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Wazza Bears AustraliaHello
Any of you use a mac? I am looking at getting a new laptop. And I am looking at the macbook. I like the look of the apps and things you can do with a mac, but main factor is viruses. Our home pc is down at the moment and everyone is using my laptop, and I can't keep up with the virus they are getting. I never had viruses until the family starting using my laptop. So I was thinking as this laptop in prob 4 years old now. And taking advantage of the new tax rebate, I was thinking of a new one. So I would love to hear from any of you that uses a mac and let me know how you like it compared to a PC. One of my concerns s webbuilding.
Cheers Peta
Hi Peta,
We use Mac and have done for 15 years and touch wood have never had any viruses.
They are lovely to use and really easy to operate - I love mine.
Good luck if you do decide, as I am sure that you would be very happy with it once you get the hang of them.
I was reluctant when my husband said he would buy me one, but glad he did.
Hugs
Carolyn
PennsylvaniaThere has yet to be a successful virus attack on a Macintosh computer.
This is not to say there will never be one but virus hackers typically go for targets where they can spread among a large population quickly. Therfore, Macs are not targeted. Being in the minority of computer users has its advantages. :P
Apple Computer also has vested interest in keeping viruses out. They are very aggressive at patching security holes BEFORE viruses can penetrate them. As a matter of fact, there is a story going around that tells of a hacker who was paid $10,000 by Jobs not to release information on how to write a virus for Macs until Apple could patch their operating system.
That having been said: There may be such things as "trojans" for Macs.
"Trojan" comes from the old story of the "Trojan Horse."
A trojan is a program which pretends to be something else but is really malicious software in disguise. It could be a game or some other kind of program that you might want to have on your computer. But when you run it, the trojan goes to work stealing your passwords and doing other damage to your computer, all the while you think you're playing a game.
THERE IS NO DEFENSE FOR A TROJAN BUT COMMON SENSE!
It doesn't matter if you use a Mac, a PC or Linux. A program that you willingly run can do anything it wants to your computer whether you like it or not! You need to know what programs you are running, where they came from and how you got them onto your computer.
NEVER use programs downloaded from the internet that you do not know the source.
For example, if you want to download the Firefox browser, get it from mozilla.com, NOT from some "Joe Blow" website you've never heard of. Don't download plugins, toolbars and other add-ons to your programs unless you know and trust the source. Again, Microsoft.com... Mozilla.com... Apple.com are good. Any place else is bad!
And, never, NEVER open programs that somebody e-mails you! You're only LOOKING for trouble when you do that!
Like I said, it's all common sense.
The good news is that, with a little common sense and a Mac on your desktop you should not have to worry about viruses on your computer for a good long time! :)
Second question... About building websites:
Check out iWeb!
It is a template-based web design program that works very much like a word processor or page layout program only it automatically uploads your pages to a web server at the click of a button. It doesn't build super-duper fancy websites but it can make blog pages and picture sharing pages with only a few clicks of the mouse.
Click here for more information. ===> http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/
Walnut Tree Corner Bears By GailHi Peta,
I use a mac and find it really user friendly, we have never had a virus and I would not go back to a PC now.I use IWeb to do my website and that is very easy to use(it must be, because I can do it on my own LOL)There are mac versions of most of the usual programs,it just seems to take a little longer for new versions of things to become available, but I can wait.
Hope that helps you to decide 
Tiny hugs
Gail
Wazza Bears AustraliaThanks for that I appreciate your responses. BUt I would like to ask about iwork. Do you use it? If I got it I know I can open doc fron windows but can I make changes to them. Or am I better off getting Window office for mac?
Thanks you have been very helpful
Hi there,
I think you would find a Mac totally brilliant! I use two Macs and a PC, and would happily throw the PC out of the window if it wasn't for the fact I
need it for embroidery software. Macs are SO easy to use and we have never had any problems. You will soon fall in love with them.
Hugs
Marilyn
PennsylvaniaiWork is very compatible with other file formats.
