will macbook work in future?

Hi,

I'm planning to buy a new Mac. Have been on Windows and different distros of Linux all my life.
Since I have to do some basic computing tasks like internet, latex, photos etc, I decided to buy a standard Macbook instead of MBP.
I have a couple of questions though:

1. Since Mac is Unix based, can I run all my linux programs on a mac?

2. Is it possible that any future versions of OS X will require improved hardware and my Macbook goes dysfunctional? I'm thinking of taking 4GB RAM macbook.

thanks in advance

Question # 1: Yes, you can run the popular Linux distros on your MacBook and Linux software. Linux will run well from a VM - take a look at virtual software from Parallels, Fusion, and the free VirtualBox offered by Sun Microsystems.

Question # 2: No one knows what hardware a future version of OS X will require but chances are good that your MacBook will continue to be useful years from now.

Regards.

psaxena said:

1. Since Mac is Unix based, can I run all my linux programs on a mac?

Click to expand...

Being the smart Linux user you are, you certainly know Linux is not Unix. Linux is "Unix-like" according to Wikipedia, and this is accurate. OS X on the other hand is based on a real Unix derivative, BSD. They are not the same.

That said, many "*nix" apps are cross-ported among the various *nix flavors. You may want to see if native versions of your Linux apps exist for OS X.

psaxena said:

2. Is it possible that any future versions of OS X will require improved hardware and my Macbook goes dysfunctional? I'm thinking of taking 4GB RAM macbook.

Click to expand...

The upcoming version 10.6 of OS X is going to be heavily tweaked for Intel CPUs, and will be 64-bit native. All current shipping Macs have 64-bit capable CPUs so this won't be an issue. The Core 2 Duos in the current Apple lineup have a lot of life left, but if you really want to be safe, get the fastest processor available for the type of Mac you want.

psaxena said:

2. Is it possible that any future versions of OS X will require improved hardware and my Macbook goes dysfunctional? I'm thinking of taking 4GB RAM macbook

Click to expand...

Personally, I wouldn't be worried in the slightest that MacBooks will be outdated anytime soon. Now that Apple is releasing Intel-only versions of OS X (starting with 10.6 Snow Leopard), you're already "ahead" of anyone with a PowerPC-based Mac (myself included). But, as already mentioned, no one really knows the future

Thanks for the replies guys!
I just want the thing to work with the latest OS for 3-4 years, I'm anyways going to give it to my parents after that and switch to a new machine (as I usually do)

psaxena said:

Hi,

I'm planning to buy a new Mac. Have been on Windows and different distros of Linux all my life.
Since I have to do some basic computing tasks like internet, latex, photos etc, I decided to buy a standard Macbook instead of MBP.
I have a couple of questions though:

1. Since Mac is Unix based, can I run all my linux programs on a mac?

2. Is it possible that any future versions of OS X will require improved hardware and my Macbook goes dysfunctional? I'm thinking of taking 4GB RAM macbook.

thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Many thanks to ur post. I love it.


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your macbook will probably be useable for about 6 years, unless you damage it