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Streaming Netflix, OSX

Minoosh

Penultimate Amazing
Minoosh
Joined
Jul 15, 2011
Messages
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I signed up for a Netflix free sample of streaming video but was surprised when I tried to download the software. My Mac operating system does not meet requirements. The laptop is not all that old. My question, does Mac have a provision for upgrading operating systems or is there any other (free) workaround?

I also can't download a lot of things because it's Mom's computer and nobody remembers her administrator password.

Apparently if I reload a new operating system I can solve both problems, but didn't know if Apple provided such support.

Finally - I've been debating Mac vs. PC laptop and I greatly prefer Macs. However my work is government related which seems to be a PC world. Can you turn a Mac into a virtual PC with Windows or the like? I do work for school districts who are often running old PC software. It restricts what I can do from home, how well my Smart Board software works, etc.
 
I'm not a Mac guy but I can tell you right now that people are going to want to know a more specific description of the machine (model and whatnot) and what version of OSX that you are running.

Some Macs and flavors of OSX can run windows and some cannot. You won't get an answer without telling them the above.
 
All you really need for Netflix is the Silverlight plug-in. It works flawlessly on all of my Macs, some of which are more than four years old.

And yes, you can install Windows on a Mac. You can do it in its own partition via Boot Camp, or in parallel through a third-party application.
 
Minoosh said:
Finally - I've been debating Mac vs. PC laptop and I greatly prefer Macs. However my work is government related which seems to be a PC world. Can you turn a Mac into a virtual PC with Windows or the like? I do work for school districts who are often running old PC software. It restricts what I can do from home, how well my Smart Board software works, etc.
Click to expand...

There are virtualization schemes that would allow you to run OS X inside of Windows, or Windows inside of OS X. Personally, though, I would probably just go with a dual boot system with Boot Camp. Buy your Mac laptop, chuck out an extra $100 for a Windows license, spend an hour setting it up and you're good to go.
 
I tried to create a bootcamp partition last night and it was asking for Windows 7 installation disk. I was trying to install Windows Server 2008 R2. I ignored the request for W7 and Server 2008 told me that it will only install on an "IBM PC". I wanted to experiment with HyperV (?) feature of Server 2008.

I use VMWARE FUSION as my VM manager. Note that Fusion 3 is only compatible with Snow Leopard. I have Lion and I was forced to upgrade to Fusion 4. I have Server 2008 R2 x 64 installed under Fusion. No problems so far, except that I cannot use the HyperV feature as the virtualization is suppressed when running as guest.

I am happy with my setup (VMWare). The only problem I have is Firefox running in MacOS. Everything slows down specially if I have a VM up that is using a gig of memory. (I have 4gig physical). I like Firefox but sometimes, after a few hours of use, huge chunks of memory gets eaten up.

Right now I have the following OS to play with.

XP, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, and of course linux (ubuntu, fedora, suse, ...)

One thing nice about running under VMWare is that I can take a snapshots of my machine allowing me to roll back if something goes wrong.

-------------------

One thing nice about MAC:

XCODE - free. Visual Studio $???.??
LION (around $40). Windows 7 - $???.??
VMWare Fusion 4 (Mac) - $55.00. VMWare for Windows ($???.??).
etc.

--------------------

I only use MAC when surfing the net. So far, I haven't encountered virus in any of my Windows guests.
 
Minoosh said:
I signed up for a Netflix free sample of streaming video but was surprised when I tried to download the software. My Mac operating system does not meet requirements. The laptop is not all that old.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's possible to not meet the requirements if your laptop is < 6 years old (ie intel based not ppc)

Minoosh said:
My question, does Mac have a provision for upgrading operating systems or is there any other (free) workaround?
Click to expand...

You can purchase an newer version of the OS, but it doesn't sound like this is the problem. What type of laptop is this (-> About this Mac)

Minoosh said:
I also can't download a lot of things because it's Mom's computer and nobody remembers her administrator password.

Apparently if I reload a new operating system I can solve both problems, but didn't know if Apple provided such support.
Click to expand...

You can reset the password if you have the install disks that came with the laptop.

Minoosh said:
Finally - I've been debating Mac vs. PC laptop and I greatly prefer Macs. However my work is government related which seems to be a PC world. Can you turn a Mac into a virtual PC with Windows or the like? I do work for school districts who are often running old PC software. It restricts what I can do from home, how well my Smart Board software works, etc.
Click to expand...

As others have pointed out, you can run windows via bootcamp, vmware fusion , and parallels.
 
My son gets Netflicks on his Mac notebook. He got Netflicks before they split the streaming video from their other service and I don't know which half of the service he has (streaming or whatever the other is) but he wants me to sign up and I have a Mac. I'm sure if there was a Mac software incompatibility issue he'd have said something.

He has an older notebook and he did upgrade the OS not all that long ago. Beyond that I'd have to ask him for the details.
 
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bobhope2112 said:
... Buy your Mac laptop, chuck out an extra $100 for a Windows license, spend an hour setting it up and you're good to go.
Click to expand...

This is my real problem. I'm so used to Macs that the concept of spending an hour setting anything up intimidates me. The plug-and-play aspect has always been part of the appeal, yet it's allowed me to remain ... unengaged, I guess, in the process beyond the user interface. In other words somewhat lazy. And stupid.

The system is 10.4.10 and I'm almost positive I've installed software on it from a disk without any password issue.
 
A lot of that hour is spent just sitting there and waiting while it installs itself. User input is pretty much limited to telling it the type of install to do, agreeing to the license and creating the account(s). Add in some time for installing any updates needed and there is your hour.
 
Minoosh said:
The system is 10.4.10
Click to expand...

I have Lion which is 10.7.2. I believe 10.4.10 is Snow Leopard Tiger.

Edit, 10.4 is Tiger.

paiute said:
MAC = Media Access Control
Click to expand...

Really (not being sarcastic), all the while, I thought it stands for Manufacturer Assigned Code.

[slight derail]

IPV6 is composed of 64 bit network prefix and 64 bit host address. The host address is generated from the MAC address. If the NIC of the server is replaced, what happens to the DNS entry for this particular IP.

[/slight derail]
 
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Minoosh said:
The system is 10.4.10 and I'm almost positive I've installed software on it from a disk without any password issue.
Click to expand...

If you are still running tiger - I think your your definition of The laptop is not all that old is different than mine.

If it is a PPC laptop (is it an ibook ?) , and it sounds like it could be, then I don't believe there is a silverlight plugin for PPC, so you may be out of luck.
 
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