1. Buy a Mac and spend ten minutes learning to use it.

2.

As I've said numerous times, in my 25 + years in the industry (working with and working on computers with the pros), the professionals all used / owned IBM PCs. That says something.

There were certainly isolated souls who bragged about their MACs. What were they doing with MACs? Hobbies. Games. Music. Video.

All of which, IBM PCs do and have been doing.

I have known of ONE professional graphics artist who was assigned to my writing group on one of my contract assignments. She took one assignment home to "finish it on her MacIntosh." That's one time in 25 years.

And I've been hearing for the last 15 years, 'Well, the MAC used to be superior with graphics and with music. "" Used to be"" being the operative words.

I have NO use for Bill Gates, and I have NO use for Microsoft. MANY former Microsoft employees say the exact same thing.

However, when some 85 % of the professional computer using market share are IBM PC users, they must know something.

Hands down, serious business professionals use IBM PCs.

3. The only problem I had was with the "Oyster Laptop" when I had to ring them up and ask them how to turn the damn thing on. The manual was on the hard disk and the on switch was disguised as a pretty decoration.

4. > And my repairperson/friend's response to that:

LOL! I was limited to 10points. For point 11 I might have said buy a mac, except I have recently repaired some G4 mac laptops and they are terribly built. Expensive to repair and Apple support is the worst. Frankly they have major problems with the logic boards in these things and they don't want to know you. So if I buy a Dell PC and it fails it will be repaired or replaced usually the next day, in your home. If your Apple goes bad, they order the parts from Singapore or Taiwan and hope with tides and currents being favourable to have the part in the next 6 weeks. Unless it is a blown logic board for which the supply is short and then anytime in the next few months.

5. The 1st generation Macbooks /iMacs (i.e. Intel Macs) are now joining the firesale/ refurbished / secondhand market and they have a much better design than the ibook or powerbooks. The Macbook Pro's and the various desktop units (iMac/eMac) still require Mac certified technicians to upgrade, but most of the major componentry on the Macbook is user upgradable (RAM, hard drive, CD/superdrive)

4. > The Mac OS is superior, the hardware is just pc hardware now that they use Intel parts. I would happily use a mac if I could afford it. And they sold the programs and parts at a reasonable cost. So I am still using PC's.

5. Which is where you buy 1 generation behind the bleeding edge.. for reasonable cost. I managed to pick up a aftermarket Macbook 1st generation for the same price as a budget Wintel laptop (i.e. less than $1000 AU), with the same warranty available on it as a brand new 2nd gen Macbook (i.e 12 months, with the possibility of going to 3 years with AppleCare). And the only real difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen Macbooks is a change in the type of Intel processor.

4. > I have an idea since Apple has now officially dropped Computer from their name that they are heading to a consumer electronics company. ipods and iphones are their future.

The Mac OS is superior, the hardware is just pc hardware now that they use Intel parts. I would happily use a mac if I could afford it. And they sold the programs and parts at a reasonable cost. So I am still using PC's.

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Back to the original ten points (plus comments from a savvy friend):

2. Computers fail...

If it's important to you, don't rely on it being on your Hard Drive. every so often I copy all my photos to DVD and then give each of our parents a copy and file one for myself. They get the added benefit of seeing all the photos of their grandchild whenever they want:)

3. Ghost. As a backup software it isn't ideal, but Norton Ghost produces compact images of a hard-drive...

I've ben meaning to do this but keep forgetting whenever I've reloaded my PC (I have so many programs to load it takes several hours to get back to the way it was before a failure).

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4. Anti-Virus...

For non-technical users I'd recommend a budled security software solution. I currently use ZoneAlarm security suite which is a firewall, virus, spyware, instant message scanner etc.

5. Anti Spy-Ware...

If you do a lot of web browsing, esp. to "dodgy" sites ('security' or hacking, p0rn, etc) expect a lot of spyware attacks to be embedded in the web pages. Don't rely on one spyware program as they don't all pick up the same stuff (they each rely on their own libary or definitions, same as virus scanners). There are plenty of free spyware scanners around - AdAware, Spybot, etc.

6. Security. Again people put their trust in Symantec products but the trouble is, generally people download a trojan infected email deliberately albeit unknowingly. And the firewall won't help you....

Actually, a firewall WILL help you in some ways. It will stop the spyware "phoning home" or downloading more viruses etc and will generally contain the outbreak. Many firewalls also check for virus/spyware behaviour and block it (eg. adding to your list of programs that start up with Windoze, or changing your browser's homepage). Some also block the scripts that run on a web page to infect your PC.

And yes, use a router not a modem connected directly to the PC. Most providers now give you a modem/router/wireless/etc integrated in one box.

7. 'Computers are easy. .... So what is the solution? Pay for help. If you enjoy playing around go for it.

Most people have a "techo" friend or family memeber they can call on (now if only I could work out a way to bill them for my time! It happens to me a lot;)

Spend a week setting up your wireless network....

Wireless is easy to get working. Most hardware is plug-and-play. The problem is the companies design it this way to be simple. it works, but it's not secure. Often anyone in range can connect to your wireless network as by default there is usually no security. Most wireless access points/routers also come with a default password that most people never change.

I have some software that I ran on my laptop one day when driving home from work. Basically it detected every network it could find and logged the info. It found many, many wireless networks, many at people's homes that were totally insecure. If you have a GPS receiver you can plug it in and it will record the position of the networks detected. Then you can come back later and connect, or if it is "secure" attempt to hack it... (if that's the sort of lame thing you're into).

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8. New technologies like VOIP are worth a try..

Only if you make a large number of calls (esp. long distance). I suspect if you have ADSL internet you still need to pay line rental anyway.

9. In the midst of typing this the power dipped and the lights and pc rebooted....Get a UPS...

I've recent;y had to deal with my PC's power supply failing after a "brown out". It was a good one too that supposably had protection from such things. A UPS is great but most people don't have the knowledge about them or money to buy one. (A power supply is cheap to replace really, problem is it could damage your CPU/motherboard etc as well)

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10. Protecting Children

My kids are going to have all their PC usage monitored and logged:) Oh, and they will have limited access (eg. 30min internet or games etc a day (you can get software to administer things like this... a user will be logged out when their quota is reached).

These days you need to monitor who they are chatting to online and what they are talking about (are they giving out personal details, photos, etc). Also, monitor web cam usage, web sites visited... their biggest threat is predators posing as youngster to groom unsuspecting kids. The next threat is to your PC from spyware/viruses/etc that comes through games etc that they play online or email.

The PC must be in a common area in your house, not in their bedroom for example.

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Macs don't need file organisation or back-ups?

1) Flat program installation (just drag to Applications folder to install, drag it out to uninstall). 2) Backups are just drag and drop to another medium/drive - no need to Ghost.

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January 2007