Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Old Painless]

I just made the leap to the MacBook Air. I still have a new Lenovo and two laptops on my home network, but wanted to try out a Mac. Wondering if it's still true about Macs not getting malware or viruses, etc. What kinds of things to watch out for as far as problems go.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[FriendlyDaegu]

Mac users get pooped on for saying it's unlikely to get malware, but I’ll say that I've never met a mac user who uses antivirus software or who has gotten a virus or malware.

Security is a big benefit of the app store.. all these apps are sandboxed and have no way of corrupting your system. If you have an iPhone or iPad it's similar to that.

You can still install apps from outside the store if you need an app or utility that requires systemwide access. Dropbox is an example.

I can't think of anything to watch out for. The biggest worry is losing your data, so you should look into offsite backup systems. I use Backblaze for this. That's in addition to my local backup on an NAS.

Ask away if you have any questions or problems. I'm not a pro, but I've been using macs and pc's for a long time, since OS 9 and 3.1.

[Old Painless]

Thanks for that info on Backblaze. Curious to know which one of these you'd buy if you didn't want to use cloud backup?


http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_accessories/all_accessories/storage#!

[FriendlyDaegu]

I wouldn't buy any of those. For a disk backup, I'd pick up whatever drive looks good from your local homeplus or himart, and backup to it using time machine. I think time machine is smart enough after you set it up to start updating the backup automatically whenever you attach the drive. Reformat the drive using disk utility before you start to get rid of any crapware.

I had bad luck with the Time Capsules as backup until I stopped using them 4 or 5 years ago. I hear the new ones are better. I've been using a Drobo for about 5 years and never had any problems with it.

These kinds of full system backups are becoming less and less important, though. If the worst happens to my machine and I have to buy a new laptop, all it takes to get back where I was is to put in my apple id to get my apps back, then copy my data folder back from the backup.

Recent macs also come with a recovery partition so if your system does get corrupted beyond repair, you can always restore fresh from there if the hardware is okay.

Things are much better than they were just a few years ago.

[Gnawbert]

I bought a 2gb TimeCapsule about a month ago.

I will say, I think it is a bit overpriced, but it's super convenient and a breeze to set up. Plus, I use it as a media storage for all my movies, music, TV shows, etc., so my iPad and TV can access them.

There are cheaper options, especially if you build them. However my router died around the same time my backup hard drive died, and between the two of them and the added bonus of attaching a printer via USB, I sort of talked myself into getting one. No real regrets, other than I think it's sort of ugly compared to the older models.

[Old Painless]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'm looking forward to my first Mac. I've read about problems when the Mac Air goes to sleep, upon wakeup it crashes, but a simple reboot is all you need. I think the next update will at least address the problem partially, if not fully.

What I would like to know is if anyone you know has bought the Lytro?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE064VC/A/lytro-8gb-light-field-camera?fnode=52

Specifically, if they like the camera and if they're satisfied with it.

Thanks again, very excited about getting into Macs.

[Old Painless]

I absolutely love my MacBook Air. It's amazing. What a work of art. The trackpad is so convenient, the system is so much better and user friendly than a windows environment. I am floored at how well it works.

You push the pwr button and it instantly turns on. You shut it down and it instantly shuts down. So many nice features. Very very happy.

[crescent]

[Old Painless]