[CS-FSLUG] Mac OS

[Timothy Butler]

> I would actually like to see what some of the dialogs looks like, for
> example confirmation dialogs, and at least one screenshot of what
> would be a "Yes, No, Cancel" dialog from KDE.

	I'll try to snap a few and post them later. There isn't a large  
amount of such dialogs, but there are some. They don't look that  
different from other OSes dialogs, except for the fact that they  
slide out of the title bar (i.e. they are connected to the main  
window like a drawer so ownership of the question is clear.

>
> I appreciate the heads up, the stores up here don't seem to update
> their prices. They pay the suppliers, add their profit margin, and
> leave the prices as they are from what I've seen.

	Certainly. I'd ask, if nothing else, if they would order a newer  
unit. Mac OS X is extremely multi-threaded, so putting it on a single  
core system isn't ideal. I'm rather glad that bit of Intel Mac  
history is over.

>
> The more this seems like a significant adjustment, the more I feel
> like simply getting a moderately priced PC and moving AL onto that. On
> the other hand though I've lost a lot of confidence in Linux over the
> last year or two, I have a handfull of devices and applications that
> just won't work with it and at this point I've come to believe it'll
> be decades before it has the kind of support OS X and Windows have. I
> have to keep reminding myself that getting a Mac would be a way to
> escape the many things I hate about Windows while also not having to
> worry about my hardware not being supported.

	Indeed. Not *everything* that works on Windows will work, but the  
vast majority does, at least.

>
> I remember hearing about Macs having proprietary ports for things like
> keyboard and mice, so can I assume that is what they were using before
> USB?

	Yes. Apple had the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) prior to USB. Of course,  
it wasn't proprietary so much as unused by others. Apple *did* usher  
in the era of interoperable PC and Mac components with the USB port.  
The iMac's totally legacy free system essentially pushed the issue.

> Regular as in I could run an x86 distribution that was designed for a
> normal non-apple computer on a Mac Mini?

	Yes. It is an Intel computer inside and once you use Bootcamp,  
you'll even have legacy BIOS support (despite Mac OS X's preference  
for the legacy free EFI firmware). In the Mac mini, you have Intel  
networking components, video, process and motherboard -- I can't  
imagine any problems over buying any other Intel Core  system.

	-Tim



---
Timothy R. Butler | "Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher
tbutler at ofb.biz   | is bound in  his  way to  be a lover of myths  and
www.uninet.info   | poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in
timothybutler.us  | being big with wonder."
                                                      -- Thomas Aquinas