im a gamer and im planning to buy an imac soon im going to also have a either vista or xp for games and a OS X for general use and heaps of ram for speed cause my 2Gig vista locks up when i have lots of things open here are the specs:

Specifications

4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
750GB Serial ATA Drive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard + Mac OS X
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory
20-inch glossy widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme

Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR


ohh yea 1 question will there be any down sides to using games on the windows side of this because of a video card or audio card or somthing im not a whiz at those

I guess that would be ok.

Hey, I'm new here.

first off, Mac aren't really gaming machines. if you're a gamer, you can build one to your needs for much cheaper, and it would blow just about any Mac away. Now, I'm typing from my little Mac Mini here and although I do 'game' on it per-se, the games aren't exactly hardcore. Macs hardware, operating system and general configuration is more geared towards workstation tasks {especially the Pro} like multimedia work, which is really what the Macs are hailed for anyway.

There is really no point in my eyes in buying a Mac with a Core2Extreme, as a core2extreme is essentially a high end core2duo with the multi unlocked. However, an unlocked multi means virtually nothing in a mac where theres little to none overclocking possibility. So you pay for some extra MHz and thats it.

Also, the Apple mighty mouses would most likely be horrible for games. Luckily we have a store nearby, so I went in and tried one. I found myself leaning over on one side of my body to try and get the right click. Crazy.

Final rule with Macs, in my opinion, is buy one that's bottom line and upgrade HD and RAM yourself. Ultimate win.

What kind of games are you expecting to play? If its going to primarily be for games, this is NOT for you. If like me, you will mix general use in with some light gaming, then go for it. The Mac OS is a dream to use.

Hope this helps.

well what im planning to play things like Battlefield 2142, hellgate (this one needs power to play) and also things like world of warcraft but would everything still be compatible with the video card or sound card if i duel boot windows XP with bootcamp because i was going to use a mac for just general use or should i stick with a windows PC?

ohh yea also is there a mouse that is exactly like a pc mouse or can a pc mouse be used with a mac?

You need a USB mouse or a PS/2 to USB adapter.

Apple provides all the drivers for Windows, but one thing Ive noticed is that Windows doesnt use everything to its fullest potential.

Stick with a Windows PC. Why do you want a Mac? Sounds like it's not for you... maybe if you can afford it the choice is yours. I bought a Mac Mini knowing I was spending the same amount of money that I could have built a much better PC for... but I wanted the Mac for form factor, fantastic design and OS X. I do game on it, lightly, at pretty hefty resolutions.

Time to make a decision here. For the price of an iMac you could build an awesome PC and buy a pretty decent monitor. But you won't get that sleek form factor and OS X.

edited because the keyboard moved letters... i swear.

this is hard stick with a windows and have a good gamer life or mac with no problems im going to have to think hard about this

Ehhh....

I use Windows on my laptop and I have... zero problems :|

What kind of problems are you talking about?

probably the things you install on the computer cause sometimes for me it screws up something like how adobe just got corrupted yesterday and now i have to reinstall it

To be honest that's probably not Windows fault. Macs ain't perfect mate. In fact I just recently listed mine on ebay, because I find I have less hassle with Windows. When Macs go, they're great, but as soon as they start bleeping at you it's just annoying. Like I said before I have very little problems with my Windows machine, most computer problems I have are self-induced, albeit the Mac seemed a lot more prone to problems and less 'tough' than Windows. i.e., after a few days of being started, it might start to behave badly. Programs won't open. It's getting slow. Etc. On my laptop, 2 weeks and 5 days of uptime, Windows XP Home, and believe you me, I've put this OS thru merry hell and back, and it just doesn't give up. So what the masses telll you ain't always true my friend. And Macs are pretty expensive. I like them and all but meh, it just ain't for me. You have to own one and use one, for the buzz to wear off and realise that they aren't that special. You need a PC, not a Mac.

> What Is Recomened For A Imac That Im Planning For?

The extended warranty.