[dayglored]

> Install Linux on her computer. It’s just like a Mac.

Good lord, NO - Linux is NOT "just like a Mac".

If you're a Unix/Linux geek like me, yeah, under the surface the Mac's BSD is pretty much like Linux in many respects. But does this person sound like they want to learn "bash" and live at the commandline? I don't think so.

I've got four Macs, three Linux boxes, and a couple of Win-PCs. One Linux box started life that way (in 2001) -- the others are recycled Win-PCs. That is, I have done exactly what you suggest, and speak from experience.

Linux has nowhere near the commercial application support that Mac does, which in turn is substantially less than that of Windows.

Linux is free. Macs cost significant money, even as refurbs. I know.

So with that as background, let me respectfully but sincerely disagree. Linux is "not just like a Mac". If it was, I wouldn't be shelling out the money for my Macs. You get a tremendous amount of value and functionality for the money you spend on a Mac, that is not available from either Linux or Windows.

That said, if SoftballMominVA wants to experiment for a couple months with Linux on a Win-PC, hey, more power to her. Just be prepared for her daughter to grow frustrated and tired of the constant incompatibility with the rest of her friends' computers.

A refurb'ed Mac is a terrific idea.

[Richard Kimball]

I agree, but I tend to believe that a serviceable Mac with a long life span will come in somewhere north of $500. That's why I haven't made any suggestions. I would prefer not to get a non-Intel, as most new software is written for the Intel line of products.

I think like the jump from OS9 to OSX, the Intel changeover was a dramatic line in the evolution of the Mac, and I wouldn't buy a g4 for that reason.