Windows user looking to switch, need help

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freakout

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Hello folks,

I've been an avid Windows/PC user my entire life. I grew up with my father a graduate of some degree in coding from Microsoft (Parent's got divorced when I was 11, Can't remember exactly what it was that he did)

Lately I've had a bit of extra money and I've officially decided I would like to purchase a 20-inch iMac. I was very excited reading up on all of the wonderful features of the Mac operating system and what the iMac has to offer.

Now in my search for information (Note: I've never even touched a Mac in my life, I know nothing about the OS, hardware, nothing. But I do have an iPod!) I found out about a brand new OS called "Leopard" I believe it was, coming very soon, in just a couple of months.

If I wait to purchase my iMac until the new OS comes out, will it automatically be with the system? Or will it still be with the current OS? I don't want to buy an iMac right now when I know I'll be outdated in a couple of months, I want to get the latest OS. I know I can always "upgrade" but I find no use when I can just wait a bit longer and get it already with my new computer.

Thank you for any help!
 
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If you buy your mac now it will have Tiger on it. Leopard as far as I know is not due for release until spring 2007.

Somebody may know otherwise and say Leopard is due out a christmas, but the truth is that until it's officially announced it's anyone's guess.

It's up to you whether or not you can wait and wait, but eventually all Macs will be sold with Leopard installed.

I bought my iMac last October and will be purchasing Leopard when it comes out, but at least I would have had a year or more learning and updating Tiger.
 
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Well I think Tiger was initially released in April 2005 and on eBay it goes for roughly $50US, so I can only hazard a guess that Leopard would be no more than $150US with student discounts bringing the price lower....
 
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I would recommend going with the iMac now, and Tiger. Leapard will add lots of new features, but if you have never used a Mac before, you will be able to learn all about Macs and Mac OS X with Tiger. Later, when Leapard comes out, you will that much farther ahead, and able to fully appreciate those things that are new in Leapard vs. just treating it as part of Mac OS X period.

In general I would say that it is never a good idea to wait for "the next big thing". You will be waiting forever becauase there is ALWAYS a "next big thing" just around the corner.

If you have the money now, and you are interested now, take the plunge now. You won't regret it.
 
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freakout

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Thanks for the helpful responses guys, I really appreciate it!

I just have one silly question: Can you change the brightness of the screen?

My eyes are very sensitive on my PC monitor and I have to turn the brightness and contrast all the way down or it will irritate my eyes too much. Can you adjust these settings on the iMac screen?
 
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freakout said:
Thanks for the helpful responses guys, I really appreciate it!

I just have one silly question: Can you change the brightness of the screen?

My eyes are very sensitive on my PC monitor and I have to turn the brightness and contrast all the way down or it will irritate my eyes too much. Can you adjust these settings on the iMac screen?

Yes, it's as easy as pressing the F14 key on the keyboard to dim the brightness or F15 to increase it. :dive:
 
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make the change mate, you wont be disapointed.. everything is so lovely on the mac (and im a die hard windows/dos user myself).. i really do wish id gone mac sooner
 
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Leopard won't be vastly different from Tiger. Mac OS X is pretty much on the money already - it's not like Windows where they have to do the whole thing again every 3 or 4 years because they can't get it right :)

You'll be able to get Leopard for around £60 when it comes out, so nowhere near the £180 they'll want for Vista when that's been debugged in 2 year's time :)
 
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sursuciofla

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I would actually just wait if you can and get the new OS. I know it could be like 6-8 months, but that's what I am doing before I buy again. I really didn't want to buy a system with Tiger or update my new system with it because it just didn't have anything in it that I needed or wanted that Panther didn't already have. I have been waiting for the features like Time Machine, Spaces, and new Dashboard that will come with Leopard.
 

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