Just inherited a mac computer

[LadyAbby]

And I'm pretty sure all I have is a monitor for it...what do I need to do to get this baby up and running? Everything please. A family friend's brother left it when he moved from here to California. Oh wait nevermind, it's an imac and it's got a big fucking base that's probably got the computer in it (judging by how fucking heavy it is). Right now I don't know if it has an OS installed on it yet and I definitely don't have internet. So help, please!

[Sammi]

The iMac has always been entirely self-contained. You'll need a keyboard and a mouse and a power cord, and that's it. Unless the previous owner was atypical, it will already have the OS on it and shouldn't have anything else (and techies probably wouldn't use iMacs anyway, since they're made for people who don't want to deal with computers).

Is it flat and grey or deep and colored?

[LadyAbby]

http://www.wired.com/news/images/full/02imac_hero_f2.jpg

It looks like this, Sammi. As of now I have no mouse and possibly a keyboard. Also, it has a cord attached that plugs in, I'm assuming that's the power cord.

[Sammi]

Shiny. Yes. All you need is a USB or Bluetooth-capable mouse and you'll be good.

You should get a wallpaper with a face on it, then move it around so that it looks at people.

[mcnicks]

I would avoid BlueTooth because that Mac might not support it. Any USB mouse will do, but you might need to find an Apple USB keyboard, because Apple computers have Apple-specific keys (called Command and Option) and I am not sure how they would map onto traditional 'Windows' keyboards. Maybe somebody else on here might know?

If the iMac does not have an Operating System, then you will need to install a new one onto it. Given the age of the machine, this might be a bit problematic. There are two approaches:

1. Get the serial number and contact Apple to see if there is any way to get the original OS disks for the machine.

2. Buy 'Leopard', the latest release of OSX.

The second option should be a lot easier, but you might run into some difficulties running Leopard on a machine of that age. This page seems to have all of the techie stuff about Leopard on G4 iMacs:

http://lowendmac.com/musings/mm07/1018.html

You might be able to find out a bit more about the machine itself by entering its serial number into the Apple support web site:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

I think that's about all I can suggest without physically looking at the machine. I think your best bet would be to try to get hold of an install CD for 'Tiger' (OSX 10.4). Can you still get in touch with the IT support people at your College? They might have an appropriate CD kicking about.

[LadyAbby]

Oh good news! (Also Mcnicks you=win for being so informative) The computer has been plugged in, and turned on and it turns out that the idiot didn't even bother to clean his old desktop out before he left. So there's not only an OS but there's also a bunch of other nice to have around stuff installed on there too.

So I have to get a USB keyboard and mouse and how about internet? How do I go about getting wireless internet connection?

[mcnicks]

If you are lucky, it might have a wireless card in it already. First of all, if you have a USB mouse kicking about anywhere, plug it in and move the mouse up to the 'apple' menu icon at the top left of the screen, then choose About This Mac. A window should appear, saying "Mac OS X Version 10.something". Let us know what it says.

Open System Preferences, which should hopefully be in the Dock at the bottom of the screen, then go to Network. Assuming that the computer is running 10.3 (Panther) or 10.4 (Tiger), the Network System Preferences panel should show two menus: one will say "Location: Automatic" and the next will say something like "Show: Ethernet". Click on the Show menu and see if it lists "Airport". If it does, then you have an Airport wireless card in the computer, and you should be able to connect to your wireless network.

[LadyAbby]

alrighty! I has found keyboard in car. Unfortunately it was straight after I won a keyboard/mouse set on ebay. Well I have two now! We shall see which works better.

Alright. I'm assuming macs do not have microsoft word (I'm being silly, I know they don't :P) so what's the best equivalent I can download? I'm very into my word currently, because I do a lot of writing on it and I likee my word.

[Hippie]

I hear there's Microsoft Word for Macs. I'm told it's nice.

[Sammi]

Of course there's Microsoft Word for Macs. You don't think Microsoft software development would miss out on a decent chunk of the market, do you? Now, that's not to say you should use it. Microsoft Word has always been decently good at best. The new Word for Mac is almost as bad as the new Word for Windows. The equivalent to the ribbon is not quite as excruciatingly bad, but it's still the new version of Word, which is worse than Vista in my book (which is funny, because I thought its predecessors were okay, while IE was rubbish; now IE is okay, while MS Office is screwed up).

