Rtuhy2

Hey just a few questions for people who actually know what they are talking about. I just got a Imac desktop with OsX. And I have never had a Mac before and I'm really used to windows based programs. So here are some questions, 1st, I'm big into Flight Sim X is that a gonner for me now that I've switched to Mac?
2. I like to burn movies and I'm used to DVDFab, obviously that won"t work, is there another program that will work as good or some what comparible?
3. I'm lost at this computer, should I just give up and switch back to Microsoft. I really like this Mac and I don't want to but I'm just having a lot of trouble getting around. PLEASE HELP!!!! I'm not ready to give up just yet.....

sinclair_tm

well, 1st off, i need to know which of the many different imacs you have and its stats, and also what version of os x you are running. goto the apple in the upper left corner and goto about this mac. it will list your cpu, ram and os version. and then right click (or control click, which means to hold down the control key on the keyboard and click on the item if you only have a one button mouse) on the hard drive and select get info. this window will list many things, but i want to know total drive space and free drive space.
as for the apps, dvdfab does a lot of things, but there is software for the mac that does similar things, but without knowing what it is you do, i can't point you in the right direction. that, and ripping/copying copyrighted dvds is against the law, and we won't help with that. as for the fight sim, it is a windows only app, but there are flight sims for the mac, and you should be able to see whats out there with google. if it happen that you have an intel mac, then it doesn't matter, as you can boot that into windows to use windows apps with os x 10.5.

Rtuhy2

Thank you for the quick help here is the info.


Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B09
SMC Version: 1.9f4

Mac OS X Version 10.4.10

sinclair_tm

ok, you do have an intel mac, so you have many different ways to run windows apps. the simplest way is to install windows with boot camp, but you will have to buy os x 10.5, as that is the only way to get boot camp now. another way is with parallels. you install it and then install windows within parallels. another thing to try would be vmware. it works like parallels. remember, with these setups, you have to have a copy of windows xp sp2 to install with. the last thing to try would be crossovermac. this one does not require a caoy of windows, but it doesn't work with too many apps yet. all of these apps should have trials you can download and try to see which one is best for you.

kolevich

Best way to run games on Mac is to use BootCamp for it. You can run Windows with this piece of software but you will need to reboot your system every time you want to switch from one OS to another. This is the main difference from Parallels and Fusion.

Well, I understand you very well because not long ago I have the same problem. I wanted to switch to Mac from PC but still needed some Windows apps. Sometimes I don't understand those who advice me to find Mac's analogues. I got used to this app why do I need to find any analogue?
Use Parallels Desktop to solve your problem. I use it nowadays enjoy it and like it much. I have no problems with it and it runs rather fast. It fully satisfies my needs for the moment. Easy to install, easy to use. Excellent usability!
My recommendation is to take advantage from their still active special offer.

Fortunately you don't have to switch back! You have excellent opportunity to run Windows on your Mac using Virtual Machine! Enjoy it!

scathe30

Actually, for those who don't want to mess with Windows on their Macs (the majority of users, I suppose) it is easier to find an analogue of a Windows app.
For me it has always been the other way. Since I use windows a lot? searching (and sometimes even paying extra money) for an analogue would be a waste of time and effort. Such was the case with Windows media files, for example. I often watch movies that have windows-format in Parallels (more rarely via boot Camp) without thinking how to make Mac OS play them.
But, I'll say it once again, finding analogues is overall cheaper and more convenient for those who don't have Parallels/Fusion/Windows.

sinclair_tm

flip4mac will allow quicktime to play windows media files.

Penny0639

I have a question about three Seagate external hard drives which I use with my HP computer. I just bought a new Macbook Pro and want to use them with the laptop. I was told if I try to use them I could lose all of my information. How do I get them to work with my new laptop which has the Leopard OS.?

sinclair_tm

Well, 1st off, you should of started your own thread about this. We don't like hijackers.

But as for your hard drives, it really depends on how they are formatted. The Mac can read and write Fat 16 and 32. If it's NTFS, the Mac can read them, but not write to them. As for losing info, that will not happen unless you tell the Mac to format or initialize them.

Penny0639

That is how new I am to this...I did not mean to hijack, but didn't know where to start a new thread. I appreciate you taking the time to answer the question. I am not a computer person so I don't know where to look to see how the hard drive is set up. I will take it to a local store and see if they can at least tell me that so it will make it easy and thanks for tell me that at least my images will not be lost. I am very excited about starting to work on a mac and hope it as good as an experience as everyone says.

scathe30

I think I'll try to go with it. Sometimes it is much better to use quicktime instead of rebooting into Parallels/Boot Camp

sinclair_tm

i wouldn't take them to the store, they will most likely charge you fo rit. I'd just plug them into the mac, and if they show up on the desktop, then you can right click and choose get info. in the diaglog box that opens it should say how the drive is formatted. even if it doesn't, if you look at the bottom of that window, you will see the permissions you have. if it says read only, then it is ntfs. if it says read and write, then you may be able to use it, because there are times that i have had ntfs drives show up as read/write, but then i can't write to them.