pc'd off; considering a mac

[gefillmore]

I am pretty much fed up with microsoft and the pc.

Could someone argue why I should get a mac (you won't need to argue against the pc).

And/or could someone direct me to some of the better threads here that discuss this.

I use the computer basically for photography, using photoshop and a couple other smaller programs for processing.

I also use email and internet with occasional use of word processing, and listen to rhapsody.

thanks much

[DavidTO]

Wow. You're so ticked you forgot to hyphenate that entire message!!! :D

Isn't Rhapsody going away? I thought I heard that.

You can always check out Andy's Unsolicited Advice thread, sticky in the top of the gear forum, but this is fine, too.

You should get a Mac because it does everything you want on a more stable and user-friendly OS. There, I said it.

Plus, you get a Mac, you get lifetime free tech support.... from me! :D

[gefillmore]

Wow. You're so ticked you forgot to hyphenate that entire message!!! :D

Isn't Rhapsody going away? I thought I heard that.

You can always check out Andy's Unsolicited Advice thread, sticky in the top of the gear forum, but this is fine, too.

You should get a Mac because it does everything you want on a more stable and user-friendly OS. There, I said it.

Plus, you get a Mac, you get lifetime free tech support.... from me! :D

hah!

I did not forget to hyphenate.

I refrained, hoping you would answer.

Hard to beat that lifetime support!!

Had not heard anything re rhapsody; nothing would surprise me though.

Thanks much, david.


Boy, using periods seem so, well, final.

[Andy]

Dude, just do it.

Your problems will go away, leaving much time to do the important things in life-

[pathfinder]

Just do it, George.

You won't look back.

[marlof]

Just do it George. I did it. And went back. :)

Actually, I've found issues in both the Mac and the Windows world, and don't see that much of a difference in the end user experience. When my iBook died of an hardware issue a few months after its three year repair-under-warranty-window was closed, I bought a Windows notebook again. Not because I liked a Mac less than Windows, but because my wife couldn't get used to Mac OS X. I haven't actually missed Mac OS X. Nor am I glad I no longer use it. It's just a computer/operating system.

[photodoug]

I am pretty much fed up with microsoft and the pc.

Could someone argue why I should get a mac (you won't need to argue against the pc).

And/or could someone direct me to some of the better threads here that discuss this.

I use the computer basically for photography, using photoshop and a couple other smaller programs for processing.

I also use email and internet with occasional use of word processing, and listen to rhapsody.

thanks much

identify exactly why you messed up your PC....and try to find out if you'll do the same with the MAC....

not to put blame on you...but computers, on their own, usually hum along just dandy.

[gefillmore]

Dude, just do it.

Your problems will go away, leaving much time to do the important things in life-

great looking hyphen, andy.


thanks much

[gefillmore]

Just do it, George.

You won't look back.

thanks pf.

[gefillmore]

Just do it George. I did it. And went back. :)

Actually, I've found issues in both the Mac and the Windows world, and don't see that much of a difference in the end user experience. When my iBook died of an hardware issue a few months after its three year repair-under-warranty-window was closed, I bought a Windows notebook again. Not because I liked a Mac less than Windows, but because my wife couldn't get used to Mac OS X. I haven't actually missed Mac OS X. Nor am I glad I no longer use it. It's just a computer/operating system.


thanks for the input, marlof!

[gefillmore]

identify exactly why you messed up your PC....and try to find out if you'll do the same with the MAC....

not to put blame on you...but computers, on their own, usually hum along just dandy.

you definitely have a valid point and a point to seriously consider.


I do appreciate the input.

[DavidTO]

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support. :wink

[gefillmore]

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support. :wink

hah!

[maddernc]

Howdy George

I say do it, you certainly won't be any worse off.
Now to qualify my statement, I have been a software developer in the PC environment for over 10 yrs, and have had a PC of some sort all my adult life. 3 Months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and haven't looked back.
I am not bashing Microsoft, as a developer I have some appreciation of the enormity of their work but of late too many odd things have trashed my pc. Updates that have trashed low level drivers, other weird disk access issues after pc left running over night etc. Yeah you can fix it by reinstalling but who has the time. Sure your photos are backed up and on network drives but the settings in your photo processing apps are not (though you should backlup your system drives as well). Part of the joy of PCs is their tinker-ability but it comes at a price of stability.
Since I have had the Macbook, I hate to say it but the Apple thing of "It just works" has proved oh so true. I did manage to get some corrupt internal files after an update but it all kept working and when it did come to light it was repaired easily by the system utilities, no reinstall of OS required.
I still have my PC and use if for gaming etc but for the serious stuff (photos) I want a machine that is going to work day in day out and so far the MacBook Pro has provided the goods.