You have "Pages" which is your word processor. You have "Numbers" which is your spreadsheet program. And there is a presentation program called "Keynote" which does all the thingsPowerpoint can.
iWork can read just about all of the usual file formats out there that you can throw at it. It will read M$ Word and it can save in M$ Word format too. Same goes for Numbers and Keynote. They can read and save into their counterpart formats in M$ Office.
iWork won't read some of the funky table formatting and macros that M$ Office uses but 90% of the people who use Office don't use those features. Most of the time there is some workaround you can use to solve those cases.
iWork will cost you approx. $80.00 US ($70.00 if you can get the education discount.)
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB942?mco=MzA3MDc5NA
M$ Office Mac will cost you approx. $150.00 US (I do not know if they have educataion discounts.)
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/O … p-now.mspx
So, when it comes down to the bottom line, ask yourself, "Can I live with 90% compatibility for half the price?"
I vote YES!
Wazza Bears AustraliaWow Jenny
Your a pro LOL. I knew if i asked on here i would get my questioned answered. Excellant. Thanks so much. I am looking at geting macbook package for students as i am a uni student studying art. So yes I get the discount and their is a cash back from apple plus at tax time I can get a rebate of 50%. You have got me so excited about getting a mac now. I can't stop looking at their site and checking out their programs. Thanks so much.
PennsylvaniaGlad to hear you're getting a new computer! :)
It's even better to hear you're getting all the discounts! :cool:
A couple of hints:
1) Buy as much as you can afford right now.
I know it's tempting to say that you'll buy a cheaper model right now and upgrade later but this is often a false economy. Most people keep the same computer for several years. Buying the best you can afford right off the bat helps your computer last longer. My previous computer lasted 10 years. I expect the one I just bought to last at least that long.
2) Don't buy "extras" from the manufacturer.
Buy the base model with the processor speed you want and stick with it. Don't buy RAM or bigger hard drives from the manufacturer.
For my computer, Apple was selling the upgraded hard drive (from 250 GB to 500 GB) for nearly $200. I looked on a third party website and found a 1,000 GB drive (Yes! I said TERABYTE!) for $120. That's twice the storage for half the price! Same thing goes on RAM. I was able to buy 6 GB of ram for cheaper than Apple sells 2GB modules.
When you are buying a notebook you trade ease of service and upgradability for size and convenience. You probably won't be able to upgrade the HD yourself unless you know somebody. However you can probably install RAM yourself. It only takes a couple-few minutes and a small screwdriver.
In your case, I would probably buy the fastest CPU I can afford. Just keep whatever hard drive comes with it but only buy the base amount of RAM. Go to "New World Computing" ( www.macsales.com ) and order your RAM from there.
If you order iWork at the time you buy the computer they might even pre-install it for you. That way, all you have to do when you get your computer is turn it on and start working.
You're right to shop around before you buy.
There are three "brick & mortar" Apple Stores in Australia:
http://www.apple.com/au/retail/storelist/
I'm betting the nearest one to you is more than 500 km away. Am I right?
It would be really good if you could make the trek.... if you can.
It really does help to be able to get your hands on a Mac and fiddle with it before you decide to buy.
(And, yes! The people at the Apple Store will let you fiddle with the computers! 
)
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)US Bears, you really do give EXCELLENT advise and CONCRETE FACTS with the most useful to-the-point imformation that's exactly what's being asked for! If I ever ask a techie thing, I hope you'll jump in with the answer for my situation!!
For now, I'll just weigh in with both hands (and feet) waving high for my 6 mo old MacPro. (I just discovered I have the App: Comic Life, Thx to my 13 yo granddau! What FUN!!!)
Gadzooks, I think I love my MAC more than my DH (yes, it's MUCH more reliable and its memory NEVER fails.......)
Unsigned, this time, for obvious reasons...lol
Hi Peta,
I made the switch from PCs to Mac several years ago and have never looked back. There were several Windows programs that I didn't want to fork out cash to purchase again such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver. If you have any of these check out a program called Virtual Box it is free and allows you to install a copy of Windows (must have a valid copy, but if you have a PC that you will not be using any more you can use that version) and then install any Windows program.
Hugs,
