Hello,

quick dummies question....

Will this move to intel chips open up Macs more easily to viruses?
I reaaaally enjoy the virus free mac life. More than a faster computer.
This is based on nothing but a hunch from a tech illiterate.

Cheers

No. Windows gets viruses, Mac OS X doesn't. That is the defining factor.

I had the privilege of helping out a friend with an iPod Shuffle issue he was having on his Toshiba laptop - he couldn't get it working. (As an aside, I think the install disk that ships with those is crap - following the instructions caused pain and frustration. It was easier to download iTunes seperately then plug in the Shuffle and away you go). Anyway, this was the first time that I had been annoyed by both Spyware and Anti-virus software windows/dialogues for a very long time ... and it got me thinking: yeah, I really, really, really love my Mac

thats good news. Reeeaaally good news.

Ok then, this has been asked before but we have moved a bit closer to intel days.
I need a new G5 tower mac soon, if not now. Work has piled up, things have changed, got my own business set up, and lumping an imac to various locations has worn me thin.

I either need the laptop or the tower, or quite possibly both.
But so close to a big hardware change is this just the worst time to consider it? 5 months ago maybe ok, but now? I will be buying lots of software as well.

Basically some major capital spending for my fledgling motion graphics company.

I feel caught between a rock and a hard place!
What do I do!!!

If you really need the hardware now, perhaps you could look at renting? If it's for business I imagine you could write most/all of it off on tax later anyway.

That way, you get the computer now, and wait and see what happens with the intel stuff. As for the software side of things... I dont know

costs a fortune, I looked into it a year ago. I just couldn't see the value at all. But yeah, it is a business cost. But then my business can't afford costs :P.

Pratically for the same money I could be paying new gear off.

But renting is tax deductible, as opposed to buying where you get a tiny bit of the depreciation cost back through tax.

I would seriously look at it again, and ring someone like H+R block with the figures you come up with (Both for renting and buying) and they should be able to give you an answer either way.

If you buy now, you can be sure that all the releases are stable and won't have to suffer through the teething problems that will inevitably be there with the change over. Additionally, you can be guaranteed ongoing support form Apple and software vendors for at least the next five years, much as we've had classic support so far. Also, the major opinion is that PowerMacs and PowerBooks will be the last two lines to switch to Intel. That could be as far away as 2007.

The G5 tower models aren't due to be replaced with Intel towers until 2007, and the G5 will be fully supported for at least 5 years, so buy the tower now if you need it.

The iBooks (not the powerbooks) are rumoured to be Intel by January, so wait and see on the portable.

Top line professional Mac Software for graphics and publishing has not been ported to Mactel native yet, but apparently iLife has been, so a cheap, compact portable is probably worth the early adopt. Photoshop, etc are still only PPC native on the Mac, so the pro desktop machine is better taken as a G5 currently.

Thats good news people. Thanks for that, I will buy with confidence. I thought the tower macs were changing early next year. But got plenty of time (not that I'm saying computer development should slow for me! :lol: ) Just makes it easier for me to keep my computers relevant for longer.

Set up for you is a no brainer. Motion graphics need grunt. That means G5 tower for production but you can get away with a G4 iBook for presentation to customers and a little on-sight work if you have to. Just get plenty of RAM and as big a hard disk as you can.

Also, in the past these specialist software companies take their time in developing for new platforms or even updated versions of an OS. When buying software with a big sticker price, do a bit of reseach to see what their support plans are for your platform in the next couple of years. I've had trouble in th past with PCI card/software support as well for the Mac in analogue video capture so I'm always wary these days and try to future-proof my technology purchases as much as I can.

(and who would have thought that Sony would drop their DDS backup DAT system? Dratts!)

Good luck and happy Mac-ing

Don't I know it!

But I hedged my bets earlier this year and bought an Imac g5. Part portable (home but and now office) part grunt machine. But it was always going to get to a point that this machine traddled to many fences. Still a great machine though.
Now obviously I need the grunt and expandibility of the Tower but I'm now doing some pitches and presentations and a lappy would be very handy. And then there is my Imac, which I love.

I really hope though I don't end up buying the complete mac range!

Your running a business, don't worry about trends and forums, buy the tools you need to make money today. There is always something around the corner. PowerMac G5's will be the LAST machines to be updated to Intel, because people making their living out of the boxes need stability.

So I'd buy a G5 now and not worry about it. There are alot of Photoshop plugins, apps like Noise Ninja, PTMac etc which will take a while for then to move to providing an Intel binary.

Daniel.

At the risk of setting myself up for a flaming, I would add the rider "Mac OS X doesn't,...YET". There might be an exploit tomorrow that works against Macs.

If you were running MS Office software, I suspect you could possibly get your office documents infected with some of the old school Word Macro viruses. Whether the payload in any of those viruses would damage your files is another question.

But to go back to the OP's question, viruses and worms exploit weaknesses in software, not hardware. If the flavour of MacOS that runs on Intel chips is poorly coded, then there might be malware that exploits it.

Be careful of this trap.

In most cases renting is still more expensive for small business then purchasing out right and then working on depreciation.

Renting can have it's benifits but manly to reduce your taxiable income amount (in other words great if you earn lots like over about $60,000.00 a year). I am not giving anyone finacial advice but I say before you ever rent anyting for your business go through your Accountant with the numbers and you will probably be surprised (that is if our accountant know how to count ). Renting 9 times out of 10 for a business user earning under about $55,000.00 is not the best way to. Never listen to a sales person claiming how it works as they are not Finacial professional always see your accountant or even bookkeeper.