How do I reinstall the OSX on my iMac from scratch?
First of all, reinstalling the OS rarely fixes a slow Mac; that's more of a Windows thing. You should look for the cause of the slowness otherwise you're going to reinstall the OS and restore from a backup and find your computer just as slow as it was before. Check Activity Monitor and find out if your HDD/SSD is healthy. Make sure that you have enough memory (if you're using Chrome, try not using it and see if that helps). To answer your question, you can reinstall the OS from the recovery partition. Shut down your computer, hold down the Option key, reboot it, and select the recovery partition. Once you're in there you can do a simple reinstall of the OS, or go into Disk Utility and wipe the computer completely before reinstalling. From there you can restore from Time Capsule. Keep in mind, as Glyn Williams points out, if the problem is because of the OS, restoring from the backup is likely to just reconstruct the same problem. There are ways around this if that's the case.
Why should I choose Apple's Mac instead of Microsoft's Windows PC? Is it worth the high prices?
If I had to choose the 3 best programmers I personally know, you'd find that they all use a different OS. One is a die hard Apple guy, the other insisted on day one at his new work place (where I work) that he dual-boot Linux on his work machine even though pretty much everybody else uses Windows, and the last guy uses Windows with Cygwin (it makes a lot of Unix functionality available on Windows). I've had the pleasure of watching each one of them work and pull off something exclusive to their platform that made me say "Damn, how did you do that?"There might be an objective answer to this question. If every programmer was an ideal programmer, then maybe one OS is quantifiably more efficient and capable. But everybody has their quirks. Maybe navigation via command line is quicker than GUI if you have a well organized file structure and know your stuff, but some people like clicking. In the end, the time you save with taking the most efficient route is inconsequential compared to the time you save by working in an environment you are comfortable with. My suggestion is versatility. Learn as much as you can about each OS and then choose which one you like best as your main environment, but do some side projects in a different environment to stay fresh. I use Windows and Linux personally and I couldn't choose just one. I like certain parts of each, so I use them as appropriate. I'll leave you with a more concrete suggestion: try out Cygwin. You'll get a feel for the UNIX environment, so if you do decide to transition to a Mac or Linux you won't be starting from scratch. And if you stick with Windows then you have a TON of extra capability beyond basic Windows PowerShell.
After erasing everything, it shows Yosemite OS 10.10 will take 81 hours to reinstall. It’s shut now. I had a virus and no antivirus. What should I do?
First, don’t trust Apple’s estimates for installation. They are notoriously unreliable. Also, the calculations will fluctuate. It might say 81 hours now and if you come back 15 minutes later it might say 20 hours, and then 15 minutes later it might say 2 hours.Next, If you have another computer, try testing the speed of your network to see if that might be the problem. If so, move to a faster network if possible.Another thing you could do is take your computer to an Apple Store if you have one nearby. At the very least, they will have a fast network. They can also assist you with the install.You don’t say what model Mac you have, but if it is capable of using a newer version of OS X or macOS, use it. Always use the most recent version of the operating system you can to take advantage of the latest security patches.Finally, why do you think you had a virus? Macs are pretty resilient when it comes to viruses. It isn’t impossible, but it is fairly unlikely. All Macs have built-in security feature called XProtect that should have kept you safe unless you did something that specifically allowed some malware or a virus to access your system.
What is the best laptop for a writer?
You are definitely going to want to go with a Macbook. They are extremely reliable, have ergonomic keyboards for those long work days, and will absolutely be able to handle anything you throw their way. Now the real debate that I have heard is whether to go with the Macbook Pro, or to get the Macbook Air. I ultimately decided to go with the MBA, but I know some people who prefer the MBP. I'll list some of the pros of each below.Macbook Air ProsPrice: Right off the bat, you are saving $300 by choosing the Air over the Pro, which was a nice perk for meTyping: Keyboard key travel is less on the Air, plus the keys are easier to press. This allows me to have a higher WPM than on the ProWeight: There is a reason they call it the "Air". Not that I can't carry the Pro, but the Air is much lighter. In addition, it is also thinner and sleekerMacbook Pro ProsRetina Display: While this isn't a game changer for text, there definitely is a screen quality difference with the retina display. Especially important if you are doing photo/video editingPerformance: The MBP definitely has more computing power, if you do a lot of photo/video editing. Not that the Air can't handle it, but it will be slightly slowerBattery: The battery on the Pro is 12+ hours, compared to 10+ on the Air. I'm never more than 10 hours from an outlet, but it may make a difference for some.What I think it comes down to is, are you going to do more than just write? I think Apple specifically designed the Macbook Air for writers. It has a better keyboard, and is more portable. However, if your work involves a lot of photo/video editing too (as your question suggests), then the Pro will be able to handle those aspects better.The cheapest place that I've found the new Macbooks are on eBay, typically even cheaper than Amazon, just search around. You can save even more if you go used, if that's acceptable to you...Macbook Air (<$900): NEW Apple MacBook Air MD760LL/B 13.3 Laptop Core i5 4GB 128GB SSDMacbook Pro ($1260): Apple MacBook Pro 13.3" Laptop MF839LL/A Intel Core i5 2.7GHz 8GB 128GBThis is for the new version (which I recommend getting), but you can save some money by getting an older (and/or used) model.Happy writing!
