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Hi

I have been supporting windows and dos users for nearly 20 years.I have been asked to start support Mac's.

I need to get some experience, some hardware and some training

I have know idea where to start

If i got a MAC Mini which looks to be about the cheapest option.

would it be useful if i had a duel boot option? or buy a second hand mac

Im guessing im will be supporting a mixture of versions

Thanks

Steve
 
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You will be pleased to discover that OS X does not need half the amount of maintenance / troubleshooting as Windows does.
A good place to start is get a refurbished Mac of your choice ( preferably one you will be supporting most likely ), and get yourself up to speed with OS X ( I would start with Snow Leopard and newer )
What you are not clear about is whether you will be supporting OS X in business environments or just private .

I am sure you will like OS X a lot if you can resist the temptation to compare it with Windows all the time.
They are totally different.

Good luck and if you have questions, let us know.

Cheers ... McBie
 
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Hi

Thanks for the advice, yes it will be in a Business environment


Just looking at a Refurbished 'Apple Mac Mini 2GB, 500Gb hard disk'

running Snow leopard 10.6.8 and ms office

would i be able to upgraded it to 10.8?
 
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Do you know the exact model number go the Mac Mini ?
I don't know by heart what the minimum specs are for running 10.8.

If you are going to support OS X in a business environment, then it is all about productivity of the employees and the cost of supporting the infrastructure.
That covers hardware reliability, Operating system stability and the correct apps. ....
It is not about how nice it all looks ( unless you are in the fashion business )

Bringing OS X into play will need a business case to ensure it makes ( economical & financial ) sense.
I love OS X, but if a windows environment has a lower cost ( purchase & support ) for the same productivity, I will go for Windows... Your business case will have to check that out and strike a balance.
( Don't underestimate this part of the process )

Good luck.

Cheers ... McBie
 

vansmith

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Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
Thanks for the advice, yes it will be in a Business environment
How will you be using these/this machine? Knowing how you will be using it will help us tailor a list of resources for you.
 
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PPC Mini, 10.4.11. Intel Mini, 10.6.8. MacBook Pro, 10.14.6. M1 MBA 11.6.3 iPhone 5 iOS 12.5,
would i be able to upgraded it to 10.8?
As long as it's a late 2009 model, or later, Mactracker says it will run OSX 10.9 Mavericks(the latest OS).
 
C

chas_m

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I would not recommend a dual-boot environment, as that will act as a crutch to hobble your ability to learn OS X.

The number one mistake switchers and Windows users make is that they assume that OS X is just Windows as designed by a different company. It is most definitely not -- it has not only an entirely different underpinning (UNIX), it has an entirely different "operating philosophy." While there are many surface similaries (thanks mostly to Windows copying Mac concepts, I might add) -- the graphical interface, files/folders metaphor, where user data is largely stored and so forth -- are roughly the same, the approach is as different as that of the different approach taken by cars and airplanes on the question of getting somewhere. :)

So unless you're going to go into this with an open mind, you may encounter some frustration that OS X isn't Windows, since that's obviously what you're used to. Just FYI.
 
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Thanks again for your input.
Sounds like solid advice
I have just spotted this
Apple Mac Pro Desktop - (January, 2008), Quad Core Xeon x2, 8GB RAM, 750 GB HDD
The seller does not know if it will run 10.8 he said i would need to give apple the serial number (but wont tell me what it is)
 

chscag

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Ask him for the model number of the Mac Pro. Some of the early Mac Pro machines can not run Mountain Lion or Mavericks. Since this one was a 2008 model, we need the model number in order to determine what it can run.
 
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Have a read of this:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3761

In particular, it looks like that model mac pro is compatible (extract from the link):

Someone who does not have the serial number of their machine due to a logicboard replacement,
or other is desiring to purchase an older machine and wanting to know about Mountain Lion's compatibility,
will benefit by the following. The model identifier, also known as Machine ID, can be found in Apple menu -> About This Mac -> System Information or More info. The following Macs with 10.6.8 or later, 2GB of RAM, and 8 GB of hard space (presumably an additional 15% of free hard disk space will be beneficial as has always arbitrarily been found in the past) are able to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.8:

iMac 7,1 and later
MacBook 5,1 and later
MacBook Pro 3,1 and later
MacBook Air 2,1 and later
Mac Mini 3,1 and later.
Mac Pro 1,x to 2,x not officially supported solution, 3,1 and later (officialy supported)
 

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