So, Apple just announced a $500 Mac without keyboard or monitor. Who's buying one?
I'm considering it.
I don't care you if you think it's cheap. $500 for a computer isn't cheap in my book.
wait until you see the prices of mac software
The kind of people who they are aiming at wouldnt use anything more than iLife (free, comes with it), there preferred IM, mail, browser, and thats about it. It's not the kind of box you would slap Finalcut HD, Indesign etc on.
I'm looking at selling my PC off and buying one. It means no more having to mess with upgrading so goddamn often, the OS is stable and isnt full of goddamn holes, trojans, exploits and is at least UNIX of some description, and I'll have enough space to put it on my desk. It's selling for $799AUD here, but I might scrounge the extra $80 and get an 80Gb HDD.
or you could get a nice SFF for about three hundred and install Linux.
I want to turn my box on and it to work. Not to spend time having to recompile, check dependencies and fuck around with the OS. It should work fine out of the box, minus tiny tweaking.
Don't get me wrong, Linux is a fine OS (This site is powered behind Debian), but I dont see any use for it for me as a desktop OS.
Linux is definitely for servers and people with too much time on their hands.
I set up my father with XandrOS Linux 3.0. Gotta say it is the Least Ammount Of Bullshit Linux I've ever seen. Pop in the CD, install it (flawlessly supports Dual-Booting), and it works. Everything is installed, but not EVERYTHING, so you just get the tools which get the job done.
It picked up my nVidia card without any configuration, I plugged in my Card reader and it worked flawlessly, and setting up things like services was dead easy. It's a Linux designed for the End User. Not once did I ever have to look at a Terminal, since XandrOS would often fix its own mistakes.
I suggest you try it. Just download the Deluxe version somewhere or shell out the $50 for the Dual-CD and documentation set, which includes CrossOver Office 4.0 Pro, and all of the proprietary plugins. It played all the media formats I threw at it without any trouble. Even me, a two-year long Linux user and sysadmin, was impressed with it. And my father, a long-time tech-illiterate, actually proclaimed, "I prefer Linux over Windows."
While >>10 fails somewhat at sp; gr, he has the right idea.
You haven't convinced me. I'm still buying a minimac.
This thing is bare bottom, folks... If you're seriously considering getting one, be sure to check out the specs and make sure it's what you want. You're at least probably going to want to double the RAM if you enjoy running more than one or two apps at once (you always have your IM and email clients in the background, for instance); I am one such person, and my Powerbook originally came with 256MB. When I popped another 512MB in there, the performance increase was dramatic. (If you order it BTO from Apple's site, their RAM is expensive...)
As for playing modern 3D games on this thing... forget it. (But if you want to play games on your computer instead of do productive things, go out and buy a GameCube instead for a fifth of the price.)
Squeeks and others, if you have any questions about our side of the fence (what's the best software to do X, etc), ask away. Welcoming "switchers" is a joy to any Mac freak. :)
Bare bottom? Oh God... I meant "bare bones." :P
One more thing... Apple is scheduled to release Mac OS 10.4 sometime "within the first half of 2005." Usually, when there's a huge OS release like this, there's some sort of free/reduced price upgrade deal for those who bought new systems in the last few months or so, but if you don't want to deal with it, you may just want to hold off until 10.4 comes out. Normal price for new OS releases are $120; seems kinda harsh, but it's cheaper than buying XP Pro.
There's also Vidalinux.... Based off of gento, even has their portage.
I understand that the upgrade version of Mac OS X is the same as the retail version, though, while the restore discs you get with a new computer aren't, so if you want a full OS install on disc, it's actually a good idea to get the machine with the older version and get the cheap upgrade. No?
I wouldn't say so much that I'm a full-on "switcher". I went to college and was trained using OS 9 and OSX. And for some reason RAM around here is actually cheaper from Apple: 512MB is $100 if I get it installed from them, the cheapest OEM RAM in stores is $108 (thats AUD not USD). But what Im going to do is wait until I go back to college in a couple of weeks, and get student discount :D
... Did you ever look it up at crucial.com?
>>17: Well, yes and no. The system software install discs are separate from the "extra goodies" install discs, so if I wanted to reinstall just the OS without the extra goodies, I could do so (and vice-versa). And I just tested it out... both sets of discs are pretty "dumb" when it comes to customizing the installation, whereas standard OS X install discs are not. With how (in)frequently I reinstall the system, though, I really don't find it much of an issue.
Note that this is the case for my Powerbook. Things might be different for the consumer-targeted mini.
One of the few things I miss about college are the student discounts. :D (I paid ~US$75 for OS upgrades with the discount.) However, Apple sometimes has some good refurb deals on their website too (that's how I got this Powerbook).
>>19
http://www.crucial.com/index.asp?IMODULE=CT6464Z335
http://www.crucial.com/store/international_shipping.asp
1x512Mb DDR333: $80.99 USD
Postage:$20 USD
-----------------
$100.99 USD
$134.136 AUD (Conversion using xe.com)
OR
http://gamedude.com.au/prod_show.php?art_no=memBR512d333
1x512Mb DDR333: $108 AUD
Postage: nothing since I live 20 minutes frmo the store
----------------
$108 AUD
$20 postage on a RAM stick?! You must be overnighting it or something...
I was hinting that a person might, for reasons unexplained, choose to break INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS and install the OS upgrade on more than one machine. Having the real install discs should be better under these circumstances.
ARRRRRR.
>>22
Freighting from USA -> Australia isn't cheap.
A mini-guide to OS X for folks making the switch:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/tweaks/miniguide.ars
It's not comprehensive, but it's a quick read and packs in a lot of good info.
Thats really handy....
Alright... some progress.
