[macduck]

Just got my first iMac too. Does the Mac OS X have built-in virus protection or is it that hackers just don't waste their time with Macs? Either way, I plan to ROFL when my friends PC's get bogged down with viruses.

"PC is to Yugo as Mac is to BMW"

[macduck]

If you get .Mac with your new machine it is only $69. And Apple Care is $169 and gives three years of piece of mind and phone support.

[CrecenS]

In reply to:

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I should have realized that someone would have thought of that - but I think I'll pass. Why would I want to be reminded of Bill Gates?

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Well, if you ever consider switching back, just put up the wallpaper and ponder for a while... about 5 seconds and you'll stay with OSX.

In reply to:

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Just got my first iMac too. Does the Mac OS X have built-in virus protection or is it that hackers just don't waste their time with Macs?

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OSX has a built in Firewall that you can turn on in the system preferences under sharing, but no built in AV software. Of course, there are 0 known viruses for OSX, so you need not worry yet. Hackers try to break Unix and OSX, but it is a much more secure OS than Windows, which at last check was up to about 70,000 known viruses.

[macduck]

Thanks for the info re. Firewall. I followed your instructions and turned it on.

[macduck]

I'm sure you have the Imac by now. I assume you went to the Apple Store at Roosevelt Field. That is where I started playing with Macs, while my wife shopped, and decided to switch. I'll be going to the store to get accessories etc. for my iMac, they were very knowledgeable in helping me to choose which model was right for me. I had to buy direct from Apple to get the 160GB HD installed. Have fun with your new iMac.

[ditti80]

I purchased my mac at the Apple store in the Walt Whitman Mall. I did purchase the protection plan and .Mac account with it. There are some pretty useful things with the .Mac account. Being a first time mac buyer, I find the teaching videos very helpful. Being that I just purchased a week ago, I havent had much time to really sit down with it. The only thing I've really done is import a couple of albums to itunes and my ipod. One thing I have noticed so far is how every application syncs beautifully together. Panther is awesome. It just feels right when you use it, Windows makes me feel uneasy. The one thing I dont quite understand is the whole maintenance thing. Should I be running some type of maintenance on a set schedule? Is there a maintenance program built into panther that I can schedule to run when I want or do I have to purchase a third party application.
Thanks.

[Arne]

Hi ditti80,
Congratulations to your great purchase! I am very sure you will have a lot of fun with it.
As SueG already said, just have a look into the FAQs of the OS X Forum.
If you check the 2nd question regarding disk repair utilities, you will find what you need and some more. Lots of members here use Cocktail because it is pretty powerful, but I personally prefer Macaroni from AtomicBird because it runs the UNIX maintenance automatically.
Cheers from Tokyo,
arne

[Pelao]

Hi
Congrats on the new machine.
Maintenance is much simpler on a Mac. Like one of the others, I recommend Cocktail (find it at versiontracker.com).
Also recommend the book "OS X - the Missing Manual, Panther Edition".
Have fun!

[berg]

I also recommend Macaroni ... just set it and forget it!
Macaroni

Macaroni is a tool which handles regular maintenance for Mac OS X's Unix core. Normally these tasks run on a regular schedule, in the middle of the night. However if you don't leave your Mac on all night, they never run. Your Mac won't wake from sleep to handle this. Macaroni solves this problem. If a scheduled maintenance task is not run when it's normally scheduled, Macaroni automatically ensures that it's run at the next opportunity, whenever the Mac is on. Repairs permissions also, on a weekly basis. Developer says next version will clear caches ... Until then use ..

Cache Out X
Cache Out X clears out the cache entries on your machine, helping you recover valuable disk space on your machine. Items removed include the caches in System, Users, and Library, along with the Internet Explorer download cache. Optionally clears the IE's history cache as well.