cacruden
Senior Member
I have used linux and still use linux (I have a farm of computers running linux - 4 in total). I started the process of replacing my dell laptop earlier this year (which I two hard drives for - one for linux, one for windows xp).
I was looking to replace the laptop with another computer that was reasonably fast (2.0Ghz+ dual core), could expand the memory to more than to GB, 7200RPM hard drive, able to add external hard drives (eventually for test databases), and could run a Unix/Linux operating system. I remember last time buying my laptop, there was always something that I could not fully configure under Linux. If Dell (at that time) had offered a laptop that they said would fully be Linux supported hardware -- I would have bought it. I gave up waiting. With my servers, I can always replace parts that are not working with Linux -- rather easily -- with a laptop it is more difficult.
When the new Macbook pro came out -- it satisified all my requirements -- so I bought it. I have configured it to be:
1920 x 1200 display, 7200RPM 160GB disk, 4GB of main memory, 2.4 dual core (Santa Rosa), added a Sonnet SATA hard drive controller, added an external portable case that holds two hard drives with proper cooling (InfoSafe from StarTech.com) - and installed two 750 GB hard drives. It now provides me a good platform that I can take my work with me anywhere -- and work remotely....
The one thing that I miss -- is being able to install Oracle 11g on the Mac operating system directly (last version 10g is for the non-intel hardware -- so it would just get killed since all the code has to be run through Rosetta translation software). According to my sources 11g should be available on OS/X intel sometime early next year. Until then I have to run it through a VM (VMware) on Linux.
Again I am quite happy with my choice.
Sometime in the future I will probably be in the market for a new server, at that time I will take a look at the Mac Pro.... (8 core processing, up to 32GB of memory).
Although the iMacs do not interest me, they do serve a large segment of the market. If you don't need a laptop, and don't need to expand the hardware -- i.e. you are just using it for word processing, browsing the internet, etc. the iMac is a good choice. It is simple, no mess of wires that make where-ever you place it look like a mess and provides you are fairly decent monitor. For some -- it is a good choice.
I was looking to replace the laptop with another computer that was reasonably fast (2.0Ghz+ dual core), could expand the memory to more than to GB, 7200RPM hard drive, able to add external hard drives (eventually for test databases), and could run a Unix/Linux operating system. I remember last time buying my laptop, there was always something that I could not fully configure under Linux. If Dell (at that time) had offered a laptop that they said would fully be Linux supported hardware -- I would have bought it. I gave up waiting. With my servers, I can always replace parts that are not working with Linux -- rather easily -- with a laptop it is more difficult.
When the new Macbook pro came out -- it satisified all my requirements -- so I bought it. I have configured it to be:
1920 x 1200 display, 7200RPM 160GB disk, 4GB of main memory, 2.4 dual core (Santa Rosa), added a Sonnet SATA hard drive controller, added an external portable case that holds two hard drives with proper cooling (InfoSafe from StarTech.com) - and installed two 750 GB hard drives. It now provides me a good platform that I can take my work with me anywhere -- and work remotely....
The one thing that I miss -- is being able to install Oracle 11g on the Mac operating system directly (last version 10g is for the non-intel hardware -- so it would just get killed since all the code has to be run through Rosetta translation software). According to my sources 11g should be available on OS/X intel sometime early next year. Until then I have to run it through a VM (VMware) on Linux.
Again I am quite happy with my choice.
Sometime in the future I will probably be in the market for a new server, at that time I will take a look at the Mac Pro.... (8 core processing, up to 32GB of memory).
Although the iMacs do not interest me, they do serve a large segment of the market. If you don't need a laptop, and don't need to expand the hardware -- i.e. you are just using it for word processing, browsing the internet, etc. the iMac is a good choice. It is simple, no mess of wires that make where-ever you place it look like a mess and provides you are fairly decent monitor. For some -- it is a good choice.