Viruses and Worms

cwa107 said:

So, although this is nothing more than anecdotal, I can tell you that this is what sparked my interest in Macs again, much later on.

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So how fast were you able to pick back up using a Mac, and how different was OS X to use than the earlier versions? My Mac is still in the mail, and I'm starting to get nervous about switching. I never learned to snowboard because I was already good at sking...

AbbyBee said:

So how fast were you able to pick back up using a Mac, and how different was OS X to use than the earlier versions? My Mac is still in the mail, and I'm starting to get nervous about switching. I never learned to snowboard because I was already good at sking...

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Pretty quickly. OS X has its share of eccentricities, but it only takes a couple of weeks to get comfortable. Fortunately, you've found an excellent resource here. We can help get you up and running very quickly.

Also, keep in mind that in the worst case scenario - say you absolutely hated it (you won't) - you can always pop Windows on it and then you have a very pretty Windows machine

Aside from this forum though, I would also recommend this book:

Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual

Not only does it cover all of the basics quite well, but it also gets into the iLife suite, which is standard on all new Macs. I can't say enough good things about this book.

cwa107 said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here, because we have a lot of long-time Mac users on this board - but in my opinion, Macs were an awful, convoluted mess prior to OS X.

[ducks, covers and runs!]

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AGREED whole heartily!! I remember using Cakewalk on a Mac running OS9, bad bad bad. I used a OS X Tiger Quicksilver my buddy was using to record my band a couple years back and I was sold, I knew I had to have a Mac at that point.

cwa107 said:

Fortunately, you've found an excellent resource here. We can help get you up and running very quickly.......Aside from this forum though, I would also recommend this book:

Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual

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Thanks! I'm actually just about to order that book from Amazon. I keep hearing really good things about it, and have been interested in a OS X manual for awhile.

AbbyBee said:

Thanks! I'm actually just about to order that book from Amazon. I keep hearing really good things about it, and have been interested in a OS X manual for awhile.

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Sounds like you are ahead of the game. Trust me when I say, you're going to be very happy with this machine.

I was a bit skeptical when I ordered my first one, but I consider it to be the best computer purchase I've ever made, barring the Amiga 4000 I scored in trade for a Pentium 60Mhz home made desktop (but I digress....).

Anyway, have a look at this FAQ once you get your new Mac setup. There's a TON of useful information to get you started.

Also, if it's a laptop (can't remember which model you bought), you're going to want to enable two-finger tapping for right-click, first thing. This is done by going into System Preferences => Keyboard & Mouse => Trackpad tab => Check "Use two fingers for secondary click". This will allow you to make a right-click by tapping on the track pad with two fingers. Very useful if you intend to use the trackpad extensively.

I'm sorry but everybody is in a way missing the point here. I am no techie so I cannot argue the points already made.

Hackers, or virus writers are common criminals, nothing more and nothing less. We should treat these scum for what they are. We in the UK have someone who infiltrated the US security system.

He may have caused a danger to the lives of those serving in the trouble spots of the world. The do gooders are trying to minimize his extradition on the fact that he was looking for records pertaining to UFO's

B...s..t this person is a self confessed hacker who along with his criminal gang had competitions as to who could break into the most secure organizations.

When the governments of this world treat these scum elements with the sentence they deserve and when caught imprison them for life (I am not joking) then maybe we might have some freedom to use our computers without a threat that someone may be about to hack into our personal life.

If you think I am wrong then just google the thousands of people who have lost their livelihoods through the innocent schoolboy and even worse.

When will we wake up to the dangers these people commit. Personally I am sick and fed up with them and they deserve the maximum sentence that the law provides and if it is not appropriate then double it.

Don't kid yourself, infiltrating some random US government site is far from infiltrating any real security system. The really important systems, you'd have to physically infiltrate as well, as they're not connected to the Internet. It's rather more akin to the CND 'getting into high security areas' by gaining access to the cafeteria.

BTW there's a huge difference between virus and worm coders, hackers and script kiddies.