On Feb 6, 2005, at 10:50 AM, Jim Davis wrote: > Not so much for me. That $500 dollar machine is really barebones: you > need > to add things (like a monitor, keyboard and such) and it still requires > dedicated space (us apartment dwellers have space at a premium). > > That doesn't even consider software (even just the OS upgrades which > are > pretty common and pretty pricey). But of course you'd have to pay for > that > with an emulator anyway so it doesn't really count. > > It is a good deal, but when you can either a fully outfitted PC for > the same > price or an equivalent bare-bones PC for less than half it's still not > very > attractive (at least to me). > > Even then I'm still not sure if that entry-level machine has the oomph > to > run multiple instances of the OS (for complete testing I'd really like > to > run OS 9, OS X, OS X Panther, etc separately). > > But it still seems that for me to get a good Mac testbed set up at home > it'll be at least $700-$1000 (depending on how much the OSes cost) > even with > the Mac-Mini. And, of course, I'd still have to find a place for it. > ;^) > > PearPC (http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/) is promising for this, but is > still > really flakey. I'd really like to see something from IBM or Apple > directly > on this... > > Jim Davis > >
Jim Here's what i do to mitigate the costs. Enroll as an Apple Developer - Cost $500/year for that $500 you get 1) Pre-releases of OS X, OX Server Java, etc. OS X sells for $129 and OS X Server sells for $499 2) Releases of these when they become available (yearly for the past few years) 3) Developer Discount on 1 system & accessories (monitors, etc) bought at one time. about 20% off 4) Monthly releases of software tools, etc 5) attendance discounts at the annual developers conference. In 2004, they gave us an additional hardware discount. So, it is not to difficult to recover the $500 with OS costs & discounts... plus you have early releases/feedback, etc. In order to run multiple OS versions on a Mac, you must either: 1) Partition your HDD 2) Boot from external HDD Technically you could boot from an iPod (just an external HDD), but this has been prevented by apple software -- there is a growing demand, so I would expect to see Apple uncripple this or someone to hack it. The mini will run any version of OS X, including Tiger. 512 Meg is a good size of RAM as to the size-- 6.5 inches square & 2 inches tall-- it easily fits under a flat panel display. You can stand it on its side to take even less space, Or even put it on the floor (on a hard surface). As I posted earlier, an inexpensive KVM switch will allow you to share KB, Display & Mouse. Last year I bought 2 loaded iMac G5s -- one for me and one for my daughter's family of 5 they each have their own login (quick switch between them) , music games, etc. (Bought a mini, too, but saving this years discount for a new G5 laptop), Anyway, the 2 hardware discounts more than paid for the developer subscription: http://developer.apple.com/ Finally, I am subscribed to the Apple Server forum-- it is about as active as CF-Talk. Since BD supports their products for production on OS X, there is also a lot of OS X Server CFML activity on the BD list. The net: OS X Server plays very nicely with Win & 'Nix boxes thru ethernet or wireless! And maybe to seal the deal -- the mini comes with all the iLife programs that are: easy to use ( and easy to control from external CF programs) work flawlessly with most any Cameras, VideoCams, etc. So, not only could the mini be a Developer machine, it can be a home media center to capture and present all the precious family moments. It;s so easy, anyone can do it (you don't have to do it all yourself).. To peak your technical interest, OS X comes with most open-source programming/scripting languages (plus some) pre-installed -- it's all right there. And if you like, you can easily create a RAID with your HDDs (one guy created a RAID with 4 iPod shuffles and a USB HUB). Or, if you have multiple OS X machines (er, video centers) you can interconnect them (wired or wireless) into a Grid & share computing resources, when available-- the software is free! IMO, the things I've mentioned, more than compensate for the things that don't come in the mimi package. It's pretty cool and could easily run some web sites. web server, db server, J2ee server, cfml server -- all on a single box. And, you can easily set it to autorun these things at startup, or to reboot & autorun after a system or power failure (built right into the OS & UI, has been for years). HTH Dick ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:193243 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
