Ok so i have my new quadcore arriving anyday now to run fcs2 but i have some concerns with what else i should and should not have running on the machine. Now coming from editing on a PC i'm used to having nearly nothing but my editing program installed on the machine and 100% no internet connections, however i have '"heard" that it's different on the mac, that i am able to browse the web, use office applications and edit all on the same machine without any problems. Is this true? I'd love some general advice and hear how others have their machines set up. Thanks :)

To be super safe you should keep your editing machine as isolated as possible. Unfortunately budget doesn't always permit this. I use my computer for everything, and I haven't had a problem. The risk with PCs is that you could get a virus. There are very few viruses for Mac, so you should be fine. If I'm rendering something big I tend to close down all but the necessary, like FCP and Batch Monitor, to save CPU. In my opinion, an isolated machine would be great if your could swing it, but it isn't necessary.

Thanks Edward. I guess i could isolate the machine, i just really liked the idea of using it to surf the web aswell, i just really didnt want to have to install a virus protection program though, as i know these things running in the background can reak havok on other applications.

I've been using my iMac since 2005 with no virus protection. All I have is the built-in firewall, and I have had not problems with viruses or hackers.

great stuff, i think il give it a try then and hope for the best