Looking at the steps to check it looks like it comes in via Safari. I have run Chrome for along time now, never run Safari and I didnt have the virus.
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N
Nala
That was my thoughts as well, I'd never recommend Safari and have always used Firefox, both FF and Chrome are much better browsers.
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As an aside, although one person mentioned it, so many people recommending one switch to an apple machine tell stories of how their rubbish budget PC was terrible, and then they switched to a premium apple product and they're never going back.
Of course a laptop costing 1-2k is going to be a lot better than an ancient budget HP or Dell bought from PC World several years ago for about £300.
In terms of hardware, Apple can certainly be matched.
For a bit of balance, take a look at the Asus Zenbook, which in many ways is superior to a MacBook Air.
http://uk.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX31E/
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/21/asus-zenbook-ux31-review/
The Asus Transformer Prime can also be argued to be superior to the iPad.
I haven't used any Asus products, but they top the reliability charts and I believe they make the MacBooks for Apple, at least rumours indicated that was the case before.
Apple, despite being great at user interface design (albeit perhaps more restrictive, and resource intensive) actually are massively behind PCs in terms of user input. You can't get an Apple pen driven tablet or laptop (bar a modbook), nor touch input all in one Media PCs.
I personally use a Lenovo laptop/convertible tablet that has both wacom digitiser pen input and multi touch. The pen is very useful. Touch perhaps less so, but with windows 8 coming out it may prove to be a nice feature. Being able to spin the globe in Google Earth with my fingers on a full powered laptop is fun for a minute as well.
Microsoft, despite the historical clunkiness of Windows has spent a lot of effort on integrating handwriting recognition and so forth.
So whilst Apple products are marketed as catering to creatives, digital artists are actually better off with a PC in many ways.
PCs are inherently more flexible, in terms of the hardware, and windows is more flexible than Mac OS.
Although if you opt for a device that competes with a Apple product in style, you often lose much of that flexibility.
I was considering a MacBook Pro, after all you can run windows on it, and it'd be nice to try OS X, and have a decent looking machine with a good spec that's reasonably slim and portable. However, at 2k, and with only 8GB of ram (just two slots), that's a serious premium for something that may not even be up for the job as a desktop replacement. For 2k you can get a Lenovo W series which can have 32GB of Ram and much higher spec/flexibility - a true mobile workstation. Or, for around 1k you can get an Asus N55 at the same or higher spec, and it looks decent too.
I really think it's time Apple supported pen input, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.
So to the OP, by all means try a MacBook or iMac, but you'll be paying a premium, and the only major difference is the OS, as similar styled and built products exist elsewhere.
Your best bet is probably to try OS X to see if you get on with it.
Of course a laptop costing 1-2k is going to be a lot better than an ancient budget HP or Dell bought from PC World several years ago for about £300.
In terms of hardware, Apple can certainly be matched.
For a bit of balance, take a look at the Asus Zenbook, which in many ways is superior to a MacBook Air.
http://uk.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX31E/
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/21/asus-zenbook-ux31-review/
The Asus Transformer Prime can also be argued to be superior to the iPad.
I haven't used any Asus products, but they top the reliability charts and I believe they make the MacBooks for Apple, at least rumours indicated that was the case before.
Apple, despite being great at user interface design (albeit perhaps more restrictive, and resource intensive) actually are massively behind PCs in terms of user input. You can't get an Apple pen driven tablet or laptop (bar a modbook), nor touch input all in one Media PCs.
I personally use a Lenovo laptop/convertible tablet that has both wacom digitiser pen input and multi touch. The pen is very useful. Touch perhaps less so, but with windows 8 coming out it may prove to be a nice feature. Being able to spin the globe in Google Earth with my fingers on a full powered laptop is fun for a minute as well.
Microsoft, despite the historical clunkiness of Windows has spent a lot of effort on integrating handwriting recognition and so forth.
So whilst Apple products are marketed as catering to creatives, digital artists are actually better off with a PC in many ways.
PCs are inherently more flexible, in terms of the hardware, and windows is more flexible than Mac OS.
