Well, I finally did it.

[DaveB]

Went out and bought a brad new 24" iMac today and so far I have to say it lives up to the hype.

Still getting used to the new gui obviously but otherwise "It Just Works"

Plugged into the router, switched it on and 5 mins later I was up and running. On the net, on the local network, able to see all my other PC's and their file shares, printer, scanner etc. Straight out of the box and no faffing around.

Just out of curiosity I looked to see if I could access my MP3 collection from my previous desktop PC. I clicked the network icon, and there it was in the workgroup, clicked the PC's name and there were the shares, clicked a share and it imediatly appears on the desk top as a network drive.

It Just Works.

Bear in mind I have worked with PC's for 20 years now as and end user and as everything from 1st line to third line technical and hardware support. I have never had a new system up and running as fast as this and never without even the slightest problem.


Time to start playing

[scooterscot]

Likewise using PC's since my first ZX spectrum...

Been using my iMac 24" (nice screen isn't it?) for 12 months or so still running as fast as the first day I took it out the box

Using OS x feels like a natural step forward next thing you'll be telling us is how productive you've become using your new Mac!

You'll be surprised how quickly you forget all the annoyances you were used to on a day to day basis with windows. If you still find you need to use windows, I need too for only one work related application, then install parallels.

Congratulations

[DaveB]

Been using my iMac 24" (nice screen isn't it?) for 12 months or so still running as fast as the first day I took it out the box

The only problem I've had so far is that the screen is actually too bright. Even on the lowest setting. A quick trawl if the forums tunred up an app caled shades that adds some extra control and it's a lot more comfortable now

[scooterscot]

I had the same problem... but only in the small hours when everywhere else was in the dark

[NickFitz]

Welcome home

Now you can spend your time using your computer rather than trying to get it to work properly - although if you like tinkering (as I do) then that's still an option

One piece of advice I offer to all new Mac users who fancy a bit of tinkering: waste a day wandering through the plethora of interesting things at http://www.macosxhints.com/ - and if something looks good, be sure to read the comments to that article, as they often contain something even better

No more - it's a good feeling

[NickFitz]

BTW, concerning the screen brightness thing: on my MacBook (and my work MacBook Pro) the F1 and F2 keys allow me to adjust the brightness; is that just a laptop thing? (My desktop Mac is a venerable PowerMac G4 400 from 1998, built for OS 9, now running Tiger - still works perfectly, and carries out most tasks as fast as or faster than a modern Windows machine running XP )

[DaveB]

BTW, concerning the screen brightness thing: on my MacBook (and my work MacBook Pro) the F1 and F2 keys allow me to adjust the brightness; is that just a laptop thing? (My desktop Mac is a venerable PowerMac G4 400 from 1998, built for OS 9, now running Tiger - still works perfectly, and carries out most tasks as fast as or faster than a modern Windows machine running XP )

F1 / F2 work the same on the iMac, the problem was tat even on the lowest setting it was still way to bright for me. Shades seems to have been the answer, it gives an extra level of control over the screen brightness and lets you dim it down further than the OS brightness control.

[Churchill]

How much for a C++ development environment?

[daviejones]

Yep, the iMAc does look good. I would like to get the G5 but the missus says I cannot justify the cost ...

As for development environment, you could use Parallels or VMWare and do it in a virtual environment, but I am sure there is a tool to do it native...not sure what though as I don't use it....or you could dual boot and get the best of both worlds...

[DimPrawn]

or you could dual boot and get the best of both worlds...

Yes a world of pointless arty-farty prettiness and a world of substance where you can actually get real bill paying work done.