New To Mac!

Hi!
I am very new to macs. Ive been using pc's for 10 years and its not hit me..macs are amazing. However im going to keep pc for gaming and just use my new mac (which i havent bought yet ) for documents, photoshop, web browsing, music etc. I just have a few questions
1) I see all this g3 g4 g5 and then things like 400 mhz. Im confused because im comparing it to pc as my pc is 2.4 gig lol
2) networking! can i network my mac to my pc network so other people can use the net through my mac? and if so can files be transferred from pc to mac and visaversa? (i know they are not all compatable)
3) just how reliable is the mac and its os. does od 10+ crash at all? ever?

any feedback on any of these would be nice. Bear in mind i have very! little mac knowledge, so sorry if these questions seem dumb.

1. G3, G4, and G5 are the names of the processors like a pentiumIII and pentium4. There is a thing called the megahertz myth

Megahertz Myth Video

This video will help explain.


2. Yes you can network mac's and pc's...The mac end is easier to setup because the PC's can be a pain sometimes but you can do it

3. OS X rarely if ever crashes. I have been using OS X since I switched last july and have never had it crash

Topazworm said:

Hi!
I am very new to macs. Ive been using pc's for 10 years and its not hit me..macs are amazing. However im going to keep pc for gaming and just use my new mac (which i havent bought yet ) for documents, photoshop, web browsing, music etc. I just have a few questions
1) I see all this g3 g4 g5 and then things like 400 mhz. Im confused because im comparing it to pc as my pc is 2.4 gig lol
2) networking! can i network my mac to my pc network so other people can use the net through my mac? and if so can files be transferred from pc to mac and visaversa? (i know they are not all compatable)
3) just how reliable is the mac and its os. does od 10+ crash at all? ever?

Click to expand...

1) While it's difficult to compare MHz between PCs and Macs, you should still be aware that a 400 MHz Mac (especially a less expensive G3) is not going to be one of the faster Macs out there, especially since you mentioned a comparison to a 2.4 GHz PC. If you plan on running Photoshop on it, you should probably pick something a bit more powerful. After all, it would be a shame for you to be disappointed with your first Mac just because the one you purchased wasn't able to handle the tasks that you needed it to. It might almost be like someone buying an old Pentium 1 and being upset that it's "slow". Then they'd probably give up on PC's for ever, right?

2) Yes, as trpnmonkey41 said, it's not difficult. My iBook and my brother's PC are on our wireless network here (I can access his files through mine), and mine was much easier to setup on it.

3) It would be tough to say that OS X never crashes (since I'm sure someone has had it happen at some point), but mine never has. It's pretty well accepted that OS X is a far more stable operating system than Windows.

Along with all said in the previous posts, Mac OS X is vastly less exposed to the currently running wormapalooza

To rehash what everyone else is already saying...

1. Cross-platform speed comparisons are always confusing. BareFeats (http://www.barefeats.com/) regularly compares the speed of various Macs and PCs. But it's still an inexact science, and depends a great deal on what you do with your computer.

2. With OS X version 10.2 (or later) networking between Macs and PCs is fairly seamless, either over ethernet or 802.11 wi-fi. Macs and PCs are much, much more compatible than they used to be.

3. OS X is, generally speaking more reliable than Windows XP (or any other version of Windows.) Your experiences may vary, of course, depending on hardware and usage. My Mac regularly goes over a month without a restart (I don't shut it down) but I have experienced a few "kernel panics."

i can also confirm that setting up your mac on wifi is easier than a pc (although it isn't like its rocket science on the XP or anything) and both pc and mac can interact easily on the wifi network as well as any hotspot.

me too easier on the mac, but still not hard on xp.

PowerBookG4 said:

me too easier on the mac, but still not hard on xp.

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Why do you keep posting on threads that have been finished for a long time?

Sorry

Just tring to get a liitle help that is all.
omb00757

trpnmonkey41 said:

Why do you keep posting on threads that have been finished for a long time?

Click to expand...

omb00757 said:

Just tring to get a liitle help that is all.
omb00757

Click to expand...

That message wasn't directed at you (this is the first you have even posted in this thread) so I am not sure whats going on