Although if you opt for a device that competes with a Apple product in style, you often lose much of that flexibility.
I was considering a MacBook Pro, after all you can run windows on it, and it'd be nice to try OS X, and have a decent looking machine with a good spec that's reasonably slim and portable. However, at 2k, and with only 8GB of ram (just two slots), that's a serious premium for something that may not even be up for the job as a desktop replacement. For 2k you can get a Lenovo W series which can have 32GB of Ram and much higher spec/flexibility - a true mobile workstation. Or, for around 1k you can get an Asus N55 at the same or higher spec, and it looks decent too.
I really think it's time Apple supported pen input, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.
So to the OP, by all means try a MacBook or iMac, but you'll be paying a premium, and the only major difference is the OS, as similar styled and built products exist elsewhere.
Your best bet is probably to try OS X to see if you get on with it.
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I've been Windows user, Linux user and Mac user for few years now. Never ever look back (as of today).
I lost my nerves with Windows, I don't like Win 7, there is one at home for some exceptional cases. I got tired of having to look for libraries when installing anything on Linux. Mac is expensive yeah but never consider looking back. I have a 2009 mac book pro. If you can, stop considering. Yeah a mini would be a nice thing to try and keep using your current hw, well you'll do better with a mac keyboard anyway.
I lost my nerves with Windows, I don't like Win 7, there is one at home for some exceptional cases. I got tired of having to look for libraries when installing anything on Linux. Mac is expensive yeah but never consider looking back. I have a 2009 mac book pro. If you can, stop considering. Yeah a mini would be a nice thing to try and keep using your current hw, well you'll do better with a mac keyboard anyway.
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S
SemperfyLTD
You will hear a lot of biased opinions regarding how good macs are, especially this day in age. I am replying to give you an opinion based on what you actually get for your money.
Hardware :
iMacs, Mac Pros, and Mac Books. They all run with intel chips these days... These are great processors. However, you can have them in almost any brand of computer or home built machine, and it will probably cost less.
This is the same for most other parts of the inside of a mac, they are built from off the shelf components, that you can buy on many websites and build yourself. This is common knowledge in computing science based industries.
Software :
This is the part of a machine that makes a mac, a mac. This operating system is considered very slick and reliable. Again though, please consider the fact that it is built on unix, which is an open source technology which apple have not had to pay for, and have clearly marketed as their own operating system. Considering that this software is the reason that a mac costs so much, it is odd that there are actually free unix based operating systems that are just as good, prettier, and in some cases actually more reliable and faster!
I own two macs, they cost me a lot of money, I have 2 linux based machines which blow them out of the water and both of them combined don't even come close to the price of one of my macs.
They are pretty though. That is my main positive piece of feedback regarding these machines.
Hardware :
iMacs, Mac Pros, and Mac Books. They all run with intel chips these days... These are great processors. However, you can have them in almost any brand of computer or home built machine, and it will probably cost less.
This is the same for most other parts of the inside of a mac, they are built from off the shelf components, that you can buy on many websites and build yourself. This is common knowledge in computing science based industries.
Software :
This is the part of a machine that makes a mac, a mac. This operating system is considered very slick and reliable. Again though, please consider the fact that it is built on unix, which is an open source technology which apple have not had to pay for, and have clearly marketed as their own operating system. Considering that this software is the reason that a mac costs so much, it is odd that there are actually free unix based operating systems that are just as good, prettier, and in some cases actually more reliable and faster!
I own two macs, they cost me a lot of money, I have 2 linux based machines which blow them out of the water and both of them combined don't even come close to the price of one of my macs.
They are pretty though. That is my main positive piece of feedback regarding these machines.
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Apples and oranges.
- Vista was always crap. It was the world's most prolonged Beta for Windows 7. Savvy PC users skipped straight from XP to W7. Not your fault that you've got Vista, just given bad advice at some stage
- You're comparing a laptop at least a couple of years old with the latest imac. Laptops age fast.
- More realistic would be to compare a NEW off the shelf laptop running W7 with the latest imac. I doubt that you'd see significant performance differences, yet the PC would be a fraction of the Mac price.
