I have done it

I have ordered a mac mini pro, the BT shop have it a bit cheaper than others and I am paying it in 3 monthly interest free payments, well why not, I have enough money save to pay for it, but why not do it that way?
I just hope I made the right choice, £1316 is a lot of money for a computer.

You won't be disappointed.

Remember, if you are not used to Macs then there is a bit of a learning curve. For the most part if you find your self thinking: "This is how it looks like it should work", then that is how it will work. But it wouldn't be Apple without a few quirks.

In reply to a post by ian_c:

You won't be disappointed.

Remember, if you are not used to Macs then there is a bit of a learning curve. For the most part if you find your self thinking: "This is how it looks like it should work", then that is how it will work. But it wouldn't be Apple without a few quirks.

The moving files will be a bit strange, no right click and dragging and selecting move.
I text a friend who have been a MAc users for years, she is over the moon and said I have finally seen sense. We will see

New mouse I need, i am looking at the Logitech lift, my old Anker is giving up, also having the Logitech will go with my keyboard. Lot of money for a mouse, my Anker cost me £20.

I have £20 given me from work for being a good boy and doing my job , plus next week is pay day so we have 15% discount in Argos, so I can get it then.

I was going to get the mac from there, but the only ones they have are a couple of mac mini intel ones, some M1 mac minis and the base M2 mini.

You never know if i get on with this machine I may at some point buy a Mac book air

no right click and dragging and selecting move.

Not clear what you mean here, but Macs have supported multi-button mice since 1998.

I have a Logitech MX Master 3 for Mac. Install the Logi Option+ software to set up customisation. It has a partner keyboard with the Mac key layout (that will take a bit of getting used to!), but I use the Apple Extended bluetooth.

I would recommend setting up an Admin account that you will very rarely log into, a standard account as your day-to-day account and a second that exists just for diagnosis (Is this a user or system problem?).

Essential software, as an when budget permits

Little Snitch (https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html)
1Password is a much better password manager than the built in one, and is cross-platform. 1password.com
Audacity, if you use it
EtreCheckPro is dead handy if you start getting misbehaviour https://etrecheck.com/en/welcome.html
Whichever browser you want (Safari is fine, but a few sites just can't cope with it). Get Adguard Plus if you want a blocker.
GraphicConverter is a ridiculous powerful image tool that has been going since the very earliest days of Mac
Name Mangler 3 is useful if you need to do mass renaming of files
Pixlemator Pro is an excellent photo editor
AudioHijackis brilliant for capturing any audio from any source on the Mac. https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/
Transmit is an excellent FTP app

In reply to a post by ian_c:

Not clear what you mean here, but Macs have supported multi-button mice since 1998.

When you move files you have to use cut and paste on the MAc, or a friend does anyway, on a PC you right click on the files drag them to the other filder and then select move

I have a Logitech MX Master 3 for Mac. Install the Logi Option+ software to set up customisation. It has a partner keyboard with the Mac key layout (that will take a bit of getting used to!), but I use the Apple Extended bluetooth.

I have the Logitech keyboard, an MX keys mini., so it has the mac stuff on as well as PC, I got it for that reason, so I can use it on both machines.
I will get the Logitech Lift mouse, it is a vertical mouse, I prefer them to normal flat ones.
It uses a logi bolt, for connection, but can use Bluetooth, I already have one logibolt for the keyboard, but there is one included with the mouse

I would recommend setting up an Admin account that you will very rarely log into, a standard account as your day-to-day account and a second that exists just for diagnosis (Is this a user or system problem?).

That is what I do with Windows, I use a normal account for every day use.

Essential software, as an when budget permits

Little Snitch (https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html)
1Password is a much better password manager than the built in one, and is cross-platform. 1password.com
Audacity, if you use it
EtreCheckPro is dead handy if you start getting misbehaviour https://etrecheck.com/en/welcome.html
Whichever browser you want (Safari is fine, but a few sites just can't cope with it). Get Adguard Plus if you want a blocker.
GraphicConverter is a ridiculous powerful image tool that has been going since the very earliest days of Mac
Name Mangler 3 is useful if you need to do mass renaming of files
Pixlemator Pro is an excellent photo editor
AudioHijackis brilliant for capturing any audio from any source on the Mac. https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/
Transmit is an excellent FTP app

Cheers for that, I use bit warden for passwords already, I will use Firefox as my browser like I am now, Audacity I already use.

I got myself the universal update of the Serif suite that will work on PC and mac. Video editor I will use da Vinci, i would love final cut, but it costs far too much, if I made money from video editing then fine, but I don't. in fact, I really need to get back into it. Just tired from work and can't get into it, maybe the summer will get me more into the mood.

