elef Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 Hi, give me some good reasons to choose a Macintosh instead of a PC today. Can I use Linux on Mac? I still have a Mac Classic, but my iMac stopped working more than one year ago - burned just after the warranty was out! elef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coss Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 Because Panther, despite a few teething problems is streets ahead of where "Longhorn" will be in 2006. Because Macs come with iTunes and iPhoto and iMovie and iDVD I believe you can run linux on a Mac, Adikgede? And the last reason, so you don't become one of the faceless masses, but then I'm a Mac fan... Cheers Coss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adikgede Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 Yes you can run a number of types of Linux and Unix ditributions on a variety of Apple computers from old to new. As far as the why use a Mac question, the most important thing is to figure out what you need a computer for, which applications help you do that and which operating system or hardware platform those apps require. Once you figure that out, questions like, which is better Mac or PC aren't really that important. But if I were to allow myself to evangelize a little I would say that based on the problems with security and network configuration I read on this forum, Macs have some great features. I would say that using a OS X based Mac you have a computer with a very good default firewall, that is not an attractive target because of the statistically small user base. Face it there is no fame and glory writing virus and what not for the obstinant 4% of the desktop user population that sit behind Macs. Easy network configuration. Apple has working zeroconf networking today, they call it Rendevous. Macs can mount a wide variety of network shares without having to touch system preferences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted November 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 Hi guys, I'm still not convinced. I must use windows in my company (special software not available for mac), now I need to replace my home pc and probably it will be a pc with linux as OS. Once mac was the symbol of freedom - viruses could just be found in the macintosh world. Now it's more and more old goats like me :: using macs. Instead Linux represents the way of freedom. Or? elef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adikgede Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 Why dont you buy a Mac install Linux on it. Run MOL (Mac on Linux) which will allow you to run the Mac OS inside of Linux, on your Mac Os you could run Virtual PC which will allow you to run a MS OS inside your Mac OS inside your Linux OS. Seems like that would give you the most choices. http://www.maconlinux.org/sshots/pic10.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritTim Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 My $0.02: Do not worry too much about what is perceived to be "in" or about making symbolic statements. What you are concerned about, I would assume, is having the best desktop (not server) computer possible at the lowest possible price. Based on this objective ... First, OSX is overall the best desktop OS available on the market today. Windows/XP is still probably second. Linux is rapidly improving, but not yet as good a desktop OS. However, Linux is likely to overtake MS Windows as a desktop OS experience within the next 18 months. Another important factor is that users of MS Windows need to take extra precautions with respect to security: an investment in time and/or money. How important to you is price? Assuming you are going to use licensed, not pirated, software a Linux solution is going to be cheapest. Linux has the widest range of quality free (as in beer) software available. However, certain software (especially games) that may be important to you may not run under Linux. MS Windows has by far the greatest variety of proprietary software available for it. Note that much software designed for Linux will also run under MS Windows (using the cygwin environment) and under OSX. While Apple's prices are certainly more competitive than several years ago, the fact is that a Mac solution is relatively expensive: especially if you want a laptop. If willing to use pirated software, a multi boot (MS Windows and Linux for instance) or a solution based on VMware or Virtual PC may give you the most functionality. The bottom line is that there is no clearcut answer to what is best for you. You need to decide on your priorities and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thai3 Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 when there was a similar discussion in June 2002 the thread was deleted as it was said to have contravened the rules. Seems like they might have been re writen again to allow grown ups to talk about operating systems. OSX is fine until you have log ins set with restrictions. Some software will then not open and you have to use it with no restrictions. Also some 9x software under a user log in will not start up the classic environment in order for it to run. Under admin non of these things are a problem. The problem with Panther has been massive data loss to fire wire drives. Overall although I did not like it at first I have become a fan. i tunes of course is now available for the PC. -peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adikgede Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 "when there was a similar discussion in June 2002 the thread was deleted as it was said to have contravened the rules. Seems like they might have been re writen again to allow grown ups to talk about operating systems." Actually the rules haven't been re written since then. The thread you mentioned was deleted because it got off to a bad start I pointed that out and my oversight was not received well so I just deleted it knowing full well that the subject would come up again if there was a need or interest. Back to the subject I am curious if you used accounts the old Mac OS. I remeber having the same problems years ago with OS 7.X and OS 8.X I just wonder if OS X is any better or worse. Also have you tried installing the apps in question in the /Users/username directories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 Hi Elef, We have entered some potentially dangerous territory here : the religious war. Essentially, its a futile endeavour, as most people simply take the path of least resistance : application X runs on OS Y and hardware Z. As long as the combined cost of all 3 isnt over their current crdit card limit, its a done deal. Whether you have an XBox or a G5, I believe that to be the basic equation, and Microsoft's trump card *isnt* Windows - its Office. Even in the Mac world, it remains the 600lb gorilla of office suites .... My advice is to use what works for you : if you like to tinker, then Linux or Free/OpenBSD may be your cup of tea, but the majority of people just want something that works out of the box, and that tends to be a commercial OS. I have an Athlon which runs XP and Red Hat 9.0, an iBook which runs Panther and Yellow Dog Linux and an eMac which I'm still tinkering with. Except for the latter (its new), the need to run 2 OSes on each machine has meant that I have a severe shortage of diskspace - factor that into any such choice. I basically configured the eMac to give myself enough room for backups from both machines, whislt hiving off some of the mountain of music which has found its way onto the little notebook. If you are serious about Linux on the Mac, be prepared to tinker, esp with things like your X Windows configuration. Its all good fun when you get things working, but it can be frustrating to realise that you've just creamed your Mac boot partition and you didnt backup things like iTunes or your priceless collection of photos Will I ever consign my Windoze box to the recycling yard ? Perhaps - when I see Half-Life 2 running under Panther :: Happy Trails, Artie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adikgede Posted November 19, 2003 Report Share Posted November 19, 2003 Microsoft's trump card *isnt* Windows - its Office. I wonder if they have MS Office for X-Box yet? The X Box has to be one of the cheapest all in one computers running linux Probably not what they had in mind. re wiping out your MBR: Its pretty easy to do this if you have run the System Preferences/Startup Disk utility. I did this recovery a few times with Gentoo, it just involves booting from the CD chrooting to your Linux installation and running ybin again. I never did it with YDL but I guess its pretty much the same, and if the documentation is lacking just read the RedHat manuals for the rescue environment, and just substitute yaboot for GRUB or LILO. Will I ever consign my Windoze box to the recycling yard ? Don't do that. Install Linux on it and use it as an iTunes server Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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