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T
TCCuk
The thing about macs is that they are overpriced, and for the spec you get for your money with a mac, you can get a PC with twice the spec, I agree the operating system is probably better than windows as they spend money on fixing the faults and looking at error reports and windows don't seem to do this.
You can build your own top of the range computer, with a 120GB SSD HD, good Intel processor, RAM and a 1 TB HDD for the price you can get a mac, although macs do look better and are more fancy, I think they're a rip off.
You can build your own top of the range computer, with a 120GB SSD HD, good Intel processor, RAM and a 1 TB HDD for the price you can get a mac, although macs do look better and are more fancy, I think they're a rip off.
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If you dare you can always try to play with one by building a hackintosh go to hackint0sh.org That's how I started with a mac and then bought the real one. It is not a piece of cake to build one unless you have the right HW from the beginning though.
People claim that with less price you get the same as a mac. They seem to forget that the level of integration and optimization on the mac hw and the mac os is better than the same hw with windows os.
Yes you pay more. There are two things in which I spent money and have never regretted.
1- Paying a laser operation for my eyes
2- Buying my macbook pro
My next computer will be another mac. Someday.
People claim that with less price you get the same as a mac. They seem to forget that the level of integration and optimization on the mac hw and the mac os is better than the same hw with windows os.
Yes you pay more. There are two things in which I spent money and have never regretted.
1- Paying a laser operation for my eyes
2- Buying my macbook pro
My next computer will be another mac. Someday.
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The real reason behind that is that Apple charges high a price to fund their researches. IT just goes back to the customers anyway. No wonder why they been surprising the world with their technologies.
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M
MancunianCreative
I love the 'twice the price' for same spec of a pc argument makes me laugh.
When I buy an Apple computer, it is for the compatibility, I have an iPad, iPhone, iMac and Macbook Pro so I want them all to work together as best as possible. I also buy because they a beautifully made. I get joy from using the products that I never got with my Windows PCs.
When I buy an Apple computer, it is for the compatibility, I have an iPad, iPhone, iMac and Macbook Pro so I want them all to work together as best as possible. I also buy because they a beautifully made. I get joy from using the products that I never got with my Windows PCs.
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How did you come to this conclusion? What Windows based laptop/pc/phone did you buy that cost roughly the same as an Apple equivalent?
I bet you've never purchased a "premium" level Windows based system in your life. Same as most the people that comment on the Apple vs Windows debate. They compare "Apples and Oranges"...
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M
MancunianCreative
You'd be wrong with that assumption. I spent £2,400 on a PC tower only in 2007. Which is way more than anything I've spent on the 27" iMac or MacBooks I've bought since.
I wanted to try them out which is why I made the switch. The iPhone quite possibly influenced that.
I wanted to try them out which is why I made the switch. The iPhone quite possibly influenced that.
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M
MancunianCreative
It was custom built. Quad core. 2 x 750 gb hdds and 2x 1gb of GeForce nvidia graphics card. And an enormous alien style neon case.
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thats the question answered.
i still switch between the two, have a pretty decent PC by overclockers which is faultless, i prefer editing images on the Mac, picture is much better but the PC i still like.
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M
MancunianCreative
Bottom line is Apple make it easy for me. The equipment looks and feels great. I love it when all my stuff matches. I did it with Sony TV, laptop, stereo etc in the early 2000s Apple are top of the tree right now and I'm enjoying owning and using their stuff.
And on a serious note is there a better looking device to use than the 27" iMac with wireless keyboard and magic mouse? All glass and aluminium, bright powerful, sleek.
And on a serious note is there a better looking device to use than the 27" iMac with wireless keyboard and magic mouse? All glass and aluminium, bright powerful, sleek.