Thanks for the info anyway

You drag and drop on Mac as well (left click and hold, drag, drop. If moving to another volume, then Option-click to move, iirc. Otherwise it copies.). (I think I may be missing something here).

Affinity software is very highly regarded, so decent choice.

Remember - Final Cut's price used to have an extra 0 on the end of it! iMovie is OK for small things and is free.

In reply to a post by ian_c:

You drag and drop on Mac as well (left click and hold, drag, drop. If moving to another volume, then Option-click to move, iirc. Otherwise it copies.). (I think I may be missing something here).

Ah I see, maybe she is old school, she has had macs for years, from the old CRT translucent thing.

Affinity software is very highly regarded, so decent choice.

I have it on the PC, nbut not used it a awful lot, need to get using it more. The same friend as above have started using it instead of adobe stuff for her business which is a graphic designer.

Remember - Final Cut's price used to have an extra 0 on the end of it! iMovie is OK for small things and is free.

Still a bit pricy for me, anyway i am used to Davinci well kind of. Only started using it a couple of months ago, been using hitfilm before that.

No disrespect to your friend, but she may not necessarily always know all the shortcuts or better way of doing things. Despite being a long time Mac user 😄

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Ah I see, maybe she is old school, she has had macs for years, from the old CRT translucent thing.

No, she just hasn't learned how to use it I'm afraid. The functionally being described to move/copy files by dragging has been on the Mac since before Windows existed.

Edited by andynormancx (Fri 03-Mar-23 13:49:54)

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

No, she just hasn't learned how to use it I'm afraid. The functionally being described to move/copy files by dragging has been on the Mac since before Windows existed.

I sent her a message today and she told me she knows how to use the shortcuts, but prefer to do it the way she does, i have no idea why.

Anyway, my Mac is here, it is downstairs still in the box on the coffee table at the moment, I have to do some stuff on another computer, also I need to make some space for it and a socket for it, It is heavier than I thought it would be, must be the heat sink.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I sent her a message today and she told me she knows how to use the shortcuts, but prefer to do it the way she does, i have no idea why.

Anyway, my Mac is here, it is downstairs still in the box on the coffee table at the moment, I have to do some stuff on another computer, also I need to make some space for it and a socket for it, It is heavier than I thought it would be, must be the heat sink.

You seem to be getting on pretty well with it.

I ordered a new M2 Mac Studio last week and it arrived late yesterday. I've yet to unpack it (to make sure it hasn't been substituted with a few tins of beans on the way from Shenzhen 😂)

Should do an old versus new comparison...first of all need to see if the original from 2008 will actually fire up

Three Generations of Mac "mini" from 2008 to 2023

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

You seem to be getting on pretty well with it.

I ordered a new M2 Mac Studio last week and it arrived late yesterday. I've yet to unpack it (to make sure it hasn't been substituted with a few tins of beans on the way from Shenzhen 😂)

Should do an old versus new comparison...first of all need to see if the original from 2008 will actually fire up

Three Generations of Mac "mini" from 2008 to 2023

Yes, I like it, prefer it to Windows, going back to Windows is a pain now,even after such a short time.
You must have plenty of money to get a MAc studio m2, the basic one is over 2 grand.

you can;t really compare them, the 2008 has a Power PC chip.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

I ordered a new M2 Mac Studio last week and it arrived late yesterday. I've yet to unpack it (to make sure it hasn't been substituted with a few tins of beans on the way from Shenzhen 😂)

The studio is a beast of a machine - nevermind the size of the heat sink/fan assembly 😂😂

😂Should do an old versus new comparison...first of all need to see if the original from 2008 will actually fire up

IBM's AIX may run on that old PowerPC version, not much else on those pre-Intel era CPUs left!

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Should do an old versus new comparison...

Stopwatch in one hand, calendar in the other

This one is an Intel Core 2 Duo. I found the original order in my email. So £550 odd + wireless keyboard and mouse. I think this was my then third Mac, after an Intel MBP and an iMac for my wife. The iMac is still running, gifted to a friend last year after an SSD upgrade and I think I got a later version of OSX on it somehow.

I can’t recall what version of OSX this mini was last running - I think it may have been Lion. Need to try booting it up.

FreeBSD is the best OS to run on a PPC Mini.

The PPC Mac Mini was phased out in 2006. It was on sale for just over one year.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

The studio is a beast of a machine - nevermind the size of the heat sink/fan assembly 😂😂

I should weigh it. Feels like a lump. If weight = performance, it should be alright 🤣

👍