[bobbyjoe445]

so I'm a pc (heh)
and I would like to know something since I looked at the new imac I almost wet my pants
its looks more amazing than any pc's I've seen
so heres what I would like to know
1. honestly what is the downfall to the imac(obviously I will be comparing it to pc's)
2.what CAN'T I do with it
to help you out I'm mostly an internet browser, music hoarder, and something else I will touch on with number three, with the odd game here and there.
3. on the pc I used a program called FL studio, should/can I use it again??
or does the software availible for imac i.e.Garageband better?
4. I'm not a super 1337core gamer on computers I have a xbox360 for that
but whats its gaming limit
5.I havent used a mac elementry school, doing elementry school things
so anything else about them I'm a virgin too

I dont really understand alot of phrases you might use I'm sorry
but I think a G5 is the the imac I'm talking about

thank you

[mduell]

1. With the iMac your display is married to your CPU, and compared to similarly priced PCs the upgrade options are pretty slim.
2. Hardware and software compatibility/availability (under OS X) covers most of the limitations; it's getting better, but it still lags behind Windows. You can always run Windows on your iMac and it's just like any other PC (almost).
3. Either Garageband (free with new Macs) or Logic ($$$) should replace FL Studio, depending on what you did with it.
4. The iMac has a mediocre video card (ATi 2400 or 2600), so you can play last years games but it kinda chokes on this years games (assuming you boot into Windows for games).

A G5 iMac is several years old... are you considering buying one of the new shiny ones or a used one? If you're going to buy a G5 iMac, scratch all my comments about running Windows.

[Sherman Homan]

I dont really understand alot of phrases you might use I'm sorry

Lord, man don't be afraid to post questions here! Even silly ones get good responsive answers from this forum. mduell nails your answers. You have nothing to be afraid of, unless you want to go to the Lounge!

[bobbyjoe445]

Well on FL studio Its pretty much like mixing samples and loops(oh exciting)
and I'm talking about the new aluminum macs
what are the flaws about trying to run windows on a mac
how does it work, I keep hearing about this parallel and boot camp?
are they hand in hand or seperate?

[bobbyjoe445]

yes I feel I've found the right place to get info
its just I dont really understand how gHz play in buying computers
all I know about computers really is that I've been using a compaq presario haha

[Sherman Homan]

Let's start with a basic, go up to the Apple icon in the upper left, scroll down to "About this Mac". tell us what you have, PowerPC G5 or Intel Duo, how much ram, what version of OS X? Comparing gHz is Apples and oranges (pun intended!)

[bobbyjoe445]

oh I dont have a mac at all, I'm thinking of getting one

[adamfishercox]

He said he is looking at the almuninum Macs.

As for your GHz question, GHz is processor speed. It is like the person at a desk. The bigger the number, the more work the person can do in a given amount of time. RAM is also important. All new imacs except the very top of the line come with 1GB installed. The RAM is like the size of the desk. The bigger the desk, the more work the desk can hold, so the easier it will be for the processor to do it's work. The new iMacs can take up to 4 GB of RAM, which is plenty. Last, is Hard Drive space. There are a few options, I believe 250, 320, 500, 750, and 1000 GBs. Hard Drive Space is like the filing cabinets to store all of your files you aren't using right at the moment. You probably won't need anything bigger than 250 GBs by the sound of it.

It sounds to me like you'd do fine on the baseline iMac, but if you have the money, go for the biggest iMac you can buy.

[bobbyjoe445]

Thank you everyone, its truly been alot of help and that analogy was perfect
please feel free to add anything else that you feel Me or others would want to know
I really think I will be more happy with a mac, and happy to come here for my questions
its seams mac users have a higher IQ haha

[mduell]

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

Well on FL studio Its pretty much like mixing samples and loops(oh exciting)

I'm not an audio guy. Try garageband once you get your new Mac and then buy Logic if it's not good enough.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

and I'm talking about the new aluminum macs

Those have Intel Core 2 Duo processors, not G5s.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

what are the flaws about trying to run windows on a mac
how does it work, I keep hearing about this parallel and boot camp?
are they hand in hand or seperate?

You're dependent on Apple for driver updates; due to a few things they've done differently from a 'bog standard' PC, you can't just grab the latest drivers from Intel/ATi/etc. Other than that it's just like Windows on any other PC.
Boot Camp is just a utility for OS X to prepare your Mac to install WIndows on it (repartition the drives, etc); after running Boot Camp you can install Windows to run on 'bare metal', like any other PC. Parallels (or VMware) allows you to run Windows (or Linux) like an application within OS X; it has some limitations, notably in the area of graphics performance (you won't be playing games).

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

its seams mac users have a higher IQ haha

I'm not a Mac user!

[bobbyjoe445]

well as I said I wasnt sure what g5 meant, I thought it meant generation 5 imac.

and I've come up with more questions after reading through more thigns
should I wait for this the new OS?
how does it handle external HD?
and to help out with the understanding of a processer
I have only experienced a P4 how much better if any is the core 2 duo?
I thought mac ran opera, is safari better?
can I actually hook it up to my TV or another screen like their HD 30" beauty?
I love dual screen!

[Cold Warrior]

So close to Leopard, just wait. It'll save you some money.
Handles external HD just fine. USB 2.0, Firewire 400 & 800.
Core 2 Duo is better. 2 cores, can handle 64-bit Leopard, and is faster.
Opera is ok. Safari is good. Firefox is also good. It's a matter of personal preference at this point.
Yes, you can hook up another monitor or TV, provided you use their adapter cable.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

well as I said I wasnt sure what g5 meant, I thought it meant generation 5 imac.

The generations are usually referred to as nG, not Gn, but that's mostly used for iPods instead of Macs.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

should I wait for this the new OS?

