Wait here, I'll come back with milk and crackers

[riyu_kuyen]

Both my computer and my dog are very old, very sick, and on the verge of dying. I don't care about the computer since it can be replaced, but Cody is one of a kind and I will be horribly depressed, er, moreso, once he goes to doggie heaven

Comments

[masterofdonkeys]

Don't get a Mac, unless you're a noob.

You're not a noob, are you, Steve?

[riyu_kuyen]

I very well may be a noob.

[red_jeb]

Macs are very easy to use. Plus, there's less worry about viruses and spyware. On the other hand, there are sometimes compatibility issues--less games, and some other stuff.

Macs are more expensive, especially if you look at the "make your own" price. Mac will probably cost you at least a grand, whereas a decent PC can be built for around 500$--especially considering you already have a monitor and other peripherals.

A great word processor is included in Open Office, which is a free program.

You might just need some anti-spyware programs:
Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D
HiJackThis (although this needs some expertise/help to use)
SpywareBlaster

a good anti-virus is AVG anti-virus, which is better than Norton and free.

[managoddess]

Man, nobody ever believes me when I say AVG is better than Norton, even though it's the truth. It takes up soooooo much less memory, when it's scanning I don't even know it's doing anything until it's all "O hay, your computer doesn't have any viruses, thought you might like to know." And the time I DID get a virus, AVG was all "Pow, no more virus!"

Norton, on the other hand, hogs all the memory and is all "O hay, can't delete that, sry" when I got viruses. I'd always have to reformat.

[red_jeb]

Plus, I have never had a problem uninstalling AVG.
The first time I downloaded it nobody I knew could show me how to use it, and I already knew Norton so I uninstalled it. I just pressed uninstally, and AVG skeedaddled.

Uninstalling Norton is like pulling a tooth out of a rabid lycanthropic wolverine with an attitude problem.

[red_jeb]

Also, Ad-Aware is scanner only.
Spybot S&D is scan and prevention.
SWB is prevention only.

A quick Google search is all you need to find these excellent pieces of software.

[red_jeb]

They really are no longer an issue unless you're looking for games, and even that idea is being phased out.

For instance, my Mac is able to communicate with my friend Alex's network, which is hosted on a Window's PC.

Plus, the security factor is nice. Not that Windows can't be made as secure as a Mac with programs, just not having the hassle is really nice.

[red_jeb]

Also, I was very sorry to hear about your puppy. :(