# What to do with new Mac



## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

My Father got a new Mac the other day, and is having internet installed today. What are some things that should be done/installed to it (I'm used to Windows)? All he really plans on using it for is web browsing, email, youtube, things like that, so I'm just talking basic utilities and settings.


----------



## Hoosier205 (Sep 3, 2007)

Not much that I can think of. They come ready to rock and roll.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

yeah ... just stay with Safari ...


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

They make great doorstops...:lol:

Nothing needs to be done to it, except verify that it has some kind of antivirus protection. Some think MAC's cant get virus', not true, there are just not as many groups out there trying to infect them.


----------



## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

If there's an Apple store nearby, check on whether they give free lessons for the Mac. As a minimum the store help will be glad to answer any questions you and your father might have.

My wife got an iPad2 last year and appreciated the introductory lessons our local Apple store less than a mile away provided. I've been a PC user since 1983, although I did pick up an iPod Touch a couple years ago.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

> What to do with new Mac


Make applesauce?


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Make sure that the OS is all current and patched. 

Also, Apple doesn't include Java anymore, if he uses anything that needs it, I'd install it. However, if he doesn't need it, I suggest not messing with it.


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

billsharpe said:


> If there's an Apple store nearby, check on whether they give free lessons for the Mac.


+1

You might also get a mouse for the Mac depending on how well he can operate the track pad.


----------



## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

CCarncross said:


> They make great doorstops...:lol:
> 
> Nothing needs to be done to it, except verify that it has some kind of antivirus protection. Some think MAC's cant get virus', not true, there are just not as many groups out there trying to infect them.


I won't say that it is impossible to get malware on a Mac, but I had Sophos on for 2 years and it didn't ever find one. And in fact I took it off because it would sometimes send the CPU into a panic.

Staying off the porn sites and pirate crap and no av software is needed!


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

lparsons21 said:


> I won't say that it is impossible to get malware on a Mac, but I had Sophos on for 2 years and it didn't ever find one. And in fact I took it off because it would sometimes send the CPU into a panic.
> 
> *Staying off the porn sites* and pirate crap and no av software is needed!


Kidding ? When you'll be 64 years old I will ask you about he habits


----------



## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

I'm 69.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I'm glad you can do that :eek2:


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"lparsons21" said:


> Staying off the porn sites and pirate crap and no av software is needed!


If only that were true.


----------



## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

Macs DO NOT need antivirus software, so don't worry about that.

As others have suggested, do check for updates as soon as you have it up & running.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Mac's are not immune to viruses or malware. As market share increases, and Windows users get more careful, they will generate more interest from virus writers especially if Mac users feel invulnerable. Flashback and Mac Defender were not isolated incidents.

And it doesn't take a nefarious site to get an infection. It is even possible to see a tweet from a friend or even respected professional with a malicious link. And no, it doesn't require that their account info was hacked.

Ok, my Twitter example may have been a bad one. They don't use Ruby on Rails anymore.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

While it isn't impossible... If you don't download from untrusted sources, don't click every link you see, and don't visit questionable sites... you can avoid about 99% of all virus stuff out there.

Blocking scripts and ads in your browser helps quite a bit too.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

You could potentially say the same about Widows as well, but I know. Wouldn't let my parents to without AV. All it takes is one mistake, and i would get an unpleasant phone call and long distance tech support.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dpeters11 said:


> You could potentially say the same about Widows as well, but I know. Wouldn't let my parents to without AV. All it takes is one mistake, and i would get an unpleasant phone call and long distance tech support.


The problem I have ran into... is such people (like a parent) that requires that... will not let the anti-virus software update or will not know when it has crashed or isn't running... thereby defeating the purpose.

Bottom line. Some people always seem to get the viruses... other people seem to never get them.


----------



## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

This REALLY needs to be pretty much install and forget it. If something isn't updating itself, or there are pop ups, I'm gonna be getting a call lol
He actually got it at a Mac store, and he is DEFINITELY going to have to go in and have them show him how to use it. I think I will probably go in with him too. I was ready to smash the thing lol At least he can turn it on and off, and get onto the internet using Safari. Anything more advanced is going to have to wait.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"Stewart Vernon" said:


> The problem I have ran into... is such people (like a parent) that requires that... will not let the anti-virus software update or will not know when it has crashed or isn't running... thereby defeating the purpose.
> 
> Bottom line. Some people always seem to get the viruses... other people seem to never get them.


I have seen that, if they turn it on, check email then turn it off. So I do always recommend to them to have it on for a few hours at least.

Of course the worst of them still rocked the dialup modem.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

P Smith said:


> yeah ... just stay with Safari ...


ewwww... Firefox is a much better browser on the Mac.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

CCarncross said:


> They make great doorstops...:lol:
> 
> Nothing needs to be done to it, except verify that it has some kind of antivirus protection. Some think MAC's cant get virus', not true, there are just not as many groups out there trying to infect them.