Regards

Cain

[gefillmore]

Howdy George

I say do it, you certainly won't be any worse off.
Now to qualify my statement, I have been a software developer in the PC environment for over 10 yrs, and have had a PC of some sort all my adult life. 3 Months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and haven't looked back.
I am not bashing Microsoft, as a developer I have some appreciation of the enormity of their work but of late too many odd things have trashed my pc. Updates that have trashed low level drivers, other weird disk access issues after pc left running over night etc. Yeah you can fix it by reinstalling but who has the time. Sure your photos are backed up and on network drives but the settings in your photo processing apps are not (though you should backlup your system drives as well). Part of the joy of PCs is their tinker-ability but it comes at a price of stability.
Since I have had the Macbook, I hate to say it but the Apple thing of "It just works" has proved oh so true. I did manage to get some corrupt internal files after an update but it all kept working and when it did come to light it was repaired easily by the system utilities, no reinstall of OS required.
I still have my PC and use if for gaming etc but for the serious stuff (photos) I want a machine that is going to work day in day out and so far the MacBook Pro has provided the goods.

Regards

Cain

some really great info.

thanks cain!

[dogwood]

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support. :wink

That's because PC's are so well designed they don't need tech support. :D

Seriously-- the tip about figuring out what went wrong is darn good advice. I work on both a Mac and PC and can promise you-- they're both equally easy to mess up on. Just my two-cents, but go with whatever OS you feel most comfortable with. You're going to be spending a lot of time together, after all.

[CatOne]

That's because PC's are so well designed they don't need tech support. :D

Seriously-- the tip about figuring out what went wrong is darn good advice. I work on both a Mac and PC and can promise you-- they're both equally easy to mess up on. Just my two-cents, but go with whatever OS you feel most comfortable with. You're going to be spending a lot of time together, after all.

I wouldn't say "equally easy." The bane of all things Windows is the registry. Seriously... that prevents things that are intuitive like "Hey, what if I want to move this application?" from having any CHANCE of actually working. Migrating a system (without cloning a la Ghost, which ONLY really works in corp environments because all PC hardware varies) on a PC is a day-long endeavor, where on a Mac it's a 15-60 minute operation. And the whole anti-virus/spyware/crap cleaner/other apps mess... just isn't necessary on the Mac. Macs REALLY don't have the problem of growing crufty with time like PCs can.

That said, yes, you can screw up a Mac, if you're determined to do so. But let's put it this way -- how many of us, if we were to support mom or grandma, would rather support her if she were using a Windows machine than a Mac? Q.E.D.

Anyway, now that I've addressed that without possibility of reproach -- on to the original question -- for photography (Photoshop and whatever else), email, web, etc., the Mac will be fantastic. If you're using Photoshop on the PC you can probably get a crossgrade to the Mac version from Adobe as well, if you call and ask.

[DavidTO]

Migrating a Mac is so ridiculously easy and cool to do. My dad just did it to move his iMac to his new MacBook. Everything worked flawlessly, like he never left the iMac.

[gefillmore]

thank you pete and catone

let's say I go with a mac

I don't believe in going barebones, because that's obsolete before you go out the door.

but on the other hand, I'm not so sure about 2 x quad core processors and 8 gig of ram!

what are anybody's thoughts on a decent setup?



and thanks again all for your responses!

[DavidTO]

thank you pete and catone

let's say I go with a mac

I don't believe in going barebones, because that's obsolete before you go out the door.

but on the other hand, I'm not so sure about 2 x quad core processors and 8 gig of ram!

what are anybody's thoughts on a decent setup?



and thanks again all for your responses!


If you're getting the MacPro, then just get the stock unit and upgrade the RAM from crucial.com.

Get a few drives for the bays.

[dogwood]

I wouldn't say "equally easy."

