02-12-2012, 06:51 AM

I have some reservations.
I would like to change my 2007 iMac for one of the latest Mac mini machines, but:

1. Not over-keen on Lion ( I know I will have to move over one day if I want to stay using a Mac)
2. I have some software which may need upgrading (financial outlay).
3. The big one - I need to use some software which will only function in Windows XP, and I believe Lion's drivers for Bootcamp don't support XP with the new hardware, unless someone has managed to overcome this issue?

Also, I am thinking of a Mini from a monitor point of view. I recently had to do a health and safety assessment at work for my work's computer, and one of the interesting facts which came out of this was, that the top of any monitor you use, should be at the same height as your line of sight when looking straight ahead.
I must admit that when I first had the iMac, the height of the monitor did take some getting used to.
All this is just for discussion, to try and get people's opinions of the various points.
Thanks

02-12-2012, 07:41 AM

Hi neilf; you ask for thoughts and opinions which is different from hard facts. However, these are my thoughts.

There has been a very recent review (The best way to run Windows on your Mac) which may help you. There is no mention in it of an incompatibility with Lion. The link is: The best way to run Windows on your Mac | Macworld

I have two iMacs running SL 10.6.8 and, like you, am concerned about upgrading to Lion. But I know I probably must before June when my MobileMe account dies on me. I will have to use iCloud to sync my iPad, iPhone & iMacs - Lion is only essential for the iMac obviously.

Do you really have that much software to upgrade? Is all of it vital? Some of the upgrades may well be free.

If you get the Mac Mini, what are you going to do as regards a monitor? If you intend to purchase a new one, then the height issue is easily solved; you choose what suits you.

What I don't know is whether a Mini can use your current iMac as a monitor. That's outside my experience. Wiser council can advise.

These are thoughts, as requested, not concrete suggestions. Hope it helps a bit.

Ian

02-12-2012, 08:53 AM

Ian,
Your thoughts appreciated.
I would purchase a new monitor for the Mini. Present iMac will (hopefully) sell OK.
Thanks for the link. I will take a look.
Neil

02-13-2012, 07:49 AM

BOOTCAMP doesn't support anything but Windows 7.

But that has nothing to do with any virtualization program you might use such as Parallels, VirtualBox etc.

They all support WinXP just fine.

Side note to IWT: No, the iMac cannot be used as a monitor for the Mini (and would be the world's most expensive monitor if it could!). There's a software program that can perform this "magic trick," but it horribly slow and not acceptable for anything but novelty use IMHO.

02-13-2012, 12:24 PM

Chas_m,
Thanks for the clarification regarding Bootcamp and XP.
This is probably the deal breaker for me.
Not sure what to do now! If I want to upgrade my Mac, I will probably have to get an old PC as well, just to run XP. I find this a messy solution, but seems like I don't have a choice.

As an aside to this, does anyone know if modern monitors are capable of accepting dual inputs (from a Mini and the aforementioned PC), and are switchable between the inputs. I know this was possible on some old CRT monitors, as I had one years ago.
Neil

02-13-2012, 12:30 PM

What applications are you running that will not run on say Vista or Windows 7 but just on XP?

02-13-2012, 05:49 PM

@Dennis:

I ran into a few apps and utilities that wouldn't run in Win 7 but ran just fine in XP. The primary reason that occurs is the driver model for Vista and Win 7 is different from XP. Generally, the apps that won't run are those third party apps that require special drivers.

02-13-2012, 06:32 PM

I am sure that is the case, but was hoping they would let us know which apps they are having issues with so we can check and see if there is any way around it.

02-14-2012, 01:56 AM

They are 2 old programs from way back in time, that I like to use occasionally. I may just do as I suggested and use an old Dell PC I have somewhere, to run these.

If I remember correctly, Windows 7 can run in XP mode. Does anyone know if the Bootcamp setup would allow that. The only financial issue I suppose, is that I guess I would need the professional version.

Just to clarify something, these 2 programs don't run so well in Fusion. I've tried it.