Switch to Mac - questions, questions

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Hi,

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I would really appreciate some feedback on the below.

I've had it with Windows after many driver issues (relating to graphics card) so I've decided to switch to Mac. Only thing is, I'm not quite sure whether to go for the latest iMac or Mac mini. I had a play with the iMac at the local Apple shop and it was really nice, but I'm worried about the screen failing. Another thing putting me off is, because I can't afford the 27-inch, the 21.5-inch is too small for me. I have a 24-inch IPS monitor, so I'm hoping the mini would hook up to that without any issues.

I mainly use a desktop for photography work (Lightroom) and it's important that the Mac plays nice with my IPS monitor (Dell U2412M) as regards hardware calibration. I'd also be interested to know how well the iMac screen works for photography (especially hardware calibration).

I currently have external hard drives that are formatted with NTFS (which contains lots of Microsoft Office documents), but as I understand it OS X can only read these partitions and not write to them. I don't want to buy another drive, so I will reformat one using Western Digital's tool to use exclusively with the Mac. Will also need to buy Office for Mac too to access these documents. Please point out any potential problems I might come across with this. Oh, and out of interest, is there any limitations when it comes to partitions sizes on OS X? One of my drives is 3TB.

Not having any experience with Mac or OS X, I'm guessing I can simply connect an iMac or Mac mini to my router for internet access without the need to do anything else?

Finally, and apologies because I know it's an old topic; security. It appears from reading various tech blogs that Mac malware is on the increase. Using Windows I'm very careful where I browse, and have NoScript, Web of Trust and Adblock Plus plugins installed (would like to know if these plugins are available for OS X). I also have anti-virus software installed on my Windows boxes, but it this necessary on OS X? I do a lot of sensitive financial work on my desktop, so it's imperative my environment is secure.

So the one thing I definitely do know: I'm moving to Mac. The difficult part is deciding which one best fits my needs. Hopefully you guys can offer your advice/experience.

I appreciate the time taken to read/reply.

Regards,
T
 

Raz0rEdge

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Welcome to Mac-Forums

The 27" iMac is a fine machine, but if the 21.5" isn't large enough for you then the Mac Mini is a wonderful option. If you were to buy the 27" iMac though, you will get one year of AppleCare (Apple's warranty program) to cover any defects. You can then extend this for 2 more years for not a whole lot of money before the first year expires and that will cover any issues with the iMac, short of abuse..

The latest Mac Mini is quite a powerful machine that rivals the iMac with their processor and memory, so that would be a good fit for your photography needs. The Mac Mini will connect up to any monitor without any problems. You might just have to the get the right adapter, since the Mac Mini will come with a mini-displayport and your monitor might have an HDMI or DisplayPort or some other connection..

The same goes for keyboard and mouse, you can use any USB keyboard/mouse..but using the Mac versions of keyboard/mouse will make it easier as far as CMD/OPTION keys are concerned..

OS X will indeed read contents of the NTFS driver without any problems and you can purchase Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X software to be able to have unfettered access to the drive if there is any chance you will want to connect that external drive to a Windows machine at some point.

OS X has no partition size limit on it's own partition type and it will read whatever sized partitions you have without any problems..

Connecting to the Internet is as simple as connecting a Ethernet cable or join a WiFi network and providing the necessary password, the rest is automatic.

You don't need any sort of anti-virus on OS X, but you can definitely run with AdBlock in your browser to avoid the annoying ads on the web. I do this (regardless of OS)..

You can, however, install ClamXav on your machine for on-demand virus scanning if you think you've downloaded something from unreliable source..at the end of the day it does come down to being smart about what you download/install and whenever you're prompted for your admin password, ensure that you KNOW why you are being asked that and only provide it when appropriate..

Overall I think the Mac Mini might your best bang for the buck if you already have a monitor you like, keyboard and mouse..

Apple also gives you a 14-day return window, so grab the Mac Mini and play with it for that time and see if it works, if not, you can return it and try something else..
 
C

chas_m

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The way Razor phrased his reply implies that the Mac mini doesn't come with a one-year warranty and is extendible to three years with AppleCare. That isn't correct, the Mac mini has the exact same warranty and AppleCare option as the iMac. Just to make that perfectly clear.

I agree fully with everything else he said in his post, but if your budget could stretch to the 27" iMac you would enjoy that machine even more (as would nearly anyone).
 

Raz0rEdge

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The way Razor phrased his reply implies that the Mac mini doesn't come with a one-year warranty and is extendible to three years with AppleCare. That isn't correct, the Mac mini has the exact same warranty and AppleCare option as the iMac. Just to make that perfectly clear.

I agree fully with everything else he said in his post, but if your budget could stretch to the 27" iMac you would enjoy that machine even more (as would nearly anyone).

Thank for the clarification Chas, stream of consciousness posting makes it hard to read sometimes..

For the record, all Macs come with the one year of AppleCare with the purchase..
 

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