You didn't have to-- I already did. :rofl

Really-- I work on both in very technical situations (professional audio editing on the Mac, professional photo editing on the PC) and I prefer a PC. But I see guys on Macs who whip right through all kinds of amazing stuff at blazing speeds. I can do that on a PC, but it's never as easy on a Mac-- for me. It really comes down to how comfortable you are with one system or another-- but that's just my two-cents. I work with IT guys who swear by Macs, but set me up side by side with a similar speced PC, and I guarantee I can do everything just as fast as them. Not saying one is better-- it all depends on the user.

Then again, did I mention that's just my opinion?

[SloYerRoll]

From the amount of work it sounds lke your going to do. I'd go w/ an iMac (http://www.apple.com/imac/).
You are absolutely right that a 2x quad w/ 8GB of RAM is a little excessive for your needs. When you start using apps like final cut pro (video editing) and are batch processing 200+ photos every time you do post production. You need to buy a Mac Pro.

The iMacs (http://www.apple.com/imac/) are rock solid and have all the functionality it sounds like you need at almost half the price of the Mac Pro's.
Con's w/ iMacs though: upgrading is next to impossible after you buy it (get the 3GB RAM option from the jump). It's a sealed case. The monitor, hard drive, mobo, optical drive, usb's all are in one sweet little white box. Good thing is your entire computer is one sweet little white box that fits on your desktop in less space than your old CRT probably took up. W/o the disaster of wires too.

Another boon to Mac's in general is OS X maintains itself by validating it's file structure when it knows your not using the machine and blah blah blah keep you Mac running smooth and fast automatically. So two years down the road when you launch photoshop, it will still launch at the same speed that it did when you first got it. If not, TO will make sure it does:wink.

Whatever you decide to pick, remember there is a small learning curve and things will seem to disorient you. No worries though. This will pass and you'll be stuck on Macs like so many others.
Oh yea, don't turn your mac off at night.

NOTE: I'm actually switching back to PC. This is just because it's more cost effective though. I can build a real banshee of a machine for less than half a Mac Pro costs. And this PC build will smoke a stock Mac Pro. If I had an extra 3500 I'd stick w/ a Mac. But the mighty dollar and performance means much more to me than sticking w/ a name brand. I also know how to avoid the pitfalls of a PC slowing down as well which is a huge help.

[DavidTO]

I recommend an iMac, too. I was just responding to what I thought George was going for.

Why do you say not to turn your Mac off at night? If it's for cron jobs, use Macaroni. It works a charm.

[SloYerRoll]

I recommend an iMac, too. I was just responding to what I thought George was going for.

Why do you say not to turn your Mac off at night? If it's for cron jobs, use Macaroni. It works a charm.I edited my post when I re-read. I saw you weren't pushing the mac pro's.
I use macaroni too. Works like a champ. Just don't want to inundate George w/ too much mac stuff from the jump. Might scare him off before he takes the plunge. Once he gets drawn into your Andy advice thread (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=7386). He'll have more than he can handle for a long time.

All the best.

[dogwood]

Oh yeah-- one other question for Mac users that is very specific to SM-- is uploading an issue? I use star*explorer and can't imagine life without it-- but I regularly upload 200-300 photos from events. I'm honestly curious because life before S*E was pretty bleak when it came to uploads.

[SloYerRoll]

Oh yeah-- one other question for Mac users that is very specific to SM-- is uploading an issue? I use star*explorer and can't imagine life without it-- but I regularly upload 200-300 photos from events. I'm honestly curious because life before S*E was pretty bleak when it came to uploads.
I can't speak for anyone but myself. But the SM uploader bites major donkey on a G4 OS X 10.4.10.
I can't get past 150 photos w/o it crashing on me. One of the things I really don't like about it crashing is that SM spends a long time "processing" the photos so I can't see the last image that was uploaded until they are done on their side. Then I have to reference the photo to find out where to continue my upload. :splat

[quark]

Just do Ubuntu! Seriously - take a look. You can test drive it on your current PC using the "Live CD" to make sure it will work with your hardware. It offers many of the benefits of the Mac (registry issues, etc) plus you can run a "virtual" windows computer for anything you found you left behind.

Good free stuff .... http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

[gefillmore]

thanks slo, pete, david

quark

I've thought about the linux route but I am not tech oriented.

and I know ubuntu's supposed to be ok for an intermediate? user, but I do not impress myself to be even at that point sometimes.

