i'm getting a G4 867 dual proc 512meg sys. going to put panther on it.

ok. i think PC-like. i'm getting the mirror door v2.1 G4 dual proc 837mhz with osx classic and panther. it only has 512megs. if that going to hurt ?

i dont know anything about using mac os X and i dont want to break it. i kinda want to do a fresh install though. the system i am purchasing has a dual boot setup on it with classic and panther. should i just forget about classic ?

is macosx panther really pretty ?

much more than xp ?

also i would like to know if i can use a kvm to switch between pc and G4. i think i can but all devices must be usb ? or perhaps i can use the mac keyboard and mouse for both pc and mac ?

is the mac keyboard awkard at all ?

what should be the highlights and the limitations of the system i am buying.

thank you

:mac:

its not slow is it ?

That is not slow.

Welcome to the world of macs! g4 MMD is a great first machine...i would suggest maxing the ram...macgurus
has the best mac ram you can buy. with great a great warranty.

mac os x is based on the most reliable os to this day unix....not only is it reliable but it has a sexxy GUI and great options to customize everything to your liking

OS 9 is obsolete to the "switcher" many professioanl AV or photo users still use it for assorted reasons but you will have no need.

the keyboard is difficult to get use to...but after you use it for a month or so its awsome. Its really smooth almost to smooth to type on thats why its hard to get use to.

I am 99% sure you can use a kvm switch with a mac and pc...some even allow pcs to use apple brilliant displays...

i have a few recomendations to trick out the machine so post back if you are interested in dropping some dough on some worthwhile upgrades

i would love to know how to trick out the machine. unfortunately i dont know what model number the mac is other thatn its the mirror door v2.1 dual G4. i dont have that much dough to spend though. i've got a ATA100 160 drive i'm gonna put in it. it comes with a 60. the 160 is ATA100 :/ If i could use Virtual PC to emulate winxp well enough i could sell my PC. the only trick out the v2.1 G4 i can think of is upgrading to 1 gig. i believe if you upgrade the processor card that Virtual PC wont run. plus i'm not sure what the cheapest card would be that would out run a dual 867. do i need Mac OS X classic for dual boot ? whats the point in that ? though i'm pretty sure it does come with classic OS X. i'm also wanting to burn some .dmg files on my xp machine that would be bootable with the G4 i'm getting in 1 week. i wonder how well virtual PC would run on it with XP. i could move all the memory from my primary PC into the G4 and have 1.5 gigs of mem. provided it allows for 3 slots and only one is being used at the moment. would really like to burn working dmg files under windows. that would be of alot of help. heard of some utility on some site that has these emulators for PC Fusion's setup.exe, Basilisk II's Disk tab or HFVExplorer and says i can burn dmg under Nero by creating a MAC OS drive on the PC through the emulator. anyway.. am interested in upgrades if they dont run me over $400. i already have to get another memory stick for it. dont know what kind yet can't identify model number.

would appreciate anyones help !

thank you

i am also interested in any Mac G4 type portal sites kind of like slashdot for the Mac.

thanks

are there alot of good freeware applications for the mac ? it is an expensive machine after all.

i really want to abandon everything that has to do with windows and linux. i hope the mac is a wonderful solution that will open a new world to me.

Well, you certainly seem to be off to an enthusiastic start.

I'm not even going to try to answer all of your questions. :mac: I'll try to provide you with some links to help you on you way, though

http://www.apple.com/support/ The official Apple support page, with tech notes and discussion boards. Specs for your machine, and memory should be there. Also, the Manual for your system

http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ Good place to look for shareware. Also try
MacUpdate

http://macslash.org/ Slashdot, for the Mac. And, of course, http://apple.slashdot.org/

I'm not sure if you can just stick your pc memory into your new mac, but you'll have to check that...

As for freeware, what are you looking for?
VLC is a good video app as well as Mplayer;

AdiumX is a great instant messaging program if you need to use multiple protocols (ichat currently only supports .mac and aim);

Handbrake, Mactheripper & FFmpegX are 3 excellent DVD ripping apps to backup your dvd's with;

Uuummm, Poisoned is a good filesharing client, you can also get limewire for mac;

Skype has a new beta of it's Voice over IP software out that runs quite nicely;

...

??Anything else?

ok well if this is going to be a regular everyday computer then the ATA/100 drives will suffice.
If you are doing some work that would want the extra transfer speeds then a firmtek
ultratek would be a great upgrade

I strongly recomend maxing the ram out or (depending on how many sticks you have in already) buy
a whole new set up 4 512 sticks from specs
Ill update some more i gotta run

DO NO MIX RAM whether or not it shows up...its like mixing different types of gas....it runs...but not good for it.

you do not need OS 9 on the machine. so dont bother.

some good mac links are...

www.macgurus.com(best forum board around)
www.everymac.com(specs on every mac to date)
www.spymac.com(rumors)
www.purevolume.com/hourglassrelapse(good music)

I can't believe you asked how Panther looks. Especially in comparison to XP. Have you looked at any screenshots of the OS? It's obvious OS X trumps XP in the desktop aesthetics department. There's a reason there's a million XP styles made to mimic OS X, and like, one or two OS X themes made to look like XP. Enjoy the beauty of a modern operating system.

Also, you mention Linux. You'll be pleased to learn that most of your favorite Linux applications will run in Linux. Of course, they don't operate with the same beauty as Carbon/Cocoa apps, but they're pretty accurate to their x86 equivalents. You can run them side-by-side with OS X apps or on seperate screens ala the "virtual desktops" you probably are familiar with. I personally run Gnome 2.6. It's great.

ok.

am i correct in assuming that Mac OS X is required to install panther ?

Panther is just a new version of OS X. OS X.3 to be exact. It's a code-name, kind of like the next version of Windows is code-named "Longhorn". If you're installing Panther, you're installing OS X. If you've got the latest version of OS X installed, you've got Panther.