[carol m]

I am thinking of buying a new PC soon and am wondering if anyone has been using Vista with the software programs Reaper and Audacity? It's still possible to get XP but maybe it's OK now to think about Vista. The other thing is, is Vista Home good enough or is it better to get Vista Professional? If anyone has experience about these topics it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by carol m

...Maybe a Mac would be good but I have no experience of it, and no-one in the family has ever used it so I'm a bit reluctant to go in that direction (I rely on the younger generation around here to get me out of most of the tekky holes I fall into).

Carol - I have exactly zero experience with Macs also, but I'm writing this post from a brand-new MacBook! I decided to take the plunge, so now I'm on a brand-new techy learning curve with this thing. So far, so good - I have to say I'm impressed with a lot of the neat little features and the software that it comes with. It connected effortlessly to my wireless home network (much easier than deciphering all the usual Windows mumbo-jumbo), and I was up and running with it in no time.

Next thing will be to buy a Firewire A/D interface and start playing with Garage Band! (and that's a whole 'nother learning curve!)

[carol m]

Hi Stratrat, I was researching MS platforms and CPU's this afternoon and up popped your post....What are the neat features and software that comes with Mac? And is Garage Band included?

I've decided to get a new CPU altogether with XP Pro 64bit desktop and then hold off on Vista. I found that some are speculating MS will bring out a new platform altogether as Vista is so unpopular in which case, an XP program would still be usable for a long while yet (as Tekker suggested).

I also found a review (CNet I think) where they concluded that AMD is vastly superior to Intel on every criteria they tested. HP do an AMD dual core with XP pro 64 already loaded for a reasonable price, so if cousin Balash can't find a better/cheaper machine (mate's rates, hopefully!) I can buy a regulation HP at the computer store.

Is there a nic for GAS for computers??? I am awaiting my new Samsung SCX 4200 mutli purpose printer to arrive

Yes, sadly it has come to this....I can drool at the prospect of a shiny new machine!!! (and I blame Tekker! )

[Stratrat]

Carol - Yes, Garage Band is included in the OS software. The iLife suite has Garage Band, iTunes, iPhoto (a photo sorter/editor/publisher), iMovie (a very good video editing program), iChat (a video chat program that works over several chat networks and interfaces with the webcam that comes included on the computer), etc. The tiny little webcam offers much better video quality than most of the aftermarket ones I've owned and is surprisingly good, as is the onboard mic. It has a "word pad" type program that saves files in native Word format, and a bunch of neat "widgets" that you can configure to pop up on your desktop at a keystroke (weather report, calendar, clock, "sticky notes", and a ton more). I've only begun to explore a lot of the features of the OS, but I'm more and more impressed as I go along.

My first true "Wow!" moment came just a few minutes ago. I have a multi-function printer that I share over my home wireless network, and installing it on my Win computers was a major hassle - installing software on each one, configuring arcane parameters, doing it over and over again because they still wouldn't recognize it, etc. I opened a document on the MacBook, hit "Print" and chose "Select Printer" - it found my printer effortlessly, went online and downloaded the software it needed, installed it and printed perfectly the first time!

[carol m]

Hmmm.....I haven't bought the CPU yet! Maybe I should check out a Mac. Do you have a laptop or a desktop? I will definitely want a desktop. Have you tried Audacity or Reaper on your Mac, Mac? Or does it have its own recording setup in Garage Band?

[Stratrat]

Mine is a laptop. I figured I'd try a laptop first so I wasn't making a full commitment on my desktop (just in case!), since my desktop is my main computer.

No, I haven't tried Audacity or Reaper on the Mac yet - I know Audacity makes a Mac version, but from my (admittedly limited) initial peeks at Garage Band, it appears to be much more capable than Audacity.

Garage Band has its own recording setup - you can either connect an A/D interface via USB or Firewire, or record directly from the mic on the computer. I'm probably going to buy something like the PreSonus Firebox so I can connect instruments, mics, etc.

[krissovo]

Originally Posted by Stratrat

No, I haven't tried Audacity or Reaper on the Mac yet - I know Audacity makes a Mac version, but from my (admittedly limited) initial peeks at Garage Band, it appears to be much more capable than Audacity.

Well done for switching, once you start playing with garage band you will have a great craic and it will constantly amaze you how powerful this software is. One piece of advice is to make sure you install the rest of the loops, in standard mode you only get a few so put disc two of your back up discs and it should give you the option of installing the rest of the loops.

Best of luck and if you want some advice just PM me and I will help as much as I can. As for interfaces I plug my guitar straight into the line in and that works a treat, the built in amps sound good. I also use my alesis firewire mixer and my pod x3. You dont a very expensive interface the one you are thinking of is regarded as the best.

Good luck!

[Stratrat]

Thanks, Kriss - I didn't realize there were more loops on the backup disc!

