Ok, let's talk Mac

[rklepper]

Okay for various reasons I am going to purchase a Mac. Just a few questions as this will become my main computer and my server at this point is a Windows machine. Let's not make this about Windows vs Mac as that has no bearing on my question. Thanks

Mac Questions
I am thinking of getting a Mac Pro, but cannot seem to find the answers to some basic questions anywhere on the Apple website.
1) RAM
Why the expensive Mac RAM. Can I not purchase Crucial RAM later and it will work just fine?
2) Drives
Do I need to purchase the Mac drives? Can I add Seagate later on and they work, or does Mac have a proprietary connection for the drives?
3) Formatting
What is the format for Mac drives. I assume that I am going to have an issue getting the data off of my NTSF drives and onto a Mac drive.
4) Getting data from NTFS drive to Mac formatted drive
How do I transfer data from an NTSF drive to a Mac drive? Will the Mac read an NTFS drive?
5) Syncing Treo
Will my treo still sync, since it syncs to Outlook? Is there an equivalent Mac program that one can use and sync to?

[MikeT]

Here ya go!

1) RAM
- Apple RAM is expensive, just buy Crucial. I have 4GB of Crucial RAM in my MBP, it works just fine and is alot cheaper.

2) Drives
- No need to buy Apple drives, you can buy from anyone.

3) Formatting
- Mac format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I know there is a program called Paragon that will allow your Mac to Read/write NTFS. I think it's like $30.

4) Getting data from NTFS drive to Mac formatted drive
- If you have paragon you should be able to just network them and get your files that way. If you don't have paragon the external drive might be an option. I had a few problems getting some data from my external though.

5) Syncing Treo
- I googled for this and the first item that came up said it will sync natively. here is the link http://macncell.com/index_html/archive/2007/03/25/reader-question-do-treo-and-mac-sync

[Stocky]

1 & 2) stock parts will work in the mac. There is nothing magical about the parts they use, and as long as you pick something with the correct specs then it should work. Memory is usually more expensive straight from apple, and you can save money and shop elsewhere.
3 & 4) These look like the same question. Maybe I am missing the difference between the two. If I remember right the mac will read NTFS, but will only write to FAT right now. There are some add-ons that will help, but I don't know if I would trust that. The native file system is HFS+. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems#OS_support
The issue you are most likely to have is that all of the drives on the mac will be SATA drives, so you might need an external enclosure to connect them.
What I have done in the past is set up my mac to be an ftp server (takes 30 seconds in the system preferences) and then just open it up in explorer on the PC and move the files over. FTP is pretty much universal, and the network connection takes care of most of the details so you don't have to pull hard drives out and mess with that route.

5) as for your palm Treo you should probably do some research on iSync or Entourage (if you are going to get MS Office)

[ZGMF-X20A]

As mentioned, reading NTFS is no problem, writing is the problem. For Mac NTFS Read/Write use MacFuse. For more info refer to:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/how-to-read-and-write-ntfs-windows-partition-on-mac-os-x.html

I use this on my Macbook Pro to write onto a bootcamp Partition and External USB HDD just fine.

EDIT: If you really want to move your old files, there are many ways to get it off from your old HDD using USB converter.

[rklepper]

1 & 2) stock parts will work in the mac. There is nothing magical about the parts they use, and as long as you pick something with the correct specs then it should work. Memory is usually more expensive straight from apple, and you can save money and shop elsewhere.
3 & 4) These look like the same question. Maybe I am missing the difference between the two. If I remember right the mac will read NTFS, but will only write to FAT right now. There are some add-ons that will help, but I don't know if I would trust that. The native file system is HFS+. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems#OS_support
The issue you are most likely to have is that all of the drives on the mac will be SATA drives, so you might need an external enclosure to connect them.
What I have done in the past is set up my mac to be an ftp server (takes 30 seconds in the system preferences) and then just open it up in explorer on the PC and move the files over. FTP is pretty much universal, and the network connection takes care of most of the details so you don't have to pull hard drives out and mess with that route.

5) as for your palm Treo you should probably do some research on iSync or Entourage (if you are going to get MS Office)

Sorry perhaps it was not as clear as it could have or should have been. in 3 I was just asking whether there was a difference in the formatting and in number 4 if there is a difference how that would effect the transfer of data from one drive to the next. I went back and added the second sentence to #3 and probably should have left well enough alone.

[kkopchynski]

rklepper,

I work on both platforms at home and administer them at work. You say you have a windows "server". Can you put the new Mac on the network with this machine. If so, you can share the files on the windows box and transfer them over the network to the Mac. The Mac can read and write to the shared network folder but it can only read an NTFS drive directly attached. But this will be all you need to get the files to your mac.

Definitely get more drives and RAm from 3rd parties. This is what I did for a Mac pro derver at work. I am new to the forum, can I post a specific reccomendation for vendor? The Mac drives are SATA, not proprietary.

[rklepper]

rklepper,

I work on both platforms at home and administer them at work. You say you have a windows "server". Can you put the new Mac on the network with this machine. If so, you can share the files on the windows box and transfer them over the network to the Mac. The Mac can read and write to the shared network folder but it can only read an NTFS drive directly attached. But this will be all you need to get the files to your mac.

Definitely get more drives and RAm from 3rd parties. This is what I did for a Mac pro derver at work. I am new to the forum, can I post a specific reccomendation for vendor? The Mac drives are SATA, not proprietary.

I purchased a mac pro and put several more drives in from Newegg and Ram from Curcial. The Mac Pro definately does not do very well on 2 GB RAM.

I transfered the files over farily easily using the network connection.

The only issue I have had so far is getting Entourage to work correctly. Finding it impossible to tranfer Outlook .pst files over to Entourage.

[ZGMF-X20A]

Unless you buy a separate software, you can't do that. There's a free way, but a bit long-winded. First, you transfer from outlook to Windows based Thunderbird. from there, you should be able to move it to Mac's Thunderbird then Mac's Mail.