(Possible) new mac user

Hello all,

As my old laptop is aging, and frankly, a bit too big to drag around a lot (it's an Acer TM 803, 15" laptop, which doesn't really work well with airplanes and the likes), I'm in the market for something new. A collegue of mine recently got a spiffy new MacBook, and I've been mightily impressed with the OS, the design of the Mac, the battery life, ... So maybe the time has come to actually get myself a Mac.

I've been wondering though - my main OS of choice right now is Linux, Windows being used where necessary (mostly for games, but that I do on my desktop machine which is equipped for gaming). Are there any other ex-linux users on this forum that have switched to Mac OS X? What are your impressions? (for the record: I'm an experienced (linux) unix sysadmin)

I've also still got to decide on the MB or the MBP - though portability is an issue, since I spend quite a lot of bit of time on airplanes these days, so it would be (more) logical to go for the MB.

Also, I've been reading up on Leopard, and a part of me is wanting to wait it out until it's released. But when will that be?

Any hints / things I might read, as a perhaps future Mac-user?

Thanks!

Lots of Linux users here...

Welcome to the mac-forums!!!

You should check out the The Linux to Mac Switchers Guide.... HERE... Created by our very own Mac57.

Welcome to M-F!

There is a Linus to OS X switchers guide. As for Leopard, its coming, but no one knows for sure when, other than Apple.

The Missing Manual series are great reads for any new Mac user, and I'd recommend picking up one of those books.

devilkin said:

Hello all,


I've been wondering though - my main OS of choice right now is Linux, Windows being used where necessary (mostly for games, but that I do on my desktop machine which is equipped for gaming). Are there any other ex-linux users on this forum that have switched to Mac OS X? What are your impressions? (for the record: I'm an experienced (linux) unix sysadmin)

I've also still got to decide on the MB or the MBP - though portability is an issue, since I spend quite a lot of bit of time on airplanes these days, so it would be (more) logical to go for the MB.

Also, I've been reading up on Leopard, and a part of me is wanting to wait it out until it's released. But when will that be?

Any hints / things I might read, as a perhaps future Mac-user?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yes, there are a number of former/still Linux users who now use a Mac. As you have probably read in the guides posted, Mac OS X is essentially BSD UNIX under the hood. Find Terminal.app and go to town command line style! All my bash/perl scripts I wrote on Linux machines work pretty much without modificaton on my Mac. Especially if you get some of the Darwin ports utilities which may bridge the gap of any UNIX commands that might not come with it right out of the box.

Don't want to TextEdit? Terminal with vi is right there, or emacs. A C compiler (gcc, not sure which version) comes with the Xcode developer kit that ships with the OS. X11 too, if you're into that.

Plus with an Intel Mac, you can run Parallels or Bootcamp to do either Windows or your favorite distro of Linux. I have found, however, in two years of Mac ownership and 1.5 months of Intel Mac ownership I rarely need to resort to Parallels to get anything done in the same way I used to. I even use VirtueDesktops to get the multi-desktop thing (though it's a little different from how Gnome/KDE implements multi-desktops.)

Leopard will be coming with Spaces, which is built-in multi-desktops a-la CDE/Gnome/KDE, but other than that we don't really know what other whiz-bang features it'll have. The current version (Tiger) is perfect for now, however, and an upgrade will be only about $100US. Spaces is the only compelling new feature that's attracting me at least.

These days I don't touch my Linux box unless I'm in the office, or Windows if I'm working remote. All the little tricky command line and script-like things that I developed on Linux work the same or better on Mac OS X. There are even a few commands on Mac OS X that aren't available (or are different) on Linux. lam comes to mind as one I use all the time on the Mac, and can't remember what the equivalent is on Linux.

Check any pro/con Apple story on Slashdot. You'll see lots of posts by former Linux geeks who realized that they could have a UNIX (nee, NeXT) computer with a really slick GUI implementation with a Mac.

All that multimedia stuff that you have to perform stupid UNIX tricks to get to work isn't an issue on a Mac, as well. When I encounter a (non-YouTube) video on some web site, for example, I no longer have to go "oh, right this won't play in Firefox on Linux, have to wait until I get home to my Mac to see it." My Macbook will just play it with no hassle.

That's the other aspect of Mac UNIX administration; there isn't a whole lot of administration if you don't feel like it. If you do feel like it, there are plenty of ways to dig into the shell and hack. One of the (many) reasons I switched to a Mac was to not have to be constantly tinkering with my personal computer. Since switching, I've been able to do just that.

Thanks for the information sofar. I've also discovered fink, which looks nice.

A question, if you use eg fink/darwinports, do you have to install the MacOSX port of X11? Or is that not needed?

X11 is not needed to use fink.

Linux user here and recent convert from Windoz to Mac. I'm very happy with the mac and haven't looked back. Parallels allows me to run Debian just fine. Yaaay!

Linux and FreeBSD user here- loving my Macbook Pro. Excellent for development work, easy enough for my wife to use as well and very powerful in every way. I highly recommend you go for it.

Blown284 said:

Linux user here and recent convert from Windoz to Mac. I'm very happy with the mac and haven't looked back. Parallels allows me to run Debian just fine. Yaaay!

Click to expand...

Is there actually any reason to run Debian on a MB for any reason? I mean, with fink you've got a lot of the software running natively?

With other words: what do you still use the debian for? If you don't mind me asking

I am one of those "linux users" (FreeBSD actually).
I haven't willingly used Windows since I accidently wiped out my partition back in '96 (It was accidental. That's what I keep telling myself) while installing Redhat 4.
Back in 2001, I was on the "Mac team" of my employer at the the time.
Apple was getting ready to release a whole new operating system, and we were getting trained on it, in preparation for those "early adopters".
Something called OS "Ecks" according to the company head trainer (he was soon corrected by the person that actually trained us on it).
When we were told about it being Unix/BSD under the hood...I knew I was in for a treat.

Enough back story.

I have NEVER regretted 'switching back' to Mac since the release of OS X.
I'm one of those artist geeks (photography, graphics) and OS X appeals to both sides.
I have VMWare Fusion installed and Windows XP, FreeBSD and Ubuntu virtual machines.
FreeBSD and Ubuntu are just for fun. XP is for helping family, clients and potential converts...

I used linux since I was in college studying computer science. I recently made the switch to Mac and really digg having the power of the terminal at my finger tips but the usability of of the great ui. OS X allows me to easily do tasks with pictures and music which leaves me lots of time to hack code

Thanks for all the wonderful posts, It's definitely helping

Just another question... should I buy a MB now, or wait until Leopard comes out, and perhaps the hardware update? Is there a hardware update 'rumoured' for the MB besides the 15" screen?

Okay, I took the plunge and ordered my MB this morning.

I might be getting it tomorrow already, if not, monday latest