Mac Newbie with some Advanced questions

I am in the process of researching before I make the switch to mac. I have a lot of questions. Some Newbie and some more advanced. So please forgive the stupid questions.

What is the best books for a new-advanced OS X user to have?

How good is Virtual PC & will I be able to play my Windows games? (starcraft, UT, MOO2, CS, etc....) And Other Windows Apps? And/Or are there Native OS X version out there? Have they ever created a new version of marathon?

What are some the the basic utilities/software I will need to get off the net and purchase? IE: Winzip, Ghost, Nero, photoshop, disk defragmenter, Antivirus, teleport, omnipage, quicken, etc....

Has anyone tried the Staroffice for OSX Beta, and how does it compair to other OSX Office suites? I really don't want to give any more money to M$.

How easy it to connect to M$ Shares and to share files with M$ pc's?

Is there a MS terminal server client for OS X?

How easy is it to get BSD/Linux programs to work under OS X? And Will I have to completely rewrite them?

Where is a good source of white-papers concerning security and OS X?

Multiple user, Can I set up different users with different access levels?

OS X Server, How good is it?

Mac Certifications for OSX. IS there any demand for them and are they worth anything more than the toilet-paper they are printed on? IE MCSE

What else Should I know before I make the Switch?

best books im not sure im a switcher who is advanced but haven't gotten that far yet.

vpc will be able to play all of your games.

apple has its own version of winzip stuffit which comes with os x. you don't need to work about virus scanners with apple. you don't need a disk defragger on apples although some people just want them anyway there are a lot fewer files to defrag in all of apples programs.

I havent tried staroffice i just got the office mac student version for 150 and then me and my friends each put in 50 bucks since it was 3 licenses so that worked out great for me.

its very easy to connect to m$s pc's

don't know about the server client

don't know about linux either

never heard of white papers on security so cant help there

Yes you can create multiple users with different levels

don't know about server

not at the point of certifications yet

its a fun switch thats all i can say. it takes no more then a week of regular use before it starts to feel like it should....great.

there are other people who are a lot more knowledgeable then i am on here but i figured i would help out as much as i could

I don't know if Virtual PC will play your games, I'm almost positive it wont..

But StarCraft can be installed on Mac, UT 2003 (or is it 4?) is available for Mac ($49.99). No idea what MOO is and CS won't run on Mac either.

sKaD

graphite proved me 100% wrong in his post below so i am just erasing my newbie stupidity

I am in the process of researching before I make the switch to mac. I have alot of questions. Some Newbie and some more advanced. So please forgive the stupid questions.

Graphite:Well buddy welcome to the mac world, any questions you ask about mac, you will soon realize shortly after you get your mac, that you could answer them all by yourself were always learning.


What is the best books for a new-advanced OSx user to have?

Graphite:If you want to learn the OS (non-terminal) trial and error works well. If you want to learn the terminal there are alot of Online places like here, if you want to learn programming, take a college course or any c related book will work nicely

How good is Virtual PC & will I be able to play my Winderz games? (starcraft, UT, MOO2, CS, etc....) And Other Winderz Apps? And/Or are there Native OSX version out there? Have they ever created a new version of marathon?

Graphite:VPC will only play non graphic games currently. Though there should be a new and better emulator with graphic card capabilities soon (non microsoft) All those games except CS there is a macintosh counter part.

What are some the the basic utilities/software I will need to get off the net and purchase? IE: Winzip, Ghost, Nero, photoshop, disk defragmenter, Antivirus, teleport, omnipage, quicken, etc....

Graphite:Basic utilities i suggest that macintosh does not provide are: System Optimizer, Disk Warrior, Toast, Cocktail, Weatherpop, Speed Download. (im shur we all have our own likings but those are a few. Photoshop is a nice addition. Dont worry about disk defrags with mac, not needed. I think quicken is part of the mac package.

Has anyone tried the Staroffice for OSX Beta, and how does it compared to other OS X Office suites? I really don't want to give any more money to M$.

Graphite:Office M$ is actually better for mac than the PC version. There is open office, and apple works (maybe soon iWorks).. haven't tried staroffice.

How easy it to connect to M$ Shares and to share files with M$ pc's?

Graphite:Very easy.

Is there a MS terminal server client for OS X?

Graphite:Not sure.

How easy is it to get BSD/Linux programs to work under OSX? And Will I have to completely rewrite them?

Graphite:Yellow dog works well, for linux alts. look here

Where is a good source of white papers concerning security and OS X?

Graphite:There are those token firewall and virus blockers, but I don't believe them to be needed. Apple will update a security flaw as soon as they find it (most we don't even know about, if any)

Multiple user, Can I set up different users with different access levels?

Graphite:yes, easily with a few quick clicks.

OS X Server, How good is it?

Graphite:I think of the best of the best from what I have tried/seen

Mac Certifications for OSX. IS there any demand for them and are they worth anything more than the toilet-paper they are printed on? IE MCSE

Graphite:As macintosh gets more popular so do techies.

What else Should I know before I make the Switch?

Graphite:Love you mac.

Well Graphite pretty much said everything, but I wouldnt mind putting in a few words Oh and welcome to the mac world.. you will love it!

A few Utilities that I love are: Stuffit Deluxe (compresses files in any way you want), Fink and Fink Commander if you like all the Unix games, programs etc and want an easy way of installing them, iClock (a very nice replacement for the apple clock), Konfabulator is really nice and informative or fun whichever and whatever you are looking for, I prefer Onyx over Cocktail especially after Cocktail put out a really messy version, X11 to run those unix games and programs I was talking about that you downloaded with fink , Cypher to encrypt those files and password protect them, PsyncX to psync your hard drive with an external hard drive (backup)

Those are just some of the utilities taht I enjoy.. plus I have a whole lot more non-utility type apps that I really like

And if you were having problems with the link that Graphite gave (typo) use this one microsuck (outdated link removed)

I manage to OS Xserves that obviously run os x Server and I really like them. I had a huge learning curve when I went into them because I really did not know that much about the *nix underpinnings, but I got exim, courier, spam assassin, plus so much more running on it and they run smoothly.. it's a great os, but it doesn't really do anything that the client os can't do.. it just does it with a better GUI.. so if you are comfortable with the *nix underpinnings you really wouldn't need to worry about Server.. especially if you are just using a client machine..

Other than that.. that's all I have to say. Graphite said everything I would have said.. plus more!

Cheers!