[nycbug-talk] Apple as a BSD review.

[Gerald]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, G. Rosamond wrote:

> don't know whether to make the move for a ibook or powerbook.  if i
> purchase new, recommendations.

Powerbook. Without a doubt. You get what you pay for. ibooks are great for
their price, but they have nuances that eventually stick out that'll make
you regret not getting a PB.

> i realize the ppc world is very different than that of intel.  so how
> concerned should i be about an 800 mhz box?  i've seen comparisons to
> the p iv, p iii, etc, and they seem good.  what about ram?

Typing to you from a powerbook G4 800 that I bought 12/2002 that still
kicks butt. Notes from my experience with Apple since this Pb is my full
time work machine and I'm intimately familiar with FreeBSD.

- Applecare is better than any tech support I have ever called. It's
broke? We'll send you a new one. Get the extended Applecare, it'll pay for
itself. Had to send laptop to them once. Mailed it on Monday had it back
on Wednesday with new combo drive and case (because the paint was peeling)
They don't screw around with you.
- Memory: You can't have enough on an Apple. Luckily I bought mine
refreshed and it had a gig of RAM in it. I recommend 1/2 a gig or higher
on any Apple. Power users (all of us?) will use it.
- Virtual PC: Bought my copy when Connectix still owned it. I haven't
thrown anything at it that it couldn't handle. YMMV with Microsoft owning
it now. The x86 emulation is unbeatable.
- CPU: Never have a problem with CPU being my drain. The interface
responds differently which is quite often mistaken for being slow CPU, but
I installed menumeters to have that information most of the time, and I
can eat through most of my RAM (3/4ths) and rarely do I pound hard on the
CPU. (Trust me, Memory management will bite you before CPU will)
- Panther: Bought the PB with Jag on it. Upgraded to panther as soon as it
came out. It was like buying a new laptop. They've got the upgrades down.
If you are worried about the cost of Panther, realize Apple isn't in this
to give you free stuff (read: hard work in a good upgrade). It's a
business first.

I don't work for Apple, and before this laptop I have never owned an
Apple. I spend most of my time in a Terminal window, X11, & Mozilla. I'm
not ready to deploy apple servers since I still think the GUI adds
unnecessary bloat and is not an optional feature. (It's still installed on
the HD.)

Fink is nice, but don't expect it to be an exact dupe of the ports
collection. When I gave up on trying to make it the ports collection, I
started liking Fink.

HTH someone,

Gerald