!

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## secrets in symmetry

> If you can tell me how to fix them I should be glad to try it!


Lol!

Apologies for the flippant question. 

I should have asked whether you wrote the macros yourself - in which case you might have some chance of fixing them on your Mac.

I'm an idiot Powerpointer - I don't use it unless I have to.

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## John Little

Unfortunately I have Office for Mac 2008 which, it transpires, is notorious for not supporting Powerpoint macros.  However it's 3 years on and there may well be some sort of patch out there - I shall have a hunt.

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## secrets in symmetry

RecQuery once wrote something about older Mac versions of Office not being the full monty. I have Office for Mac 2011 - which was getting some good reviews at the time I installed it.

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## RecQuery

I was undering the impression Office for Mac 2008 didn't support macros and it was a feature they reintroduced in 2011.

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## John Little

That appears to be correct.  Quite what to do about it I do not know.  Either remove Office for Mac 2008 and buy the 2011 version, or get a cheap Windows laptop for presentations only.

Either way I'm not happy and cannot see why they removed the VBA macros in the first place.

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## RecQuery

> That appears to be correct.  Quite what to do about it I do not know.  Either remove Office for Mac 2008 and buy the 2011 version, or get a cheap Windows laptop for presentations only.
> 
> Either way I'm not happy and cannot see why they removed the VBA macros in the first place.


You could try Libre Office (The better version of Open Office) I think it has some VB macro support. I find myself saving presentations as PDF documents these days and just full screening the reader. The reason they removed the macros is because a lot of the environment for them to run in used to actually be part of Windows. This made running them faster but it was a massive security issue and didn't really make office portable with 2011 they integrated the runtimes into the application itself.

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## John Little

> You could try Libre Office (The better version of Open Office) I think it has some VB macro support. I find myself saving presentations as PDF documents these days and just full screening the reader. The reason they removed the macros is because a lot of the environment for them to run in used to actually be part of Windows. This made running them faster but it was a massive security issue and didn't really make office portable with 2011 they integrated the runtimes into the application itself.


A good suggestion - I tried the Libre but no go I'm afraid.  Pictures appear which are supposed to be animations and when you try to play them they just click onto the next slide.  I think I'll just slide down to PC computers and see what the cheapest thing they've got for conventional powerpoint is.  Thanks for the idea.

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## RecQuery

If you're going to buy something you might want to try 

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/

or

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

Failing that you always install a Windows in a virtual machine, WINE has some pretty decent office support also. Crossover Office is a pay-for version of WINE that might help also.

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## TAFKAL

Wine is great  :Smile:

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## secrets in symmetry

> A good suggestion - I tried the Libre but no go I'm afraid.  Pictures appear which are supposed to be animations and when you try to play them they just click onto the next slide.


Lol! That's typical of my experience of Libre/Open Office. It's fine if you construct presentations in Libre/Open Office, but imported Powerpoint presentations rarely work properly.




> I think I'll just slide down to PC computers and see what the cheapest thing they've got for conventional powerpoint is. Thanks for the idea.


Office for Mac 2011 is a lot cheaper than a Windows laptop - assuming you can get educational/academic discount. Before you commit, you could try out your presentations on a machine with Office for Mac 2011 - assuming you have access to one. If not, a nearby college or university (or maybe even an Apple Store) might have a machine you could try it on.

Does Apple's Keynote support Powerpoint macros?

You could run a virtual machine like RecQuery suggests, but that's a bit of a kludge. One of the reasons I use a Mac is because it runs everything I need (including Office) without any kludges.

At this point, I half expect RQ to provide a list of essential software that doesn't run on a Mac.  ::

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## John Little

I should explain.  I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter.  If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.

So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works.  Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.

However I found a  refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way.  In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.

And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.

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## RecQuery

> I should explain.  I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter.  If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.
> 
> So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works.  Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.
> 
> However I found a  refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way.  In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.
> 
> And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.


Didn't realise there were people home-schooling in the UK. You might want to take a look at http://www.khanacademy.org/

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## John Little

> Didn't realise there were people home-schooling in the UK. You might want to take a look at http://www.khanacademy.org/


Thank you again - the server does not open though I see it on Google and will try later.

RE home-schooling; I don't wish to divert this thread more so shall open a new one later.

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## secrets in symmetry

> I should explain.  I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter.  If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.
> 
> So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works.  Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.
> 
> However I found a  refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way.  In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.
> 
> And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.


Ok, I can't argue with a laptop for £115 - assuming it works, and it has enough memory to run everything you need....

I don't really understand what home schooling has to do with it - and I thought you were retired!

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## John Little

> Ok, I can't argue with a laptop for £115 - assuming it works, and it has enough memory to run everything you need....
> 
> I don't really understand what home schooling has to do with it - and I thought you were retired!


I am retired.

But the job needs to be done.

And I've also offered the local WI to do a talk on Suffragettes. Presentations that work are an asset in front of such an audience.

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## secrets in symmetry

Presentations that work are an asset in front of any audience!

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## phil_moonbeam

i use both pc runnin windows 7 and a apple power book g4 runnin 10x the mac is far better runs quicker dont get viruses much easier to use once you get use to it when i change win 7 pc im looking for a mac to replace it too

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## RecQuery

> i use both pc runnin windows 7 and a apple  power book g4 runnin 10x the mac is far better runs quicker dont get  viruses much easier to use once you get use to it when i change win 7 pc  im looking for a mac to replace it too


I prefer Linux but I see nothing wrong technically with Windows or  OSX/Mac I've supported both professionally and even use Windows for  gaming, Windows is also better for some server configurations. There are OSX viruses BTW. There just aren't a lot because it  only has a 3% market share and the return on investment is pretty low  right now. So many virus infections are caused by users not knowing what  they are doing (on both Windows and OSX/Mac). It's a people problem  that can't be solved by a technical solution. See my comments on  hardware and typical configurations etc.

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## phil_moonbeam

i have a mac g4 powerbook its far better than most pc based laptops especially for music or photo applications im selling mine as i fancy a mac desktop now a g5 with dualcore with about 16gb of ram and 2 x 2tb hardrives for all my music apps to be honest i would never have a pc based machine again

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