A new iMac?

Hello,
Slightly off topic question but here goes. There seems to be alot of IT technical knowledge on these forms so here goes. I was thinking about getting an imac soon. However, i dont want to buy one and then 2 weeks later watch steve jobs stand on a stage and show off the lastest imac. So my questions are as follows:
1) Obviously they are developing a nu imac does neone know how far off it is?
2) I am a windows user, so how easy it to switch? I am student so will mainly use it for essays, net, emails, messenger, photos and my ipod.
I wanna mac cos tiger seems awesome. Whats next after tiger?
Basically i wanna know if there is anything 'big' around the corner that i shud wait for.

Cheers
Stoneflyer

[preiffer]

The latest breed of iMac (with built-in iSight) was only launched a month ago, so you have a LOT of "active service" to go yet...!

The next iMac likely to be released will be on an Intel platform, and that's a totally different ballgame. People are struggling to guess when/what/how that's going to manifest itself into the iMac line, so I'd stick with the (new) current range for the time being or you'll be forever waiting for the latest model!

I was a Windows user - I switched. I now only use Windows when work make me...

As above - the next "big" thing after Tiger is likely to be an Intel based OS - but that will be Apple's first stab at it, so I personally won't be investing in the technology until at least version 2


(I believe Tiger will also automatically corrects words - turning "shud" into "should"... [:p])

Thanks for the reply.
You're right, no matter when i buy there will always be something that comes out six months later that is bigger and better. How did you find the switch over from windows to mac? The only real thing im worried about are songs that i have purchased from itunes and virues.

Thanks again
Stoneflyer

[preiffer]

The switchover is fine.

You CAN use IE & Entourage (mac equiv. of Outlook) on the Mac, but soon enough you'll get fed up of them, and realise how easy Safari & Mac Mail are to use so probably bin them.

MS Office is available for the Mac. iPhoto beats anything Microsoft currently have (or could ever think up for themselves) for photo management and your iTunes library is completely transferable.

Viruses? Well, there are virus scanners for macs as well as PC's - but my mac one has NEVER caught one (in 3 years) whereas my PC gets a warning almost every fortnight. Not because it can't catch them, but simply because they're not as prolific as with Wintel systems.

I have been in the apple store in the Bullring. All the programs seem easy to use and how the windows minimise etc is really cool too. I esp like the dashboard and spotlight features and had a go at word for the mac and that seems better than the version for windows.

Thanks for the reply.

Stoneflyer

Hi Stoneflyer,

The rule of thumb is that Apple will 'refresh' a product every nine months (or so). As Paul said, the superb iMac was itself refreshed quite recently: slimmer, better, faster, more! As the owner of one of the earlier models of iMac G5, I have to say it is a belting piece of kit: The fact that everything is built-in behind the screen is amazing. It is really at home in the living room, especially if combined with wireless keyboard & mouse.

The annual Mac Expo in San Franscico is the time when Steve Jobs stands up and gobsmacks Mac fans. The 2006 keynote is on 10th Jan (1700 UK time). The magazines predict that the first Intel machines will be unveiled and the PowerBook range of laptops is at the top of the list of candidates for the new processor. It is also suggested that the brilliant MacMini will be relaunched with Intel inside, with FrontRow installed to make it a perfect Personal Video Recorder (PVR).

FrontRow is a 'front end' interface with a remote control that saw its debut on the 'new' iMac. It controls the DVD player, iTunes, photo slide show and Quicktime - all its multimedia applications, in fact.

Like Paul, I was a convert from Windows to Mac only a year or so ago - and whilst I have to confess that, for now, my 'main' computer is still a Windows box, I haven't looked back. Ultimately, WinXP and MacOS X do the same thing - they just do it slightly differently and - undoubtedly - MacOS does it with more style (don't believe me: minimise a window with the shift key held down and gasp in awe!). It really isn't hard to switch.

There are some apps that will only run on the ubiquitous Windows platform, but there are solutions for almost every most need you are likely to have on the Mac.

The bottom line is that with Macs, it can be a futile tactic to wait for the next-big-thing, because you never really know when it will arrive as Apple are notoriously secretive about such things. Having said that, though, at this time of year I would maybe wait until after the Keynote, just-in-case!

In any event, buy an iMac and you will not look back.

Regards,

Dave


----

Pix - will you be at the Keynote this year???


[Edited: I was a day out on the Keynote - its the 10th!]

Thanks for the all the replys and the heads up on the next keynote speech.

