Posted on 01/11/2005 10:49:21 AM PST by HAL9000
Preliminary info from MacWorld Expo -
Jobs introduces Mac mini. New member of Mac family including a slot-load Combo optical drive, FireWire, ethernet, USB 2.o, both DVI/VGA output. It plays DVDs, burn CDs, and is very quiet and tiny. Its height is half the size of an iPod mini. Jobs calls it "BYODKM" -- Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse. Will come in two models: 1.25GHz 256MB/40GB for $499. A second model with a 1.4GHz, more memory and larger hard drive will sell for $599. Mac mini will ship on January 22. Ships in a box smaller than the regular iPod box.
Like I said, we don't do Macs on our network. I have no experience with OSX Macs, although I've had to deal with older Macs on occasion for friends. I do know that everyone I know who has A. dealt with Macs in a network and B. isn't a dedicated Mac guru or network know-it-all has had issues, too.
Look, keep your Macs. Be happy that you have a tiny market share so you don't get spyware written for them. Unless I get an up-close look at one of these machines, including a look inside, I'm not going to waste any time wondering if it would make me feel warm inside to own one.
Every computer is a pain in the butt. Depending on what you use it for, one will be better suited for your needs. But there are basic facts. Mac's take alot less service than PC's. The owners are passionately loyal despite active discrimination everywhere.
I haven't had a virus or a spyware on any Mac I have worked with for 5 years now. And I work with hundreds of them. I can time on a one minute stop watch how long a bare windows system takes to get infected on the internet after connect.
But, folks have experiences all over the board. Enjoy your windows. There are all sorts of benefits for using it. If you decide to actually try a Mac and use it for some time.. then we can talk about comparative specs.. but frankly.. most of these numbers being hashed back and forth are pretty much meaningless in comparing the two.
if you were interested in this little box, I would recommend upgrading the RAM to 512MB min.. this is just a must with OS X unless you are just planning to web browse and chat. But above 512MB.. you shouldn't need to go with this box.. because that is territory for gamers and graphic artists and perhaps intense database and spreadsheet crunching.. In that case.. you would want a G5 and not be cheap. Otherwise, this is a pretty cool box.
Ok are we all supposed to burst into Kumbuya now?I think both of these platforms and all the OSs including Linux have thier up's and down's.Windows or the "wintel" boxes as they are refered to,their strength is compatability with most software and hardware and they are pretty easy to use abuse and modify.Their weakness is security but with the excellant collection of free security tools available now it's almost a non issue.Macs on the other hand their strength is stability and security and they are also easy to use .Their weakness's are compatability although that seems to be getting better,but they just cost too damn much.Too much for a newbie with limited income and too much for experianced user who can put together something with more power for less money.Then theres Linux and all it's variants, plenty secure, plenty stable but it also has compatability issues with both hardware and software and at least for me it's like learning a foriegn language.When they come up with an install program that's as easy to use as windows and doesn't require you to enter a bunch of secret codes like your launching a nuclear missle I'm all over it.
I see plenty of documentation for Macs at the csu.edu web site. Perhaps they are connecting to your network without problems and simply don't need any support from your department.
You can get a PS2 to USB adapter.. as for the 9 pin serial mouse.. it still works? send it to a museum! Gosh..
Our department has its own network. People are free to connect their Macs, we just don't support them.
You'd be amazed at what I have collected in my basement.
Not me, he says as he cuts and pastes with a nine pin serial track ball.
At home I use a Mac ... 5 of them now. At work, a PC. After my G5, the PC monitor looks like a screen of colored sand ... I slog through programs at work. How do normal people put up with PCs? Just cheap I guess. ;-)
Imagine, if you will, the best XP setup you can possibly get. Then imagine all the features you would ever want to have. Now take that, and get rid of all the bloat and virus worries, and you have OS X. Stop being a M$ Luddite, and give OS X a try.
Ohhh...another Old Schooler, eh?
As for developing code.. uh.. unless we are talking about developing in Visual(take your pick) which requires Windoze.. I cannot see why anyone would touch a windows box.. well one reason. TextPad.. the best piece of development software ever developed.. and this is only available on a PC.. much to my chagrin.
But, other than Textpad.. and Microcentric apps.. there is nothing to recommend windows as a development platform over another. Frankly Linux or OS X are better because you can have multiple virtual machines running test OS Boxes WinXP, Win2K, etc that you can shut down in a specific state, save, copy and test from the same point over and over again.
And try popping a hard drive out of one PC and put it into a whole different model with different hardware and see if it starts, much less runs without a hitch. This is normal on a Mac. God help you on a PC..
So in other words you don't have any basis for saying that Mac's cause problems on a TCP/IP network unless you go back 4 years..
Be happy that you have a tiny market share so you don't get spyware written for them.
Come on, as the vaunted systems administrator on this thread you know better than that. Unix uses a completely different security model than Windows so to say that market share is the determining factor in a systems susceptibility is just plain stupid..
. Unless I get an up-close look at one of these machines, including a look inside, I'm not going to waste any time wondering if it would make me feel warm inside to own one.
You have every right to stay ignorant about the other technologies out there. As I have said you can also decide to reduce complexity you don't want them on your network. But don't act like you have a basis to form a professional opinion on the technical merits of OSX when you have never even used it.
Since you have NO EXPERIENCE with an operating system that has been in use for 4 years, what are you doing on this thread spreading your ignorance? You make sweeping statements about connectivity, "not playing nice", and Macs having "issues", speaking ex cathedra, claiming "networking" expertise, when you have no experience from which to speak... and arguing with those of us WHO DO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE and the expertise.
Be happy that you have a tiny market share so you don't get spyware written for them.
Your citing the myth of "security by obscurity" demonstrates again your ignorance of the basic security built into to BSDUnix and OSX. In four years no one has been able to create a self-installing spyware/adware program for OSX. Yet you ASSUME that it is merely that the programers who create such vileness just ignore the Mac market because it is less than 4% of the market. That canard has been shot down many times... and the evidence is that there are, as yet, no candidate programs to prove it can be done.
You admit that you have not even had a "close up look" at a modern Mac, yet you feel comfortable advising people as to their suitability for various uses. That is arogant and willful ignorance. It has become apparent that "what you know" is based on hearsay, antique information, or myth.
Well.. I am not sure Apple didn't make a big thing of this just to cause a little stir to get folks interested in this announcement. The rumor sites and Apple play cat and mouse all of the time. Apple will be really worried if nothing leaked.. or the rumor sites closed down.. this would be the end of days for them..
It's a joke.
The comment is a satirical look at a stereotypical computer geek, notably the Mac user that's in fewer and fewer number just like Beta videotape users.
Nothing more than that.
uh but in post 161 you said "I have no experience with OSX Macs, although I've had to deal with older Macs on occasion for friends."
I don't like Macs.
Good for you
I like Windows.
Also good for you, nobody here cares what you like, what got you in trouble is you spoke about all the networking issues mac has had when you have no experience with OSX (or you do, it all depends on which post we read).
And like someone upthread, I need Java 1.5 this semester and Mac can't give me that.
Wow good for you a quasi informed statement about why you wont use Macs other than 'I dont like them', or 'their software stinks' (without any experience or reference... Many Mac users are furious about 1.5 not being on Panther (Including a few developers where I work)..
Been there done that, and yes they will start but usually only with a boot disk and only long enough to format and install an OS but what do want from a used hard drive.You can in fact build a decent PC out of old junkers scrounged from a salvage yard or landfill.Try that with a Mac.
I know, that damn stable BSD networking is always such a headache. BTW, it's pretty much as easy to connect a Mac to a PC network as it is a PC.
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