Connecting an iMac to existing network used by PC's and TV's

[Pdaz]

My house has a hard wired LAN. Currently three smart TV's,  a Laptop running windows 7, a set of Sonus soundbars and speakers and a WD hard drive used for storing downloaded music and video.

 

My wife is keen to buy an iMac to use for her business.  Will it cause any issues/conflicts connecting it to my network ? Would it also be possible to use it to download torrents to my WD My Book Live hard drive ( Guess there are Mac versions of Torrent software available ).  I thought Win and Mac wrote to HDD's differently ?  I have an iphone/ipad but have never used a Mac PC so don't know much about them. I know I can load it with a Windows OS but not sure if that is worthwhile ? 

Or would it just be simpler to purchase another "all in one" style PC running Windows. 

 

Any insights would be appreciated

[BudRight]

>Will it cause any issues/conflicts connecting it to my network ?

 

Short answer:

No.

 

Long answer:

 

Your router (the thing the network cables all plug into) has something called DHCP that automatically assigns a unique address on your local network for each device. There are 256 unique addresses available.

 

>Would it also be possible to use it to download torrents to my WD My Book Live hard drive ( Guess there are Mac versions of Torrent software available ).  

 

Yes.

 

 

>I thought Win and Mac wrote to HDD's differently ? 

 

They use different file systems, but Macs have no trouble reading Windows file system drives.

 

> I have an iphone/ipad but have never used a Mac PC so don't know much about them.

 

I'm not sure if this a question.

 

>I know I can load it with a Windows OS but not sure if that is worthwhile ? 

 

Absolutely not. The point of running a Mac is run Apple's OS. It's a nice operating system. Your wife will probably like it - most people do.

 

>Or would it just be simpler to purchase another "all in one" style PC running Windows. 

 

It's not really simpler. It's the same. You plug the cable in the back and it works.

Edited August 20, 2016 by BudRight

[Pdaz]

Thanks for the informative reply. My missus will now be very happy.. and I won't have to convince her to buy an "ugly" all in one PC. 

 

As for, " I have an iphone/ipad but have never used a Mac PC so don't know much about them "

That was a statement, meant to explain the need for my question 

 

Thanks