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i agree, i went the whole samsung tv blah blah route, going to get a 27" imac in the next few months,
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All style and no thought to ergonomics when it comes to their mice and keyboards. I had to get rid of mine within a month of owning my 27" iMac. How can you possibly use that mouse for extended periods?? With regards to the keyboard, i was fed up of writing emails and noticing half way through I was in CAPS as the shift key hadn't worked when i pressed it. Apparently this is a design 'feature', you have to hit it harder than other keys so you don't press it by accident due to the keys all being so close together. It's the same on my Air. So now I have a nice shiny iMac connected up to Microsoft mouse and keyboard.
I visit a lot of design agencies, from small setups to large multi nationals, most serious users always have their apples connected up to other brands mice and keyboards. One I visited the other day seemed to have MacOS running on what looked like a PC? No idea how they do that :|
Just upped the RAM in mine to it's max 16GB, very disappointed to be honest, I was hoping for the improved speed and multi tasking I was first promised when switching to MAC. I can honestly say that I have noticed a LOSS of speed and multi tasking when running my programmes on my mac compared to my PC (which was nearly identical in terms of specs). I use image editing programmes such as Adobe and a few lesser known apps.
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They aren't even 'shower proof' 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...000-worth-MacBooks-peeing-school-hallway.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...000-worth-MacBooks-peeing-school-hallway.html
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E
eventdomain
Thanks for the replies - ok, mmmm, seems like the Mac IS v attractive in style, perhaps easier to use, matching equipment if that appeals - but with talk surrounding its general processing speed not being upto the mark when increasing a simple thing like RAM, combined with the hefty price tag, I'm put off frankly...
Maybe I'd be thinking differently had I ever used a Mac - I dunno, and I won't know unless I fork out the £900, and to do that just to find out what's what for myself, its too risky as I could get an extra laptop and extra equipment for my PC's or something.
Maybe I'd be thinking differently had I ever used a Mac - I dunno, and I won't know unless I fork out the £900, and to do that just to find out what's what for myself, its too risky as I could get an extra laptop and extra equipment for my PC's or something.
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Do yourself a favour, go into any dealer selling Mac stuff and play with one, you will soon see the difference for yourself.
Don't make a decision without getting the facts.
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Do yourself a favour, go into any dealer selling Mac stuff and play with one, you will soon see the difference for yourself.
Don't make a decision without getting the facts.
I've tried that, I spent a couple of hours on a Mac at a friend's house to try to understand the appeal.
I found the ergonomics shocking. The keyboard and mouse are awful, the screen seemed eyeball searingly bright and I couldn't find a comfortable setting for brightness/contrast. IMHO all style and "design" at the expense of usability and genuine quality. Reminiscent of B&O hifi products.
For the most part I love Apple products. I've got an ipad and I'm going to get an ipad 3 when they've been out for a while, Mrs McC has an iphone and I like it so much that I'm going to get one when I swap next, and Ms McC's ipod Touch looks brilliant. But I just don't get the Mac at all.
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Fair do's
looks like a mac is just not your cup of tea
As for the mouse, i use a pen tablet, way better.
dave
looks like a mac is just not your cup of tea
As for the mouse, i use a pen tablet, way better.
dave
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This thread could go on forever... And still remain unanswered!
Bit like... should I get a dog, as I already have a cat?
It's all a matter of personal taste/needs...
Just remember folks, a dog isn't just for Christmas....
Pete
Bit like... should I get a dog, as I already have a cat?
It's all a matter of personal taste/needs...
Just remember folks, a dog isn't just for Christmas....
Pete
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Not really enough time Tom imho. I got my first powerbook back in 2003, hated it. I guess the biggest frustration at the time was not knowing where things were and how to actually use the OS.
The problem was I applied my 'windows thinking' to it. And that was back in the days when compatibility, and the choice of apps was poor. Whole different ball game now.
The problem with these threads when they come up is that a mac user will typically have been a windows user for many years but a windows user will have only had a very small exposure to a mac.
I use both, you cant get sql server on mac, in fact you cant get a decent industrial strength on OS X period. Theres things that frustrate me about both. Bottom line for me is OS X is an awesome OS, WinXP is an awesome OS, anything past this that MS have developed is all show and no go.
