The most basic Mac queries EVER...

Hi guys, as the title says, I need a little help regarding the mac system & will be asking the most basic question ever regarding Mac & its system. Not sure if this has been posted up thousands of times or im in a wrong tread. Im pretty new so please bare with me. Been using windows all my life (so are my friends) & recently have been very VERY interested to get a MacBook to deal with my architecture related graphical programs.

So this forum is the only way to go since i have no friends to turn to for help.. so here it is...


1. What is the Mac OS X? is it the name of the operating system like Windows? (if it is, whats the difference between Tiger, Panther, or Leopard?) Im curious that on most websites, they allow downloads of certain programs for Windows & Mac OS X. it keeps me wondering that if I will be able to download it onto my MacBook (if i eventually get it)

2. When the Leopard does come out in October, will automatically come with every Mac? if it does, will it also increase the Mac prices? since you need to pay for the upgrade. Is there any cons to Leopard?

3. This is quite a sterio-typical statemate a friend of mine made, which I'm hope he'll be proven wrong. He does a lot of downloads, movies, programs.. anything at all. And he said on most sites, there are 5 or 6 download options for Windows & only maybe 1 which is applicable for Mac. Do Mac users find it difficult to find certain programs or to download certain things?..

Thanks for the great help in advance.;D

1. Yes. Tiger, Panther, etc. are just code names for each version of Mac OS X. So Panther is 10.3, Tiger is 10.4, and the upcoming Leopard will be 10.5

2. When Leopard is released, it will come standard on every new Mac. You can purchase a retail copy of Leopard for $129, or $69 if you're a student.

3. I have yet to find a Windows program that doesn't have a Mac equivalent. With the transition to Intel, the number of Mac applications has exploded, so there aren't many programs where you can't find a Mac version or a Mac equivalent.

I would suggest to continue checking out the Switcher Hangout and to read as many FAQs as you can find on this site as they are chock full of really useful information.

Yh most things you can do on a windows pc can be done on a mac with similar software. Theres just loads of freeware and opensource software for mac.

The only field macs are limited in is games, windows pc gets a **** lot of more games.

But with bootcamp yoo can play any game you want. Just as well as the pcs can.

Bootcamp is just a way of loading into the windows ont o a mac just as you would on a PC. And it runs almost exactly the same as windows on a PC.

yh true...

nicholast7 said:

3. This is quite a sterio-typical statemate a friend of mine made, which I'm hope he'll be proven wrong. He does a lot of downloads, movies, programs.. anything at all. And he said on most sites, there are 5 or 6 download options for Windows & only maybe 1 which is applicable for Mac. Do Mac users find it difficult to find certain programs or to download certain things?..

Click to expand...

There are 5 or 6 different Windows versions because many vendors are still trying to support everything from Win 95 to Vista. Most Mac Apps that worked on 10.2 or 10.1 will still work on 10.4 and likely on 10.5. Most Mac Apps developed for 10.4 or 10.5 probably won't work on 10.0 through 10.3, but no one really cares. Vendors will update their software for the new OS, and if you want to stay with the old OS, then you stay with the old App.

As stated above, I have not found anything that doesn't have a Mac equivalent.

Remember, more does not always equal better....

Agree here with baggss, especially the last line of his post. There might be five or six different apps for Windows that do the same thing, but you only need one. Yes, one or two maybe better than the others- but generally my experience is if a Macintosh developer sees only a single, crummy app for a certain task, a new, better one will be written soon.

right. good stuff. Im more than happy to tell what you guys said here to my mate.. just to shut him up.

thanks guys.