I have the same mixer you do (actually it's the USB version), but it's hooked up to my desktop, buried in cables and plugged in deep behind my desk - I really don't want to deal with disconnecting and reconnecting everything back and forth across the two computers all the time, so I wanted something small and portable to go with the laptop.

I just brought the PreSonus Firebox home a little while ago - I'm off to plug it in to the Mac and open GB up to mess around with it a bit! I'll shoot you a PM if I run into any problems or have questions (which I'm sure I will at some point!)

[Stratrat]

Well, I ran into a little snag last night - unboxed the PreSonus and went to plug it in, only to find out that the FireWire cable was missing (as was the MIDI breakout cable and one software disc!). That ended that for the evening, so I just played around with GarageBand for a while. What an easy program to learn (at least the basics, anyways!). I installed all the instruments and loops, and you could easily make an entire song without ever once actually touching a real live instrument....TONS of stuff in there (thanks for the tip, Kriss!)

Back to GC this morning, swapped out the PreSonus for another one that had all the stuff in the box. All I can say is that coming from the Windows world, installing stuff on a Mac is a dream!!! The manual gives both Win and Mac instructions - on the Win side it's a page long, with dire warnings NOT to plug the unit in until the drivers are installed and you've re-booted, etc. On the Mac side, it pretty much says "Attach the firewire cable to the unit and plug it in". Period. And that's how it worked! For the mixer and control panel, you just drag two files from the CD onto your hard drive and double-click them to use (not to install....to use).....no new directories, no .dll files scattered all over the disc, none of that stuff....just BAM! I've got to say I'm really liking this so far.

The FireBox itself works great....select PreSonus as the input in Garage Band, plug in your instrument or mic, and press the red button to record. Garage Band itself is even more intuitive to use than Audacity, and a heck of a lot more capable. Fun stuff.

Carol - before you buy your computer, at least find someplace that has Macs in stock and take a good, hard look at them.....there are definitely some differences coming over from the PC world, but hardware and software configuration is worlds easier (it's the true "plug and play" Windows only wishes it had!) and the operating system itself is great. I'm admittedly still in the "honeymoon" phase, but very, very impressed so far.

[krissovo]

Nice update, glad your getting on well. There is a saying "once you go Mac you never go back!". Certainly true for me, once you get your head around Mac, well once you remove the Windoze mentality you constantly find little things that make your life easier and more importantly more productive. My best moment was turning on the Mac plugging my keyboard in with a midi interface, my firewire mixer and starting garageband, everything was there ready to use! On my PC it took 20 or so minutes to get to that stage after a couple of re-boots.

Garageband is very under rated but at the same time quite limited which you will find out soon enough. It fun and fast but I take loads of short cuts, I record say 10 mins of noodling away and break it up into smaller parts and make loops. I also cut out the bad notes at the same time, take the good ones and drag them into your song hey presto a solo!

Good luck

[carol m]

Here's an update on my computer investigations - I rang my personal techy guy today and I've just got a quote for a new PC. With dual core AMD, 1 T of GB HDD and 2 gigs RAM plus XP Professional 2DVD units it will be $1014 installed wirelessly into the house-hold network. Sounded really good, and then I read your post above, Mac!

My problem with a Mac is that no-one else in the house has ever used one, and around here I am the newby computer person who needs the others to help me out with any glitches I fall into. That's why I am reluctant to take the plunge. You guys are much more computer literate than me, so for you its not a big step to change. If I was getting a second (extra) computer in addition to my main one, I could risk that, but my old one is dying so I will rely on the new one as my only one.

Which brings me to another point I've just thought of......should I get a firewire port as well? I only have USB peripherals at the moment but maybe a firewire would be a good investment and no cost much.

Meanwhile, while I was reading my quote on email, my computer died - no blue screen, nothing - blip and it was gone. And no lights when I tried to restart it.....dead? After 5mins I tried again and it worked....scarey! Perhaps my computer has a soul and didn't like what I was reading

[krissovo]

Originally Posted by carol m

My problem with a Mac is that no-one else in the house has ever used one, and around here I am the newby computer person who needs the others to help me out with any glitches I fall into. That's

Learning to use a Mac from a PC is easier than a Mac user learning PC's and windoze. Apple have great support forums and video's on how to do just about anything. The "Help" function is about the best there is out on the market and I promice you that the "glicthes" will be few and far between as there is nothing really tweek.

If you mess something up, no problem use Time machine to turn back the clock to before you did it!

Have a look at these tutorials, see how it all works together.
Apple - iLife - Tutorials

[Stratrat]

I agree with what Kriss said - so far it seems to me that "glitches" are fewer and further between on Macs.