Stoneflyer

Stoneflyer

To add to what Paul and Dave have said - I use a Mac and a PC laptop every day - the PC for work and the Mac for personal and work use. I've converted a few people, and my partner who is quite the luddite has taken to the Mac no problem. Many people find the interface and the intuitive menus and set-up quite straightforward to use. If you're keen I recommend reading up more and this is an excellent book:

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual by David Pogue - it's about £15 on Amazon.

On your questions:
- you could use Appleworks software that has word processing and comes free with the Mac for essays, though as mentioned you can buy MS Office
- IE5 is the last MS browser on the Mac and they have stopped developing it - it still works so when you move I'd save your current internet favourites then import them into Mac IE, and then using Safari or Firefox import them in to that browser - that is if like me you have a lot of favourites!
- MS Messenger, AOL messenger and Skype and others work fine on the Mac
- I use Mac Mail for email, it' fine though not as fully featured as Entourage
- using a Mac for photos and music is of course the best possible way to do it, I've been a fan since the first versions of iTunes and iPhoto, and you can extend this to Garageband to edit tracks, iMovie and iDVD to manage and edit video and so much more

Apple will always be moving forward, that's one reason we like 'em, and you should not expect current kit to become obsolete quickly ... that said the move to Intel will be a big change when it happens but like Paul I see no benefit in being an early adopter!

If you are thinking of purchasing it might be worth getting yourself an Egg Money credit card. The card offers 10% instant cashback at the Apple UK online store Just remember you need to purchase using the link from the Egg site.

Thanks for all the messages guys. Whats pages like? Is it better than word?

[preiffer]

To be honest, it does different things. It's almost like a combination of Word & Publisher.

For true WP, I prefer Word (for mac), but Pages will do 90% of what most people want/need. (It's missing those handy tracking/sharing features that Word has, that's all I miss)

Update. The discount @ Apple store using Egg Money Card has been reduced from 10% to 5% [n]

I rarely use my PC at home now, since getting a Mac Mini. The Mac seems to do everything smoother, better, quicker and more intuitively. There will be some that disagree, and that's fine, but, Stoneflyer, you have already had a play with OSX so you know that you get along with it.

I use a PC at work and it serves its purpose - XP is certainly a capable operating system. For me, the Mac makes my "leisure computing" more enjoyable (although I would certainly love my workplace to switch to the platform too)

Onionz, enlighten me, when you say leisure computing am I right in thinking I should get on better with one for our ipod, internet, photo's and stuff at home. Will AOL work on it and is it true that you have less chance of viruses.

Did you enjoy Celine again?

Alas, poor me, Im tied into windows here.
Too many games im afraid, and Im also one of thise people who likes to change their hardware often.
I do love macs, they look stylish,a nd hope to own a 12" ibook in the future for when Im on the go.
Now anyone up for SuSe linux?

Originally posted by easygoingeezer
Onionz, enlighten me, when you say leisure computing am I right in thinking I should get on better with one for our ipod, internet, photo's and stuff at home. Will AOL work on it and is it true that you have less chance of viruses.

All of those things work very well on the Mac (small disclaimer: I have no experience of AOL, but understand they have Mac software). Macs are great for organising your personal media - photos, music, videos - nothing I have used on the PC works as smoothly as the iLife software (iPhoto and iTunes being the two key parts).

You will have less chance of getting a virus because there are far fewer viruses out there (virtually none). Fewer people uses Macs, so virus writers target their misplaced efforts at PCs. Also, with fewers Macs, there are fewer opportunities for viruses to spread. Notwithstanding all that, you can still get antivirus software for the Mac, if you desire.

Did you enjoy Celine again?

Hmm good question! We were in the very front row, so I had an excellent view of her wobbly lip as she hit the high notes . As i've said before, i'm not a great fan of her music, but the show is well put together so I can't fault her for that - the rest of my family certainly enjoyed it. They also seemed to have "de-cheesyfied" the Titanic tune since I saw it 2.5 years ago (i.e. IIRC there was a front part of a ship she stood on, which has now gone), so I cringed a bit less this time!

The Black Eyed Peas were better!

onionz slightly off subject but my Celine obsessed bf wants to know how you got the front row??????

The tickets were booked by our casino host at the Luxor. We knew nothing about where they were until we picked them up at the box office. The guy there looked at his screen and said "oh, these are good seats, you will like these..."

Often sitting at the very front isn't much good as you have to crane your neck to see, but not at the Colosseum at Caesars. The stage slopes downwards and is low enough so you can see easily from the front row. We could rest our feet on the steps at the front of the stage. Further along to the right of where we were, Celine sat down on them to do a tune during the show.

cheers onionzmy other half is goin to be sick as a parrot now, been twice but only in the team celine seats.

you must have spent a bob or two in the casino to get comped those.