My PC is almost pre-sold, and got the price for 1.25GHz model and a 80Gb HDD installed.
$791.10AUD. Jeez I love education discounts.
So, I can safely say I'm going to have my Mac by my birthday (Which is several weeks away). Alright, now since its been a while since I've used a Mac, any of you lot got ideas on where to refresh my mind?
Did you see >>25 ?
You can also probably find some good books at your local bookstore if you're willing to drop some bucks. I've never read any of the "Missing Manual" books, but they seem to be pretty highly regarded. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macxmmpanther/
Mac OS X Hints is sometimes good for specific "How do I ___?" questions.
http://www.macosxhints.com/
Or, of course, you could just post here and ask me.
mmmkay then. >>28 ...
Is there any way I can mount .iso /.toast images like Daemon Tools? Or do I have to burn/extract the data out of them the hard way?
>>7 here. Just wanted to let you folks know about two weeks ago Gentoo hosed itself and I didn't feel like reinstalling, so I also bought a Mac Mini. Haha.
>>29: Mounting ISO images? Hmm. I've never tried that, but have you tried /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility? That's the general disk partitioning/formatting/imaging app. I'm not sure if it works with ISO, but it won't hurt to try.
As for .toast images... Well, fire up Toast and select "Mount Disk Image" from the "Utilities" menu. I'm fairly sure Toast will mount ISO images too. Of course, this means you have to go out and buy Toast, but in my opinion, it's worth it... it's a good program. (Were you able to mount .toast images in Windows without Toast/EZ CD Creator?)
Mac OS X software packages are disk images, aren't they? You'd think it'd be possible to abuse that into mounting an .iso file, since that's just a disk image with an ISO 9660 filesystem on it.
>Mac OS X software packages are disk images, aren't they?
Most shareware and such is distributed on a disk image (.dmg) if it follows OS X conventions. You mount the image, then copy the app from the pseudo-disk to your Applications folder. (Sometimes I'll try the app directly from the disk image first to make sure it's something I really want to keep.)
However, if it needs to do something requiring a system password, it's distributed as a "Package" (.pkg), which is installed by a program that ships with OS X called Installer.
Sometimes you'll come across stuff that doesn't really need a password for installation distributed as a package anyway, and sometimes you'll find programs and stuff still compressed as a .sit or similar package (like a .zip), but both of these are not OS X convention and are frowned upon.
>You'd think it'd be possible to abuse that into mounting an .iso file, since that's just a disk image with an ISO 9660 filesystem on it.
Safari automatically mounts .dmg files after you download them, yes, and there used to be a security issue there where a disk (and therefore a disk image) could be set to automatically execute an executable on the disk when it's mounted, but this was patched a year or so ago. I don't think Safari automatically mounts ISO images, though... haven't tried.
What if you trick it into believing the .iso file is a .dmg? Does it autodetect the filesystem on the image?
From what I understand a dmg doesn't specify a filesystem type. Rather, the system creates a loopback device for it, and the mount/amd system figures out which filesystem it is automagically like it would for a CD, USB, or firewire drive.
And I think the default type OSX uses is ISO9660 w/the apple extensions.
whee~
overclock your Mac mini! :D
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqza37/macmini/index.html
Here's a tongue-in-cheek review of the iMac mini and how it stands up to a comparable Windows computer.
http://www.divisiontwo.com/articles/MacMini2.html
"iMac mini?" Grr, where's the "Del" link when you need it?
Posting because its 11 days until I get my mac....
... and I'm excited like a school kid.
Mine just got delayed until March 9th T_T
Mac Mini arrived today. It is the sex.
Practical comments: It's completely silent, except when inserting and ejecting CDs where there's a weird servo sound; also a faint whir as the optical drive's reading. 256 MB of RAM isn't really all that bad for light use (specifically Safari + IRC + iTunes + BitTorrent.) I think I'll upgrade to the gig before I attempt to play Q3A though.
Pfff, don't forget that Quake 3 is eight years old. 256MB will handle it just fine if you're not running other things in the background. That being said, more is always better... Even with just those four programs you mentioned (and don't forget the Finder is running too), you're probably hitting Virtual Memory quite a bit. (What IRC client are you using?)
Curious: Are you using a VGA monitor with the VGA adaptor? There's been some complaints that the mini's video output is really dark on some VGA monitors, though all the causes of it aren't known yet...
http://appleturns.com/scene/?id=5184
>don't forget that Quake 3 is eight years old
What???
I was suppose to be picking my new minimac up yesterday, but since Apple has delayed crap, blah blah blah.. it might be a bit longer. I might take some pics etc etc when I get it in (as if you havent already seen enough pics of a mac mini)
>>don't forget that Quake 3 is eight years old
>What???
D'oh. I remembered playing it my freshman year of college, and for some reason counted as if it were my freshman year of high school... Okay, let's try four or five years old. My bad.
>>48: Sorry to hear that... Apple always has inventory problems with its new products lately. (Yet back in the late 90s, they would often make a lot of product and then not be able to sell them...)
Can you set Shiira to use Mona on Japanese pages and only Japanese pages, or am I no longer visiting /ascii/? :(
What is Shiira? (looks it up on MacUpdate) Hmm, interesting. I'll have to check this out.
Anyway, if it's like Safari, it won't let you set specific fonts to specific languages/encodings... Try hitting up /ascii/ and such pages in a different browser that'll let you do it, like Camino or FireFox. Inconvenient, yes... Maybe send a feature request to Apple if you'd like this implemented.
Using Shiira now... It's pretty damn cool. I wish Sogudi worked for it, though.
http://www.atamadison.com/w/kitzkikz.php?page=Sogudi
age because I want to know if anyone else here has a minimac and wants to talk about it.