New MacBook Pro

Please forgive my ignorance but I'm coming from Windows to Mac.
Is it necessary that I install an anti-virus and spy ware program on Mac?
And what will happen if I do not?

Thanking you ahead in this matter,
iddawg

 

I'm a recent switcher... I don't believe it's necessary, but personally I installed Sophos.

 

OSX doesn't have lots of viruses. You should be fine without an antivirus and without an anti-malware program

 

Thanks. Thats great to hear.

 

I used to have Norton Anti-Virus on my Mac, but took it off since I surf responsibly . As long as you don't visit weird sites you'll be fine. Side note, I recommend at least turning on the built-in firewall on your shiny new Mac.

 

I did turn on the fill will in the Mac.
Also I running WOT (Web of Trust) on Safari.
I only go to green sites.
I guess that would be called surfing responsibly.
Thanks,
iddawg

 

iddawg, you got the right idea.

If you're willing to switch to firefox, pick up adblock plus as well as WoT.

 

I might give firefox a try but since I'm running slow motion dial up; not sure if it will download properly.
I had issues with it on windows and thats the only thing I could figure out.
Thanks,
iddawg

 

Do you have any PCs on your network? If so, yes, not so much because of your Mac, which is immune to Windows specific malware, but because of the risk of cross contamination.

 

Download SMC Fan Control: Download smcFanControl for Mac - Control Intel Mac fans to make them run cooler. MacUpdate.com Set it to run automatically on start-up.

MBPs are nice machines, but they run hot. This gives you an internal temp readout in the menu bar, and lets you manually switch to faster fan speeds if you're running hotter than you'd like. It will never cause fans to run slower than standard, so you can't hurt your machine by using it. And it's a subtle, seamless integration; it looks like it was a part of OSX all along, and it doesn't seem to cause any sort of instability or slowdown.

 

In that case, there is another extension that you want called "downthemall". Its a download manager that supports resuming downloads. Adblock plus is even more critical in the dial-up case because it prevents the ads from downloading on firefox (they aren't just hidden- they are blocked) so it will allow you to browse faster.

You might also want to grab the "fasterfox" extension, which applies some network / caching tweaks for speed, and prefetches links when you are idle.

All can be found from the addons Mozilla page.

Web of Trust
Fasterfox
Adblock plus
Downthemall

 

I don't run SMC on auto and the computer doesn't run hot or has the fan noise in the background. I think turning on SMC at startup actually builds up heat since a higher fan speed produces more heat which gets transferred to the chassis.

I have the program now, but it will only be used when the macbook has already gotten pretty hot to turn on the fan.

 

+1 on smcFanControl

 

Actually, the fans inside of a MBP are so small that a higher fan speed (which would equate to a hotter fan motor) doesn't mean it produces more heat especially since the entire system's temperature will go down when the fans are turned on at their maximum speeds. So any temperature increase from the hotter fan motors is negligible. I ran SMC for a while but eventually took it off since OS X would turn the fans on high right about the time I would and then turns the fans back down around the same time I would. I didn't see a reason to have a program allowing me to adjust the fan speeds when OS X seems to be doing a pretty good job on its own.

 

It's got to be a pretty miserable fan in order to generate more heat than it dissipates, especially inside a computer which isn't at ambient air temperature even at the lowest of loads.

 

I haven't run SMC that much on 2011 MBP, but then it runs somewhat cooler than the 3,1 model I used for a month. I uploaded the settings through time machine that were from the older model and the fans would just go on high whenever the system was booted. I ultimately had to do a wipe and reinstall and then just use the migration assistant to import the applications and tweak the settings on my own.

 

Well any heat produced would get transferred to the aluminum right away, but I think it was the sound that was more of a problem if you are in a quiet room.

The only gripe I have now is with the glossy screen as I can see myself more than the actual clint eastwood movie. Is there any good remedy for it short of replacing the screen? I have replaced the screen on my other laptop, but the macbook seems like a big trouble with the huge screen.

 

not that I know of, I tried some of those anti reflective covers etc and found they did knock back the reflective but destroyed the colors, blacks and contrast all in one fell swoop.

replacing a screen in a MBP is not exactly for the faint of heart.

 

Get better taste in movies, or alternatively, watch in a dark room.

 

Glossy screens have always been problematic for some people but the MBPs and other higher end systems seem to get more complaints since they use a glass coating (hence more reflection than a standard glossy display). Back in 2005, I actually payed more to get the glossy display on my Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 simply because it was pretty new back then, black levels are still better (for the most part) on glossy displays, and colors were more vibrant on the glossy version of the XPS's display.

Now, after having used glossy displays for 6 years, I am used to them and still prefer their look over that of matte displays. My netbook came with a matte display and I didn't really care for it. I actually paid more to get that display because it wasn't the typical 1280X600 resolution of 10" netbooks but rather 1366X768. Still, I got used to the way glossy displays looked. My Droid X has a glossy display, my iPad 2, MBP, monitor at work, my old Toshiba Pocket PC from 2006, and even my old Toshiba tablet notebook convertible from 2006 had a glossy display. I still wouldn't trade a glossy display in for a matte option but that is just me. I don't find glare to be too problematic even under bright fluorescent lighting. I can still always see my work and media.

 

I agree with kornchild2002. My first laptop was a Toshiba A-105 it had a matte screen; my next laptop was a Toshiba L-505 and it had a glossy screen. I could really tell the difference in the color on the screen; big time. I never had any problems viewing DVD's or any other type of media with a glossy screen even in bright light.

 

If the movie happens to be dark then it is a problem.