What is the best video format for PowerPoint?
It depends on which version you intend to have you presentation viewed. For PowerPoint 2010 and earlier on a PC, WMV is the preferred format for video that is embedded in PowerPoint. Mac versions of PowerPoint 2011 and earlier will happily play embedded WMV video, but due to Apple's QuickTime, they will also play most any format that QuickTime will support. The problem comes when you create a presentation on the Mac using non-WMV video and try to play it on a PC that may or may not have QuickTime installed. The ONLY safe way to be sure you presentation will play successfully on all versions prior to PPT 2011 is to use WMV.GOING FORWARD, however, PPT 2013 on the PC and 2015 on the MAC have both switched to h.264 based media for their video - you MUST use this format if you intend your video to play back in the PowerPoint app on an iPad, and in the Web versions of PPT as well.h.264 video formats can typically end in .mp4, .m4v, .mov, or even .avi. As long as you KNOW FOR SURE that the video file you have is encoded with h.264, you can probably change the file extension from any of these to .mp4 which seems to keep PPT happiest. Also, under the app settings tab on the PC, you can always choose "Optimize Media" which will recompress your media into a format that PPT will be happy with. (Although it may degrade your original footage somewhat...) A variation of this has just been included in the new Mac 2015 version of PPT as well.If your question was simply about video pixel size and you are still awake after reading the above, 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) widescreen video is the safest balance between quality and file size that will play well on most screens and iPad format PPT as well. If your presentation is old-school 4x3, then 480p is a minimum to look good. (640 x 480 pixels)Of course the WMV and h.264 info from above is still relevant wether you are using 16x9 or 4x3 video.Good luck!
How do I convert .flv to .mp4 in OS X (Yosemite)?
As you know FLV is Flash Video files with Smaller and quick loading speed. Flash video files develop by Adobe and it is very popular format on Internet. But FLV is sometime not support Mac or Apple Products like IPHONE, Tablet, IPod or Mac book. So for this convert it in other format like MP4 then you can play easily.You can use Wondershare Video Converter files to convert in different formats. It is one of the best software that convert file easy in different format. Wondershare Video Converter helps to burn DVD or Upload file directly on YouTube.Here are few steps to convert FLV file to other format1. Upload file in WLMP format2. Just select format that you required.3. Just click on convert File.
How can I open an FLV file on my Mac?
Top 3 Ways to Open and Play FLV on Mac:Method 1. Play FLV in QuickTime with Perian installedSeveral third party plug-ins are available to allow users to watch .flv files using Apple's native multimedia media program. Perian covers many codecs and will almost certainly allow your FLV file to play in the Mac QuickTime Player. But there are also times when just the video of an FLV doesn't work and sometimes just the audio won't work, in these cases it's likely because you need to get a particular codec on your Mac to watch the FLV file.Note: The active development of Perian appears to have ceased according to their web page. Perian doesn't work on Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, macOS Sierra anymore.Method 2. Install 3rd-party FLV player for MacThe first solution we'd like to recommend for playing FLV on Mac is to install a QuickTime alternative player like MPlayer OS X or VLC, which support a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs. But the limits exist there: these video players may slow your computer down, or have stuttering playback with large video files.Method 3. Convert FLV in Mac OS X (macOS Sierra)If you want to watch FLV videos on Mac and the above two solutions just does not work for you, this method helps- converting FLV to MOV, the Mac most compatible file type. Thankfully, it's not difficult to convert FLV files to MOV format. You can use Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac to help you.This professional video converter is fully compatible with macOS Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks. With it, you can easily encode FLV to QuickTime MOV on Mac OS X while keeping the best video quality. After the conversion, you ca easily play FLV using QuickTime or iTunes on Mac without hassle. Besides MOV, it can also convert your FLV file to any other popular file formats like MP4, WMV, MPG, AVI, 3GP, etc. You can then upload the converted files to your iPad iPhone, PS3, Galaxy Tab and many other popular digital players for playback on the go.