Reply to: Which distro for a netbook?

[realityhack]

New Macbook Pro's are out today. Quad-core and it's cheaper to upgrade to 8GB than before.

Oooh. Shiny.

Now... <thinks_to_self> Brand spanking new quad core pro for 2 grand with all the RAM I can fit in it, or summit else... a hackintosh project perhaps. Or both... </thinks_to_self>

[Bunk]

Cheers Bunk, I'm having to buy the latest and greatest by March 14th, so will hold out for the latest mac news. It's going to be a mac or a nice linux box. If a mac then I'm getting the CS Master Collection, plus all the RAM I can cram.

New Macbook Pro's are out today. Quad-core and it's cheaper to upgrade to 8GB than before.

[realityhack]

I'm holding off buying a Pro at the moment as the current ones are pretty near the end of their run. There should be new specs announced within the next few weeks.

Linky

Cheers Bunk, I'm having to buy the latest and greatest by March 14th, so will hold out for the latest mac news. It's going to be a mac or a nice linux box. If a mac then I'm getting the CS Master Collection, plus all the RAM I can cram.

[Bunk]

Thanks for the tip.

Either that or buying a unibody pro, which is very tempting right now.

I'm holding off buying a Pro at the moment as the current ones are pretty near the end of their run. There should be new specs announced within the next few weeks.

Linky

[realityhack]

Check the various forums for compatible hardware which will save a lot of time and grief.

Thanks for the tip.

Either that or buying a unibody pro, which is very tempting right now.

[NickFitz]

Isn't a Mac just running BSD with a shiny gui on top, ie the Mac equivilent of Windows 95

It's a tad more complex than that

[Cliphead]

Through this journey I discovered a whole community of hackintosh folks running Snow Leopard on hither and thither machines with glee. That's my next project.

I've built a couple of these Hackintosh machines although I don't have one running at the moment. Check the various forums for compatible hardware which will save a lot of time and grief.

[amcdonald]

It does goad me that we're faced with such limited choice.

Surely there's a massive gap in the market for a reasonably priced, secure, elegant operating system with the usability of the Mac, the universality of Win, and the security and stability of a robust 'nix system.

Isn't a Mac just running BSD with a shiny gui on top, ie the Mac equivilent of Windows 95

[RichardCranium]

Ubuntu Netbook Remix + Unity GUI up and running - and it's the perfect UI for my silver surfer friend. She loves it.

[realityhack]

Well, I cracked it. It was a real kickself moment.

After about 3 days of trying all manner of Terminal shit:e trying to get the network card to work, I found an old USB WiFi key and thought 'what the hell' and stuck it in the netbook.

Ba-da... WiFi network immediately found, connection established, and all updates (including the proprietary drivers for the nuisance network card) downloaded and installed.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix + Unity GUI up and running - and it's the perfect UI for my silver surfer friend. She loves it.

Moral of the story: There's probably only about 1 or 3 'nix distros that are intact enough to install for others - but don't assume the hardware will play ball. Check (carefully) on the relevant distribution pages for compatible hardware before buying your machine of choice.

Through this journey I discovered a whole community of hackintosh folks running Snow Leopard on hither and thither machines with glee. That's my next project.

[Ardesco]

Just moved over to Linux Mint Debian Edition and it's great! I then switch from gnome to KDE4 which IMHO is the much better GUI, but that takes a bit of tweaking

(This is on my laptop mind where I do work)

I find as a work platform Linux rocks, the terminal is just so useful, but then you do have to learn how to use it properly. I still use Win 7 on my desktop, but that's just so the games will run.

[DaveB]

Totally agree with you both on that - the adage buy cheap, buy twice (or more) does have merit - but for the vast majority of the population, who won't know (or sufficiently care) what you get for the money, who just want a computer to perform relatively trivial tasks for home use - easily, securely, reliably and to a budget... For those people they need that middle ground.

Apple should release and promote an OS for the general PC market and leverage relationships with distributors... or go the Technics/Panasonic route of creating a sister brand that is pitched more clearly at the lower market. The macbook/macbook pro consumer/pro distinction they currently have - even with the mini - isn't enough.

Perhaps they should call it 'Pear', Apples & Pears. You get the picture.

They'll never release the OS as a stand alone. The reason Mac OS is as stable and reliable as it is, is largely due to the fact that they have complete control over the hardware it runs on. As soon as you open it up to any old Intel box they will end up where MS are trying to support every peripheral and option under the sun and all the problems that brings with it.

Agree with you on the entry level consumer product though, although to get the price down I suspect they risk damaging their reputation for build quality. Cant see them using an all in one aluminium chassis etc on a cheapo device.

[Sysman]

Aye, thats the case. Shame though as it was buying a Mini that got me into Macs and back then they were (vaguely) decent value for money. Seems to have gone right back up in price though and the new Mini is the price of a fast PC gaming desktop.

Because I got the Mini, found I liked it and as a spinoff started developing in XCode, Apple ended up with cash off me for an iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro as well. So it does pay to allow at least one entry point worth taking a punt on.

Yep. I nearly bought a Mini last summer, but the new model had leapt in price just that bit too much.

[realityhack]

Totally agree with you both on that - the adage buy cheap, buy twice (or more) does have merit - but for the vast majority of the population, who won't know (or sufficiently care) what you get for the money, who just want a computer to perform relatively trivial tasks for home use - easily, securely, reliably and to a budget... For those people they need that middle ground.

Apple should release and promote an OS for the general PC market and leverage relationships with distributors... or go the Technics/Panasonic route of creating a sister brand that is pitched more clearly at the lower market. The macbook/macbook pro consumer/pro distinction they currently have - even with the mini - isn't enough.

Perhaps they should call it 'Pear', Apples & Pears. You get the picture.

[Durbs]

They don't need to though. Just as Armani don't make cheap suits and Rolex don't make cheap watches, it's part of Apple's marketing plan to keep prices high to create an artificial sense of quality and exclusivity.

Aye, thats the case. Shame though as it was buying a Mini that got me into Macs and back then they were (vaguely) decent value for money. Seems to have gone right back up in price though and the new Mini is the price of a fast PC gaming desktop.

Because I got the Mini, found I liked it and as a spinoff started developing in XCode, Apple ended up with cash off me for an iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro as well. So it does pay to allow at least one entry point worth taking a punt on.