Necessary Tools

As I mentioned earlier, this book's purpose is to give you the knowledge you need to make the most of the modern Mac's digital media capabilities. Before we begin, we need to make sure you have the right tools for the task ahead.

To start with, you'll need the current versions of the Mac operating system, at least Mac OS X 10.2. Why? All the wonderful digital media software listed above requires (or will work best) under that system.

What do you do if you don't have that version of the Mac OS installed?

You need to determine if your computer can handle it. According to Apple, Mac OS X runs on all original G4 computers, all iBooks and iMacs (including the Bondi 233), all PowerBooks (except the original Powerbook G3), and all beige desktop G3s.

You also need to consider if your computer's processor can handle this operating system. Mac OS X runs on a wide range of processors, but the minimum requirement for decent performance is considered by many to be at least a 350MHz G3.

Finally, you need to make sure you have enough hard drive space and RAM to operate Mac OS X and all the applications you'll want to run. Mac OS X needs 128MB of RAM and 1.5GB of available storage.

If you are serious about working with digital media and your computer doesn't meet these requirements, you'll need to consider upgrading your computer to a newer model. (While this may sound like a drastic measure, it is a necessity. Audio and image files are very resource- intensive .)

Beyond these system requirements, there are also some other hardware needs to consider:

• For making your own CDs (containing data, music, photographs, etc.), your computer must have a drive capable of writing CDs. Alternately, you could use an external CD- burner that is compatible with Mac OS X.

• To get full mileage from iPhoto, you'll need a compatible digital camera.

• If you want to use iMovie, you must have a digital video camera that uses FireWire technology (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) and your computer must have a FireWire connection port. (FireWire allows very large digital video files to be transferred between your camera and your computer. Without it, there is no feasible way to work with video on your computer.)

• To create DVDs with iDVD, your computer must be equipped with Apple's SuperDrive, which can read and write both CDs and DVDs. (Please note, that while external DVD burners are sold, they will not work with iDVD.)

Once you know what your computer needs in order to do its job, we're ready to begin! (If this list of requirements leaves you with unanswered questions, don't worry. We'll be talking about all of these topics in great detail later in the book.)