Mac os X leopard?

yazbelle · Sep 4, 2008

I bought a iMac, the lady said it was a year old.
When I look at the specs, it doesn't say "leopard" is there another version? Mine says Mac Os X 10.5.4
I'm so confused with this used computer thing that I'm thinking about selling it and buying a brand new one. All the vidoes on apple seem to be for the 08 stuff. My programs look different than those shown.
There is not an apple store nearby.
Thank you for any and all help.

the8thark · Sep 4, 2008

Well Apple has always used cat manes for the OSes in the X line up. Just another name for the same thing really.

10.0 - Cheetah
10.1 - Puma
10.2 - Jaguar
10.3 - Panther
10.4 - Tiger
10.5 - Leopard
10.6 - Snow Leopard (As yet unreleased)

And in your system 10.5.4 The 10 means you run OS X. The 5 means you are running the 5th version of OS X called Leopard. And the 4 means it is the 4th free update to Leopard. And 10.5.4 is currently the latest system out there for Macs.

And you might have the 06 versions of ilife (which comes with any mac you buy included in the price).

And also you said you "I'm so confused". If you can tell us exacly what you are confused about then we can help you directly to fix up the exact concerns you are having.

yazbelle · Sep 4, 2008

Um, I think i love you?
THANK YOU!!
I drove 45 min. to an apple store and took an iphoto class. I literally cried tears b/c the guys screen looked different than mine. Photography is my job, I can't go much longer using my PC alongside my iMac. I don't want one foot in the door and one foot out. Plus, my PC is old and I don't want to lose anything. I've been wanting a Mac for years. Now I have one and I have no idea how to work it w/ photo uploads, scanning, printing from my Epson r1900, etc. I know that a Mac is different, but there has got to be a way to get my needs met. It's a Mac-it can do it-I just have nobody to show me. I watched the online video of iphoto and it doesn't answer my questions.

I want to make this work!! My reasoning behind buying a new iMac was that maybe it would be easier if they transfered my files for me?

I did some research after i posted and I found out that i have a Aug. 2007, 24 imac, w/ 1gb

Dysfunction · Sep 4, 2008

if you're doing photography professionally I'd recommend Aperture or Lightroom in addition to photoshop.. as opposed to iPhoto.

yazbelle · Sep 4, 2008

Thanks, I hope to get lightroom this weekend. I'm hoping that lightroom supports my scanned images as well. I guess I'll wait and find out.

baggss · Sep 4, 2008

I would also recommend upgrading your RAM to at least 2Gb. You'll see the difference when working with photo's, especially fi you are using RAW.

Hey, my sister lives in Canton, Ga. Small world.

Blizare · Sep 4, 2008

Yazbelle,

Once you get the hang of it you will love your computer every single day!!

I personally use Lightroom from Adobe as it suits my needs perfectly. You can download a trial for free and use it for a month.

Once you get passed figureing out the folders and how to install/uninstall programs, it will all come soon after.

You def. did not make a mistake on your purchase. Add some ram and that computer will last you for years!

MacFanBoy · Sep 4, 2008

Just don't buy the Ram from APPLE as they charge way too much for it.

Try http://www.crucial.com/ this site will scan your system and tell you exactly what Ram you have, how much you can add, what type you need and how much it will be delivered.

Then visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1432 which will show you EXACTLY how you do it. (very easy).

Dysfunction · Sep 4, 2008

MacFanBoy said:
Just don't buy the Ram from APPLE.

This is true of all system manufacturers though.

KeithTeeple · Sep 4, 2008

yazbelle said:
Um, I think i love you?
THANK YOU!!
I drove 45 min. to an apple store and took an iphoto class. I literally cried tears b/c the guys screen looked different than mine. Photography is my job, I can't go much longer using my PC alongside my iMac. I don't want one foot in the door and one foot out. Plus, my PC is old and I don't want to lose anything. I've been wanting a Mac for years. Now I have one and I have no idea how to work it w/ photo uploads, scanning, printing from my Epson r1900, etc. I know that a Mac is different, but there has got to be a way to get my needs met. It's a Mac-it can do it-I just have nobody to show me. I watched the online video of iphoto and it doesn't answer my questions.

