new MacBook, lots of questions...

[mummypig]

I have been a PC person up to now but after reading the specs I thought the MacBook fitted my needs. Unfortunately I have had loads of problems getting the AirPort to work with our wireless network at home. We use a NETGEAR hub. When I plug it in so the MacBook is using the Ethernet connection it's fine. If I try to connect wirelessly I get a window asking for a password, but we haven't got one set up for the network. The wireless network works fine for my partner's PC laptop, and worked initially for the MacBook, so I'm not sure what's going on...

I also am wondering how best to transfer or backup files from my old PC. I have lots of photos on it, and some Word/Excel documents that I would like to still access/use, although they aren't crucial. I haven't backed up the PC for a while so I think I ought to do that in any case. Is it best to use an online backup service, an external hard drive or a USB storage system?

And if you have any suggestions about the best office package to use I'd be interested to hear your opinions. I'm currently trialling both MS Office for Mac and the Mac equivalent (can't remember exactly what they call them). I tend to use wordprocessing and spreadsheet packages more than anything else. I edit the school newsletter and up to now have just used Word, which is easy for the school secretary to open and print, although if we start putting the newsletter online I would like to be able to save it in pdf format.

Any comments welcomed!

Hi there, I'm writing via my partner who's a mac man through and through!
He says if you're definitly sure you don't have any kind of password you need to check you're connecting to the correct network as there could be a few in close proximity to your home. But this is a tricky one to answer without being there.

If PC and Mac are on same network, then you can right click on the folder on the PC that you want to back up and go into sharing and share the folder. You'll then be able to use the Mac to connect to the shared folder across the network and copy the files that way. If that's not an option then go for USB hard drive.

Any programme that can print in MacOSX can create PDF files (for some reason the option to create PDF's is in the print dialogue box),
for interoperability with PC based word and excel users microsoft office is best or alternatively you could try Neooffice which is a free download available from www.neooffice.org
Hope this helps!!

hello. dp says (although he doesn't have airport) he has read that netgear doesn't work well with apple. The apple X modem sold at apple store is simple to use and recommended for airport (£40). i say what a pain in bot to have to get a new one.

he says get .mac from apple store which comes with a backup programme, 10g backup space, works with pcs, photos etc. its £69 but you should get £20 reduction for buying new MacBook.

thanks mellymooks and partner!

I did wonder if we were trying to connect to the right network as there are certainly loads around in our neighbourhood, and there seem to be two with names indicating the hardware we are using. Anyway for some unknown reason it's working wirelessly at the moment, which is great - I just won't know what to change if it stops working again...

That's a great idea about the shared folder. I didn't think of that at all!

I read about neooffice in a Mac magazine my dp bought and it came out pretty well in the tests. I might just go with MS office for now as I'm used to it and don't have loads of spare time to play around with new software (although I seem to be finding enough time to log on to mumsnet fairly frequently ).

can I be cheeky and ask another question - what antivirus protection does your other half recommend? I used to use AVG Free but from a quick look at their website they didn't appear to have any dowloads for Mac OSX, or for macs at all.

many many thanks for the info you have already provided.

thanks also fishie, you must have posted your message as i was writing mine

Hi, my partner says there aren't many viruses at all with macs but he uses this software at this link - www.clamxav.com/

He also says it would be worth changing the name of your wireless network so you can find yours more easily!

Hope this helps, it's all beyond me I'm just typing (on our mac!) what he's telling me!!!

Happy mac-ing!

I have netgear and a macbook - never had a problem but dont ask me how it works me teenage brother set it all up, I just mnet and shop on it

mummypig, I wouldn't recommend any antivirus software for your MacBook as there are very few virus' written that affect Macs (as they only make up 7% of the market).

In terms of your Wifi, I can help out on this.

Firstly, your router (the Netgear hub) will, by default, have no password. Whoever set up the router may well have not named the network either. Anyway, on your Mac go to the top right hand corner of the screen and you will see a little radion signal icon - this will show the available wifi networks. When it's all black, you have a good signal.

Click on this and it should say, in order, Airport on (or off - make sure it's on!) and then a list of networks. Click on your network (which should be Netgear something or other) if it is not there then there is a possiblity that whoever set up your router may have made your network invisible or IP specific (which means only a limited number of computers can see the router).

I can tell you how to change this if you want, but will require another long post.

Sorry, am revealing my deepest geek side!
M

Can't agree with MrShev I'm afraid. We're just starting to see Trojans aimed at Mac users and the predictions are that this will increase now that Mac OS has started to gain market share and becomes a worthwhile platform for exploitation. ClamXAV is based around the very good ClamAV (which has performed beautifully on my linux mailservers for the last 4ish years).

On the office software side, buying a version of Microsoft office for the Mac will allow you to upgrade to the new version which is due out next year. I had a brief play with the trial version of iWorks - £55 and it'll read Word/Excel/PowerPoint files as well as doing the pdf thing...

..as to why PDF is in the print menu.. ..all to do with postscript..

Right then, wireless. Firstly, bad mummypig for not having a wireless key/password! Anything you put across your wireless network is available to 'read' by anyone with the right software. Using a key/password encrypts it which makes it much more difficuly (but not impossible)... ...if indeed you don't use a password then if you follow the instructions from MrShev about to see what's about in your wireless neighbourhood. All the wireless networks near you using a key/password will have a padlock next to their name - yours will be one of the ones without a padlock.

Hopefully some of this may be at least in some part useful