Inititial Mackbook Air 2012 Setup (Newbie)

Hey

iam new to the forum so iam glad their is help out their.

Ive just purchased a macbook air afew days ago and ive yet to set it up. its really just for university but i have afew questions that iam abit confused about.

1. ive been told when you first boot it up you go through a short set up process, but someone said its best to set up two accounts, one being for administration?

2. someone also mentioned about disabling JAVA as it can send trojans etc and other issues? iam unsure how true this is, but can a browser be installed with java built in, if so which ones have it and how do i uninstall java?

3. Also anti virus is this not needed or really down to my preference??? ive seen so many debates.

Cheers.

1. If you are setting up this machine for somebody else and you are the more knowledgeable of the 2 then I say yes, set up yourself as administrator, and the other person a regular user then he/she won't be able to "hurt" anything. But if you are the sole user, or the main user, I say this is not necessary. When you close the laptop, put it to sleep, and come back to it again, it should ask for the password anew, so is fairly safe. U can change the password regularly as u like. Or set up the administrator account for now, then later on as you feel u like to set up another account, then u can add as many as u like. No need to settle for a decision on day#1.

2. In theory yes. In practice, some Apps won't work without Java (it will prompt you). I don't know if a new Mac comes with Java enabled. Someone else will have to answer this.

3. If you have to ask, then I'd say you need it. The power users of us have *other* ways to dealing with viruses in a more efficient manner. Ur getting into the super-geek territory stuff if you don't want to install an anti virus.

thank you for the advice.

iam all powered up now but i dont see no java installed. iam wondering if its installed within safari web browser?

also i notice i cannot watch youtube videos without adobe flash. is the plugin safe to install?

and what anti virus would u recommend to use?

cheers.

Adobe Flash is used extensively so this cannot be avoided. Just be aware there's been report that flash uses up battery power a lot, so if you are on battery power and unable to recharge soon, may want to think whether you want to watch those flash now or leave that task later when u get home.

Java I don't have an answer. Anybody?

Anti Virus - I personally don't use one. Anybody?

MrBobb said:

Adobe Flash is used extensively so this cannot be avoided. Just be aware there's been report that flash uses up battery power a lot, so if you are on battery power and unable to recharge soon, may want to think whether you want to watch those flash now or leave that task later when u get home.

Java I don't have an answer. Anybody?

Anti Virus - I personally don't use one. Anybody?

Click to expand...

1. Flash does not need to be installed. I've been running Flash-free for about 2-3 years now.

2. Java has to be enabled has to be enabled in Safari Preferences, its under the Security tab.

3. Only paranoid Windows switchers use an Anti-virus. The majority of the users here don't use any form of anti-virus, just safe browsing practices.

UPDATE

Ive now installed flash with the click to show extension so its working fine.

One last question about a external hard drive i have purchased. Now on the box it states it works with osx 10.4 or later but in the instruction booklet under *HOW TO CONNECT* it says samsung NTFS 3G DRIVER is available to use a NTFS formatted samsung external drive in mac OS. it provides the link for me to download the driver, so does this mean i will need this driver for it to able to read and write? and if dont install it, it will only be able to read. abit confused as on windows you just plug in and its done lol

appreciate all the help given.

islandmixed said:

2. someone also mentioned about disabling JAVA as it can send trojans etc and other issues? iam unsure how true this is, but can a browser be installed with java built in, if so which ones have it and how do i uninstall java?

Click to expand...

I've just bought a new MBP and it doesn't have Java set-up. Not sure if it's not installed or just needs to be switched on but I'm asked if I want to install it when visiting Java enabled sites.

Personally I'm going to avoid it at all costs if I can, my Win7 PC has been continually hit by Java related trojans, despite running anti-virus and firewall software and keeping Java up to date.

I'm also looking for some form of security software for the mac, so any recommendations welcome.

familychoice said:

I've just bought a new MBP and it doesn't have Java set-up. Not sure if it's not installed or just needs to be switched on but I'm asked if I want to install it when visiting Java enabled sites.

Personally I'm going to avoid it at all costs if I can, my Win7 PC has been continually hit by Java related trojans, despite running anti-virus and firewall software and keeping Java up to date.

I'm also looking for some form of security software for the mac, so any recommendations welcome.

Click to expand...

I've found out that Java is enabled in sarfari web browser so I'm guessing it's built in?? Correct me of I'm wrong. I will avoid it also. I've not installed a anti virus yet as I'm not going to view nasty sites as i do in my PC..so no torrent downloading on my Mac but I did turn on the firewall that's built in to my air.