I'm a Window Administrator and I too drank the Kool-Aid...

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.......So now I have this tangy flavor in my mouth to buy a mac mini. I speak to you all with a black rectangular box covering the top half of my face as I am a Microsoft Certified Windows Admin and I cannot let my colleages know of my intention.... I feel as though i am bound to have this festering need for a mac in me evolve as an addiction like nicotine to a smoker.

At work I've always been around Macs but like bullies in high school, I hung out with the popular Windows crowd and made fun of the nerdy mac support guys...

Then I was tasked to make the ever troublesome mac/windows server environment more stable by introducing Extreme Z-IP since the Designers were complaining about server disconnects with MacServer IP.

I was forced to work with nerds and then it happened.....like a teenager watching his first porno I was in awe and glued to the monitor as i watched in amazment on how well the OS handled graphics and audio....

Now that I have pretty much chugged the Kool Aid down, I am in search of a Mac Mini to replace Bill Gates XP Media Center running my media at home. I have some questions:

- Can I install Windows XP on the Mac Mini like you can with the Mac Book Pro? I also run a side business and need to use the Small Businees Windows software like Quick Books Pro that I paid a ton for.

- I heard that Mac Mini's are going to be refreshed....am i better off waiting?

- What is your honest opinion on Front Row. I read the XP Media Center blow it away (in mac magazines). But I need to know what's in store for me.

Any help would greatly be appreciated....
 
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You can install Windows XP on the INTEL mac mini (make sure it is intel) using the free boot camp sof tware or you can purchace parallels for mac from http://www.parallels.com/ with is an emulation program.

I have not heard about the mac minis being refreshed. they were updated a few months ago, they added intel prossessors (1.5 core solo and 1.66 duo)

Front Row is good, but could be better. the interface in front row is better than media centre, (in my opionon) but the features in media centre are better (watching tv...)

Hope this will help. Welcome to the forums.
PS. Once you get it, that it and rub it in the xp admins who use there funny looking grey boxes!! (no offence to you)!
 
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I was in the same boat, except my co-workers have no problems with macs...it's my buddies and family that had their jaws drop when they heard about my mac mini purchase.

Waaaay back in college I had a bad experience with mac and swore I'd never buy a "macintrash." But, since the OS is completely different, at least under the hood, and since it is UNIX (nothing wrong with that for sure) I'm off the hook. :)

For personal use, I won't go back to Windows. I don't like where Microsoft is going with Vista (its a pig) and their DRM/anti-piracy for even installing/updating the OS. Although, I do like the Aero Glass UI. I hope Apple doesn't go that route. Linux is still to technical for the average user. I got everything to work, but make the slightest update to the C libraries or the kernel, and you have to re-do a lot. With Apple "it just works." For professional use...I'd probably still would want a Mac, but since that's not an option, I'll stick with Linux. There's an RDC client shipped with Red Hat that allows me to do any Windows stuff I need.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook: 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD; PowerTower Pro (300MHz G3 clone): 608MB RAM, 10GB HD
I would recomend parallels, since what you liked about the mac was the OS, why not try to run Windows in a window rather than as a dual boot. That way you can run Quickbooks and still have all the cool mac-os features at your fingertips.

Apple is pretty secretive about their update schedule, but I doubt there will be any significant update for the mini in August.

I agree with EDIT about Front Row. It may lack some features, but it has an outrageously intuitive, simple and frankly very cool looking interface.

Oh, and welcome to the forums. Don't worry, we won't tell your friends.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 2.2ghz, 3GB, 250GB - 16GB White iPhone 3G - 2nd Gen 1GB Shuffle
I am also a Windows Administrator, I just purchased a MacBook a few weeks ago and I get some interesting comments from my co workers, but when I show them I am running XP on it through parrelles and bootcamp, they all seem pretty impressed with the build quality and peformance of the laptop. and OSX is awesome and a VERY nice change from XP. I now do most stuff on my MacBook in OSX except for stuff I have to do in XP.
 
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MB Pro/ 2.4GHZ / 2GB
Sounds great, and you may also want to consider a MacBook, as it is available as an Intel machine and it provides you everything you need as a mac user. I'm going to be trying a XP install with a ext. HDD using parallels, so when i get that done (after $350 ouch) i will let you know how it goes if you would like. I don't want windows destroying my Mac Internal drive...
 
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jhelm007 said:
I would recomend parallels, since what you liked about the mac was the OS, why not try to run Windows in a window rather than as a dual boot. That way you can run Quickbooks and still have all the cool mac-os features at your fingertips.

Apple is pretty secretive about their update schedule, but I doubt there will be any significant update for the mini in August.

I agree with EDIT about Front Row. It may lack some features, but it has an outrageously intuitive, simple and frankly very cool looking interface.

Oh, and welcome to the forums. Don't worry, we won't tell your friends.
Agreed, but if you plan on running multiple apps in windows in paralells or processor intensive apps go with boot camp

One thing, if you want to use it as a 'Media centre' with tv, it will end up being a better idea to stick with the pc.
 

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