Good advice. I use Sophos Anti-Virus on my Mac. It's fast, efficient and doesn't hog system resources like Norton does.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

carlsbad_bolt_fan said:


> Macs DO NOT need antivirus software, so don't worry about that.


Wrong... There are viruses out there that effect Macs.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

kevinturcotte said:


> This REALLY needs to be pretty much install and forget it. If something isn't updating itself, or there are pop ups, I'm gonna be getting a call lol
> He actually got it at a Mac store, and he is DEFINITELY going to have to go in and have them show him how to use it. I think I will probably go in with him too. I was ready to smash the thing lol At least he can turn it on and off, and get onto the internet using Safari. Anything more advanced is going to have to wait.


One thing you definitely want to do is get yourself a small, not really bigger than 500G, external USB drive to use for Time Machine backups.


----------



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

billsharpe said:


> If there's an Apple store nearby, check on whether they give free lessons for the Mac. As a minimum the store help will be glad to answer any questions you and your father might have.


 Agree with this. The seminars at the Apple store are very informative for beginners.

If your dad is use to having a right click, go into the mouse settings and turn on "Secondary Click". The default setting is off.

As far as virus protection, don't worry about it. No, Mac's are not immune but the likelyhood of getting a virus is slim. Just tell your dad not to enter the admin password at any prompt unless he knows what he's installing. That's what usually invites viruses or trojan horses.

Also, agree with the above regarding a backup external drive. Use Time Machine. It's a wonderful backup system.


----------



## shedberg (Jan 20, 2007)

I use Intego's VirusBarrier X6. Auto updates and no issues! As stated by others, MACs are not immune and I recommend antivirus software.


----------



## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> Good advice. I use Sophos Anti-Virus on my Mac. It's fast, efficient and doesn't hog system resources like Norton does.


I was a Sophos user for about 2 years and thought it was very good because it was so non-intrusive. But then I started getting cpu runaway, you know the spinning beachball of death, and found that it was Sophos doing it.

Checked some forums and it is a known problem with no real solution as it doesn't seem to follow any pattern with one exception. That exception that showed up was that if Sophos was doing its auto update and Time Machine was starting a backup, that seemed to be an identifiable trigger. But no one had a clue how to cure it.

So I checked the logs for Sophos and it had never found a single problem in the nearly 2 years it had been on. Took it off and haven't looked back.

Further research showed me that the AV software causes more problems than it cures in all too many cases, as can other TSR type programs.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> ewwww... Firefox is a much better browser on the Mac.


Yep. Chrome is even better.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

RunnerFL said:


> Wrong... There are viruses out there that effect Macs.


There are. But you really have to want to get infected. Unlike Windows, a Mac can't install software unless the user gives it permission.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

That adds some security, but for a user that doesn't know any better, not a whole lot. They provide the password, allow it when UAC prompts etc. Enough people entered their password when they got Flashback that Apple had to do something about it.

People have a false sense of security when they don't run Windows. It may come back to bite them.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

lparsons21 said:


> I was a Sophos user for about 2 years and thought it was very good because it was so non-intrusive. But then I started getting cpu runaway, you know the spinning beachball of death, and found that it was Sophos doing it.
> 
> Checked some forums and it is a known problem with no real solution as it doesn't seem to follow any pattern with one exception. That exception that showed up was that if Sophos was doing its auto update and Time Machine was starting a backup, that seemed to be an identifiable trigger. But no one had a clue how to cure it.
> 
> ...


The only time I ever noticed performance issues is if Sophos and Time Machine were running at the same time so that makes sense. I cured that by scheduling Time Machine backups instead of just letting the machine do them every hour.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Herdfan said:


> Yep. Chrome is even better.


Up until recently Chrome for Mac was only 32bit though.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

This story made me think of this thread. The malware that has made some news infecting systems inside Apple and other companies. It used Java vulnerabilities, then bypassed Gatekeeper.

http://securityledger.com/many-wate...hacks-that-netted-facebook-twitter-and-apple/


----------



## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

I have been running Macs since 2006 with no antivirus. I currently have 4 of them and have never had an issue. 

I like the Apple E-mail program for my Gmail and other accounts but I prefer the classic layout under Mail, Preferences, Viewing.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

My point really is, that need is changing.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

He is just play a roulette and waiting when his computer will be hijacked and all his contacts will be taken out for spamming and virus redistributing, his bank account's password will be stolen, and so on ...


----------



## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

Herdfan said:


> Yep. Chrome is even better.





RunnerFL said:


> Up until recently Chrome for Mac was only 32bit though.


Still 32 bit.
If he downloads Java from Oracle it is 64 bit only so Java won't run on Chrome.


----------



## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

#1 piece of advice. Teach him about malware. Teach him about phishing. Teach him about the danger of chain e-mail. And, please, take away the right to download software (in Windows parlance, don't give him admin access).

And, as a CISSP, I need to urge you to install AV software. Yeah, it's not as bad as Windows XP, but Macs are taking up a much larger market share which makes them much more attractive targets for the bad guys.


----------

