I think for the first time I will buy something mac… Mainly because its so damn small (smaller then a shuttle) and has enough power to let me use blender. I just wish Mandrake or redhat was on there instead, or any other linux distro.
Wonder if there gimp for mac…
its either that a mac mini or maybe a cheap dell labtop…
There are Linux distributions for Macs. Google is your friend. 
-Raseri
Mac Os X is Unix. you can run any linux app on it.
there is absolutly no need of linux
I seriously considered buying a mac mini, but the horrible low specs
and the upgrading costs eventually made me decide not to.
Roel
If you really want mandrake installed on your mac you can try this: http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3#ppc (go to mandrake linux 10.1/PPC) (I’ve never tried it).
If you want multiple desktops in osx (like you have on most linux guis), try this: http://wsmanager.sourceforge.net/index.php the project says that it is still alpha, but I haven’t had any problems with it (been using it for about two weeks with OS X 10.3.7)
Cheers,
b01c
You mean to tell me that you want to take a computer that ships with an OS that is highly optimized and tightly integrated with the hardware is runs on, the most advanced desktop enviorment in existance, and put linux on it? Thats like buying an SGI box and putting linux on it instead of IRIX :o Linux wont support the hardware nearly as well and is pretty unsophisticated compared to OSX.
I don’t understand people, I guess they like wasting money.
BTW to answer your question: there are several versions of gimp for the mac and in fact through projects like fink (based on debians apt/dpkg) and GNU/Darwin you have access to literally thousands of OS projects on OSX. OSX even has a custom X11 server that works seamlessly within the auqa enviorment.
Zarf
Not that I would consider buying one, but I read that these are barebone systems($499); Is that true?
you don’t upgrade a mac, you replace it
this one is cheap enough I’m willing to consider doing that
though, the cost of getting it reasonable [80Gb hd, 1Gb ram, wireless and superdrive] is a bit much
particularly the ram, that setup was $1253, with only 512Mb it is $903
500 dollars gets you:
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive [dvd-rom/cd burner]
DVI or VGA video output [dvi port with vga adapter provided]
for 599 you get [different from above]
1.42GHz PowerPC G4
80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
airport and bluetooth cost extra, as does the superdrive and more ram
no keyboard, no mouse, no monitor
uses a power brick [see quicktime vr things to see it], looks like the brick is 7 inch by 3.5 inch by 1.5 inch or so
but this thing is small, it is about the same size as an external cdrom, and if you look at the design page they have a pic showing that it is just a bit longer than the ram it uses
I was drooling over this thing yesterday. I’ve never wanted a mac before, not even slightly. But this thing… ohh…
I… waaaaannt… iiiiiiiitttt.
i, too was pleasantly surprised at this.
i might actually buy it.
i actually am not concerned at all about the poor specs. all that i think i would do is get more memory (512Mb would actually be fine for me). everything about the mac is better than my home computer now, so i wouldnt complain if i got it…
besides, its not like i would actually do anything besides work and blender on it…
Regards,
~Delta
I’ve been a mac user for my whole computer life. I absolutely love macs, and especially osx, even though my current computer is a windows machine. And I’m constantly amazed at Apples design team and what they manage to produce. And the Mac mini is no exception. It’s amazing that it’s the size of a GameCube, if not smaller. Even though I don’t need one, I’d still love to purchase one But I’m currently broke 
Oh well, I suppose the ipod shuffle that I just got for my bday will have to do for now
tsk tsk tsk. another victim of the megahertz myth. >> http://www.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/mhz_myth_320f.mov
1.4 ghz is about the pentium equivilant of a pentium 2.8.
Funny, we have upgraded our g4 tower/powermac at work several times over the last few years… maybe its not a real mac %|
Seriously, where do you people get this stuff?
Zarf
Nice one Zarf another mac myth busted. About the only thing non industry standard in a mac these days is the mobo. And you can get that upgraded if you look around.
Still I have to say it good to see the huge response to the mac mini. If I had a dollar for all the people that criticised the mac over price but were really saying “this is an excuse not to try something different”. I guess bluff has now been called.
Enjoy the experience.
BB
http://www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_N_spec.jsp?motherboardId=221
VIA is the company that is impressing me. i am not to impressed by Apples mini mac. but VIA who has been making a huge effort towards this area for years (not just releasing a finished product but showing development) really gets my admiration.
12cmx12cm Mobo (Apple will probably be using the same form factor, or very similar)
but i respect Via more for it, becuase they invented the form factor years ago.
oh and i just added extras to the Mini mac and the price went up to $1,451 (without a screen)
DANG. that is fairly expensive.
/me sticks with larger computers for a while, due to the speed
Alltaken
Holy shit, you mean more features means MORE MONEY?!?! Those BASTARDS! Who would of thunk it? I mean in the PC world you would never see this kind of crap being pulled…
%|
Zarf
Funny, we have upgraded our g4 tower/powermac at work several times over the last few years… maybe its not a real mac %|
Seriously, where do you people get this stuff?
Zarf[/quote]
mmm, powermac
I hadn’t considered those, they seem to last a long time
I was thinking more along the lines of the g3 imac
Holy shit, you mean more features means MORE MONEY?!?! Those BASTARDS! Who would of thunk it? I mean in the PC world you would never see this kind of crap being pulled…
%|
Zarf[/quote]
yeah but for the performance its not worth it. the prices are not comparible to those of PCs of similar specs and similar sizes.
Zarf[/quote]yeah but for the performance its not worth it. the prices are not comparible to those of PCs of similar specs and similar sizes.[/quote]
It is a mac, the costs for hardware aren’t the only ones
look at the software it comes with as well, the cost is very reasonable compared to a similarly equipped pc [in a lager box]
[not being a mac expert I will not say much more]
The software alone that it comes with preinstalled is worth as much as the the whole computer.