If you must, find a copy of Office 2004. It'll do you right. I have it on my Mac and it works well enough. Otherwise, there are enough open-source office suites on the Internet to go around. Try OpenOffice or StarOffice and see what strikes your fancy. Also, they're free without the hassle of finding someone with a CD or a crack online.

You know, I give Microsoft more dirt than it probably deserves. The point is, there are better things out there, for free or cheap. What may be a decent product can be downgraded to "shit" status by being overpriced, which Microsoft Office is. Before shelling out cash for something that only gets to cost that much due to the fact that nearly everybody has it, which makes it seem necessary due to the same aspect of mob mentality that churches, states and marketers have been using since the dawn of civilization, please, please check sites like Open Source Alternative (http://www.osalt.com/) first. You'll do the collective digital intelligence of the human race a huge favor.

[mcnicks]

I'd start with OpenOffice for Mac:

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/

And consider Microsoft Office only if you have problems with OO. Depending on what kind of writing you want to do, there a are a tonne of free / cheap applications that might be a lot faster and more useful than a bog standard word processor. Scrivener comes to mind:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

[Sammi]

The only problem with Scrivener is that now there's a trial period before you have to buy. I don't know how hard it is to circumvent, but I still have my old version from before the trial was implemented, and can hook you up if you want. It's my preferred environment for composing stories, when I do.

[LadyAbby]

Right I believe it said it's version 10.2.8 or something like that. I have no idea because everything on the computer is password protected and I don't know how to change accounts or passwords without the password and no way of getting in touch with the previous owner to fix *that* and I accidentally logged out. Help?

[mcnicks]

I think your best bet would be to do a reinstall. However, for that you will need an OSX install DVD. Theoretically, the latest release of OSX (10.5, commonly called Leopard) should run on your hardware, although you might need to install more memory into it to get the most out of it.

The best way to get Leopard is to just buy it off the shelf. You will probably also want to buy the iLife package as well ... but if you are going to spend money on this it would be best to install Leopard first and make sure that it runs satisfactorily before forking out more money.

[LadyAbby]

Well, I got it to work again and I figured out how to set myself up with a new account and administrator capabilities. I would preferrably like to get Leopard but I don't think I can afford all the upgrading I'd have to do to get it to run.

Also, I did all you said, Mcnicks, but I can't figure out how to get the wireless internet to connect. It didn't have a 'Show: Ethernet". It has "Show: Built-in Ethernet" and then I couldn't figure out how to get the 'show: airport' or whatever. It *does* say in tabs across the top: Configure: Using DHCP, Manually, DHCP with Manual IP address, Using BootP; PPoE; AppleTalk; Proxies. That's all as far as I could tell what I should be looking at, that I saw.

[AXJ]

If I were you, I'd do this (http://www.ebay.com/) with it. ;)

[LadyAbby]

haha SOOO FUNNY AXJ! Except not at all.

[Emperor]

If I were you, I'd do this (http://www.ebay.com/) with it. ;)

word

One of the other lab monkey at uni said he wanted to get a mac, to which another replied. "so you want to pretend to do work". I laughed my head off.

you need the raw processing power of a PC. while i personally would like to tell windows to get stuffed. i am yet not lazy enough to make linux jump. until i actually need a OS better than XP, i stick with windows. vista can get lost. putting it nicely

[Sammi]

That argument may once have been able to be made, but I will here point out that Macs no longer come with proprietary hardware, so you can have all the power you want. OS X is quite a bit less prone to the things that limit the processing power of Windows machines, and it has a creamy UNIX center, which makes it pretty much the middle ground between Windows and Linux.

[mcnicks]

Abby, if you are running 10.2 then I am not sure how the Airport wireless adapter would appear in the network system preferences. If its not obviously there then you might not have a wireless card in the computer.

[LadyAbby]

Argh, so how do I get internet then? Can I get *wireless*?

ETA: Also...I think PCs suck. I <3 Apple.

[mcnicks]

It might be difficult to get the exact Airport wireless card that went with that version of the iMac. There are examples floating around on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Airport-Card-Adapter-G3-G4-iMac-802-11b-Wireless_W0QQitemZ230268531657QQihZ013QQcategoryZ8 0060QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

But with the usual eBay caveats, plus you would have to open up the iMac to install it. Instead of that, something like this might work:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-802-11g-Wireless-Network-Adapter/dp/B0006374PK

Although there might be driver issues with the old OS that is currently installed on the iMac.

