Any Mac Users out there?

[Big Dan]

Hey Guys,

Are there any Mac users out there? I've been contemplating getting a Mac Mini just to try it out everyone talks about how great OS X is, I want to see what it's all about and if it's really worth the hardware tax. Gosh the last time I used a Mac for anything productive was before OS X, I've only used OS X briefly other than that.

I've used Ubuntu both full time and now use it on and off so I'm not scared of the terminal although I doubt I would need to use it much in an OS as mature as OS X.

Is it really that great or is it just hype?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[unixgeek]

Yep - it really is that good. I dropped out of the windows world about 5 years ago and have never once regretted it.

I'm on my second laptop, the first laptop was a 17 inch mac book G4. that was an excellent machine that served me very well over a 3 year period. My girlfriend is now using it, and other than a failed hard drive and a new keyboard (due to an incident with a cat) it's performed flawlessly. I've since stepped up to a 17 inch mac book pro - dual core intel and love the damn thing. These two machines have been my constant companion since I've purchased them, being on nearly 24 hours a day, and traveling with me wherever I go (even camping). They have proven to be very reliable machines.

 

[Big Dan]

Thanks UG.

This morning I bit the bullet and ordered a used Mini along with the wireless keyboard and mighty mouse. I'm so pshyed about it, I felt like a kid in a candy shop when pressing the PayPal buy now button.

I've really wanted to play around with OS X for quite a while but didn't want to pay the hardware tax associated with Apple products the used system is a nice compromise. It's got 2GB of RAM which I wanted from the beginning I couldn't imagine getting by on 1 GB and couldn't live with paying $100 for a GB upgrade from Apple.

My only sticking points is this system comes with Tiger, I really wanted Leopard but I can buy the newest Leopard + iWork + iLife for only $170.

Aside from that an 80GB HD is pretty small in this day and age I might just buy another external or see if I can replace the internal one.

I'll be sure to post some EQ screenshots in Safari

I was wondering do you know off hand if I can get the latest versions of Safari and iChat with Tiger or do you need Leopard to get the latest and greatest?

-Dan

 

[unixgeek]

Excellent!

The upgrade to tiger is something to consider when you can afford it. (unless you happen to find a friend with a copy) Although you're probably better off waiting till snow leopard is released, sometime this year I think. I would recommend running Firefox instead of safari. For instant messaging - use the open source app called Adium. it's much better than ichat. The built in mail app "mail" really can't be beat, it's much better and more stable than Thunderbird. Just so I don't get hate mail - I was a thunderbird user for years.

for hardware - you can put a bigger drive in side - you'll want to go and download MacTracker from mactracker.ca it's a great app for deciphering what's inside your machine, and what your upgrade options are. Of course you can always connect firewire and usb drives for storage.

 

[Big Dan]

It's supposed to be here today! Along with a new external HD and USB hub I ordered from NewEgg. I cannot wait.

Funny thing is yesterday Foxmarks released an synchronization plugin for Safari on the Mac and IE on the windows side. For those that don't know Foxmarks is a bookmark and password synchronization tool for Firefox. Personally I only use it for bookmarks but it's going to safe me some time of importing my bookmarks into FF on the mac side.

So far I got a bunch of Mac apps sitting in my dropbox and the Mac dropbox installer on a USB stick. The hardest part is going to be letting it sit here and warm up before turning it on.

I'm just running a backup of all my docs and stuff as we speak then taking the computer apart to rearrange my desk and run the leads for the mini.

I'll be back later spamming with screen shots I'm sure.