I just want something to work where I don't have to call tech support or reload all my stuff on to the computer.

if I'm not working, all I want to do is photography.

and 90% of that time is photoshop.

(I do go out and take pics from time to time)



(keep forgetting to leave the hyphens off; ain't easy)

[DavidTO]

Nobody has written an uploader as feature-rich as S*E on the Mac side. But I've also had good luck with SmugBrowser, the Universal Uploader, PictureSync to name a few. I don't know where all the "choking" problems come from, I've had none.

[thebigsky]

NOTE: I'm actually switching back to PC. This is just because it's more cost effective though. I can build a real banshee of a machine for less than half a Mac Pro costs. And this PC build will smoke a stock Mac Pro. If I had an extra 3500 I'd stick w/ a Mac. But the mighty dollar and performance means much more to me than sticking w/ a name brand. I also know how to avoid the pitfalls of a PC slowing down as well which is a huge help.

Hi, what spec will you be building?

Charlie

[CatOne]

Just do Ubuntu! Seriously - take a look. You can test drive it on your current PC using the "Live CD" to make sure it will work with your hardware. It offers many of the benefits of the Mac (registry issues, etc) plus you can run a "virtual" windows computer for anything you found you left behind.

Good free stuff .... http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

ROFL, dude. How are you going to run Photoshop?

Oh, that's right. You can't. But there's GIMP! Well... where's the 1D mark III RAW decoder for that?

Let's be realistic here. For photography use, there are huge numbers of holes with Linux. No Photoshop, No Aperture, No Lightroom, No ANYTHING commercial.

So let's scratch that off the list. I think, perhaps, you thought you were posting on Slashdot?

[CatOne]

Oh yeah-- one other question for Mac users that is very specific to SM-- is uploading an issue? I use star*explorer and can't imagine life without it-- but I regularly upload 200-300 photos from events. I'm honestly curious because life before S*E was pretty bleak when it came to uploads.

Uploading isn't an issue for me. There's a Smugmug uploader that you can just drop all your photos on, as a default.

But I'm using Aperture, and there are a couple "Aperture to Smugmug" plug-ins that work great (There is one annoyance with Aperture2Smugmug that I'm using where setting filenames is a bit of a pain). But anyway, I just select a group of photos, and select "upload to Smugmug," they're then converted to JPEG with my settings, and uploaded, either to a pre-existing gallery or a new one (I can create it with all the settings from within Aperture). A couple weeks back I took about 1000 shots of a couple bike races -- got home and sorted through them, edited them, keyworded them, and uploaded about 400 to Smugmug... whole thing took about 1.5 hours from the time I put the first CF card in the computer until they were all up on the 'mug.

http://blloyd.smugmug.com/gallery/3056571

http://blloyd.smugmug.com/gallery/3055548

[CatOne]

You didn't have to-- I already did. :rofl

Really-- I work on both in very technical situations (professional audio editing on the Mac, professional photo editing on the PC) and I prefer a PC. But I see guys on Macs who whip right through all kinds of amazing stuff at blazing speeds. I can do that on a PC, but it's never as easy on a Mac-- for me. It really comes down to how comfortable you are with one system or another-- but that's just my two-cents. I work with IT guys who swear by Macs, but set me up side by side with a similar speced PC, and I guarantee I can do everything just as fast as them. Not saying one is better-- it all depends on the user.

Then again, did I mention that's just my opinion?

Heh, yeah, you mentioned that :wink

I agree it's possible to be equally productive on both, for the right class of person. However, there is more IT overhead on the PC side of things, for the average user. Specifically, the whole "how do I keep this system running smoothly" and "how do I easily migrate systems" are things where you really DO need to do more work on the PC side of things, if you don't want to have DOOM set in at some point :rofl

[SloYerRoll]

Hi, what spec will you be building?

Charlie Disclaimer: Unless you have good friends in the hardware biz, your not going to find a setup like this for under 3k. The only thing I'm paying retail for is the processor (OUCH:cry).
It's a quid pro quo thing...