I want to make this work!! My reasoning behind buying a new iMac was that maybe it would be easier if they transfered my files for me?

I did some research after i posted and I found out that i have a Aug. 2007, 24 imac, w/ 1gb

On the Apple website there's a program called Mac 101, it's all the video tutorials you'll ever need to learn your Mac, I don't have the link but if you Google it, you can get there fast. That's what I used, and now look at me, I'm a super Mac geek!

MacFanBoy · Sep 5, 2008

I also found www.myfirstmac.com to be useful.

the8thark · Sep 5, 2008

To the Original poster:

I think you would benifit from a little reading material on the Mac OS. This book "the missing manual for Leopard" is one of the best out there, and I think will help you quite a lot.

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596516185/?CMP=AFC-ak_book&ATT=iPhoto+08:+The+Missing+Manual

That's the book but it's best to shop around for it as the best price.

You could also look for the missing iphoto 08 manual also. But if you choose to use something like Lightroom, then it's better to get a book on that. And yes it will support many scanned images and images from cameras.

Also I second going to two GB or ram.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1432

That link shows you how to install the ram if you choose to get any more. And your mac can support up to 3 GB of ram. But for mostly 2 is fine. I only have 2.

Good luck with all of this.

yazbelle · Sep 5, 2008

Y'all are too sweet!

{{group hug}}

I feel like I've been to therapy and there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Does everyone buy extra ram from other websites?

I have watched about all of the tutorials, so I'm good at the basics. It's this photography & scanning thing that made me cry. Yes, I actually cried. I guess I'm just impatient and I expected to have beat my PC with a baseball bat by now (hehehe) not actually still use it.

the8thark · Sep 5, 2008

Does everyone buy extra ram from other websites?

Yes. For 2 reasons.

1. Apple charge many times more than the other websites/stores do.

2. Apple Ram is just other Ram rebranded. So you don't know really what brand of ram you are getting. But if you go to another site/store you can pick exactly what brand and model of ram you want.

yazbelle · Sep 5, 2008

What brand & model do I want?

Thank you for all this advice. I definitely like to save money.

the8thark · Sep 5, 2008

This is the model of ram you are after:

200-pin PC2-5300 (667 Mhz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

If you get your ram instore somewhere just write down that and show it to the store person and say you're after that for an imac. And you are after two of those ram sticks. Each one will be 1GB.

For brand:

Kingston is a good brand. I use it and have had no issues with it at all.
Crucial is another brand recommended by many people on this forum.

They are the only 2 brands I cam remember. But I'm sure someone else will have another brand they can recommend also.

Mattlike · Sep 5, 2008

I have used both Crucial and OWC ram with no problems at all. Crucial's website tells you what RAM your computer needs after you select the manufacture/model etc. it is pretty straight forward. Their prices are pretty good as well.

www.crucial.com & www.macsales.com

yazbelle · Sep 5, 2008

Fabulous!
So I need 3g total?

Dysfunction · Sep 5, 2008

the8thark said:
Does everyone buy extra ram from other websites?

Yes. For 2 reasons.

1. Apple charge many times more than the other websites/stores do.

2. Apple Ram is just other Ram rebranded. So you don't know really what brand of ram you are getting. But if you go to another site/store you can pick exactly what brand and model of ram you want.

it's not even rebranded. The ram I took out of my MBP is samsung, same with the ram in my wifes macbook.

the8thark · Sep 5, 2008

Personally I would recommend 2 GB in a 2x 1GB sticks of ram. 3GB is not needed at all. I only have 2GB and my machine runs just nicely. But if your machine can handle 3 which I think it might be able to. I'm not exactly sure if your imac is a Core Duo or a Core 2 Duo one.

The Core Duos can hold 2x 1 GB max of ram.

The Core 2 Duos can hold 4GB or ram. But only 3 of it will ever be used. So you can get a 1GB and a 2 GB stick of ram. Not needed. But if you can afford 3GB I say why not. It's all up to your finances.