At this point, yes. It will be out before the end of the month.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

how does it handle external HD?

Alright; it has USB2 (cheap) and FW800 (fast), but not eSATA (cheaper and faster)

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

and to help out with the understanding of a processer
I have only experienced a P4 how much better if any is the core 2 duo?

Core 2 Duo is a lot better; faster than any P4 to say the least.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

I thought mac ran opera, is safari better?

Safari, Opera, Firefox, and even IE are available for OS X; pick the one that fits your needs best. Personally I prefer Firefox.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

can I actually hook it up to my TV or another screen like their HD 30" beauty?

You can connect it to a TV or a computer LCD 27" or smaller. It doesn't support the 30".

[bobbyjoe445]

when do you think they will be selling with leopard stardard?
wow I have never been this stoked about getting a computer

[bobbyjoe445]

*I posted the above just while you were posting that*

[adamfishercox]

It will be shipping with Leopard standard the day Leopard comes out. They still have not announced a date for Leopard, though.

[bobbyjoe445]

so its a good thing I'm not using this for gaming right?
but if I did it probably wont play assasins creed or gta very well would it

[adamfishercox]

I'm not a gamer, but I'd say it can only handle high action games in a mediocre speed. It's not the best gaming machine, definitely.

[bobbyjoe445]

ok its not a big deal anyways, I'm sure it handels everything else amazingly

[Veltliner]

Walk into an Apple store, and play around with the machines.

Open Garage band and see if it fits your needs. Try to find the one guy in the store that will know the answer to your questions (this isn't as cynical as it sounds: some of the employees know more about video editing, some more about music, etc.)

Regarding transferring your data from your Pc to the Mac, there is a free service. You bring your PC into the store and they will put your data on your new Mac.

So, if you have already a copy of windows, parallels isn't that expensive, then you could install your music software on the Mac, also your files, which can give you a smoother transition to Garage band or Logic.

[bobbyjoe445]

no apple stores in western canada(lame)
so I'll opt for future shop or besybuy

[mduell]

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

when do you think they will be selling with leopard stardard?

Late this month.

Originally Posted by bobbyjoe445 

so its a good thing I'm not using this for gaming right?
but if I did it probably wont play assasins creed or gta very well would it

It's ok for last years games, but not this years.

[bobbyjoe445]

alright well both are coming for the 360 aswell so I'm not to worried
I'm probably only getting my age of empires runnning on the mac and thats all I will need at a gaming stance

[rmiller]

I have a new Alum. 24" iMac 2.8 ghz. I play Half-Life 2, Fear, Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Halo2, with Vista installed. On the mac side I play Call of duty 2, UT 2004, Quake 4, Doom 3. All have the graphics set on high.

[bobbyjoe445]

ok so now I'm starting to think that if you have both OS' that when you boot up you choose which to go into?
do you know how I can find more on how this works?

[adamfishercox]

Yes. Go to apple.com and poke around. You can learn a lot there. Also, Google "Boot Camp." Boot Camp is software that allows you to run Windows on your Mac just like on a PC. Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion are products (Google them) that allow you to run Windows inside Mac OS X like an application.

[Koralatov]

From what you've said, an iMac would seem to suit you perfectly. I do everything you describe (bar the gaming and music-making) on a G4 iMac, which is three generations behind the model you'd be thinking about buying. The current iMac is pretty much the perfect media--mine has replaced my TV and DVD player totally.

To cut a long story short, you're better off sticking with your 360 for gaming, and your iMac for everything else. From my (limited) experience of an older version of Garageband, it should make a passable alternative to Fruity Loops Studio.

[bobbyjoe445]

thats awesome because I would have had to by FL again,
I think I know all I need now, thanks

[analogika]

There is no Mac-native version of FruityLoops.

Although it's considered a "toy" program by many, there's a couple of things it does really well - so I hear - so there's some people who will still run it in Windows on their Mac system.

It should work passably running on Windows within a virtual environment running within OS X through Parallels or VMWare Fusion.

But if you're just a casual user toying around with it, GarageBand will probably meet and exceed all your needs.

[bobbyjoe445]

well FL is all I know and I dont really think I want to mess around trying to run windows on a mac
its seams like it will f-up the mac so I think logic will be my choice program, for all I know it could work better than FL

[adamfishercox]

Well you haven't even tried GarageBand, nor Windows on a Mac, so I would try GarageBand when you get the Mac, because Logic is a hefty purchase.

[dpicardi]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

As for your GHz question, GHz is processor speed. It is like the person at a desk. The bigger the number, the more work the person can do in a given amount of time. RAM is also important. All new imacs except the very top of the line come with 1GB installed. The RAM is like the size of the desk. The bigger the desk, the more work the desk can hold, so the easier it will be for the processor to do it's work.

What a great analogy and visual model...nice!

[bobbyjoe445]

I know it was so great

[chris v]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

As for your GHz question, GHz is processor speed. It is like the person at a desk. The bigger the number, the more work the person can do in a given amount of time. RAM is also important. All new imacs except the very top of the line come with 1GB installed. The RAM is like the size of the desk. The bigger the desk, the more work the desk can hold, so the easier it will be for the processor to do it's work. The new iMacs can take up to 4 GB of RAM, which is plenty. Last, is Hard Drive space. There are a few options, I believe 250, 320, 500, 750, and 1000 GBs. Hard Drive Space is like the filing cabinets to store all of your files you aren't using right at the moment. .

This is one of the best simple "explain the guts to me" analogies I've read. Thanks -- I've always had a bit of trouble getting these concepts across to non-computery people.

[adamfishercox]

I can't take total credit for it... There was some website I read it off of, and then refined, but glad I could help