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (overclocked to 3.73GHz)
4GB Dual-Channel DDR2 Using 2 (2)GB chips (can upgrade to 8GB when needed since I have 4 DIMMS)
1 (1)TB Single Serial ATA Hard Drive w/ 10 partitions & Data Burst (which is irrelevant due to the RAm I have)
1 (100)GB Single Serial ATA Hard Drive for the OS (making it in essence multiple serials)
Dual 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Fiber Bus Architecture
PCI: 3 Slots
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 2 Slots
PCIe x8: 1 Slot
750 Watt PS (There was a 1KW PS off a nuclear sub or something, but I would have to have paid retail)
Some sound blaster card. Not sure which one since I don't really listen to that much music off my computers.

Back to the much more intelligent discussion of why macs are so cool and PC's don't hold a candle to them:rofl:rofl:rofl
No reason for the Mac guys n gals to take offense though. I'm a definite apple fan.

[thebigsky]

Disclaimer: Unless you have good friends in the hardware biz, your not going to find a setup like this for under 3k. The only thing I'm paying retail for is the processor (OUCH:cry).
It's a quid pro quo thing...



Ah, that makes more sense, I recently looked into building a PC rig to match the power of my Mac Pro and couldn't get anywhere near the value of the Mac, even an equally specified ready built Dell was more expensive.

Mind you hardware is more expensive in the UK as well.

Charlie

[SloYerRoll]

Ah, that makes more sense, I recently looked into building a PC rig to match the power of my Mac Pro and couldn't get anywhere near the value of the Mac, even an equally specified ready built Dell was more expensive.

Mind you hardware is more expensive in the UK as well.

Charlie Charlie,
You can definitely find a PC for 1.5 - 2k that will pick a fight w/ a Mac Pro and walk away w/ only minor scuffs.
Not sure about the UK side of things though.
Dell has an incredibly low profit margin. Something like 2.2% or something ridiculous like that. You are still paying for the markup though and the cost of having technicians build your 'custom' PC. (Or paying for the maintence of Super robot arms to build it)
If you buy all the parts separate and assemble them. You can save more than half. Tiger Direct (http://www.tigerdirect.com/) is a great place to start when looking for component level electronics.
I hold to my word that you can build A PC that can win against a STOCK Mac Pro for much less than a Mac Pro.
My machine would look at a stock machine and stick some peanut butter in it's optical bay and walk away.
FYI: It's the fiver bus architecture that really make this a no fair fight. There's nothing special about the rest of this setup.

[DavidTO]

I hold to my word that you can build A PC that can win against a STOCK Mac Pro for much less than a Mac Pro.


Include your time doing research and building it, and the gap narrows considerably. Not to mention that you're stuck with a PC! :wink

But seriously, I don't think Apple can/should compete with the do-it-yourselfer. That'd be silly. :D

[SloYerRoll]

Include your time doing research and building it, and the gap narrows considerably. Not to mention that you're stuck with a PC! :wink Touche!

But seriously, I don't think Apple can/should compete with the do-it-yourselfer. That'd be silly. :DYou are correct sir. Businesses are in business to make money!

[mrbill62]

If you buy all the parts separate and assemble them. You can save more than half. Tiger Direct (http://www.tigerdirect.com/) is a great place to start when looking for component level electronics.


You might look at newegg (http://www.newegg.com) , great prices and service.


To get back to the OP:
If you have access to an Apple Store, CompUsa, or similar place where you can get your hands on one, try out a Mac. For the use you describe, I would recommend the iMac. If you are looking for value, check the online Apple Store in the "Special Deals" section for refurbished machines:
20" iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, Radeon X1600 128 MB $1299
24" iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, GeForce 7300GT 128 MB $1699
Mac Pro Quad 2.66 GHz Xeon 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB $2199

Never buy your extra RAM from Apple (overpriced), I use OWC - great service.

Good luck on your choice.

[gefillmore]

You might look at newegg (http://www.newegg.com) , great prices and service.


To get back to the OP:
If you have access to an Apple Store, CompUsa, or similar place where you can get your hands on one, try out a Mac. For the use you describe, I would recommend the iMac. If you are looking for value, check the online Apple Store in the "Special Deals" section for refurbished machines:
20" iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, Radeon X1600 128 MB $1299
24" iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, GeForce 7300GT 128 MB $1699
Mac Pro Quad 2.66 GHz Xeon 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB $2199

Never buy your extra RAM from Apple (overpriced), I use OWC - great service.



