New to Mac

Very new to Mac. Well, not very. Used them in school and all, but never owned one. Was looking to buy a used iMac G3 400 or 500 off ebay for my 5 year old. Also saw so ok looking Powermac G3 for not too bad of a price.

Figured I would go this route before shelling out the cash on a new iBook, or iMac that I did not know how to use. I am a big PC guy, Windows 2003 home network, XP and all.

My big question is, most of the systems on ebay come loaded with software already, but no cds or licenses and stuff. Do I really need the cds or is there away around that.

Windows systems must always have cds, you know for crashes and rebuilds.

Buying a Mac, you will want the original OS CD. Since it is going to be a used unit, you will want to do a clean install when you get it, you do not want to inherit someone else's junk.

That said, if you get a good enough deal on the computer (without an OS CD) then maybe just spring the extra for a copy of OS9 or OS X.

If you know how to use a PC, then using a Mac will be just as easy, if not easier. Get the used iMac and play around with it, before long you'll be spending alot of time at the local Apple store and eventually come home with either a new iMac or iBook/Powerbook tucked under your arm in no time.

I just made the switch in June of this year and love it. I bought a 17" flat panel iMac and simply knew from then on that I only needed my PC around to play the new games that come out and thats it. Well, its November now and last week I just bought a new 15" Powerbook and the PC just keeps getting pushed further and further away.

Whatever you decide to do, I think you'll like the Mac side of things.