The learning curve really isn't very steep - the interface is pretty similar in appearance and function (albeit much simpler and more intuitive on Macs). The only differences I've noticed are little things like learning the "shortcuts" for cutting, copying, pasting, etc. (and they're even similar - where it's Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, etc. in Windows, it's the "Apple" key + C, V, etc. on a Mac). Launching programs is very similar, as is closing them - same three little buttons for minimize, maximize and close, except they're round, in color, and on the top left instead of the top right.

The bottom line is that if you're comfortable with Windows and don't want to be bothered with changing over, don't do it - lots of people are quite happy using Win machines and there's nothing wrong with that. Part of the fun for me is that I enjoy new challenges - I configured my previous PC (which I built from scratch) as a dual-boot system between Win98 and Red Hat Linux - just because I was curious about Linux and wanted to try it (Linux - now THERE'S a tricky OS to play with!!!)

As far as the Firewire - yes, I'd definitely have that put in your computer if you go that route. It's much faster than USB and very useful if you start playing with digital video cameras, recording interfaces, etc. (As a side note - all Macs come with Firewire ports....in fact, I believe that Apple was the innovator in IEEE 1394/Firewire.) I discovered something interesting as I researched the PreSonus Firebox - Apple/Mac laptops have a 6-pin Firewire port, which will fully power the Firebox without needing an AC adapter/wall wart. PC laptops have a 4-pin Firewire port, which will not provide power - you have to use the AC adapter, and you also have to buy a 6-pin to 4-pin Firewire cable or adapter.

If I come off as sounding like a "fanboy", I apologize. As I said, I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage with the Mac and very excited as I discover all the neat little things I never knew about. I still have my feet firmly in both camps, and will stay that way until it comes time to replace my home/desktop computer. Whenever that time comes, I'll decide if I'm going to stay with Windows or make a wholesale switch over to the Mac platform. If I had to decide today, I most certainly would NOT choose any system running Windows Vista - but who knows what's in the future??? If Microsoft gets their act together on a future version of Windows, maybe it would change my mind (*maybe*). At the present time, it just seems to me that Windows is getting more and more bloated, more intrusive, and more bug-ridden....not my cup of tea.

[Lcjones]

Vista....

I bought the Mrs. a Dell laptop last fall with Vista Home Premium. The Dell has guts and to spare. Plenty of power. It's scrap with Vista on it. Why M$ went down this road, I'll never understand. Vista is the dead weight of a sinking boat.

One of the biggest problems is third party vendors creating updated drivers for older hardware to run on Vista. Not to mention the outright retarded slowness of Vista in general.

I also utilize a Mac G4 running Lepard, Debian Etch, XP Pro AND Vista Ultimate on my desk at work. All four on separate machines. The Vista Ultimate box is relegated to an Internet Radio boom box.

And meanwhile, back at the ranch, I just bought another Dell Desktop. Ordered it specifically with XP Pro. XP Pro works. You can't break it. You can count on it.....for a Winbloz Operating System.

**

[737blues]

Originally Posted by carol m

.... Meanwhile, while I was reading my quote on email, my computer died - no blue screen, nothing - blip and it was gone. And no lights when I tried to restart it.....dead? After 5mins I tried again and it worked....scarey! Perhaps my computer has a soul and didn't like what I was reading

Sounds more like a Mac Bomb than a PC .... Mac's don't give you the fabled blue screen, they just freeze. No amount of screaming, kicking, seven-finger keyboard combinations or jumping up and down on top of it will affect it. Whatever your screen showed when it froze, that's what it will show until you walk across to the wall and pull it's plug out. Then it will reboot and give you a lecture about not shutting it down properly. And yes, they do get Virus' too, just that not many people can be bothered writing them for Mac because there are infinitely more PC users out there. Don't believe the sales hype about sharing files effortlessly with WIN users either, you will have to learn some tricks to do that.

Having said all of that, they do have some very, very nice points too. Actually been thinking about buying another one myself .....

[carol m]

Well, another weekend/day spent (wasted? - OK its late and I'm tired) checking out computer options. My research tells me (independent of you guys) that Vista is a lemon, and possibly always will be. No-one wants it, and already outlets are offering the means of back installing XP on machines factory loaded with Vista. I found CNet had some good reviews and comparisons. Some people are thinking that Vista will be promoted while they make plans to bi-pass it altogether like they did for ME although that will take a couple of years. They even brought out a new XP upgrade this month while still spruiking Vista.

CNet rates Home as a complete dud, the next grade up as almost as bad, and only Ultimate is any good, but very expensive and still slow and full of glitches and problems.

I checked out the tutorials for MAC and it looks nice, glossy and easy but I don't really need fancy layouts or photo stuff, or making videos etc and do need the Word type word processing most of all. The obvious solution is to buy a shiny new PC .......and a MAC for music and recording!!!! Do you like my problem solving skills????

Unfortunately I'm only dreaming, but its quite a plan don't you think?