Clean-up etc...

Forgive for I am new to the Mac world... and i must say i cant believe it took me this long! man i should have switched years ago! ... anyway, i have a new iMac and do alot of browsing, online gaming, and downloading of mp3 files, so pretty much normal activities but i am paranoid. With my pc i used to have to run scan-disk, and disk cleanup, and defrag, clean old storages of temp internet files etc. and if you have ever owned a pc you know what i am talking about.
I guess my question is do i really not have to do any of that with my new iMac? or are there some basic upkeep things i should be doing? i want to keep my system running as perfect as it is now so i want take care of it like a new child (since i am sure thats the only thing that could give me more joy lol)
So please either tell me the basics or point me in the right direction to find answers i am looking for.
sorry if this is the wrong spot to post... i am a noob lol
James
usmc retired

More than likely you'll begin getting lots of answers recommending that you do this or that or download this program or that program. I'll admit that prior to Leopard I did recommend that users download & use a couple utilities but improvements with Leopard changed that. The Mac OS has always been more robust than Windows - the Registry and Window's reliance on DLLs are probably its two biggest weaknesses.
For the typical user, your computer has all the utilities you'll need to keep your computer running happily and for the most part they run in the background without your involvement. I do recommend that you run Disk Utilities once a month to verify the hard drive and if repairs are necessary then boot the computer with your grey restore DVD to run the Disk Utility program and repair the drive. (You can't repair the boot drive which is why you need to boot with the DVD or another drive.) You'll probably be told to repair permissions - it is almost a fetish with some users - but it's another tool that has become less important with the arrival of Leopard. It can't hurt but it isn't the fix-all that it was once thought to be.

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