There are more complicated things you can do with Wireless base stations, but that would be more expensive and ... complicated.

[LadyAbby]

*sigh* I do wish I had the money to just fly you over here, Mcnicks and pay you to make the computer do what I need it to do. :( Alas.

[AXJ]

ETA: Also...I think PCs suck. I <3 Apple.

Yeah, they sound really trouble-free. :laughing5:

[mcnicks]

Getting a six year old computer sorted out always takes a bit of work, regardless of make or model. I know people who are still using G4 Powerbook laptops quite happily, so once the teething troubles are sorted, it should function pretty well.

[cat_lover_4113]

ETA: Also...I think PCs suck. I <3 Apple.


I know what you mean. I have a PC, but how the little ribbon down the bottom with an Apple comes up with everything you need, then disappears to let you enjoy your background in peace. That is what I want on Windows :)

And the different colours for managing the window, such as green for minimize, yellow for resize, and red for quit, is so much easier to understand. (Did I get the green and yellow mixed up? Been a couple of years since I've seen an Apple.)

[TwistedFirestarter]

I know what you mean. I have a PC, but how the little ribbon down the bottom with an Apple comes up with everything you need, then disappears to let you enjoy your background in peace. That is what I want on Windows :)


ROCKET DOCK! (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Frocketdock.com%2F&ei=C8l0SMLKJ6eggwTy2ITmAg&usg=AFQjCNGrhUxT_vg28bOIctDhG9JDiHJk7w&sig2=zCcUb47VyBh-aI1HFQNgwg)

[Thuriel]

The little colored buttons instead of the min/window/close buttons are one of the things that annoy me most when I try to use a mac. *shrug* It's the little things...

[Emperor]

That argument may once have been able to be made, but I will here point out that Macs no longer come with proprietary hardware, so you can have all the power you want. OS X is quite a bit less prone to the things that limit the processing power of Windows machines, and it has a creamy UNIX center, which makes it pretty much the middle ground between Windows and Linux.

I am not sure but I looked at the mac builds. they don't seem to meet my needs.

I need duo core at least, but my boss at the uni, Dr H, wants me to help him construct something we need. a super computer with at least two quad core processor, enough ram to choke a donkey and a graphic card, for no real reason.

hence why we need a linux system, we need the power.

it is for legitmate scientific purposes. mathematical modelling and such.

personally, i happy to leave my computer on for a week to do it. he wants it done faster.

[Sammi]

I know what you mean. I have a PC, but how the little ribbon down the bottom with an Apple comes up with everything you need, then disappears to let you enjoy your background in peace. That is what I want on Windows

I don't get why people put their docks on autohide. It lets you tell at a glance what applications are running, and if you have it hidden you have to move the mouse down to check.

The little colored buttons instead of the min/window/close buttons are one of the things that annoy me most when I try to use a mac. *shrug* It's the little things...

You can change that. My Mac has all three buttons as a nice grey color ("graphite"). It's much more pleasant than the default "stoplight" scheme.

[Aimless]

This is the cutest thread ever. Go go problem-free desktop :o

I do think that was the best iMac design ever though. I don't much care for the new ones.

I want the dock to autohide because it gets in the way! :x I had a dock program on windows for a while, and it was totally sexy... and then I realised I had no need for it whatsoever.

[Sammi]

I've seen more problems with docks getting in the way when they're on autohide, because then the dock overlaps with the bottoms of your windows. But then, my resolution is fairly high and my dock is barely larger than my menu bar, so I have loads of space in between.

[cat_lover_4113]

I don't get why people put their docks on autohide. It lets you tell at a glance what applications are running, and if you have it hidden you have to move the mouse down to check.

I put mine on autohide because then I can see my background completely without something in the way. I like it when my background is just there, and nothing else is.

[Emperor]

my office mate brought a macbook, i was mildly impressed at it easy snd elegants and features. still it was small but quick, i need sheer processing grunt.

besides, my laptop is a cheap $500 job and i broke the scream already. got to figure where to fix it.

[Thuriel]

You can change that. My Mac has all three buttons as a nice grey color ("graphite"). It's much more pleasant than the default "stoplight" scheme.
Except I only ever use macs when I'm stuck in a mac-only computer lab or when I have to borrow a friend's macbook, so no changing settings for me.

Also, the buttons are on the wrong side, but that's just me being picky. ^^