Gary
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My quarrel was more with the hardware ergonomics than OSX, which didn't really bother me as I've used many varieties of opsys in the last 30 years.
FWIW I like XP a lot, I loathe Vista with a deep hatred, and I think that W7 is better than XP. My 4GB mini-tower running W7X64 goes like a rocket with everything I can throw at it, including SQL Server, SAP B1, VStudio, Virtual PC sessions etc.
FWIW I like XP a lot, I loathe Vista with a deep hatred, and I think that W7 is better than XP. My 4GB mini-tower running W7X64 goes like a rocket with everything I can throw at it, including SQL Server, SAP B1, VStudio, Virtual PC sessions etc.
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I think that most people buy mac just because they want something different (or want to look like they are different). There are more psychological than logical reasons. But anyway, if using mac makes you feel better and the double price doesn't bother you, then go ahead
What's the pc version of a mac mini??
Don't think there is one, but they are a fantastic bit of kit.
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PCs like a mac mini have actually been around for ages. There's a whole community that make PCs in hi fi like cases.
http://apcmag.com/the-best-media-centre-pc-you-can-build-today.htm
That's a media centre PC.
They tend to be more expensive than mac mini's though.
Two hi end PC case manufacturers are Lian Li and Silverstone. Both Taiwenese, with a penchant for high quality aluminium. A media centre case like that'll fetch around 130 pounds though, and their top of the range desktop cases go for 100 pounds more.
Here's a Lian Li Mini ITX case: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=603&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64
Or an even smaller one: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=602&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64
And regarding the PC running Mac OS, that's a hackintosh. Quite a job to achieve apparently, and again with a community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackintosh
A lot of people don't realise that you can have seriously high quality PC kit that easily rivals or even beats apple's. It's just not on the high street that's all, bit of a niche.
And it's not like you have to do it yourself, I'm sure there are plenty of people or companies out there willing to put together a high end luxury PC.
So again, the key difference between a PC and Mac really comes down to OSX.
PS. This gives you an idea what high end PC case can look like, much like power mac: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=242&area=en
http://apcmag.com/the-best-media-centre-pc-you-can-build-today.htm
That's a media centre PC.
They tend to be more expensive than mac mini's though.
Two hi end PC case manufacturers are Lian Li and Silverstone. Both Taiwenese, with a penchant for high quality aluminium. A media centre case like that'll fetch around 130 pounds though, and their top of the range desktop cases go for 100 pounds more.
Here's a Lian Li Mini ITX case: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=603&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64
Or an even smaller one: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=602&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64
And regarding the PC running Mac OS, that's a hackintosh. Quite a job to achieve apparently, and again with a community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackintosh
A lot of people don't realise that you can have seriously high quality PC kit that easily rivals or even beats apple's. It's just not on the high street that's all, bit of a niche.
And it's not like you have to do it yourself, I'm sure there are plenty of people or companies out there willing to put together a high end luxury PC.
So again, the key difference between a PC and Mac really comes down to OSX.
PS. This gives you an idea what high end PC case can look like, much like power mac: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=242&area=en
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I Have both a Mac and a PC..
The mac has clever uses which make some things much easier, but when doing general business - I prefer a normal PC..
The differences which are well known i.e PC ctrl C/V/P are now on the mac as Command.. the same, likewise now most non mac laptops have a smart pad 'esque' mouse unit meaning you can zoom in to things much like on an iphone.
Therefore as the two are much less estranged in many ways, its just a case of preference..
I prefer to use both.. when I go away, the Mac comes, but I only ever use the PC for business!
I suppose you could say the mac is my mistress!
JP
The mac has clever uses which make some things much easier, but when doing general business - I prefer a normal PC..
The differences which are well known i.e PC ctrl C/V/P are now on the mac as Command.. the same, likewise now most non mac laptops have a smart pad 'esque' mouse unit meaning you can zoom in to things much like on an iphone.
Therefore as the two are much less estranged in many ways, its just a case of preference..
I prefer to use both.. when I go away, the Mac comes, but I only ever use the PC for business!
I suppose you could say the mac is my mistress!
JP
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