Good luck on your choice.



thanks much mr bill-

[BRATCH]

Two reasons why you should get a Mac.

1) Up until about 6 months ago the only place I could get a certified Apple technician to service my Macs was almost 2 hours away. And in another state. It's only 30 minutes away now.

2) None of that matters because you never need them anyway.

It all works because Apple builds the computers and makes the operating system.

If you want to stop working on your computer and start using it, Mac is the only way to go.

Mac - :beatwax- Windows.

[Ann McRae]

:bash:bash:bash

The DH just called to ask
"How many of the photos on the new computer are important? It won't boot up". This is the PC that we bought 4 weeks ago, when the old one died a miserable death by viral infection. The portable hard drive that is home to the last two years of RAW files is infected and sitting idle, so my current backup for all the team photography of the last month is what I've managed to upload to smugmug. About $1K in deliverables not delivered yet......on the new machine, waiting customer approval:splat:splat:splat:splat


I am pretty sure that the originals are also still on the P2000, since I am cautious enough to not delete until delivered.

But I gotta tell you, he heard from the computer sales guy
"ditch Norton, it has holes"
He heard from me
"Please put AVG on the new machine, please"

Me thinks my tax return will go into apple's pocket book and the dh can figure out how to pay our property taxes.


Oh, let me tell ya, my avatar today is not nearly prickly enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DavidTO]

:bash:bash:bash



Sorry to hear of your troubles. That truly sucks. Hope it works out for you!

[Dee]

:bash:bash:bash

The DH just called to ask
"How many of the photos on the new computer are important? It won't boot up". This is the PC that we bought 4 weeks ago, when the old one died a miserable death by viral infection. The portable hard drive that is home to the last two years of RAW files is infected and sitting idle, so my current backup for all the team photography of the last month is what I've managed to upload to smugmug. About $1K in deliverables not delivered yet......on the new machine, waiting customer approval:splat:splat:splat:splat


I am pretty sure that the originals are also still on the P2000, since I am cautious enough to not delete until delivered.

But I gotta tell you, he heard from the computer sales guy
"ditch Norton, it has holes"
He heard from me
"Please put AVG on the new machine, please"

Me thinks my tax return will go into apple's pocket book and the dh can figure out how to pay our property taxes.


Oh, let me tell ya, my avatar today is not nearly prickly enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry to hear this. Maybe the PC will boot up after all? Back in the days when we had Mac viruses (thanks to a temp who "had" to share a program she had to make this little add on so the Mac would be more like a PC program she just had to share with our employee who prefered PCs) we had one nasty virus. The darn thing installed itself on every zip disk that the designers used, and I had to hire someone to sit and put every zip through the computer and remove the virus from them. Then we accidentally (I didn't know about the virus, the designers didn't want to tell me!!!!) sent a zip to the service bureau, who caught it. I had a heck of a time getting rid of it on all the computers and floppies and zips!

If that weren't bad enough, one of our clients had the Word Macro Viruses... and even though we informed her, we kept getting infected files from her. I finally demanded that the boss give me any media she gave him so I could run it through or anti virus software before handing it to the designers. They just couldn't be bothered running the media thru the anti virus before using the data!

Fortunately these days things are better... but I feel your pain! I hope you can get your photos back.

Do you make a habit of backing them up to CD as soon as you download your client-type photos?

Of course, back in the old days, a CD got infected too... but that's another story. I finally got everything cleaned up, and the designers got a lecture about checking for viruses FIRST... :D

I hope everything works out for you.

[Ann McRae]

Just got word, after my rant here and at him, that he has it back working and is installing the proper anti virus software.

Good thing too, cuz it's his birthday and I really wouldn't want to wish him angry thoughts for his birthday................

[colourbox]

Oh yea, don't turn your mac off at night.

I disagree with this, though. The maintenance scripts work differently in 10.4 (http://www.macfixitforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tiger&Number=787933). Maintenance scripts will be run by the system at the next opportunity if the overnight schedule is missed (in most cases).

I took a look at how many watts my Mac Pro system uses when operating, and decided if I'm not using it for a time period equal to overnight or more, I sleep it or shut it down. Especially now, during the summer, when I really don't need to be paying to run a space heater* when I'm trying to cool down my house at night.

*not to mention the energy waste and carbon/climate implications of that