My Dell Latitude D505 was just stolen (may they rot in hell) and
I need to buy a new laptop very quickly. It was configured as a dual
boot XP - Linux box.
I've been using Linux for 10 years as my main OS, but I´m thinking
whether I should switch to OS-X and buy a Powerbook. I'd really
appreciate some feedback (I know, not exactly a new topic, but
still...).

I'm a scientist and in summary my concern is: will the extra money
really save me from wasting time tinkering to get Linux to work,
and will I be just as productive on OS-X as I am on a *fully functiong*

linux box?

Below are more details. I do all my work on the laptop. I'm willing to
spend up to 2300 USD. Things I do 95% of the time are:

- emacs and GNU applications like gnuplot
- Latex, Mathematica
- C and sometimes Fortran programming
- a lot of number crunching
- shell scripts and standard Unix utilities (awk, sed, etc)
- Powerpoint, Word, etc.

Main reasons why I'm thinking to switch to OS X:

1. I don´t have the time to tinker with Linux any more. Getting
it work on the Latitude was a chore and wireless still didn´t
work. Plus I hate going under the hood of Unix, I´m just a user.
My knowledge of Unix beyond user level is weak.

2. It'd be nice to have wireless, Powerpoint, and everything
I need on a single OS without having to turn the machine off.

My main concerns about switching:

3. OS-X is slow. Or is it?
4. I will still use various Linux machines. Is compatibility
an issue? will all my C programs and Unix scripts work
with NO hassle?
5. will I have to tinker just as much as with Linux?
6. I've actually gotten used to a few Windows things (but
I can live with the Mac equivalent I guess).

well, and price, but the research grant pays so not the main
problem.

thanks a lot.
Matt

I think OSX is probably good, but the performance of Powerbook hardware
is just not competitive. Especially if you're not hand-coding Altivec
instructions. It doesn't sound like you can wait until the X86 Mac
laptops come out, either.

I share your frustration with Linux hardware support though.

nmdc69@hotmail.com wrote:

Should work fine on a Mac.

Should work fine on a Mac.

Native on mac.

Whose Fortran? Is there a Mac compiler for that particular flavor?

Shouldn't be a problem.

May or may not be a problem--in any case you'll have to shell out for a copy
of Office for the Mac.

Should get a machine with fully supported hardware. OS/X is Unix derived,
but it's BSD, not Linux--whether the differences will trip you up depends
on what exactly you do.

There are many ways to do this. None are perfect.

Running Aqua applications not particularly, X is layered on top of Aqua
though or so I am told--in any case conventional Unix apps that use X are
not swift. The main problem is that the processors are slow, especially in
the laptops, which is why Apple is switching to Intel on their laptops.

There's always hassle of one kind or another, even going from one
distribution of Linux to another. So no, going from OS/X to Linux will not
be totally free of hassle.

Depends on what you do. Personally once I got Linux set up it needed little
"tinkering".

Standard procedure--make a list of the applications you need to use, see
what platforms run those applications, and you will likely have your
answer.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

thanks all for the responses so far.
When are Intel Mac laptops supposed to reach the market?

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:35:24 -0800, nmdc69 wrote:


Quite a few of those programs that you mentioned using under
Linux have Windows versions. Certainly emacs is available for
MS, although it doesn't fit all that well with the Windows way
of doing things. Many of the Unix utilities are also available
for use with Windows (cygwin). I don't know about gnuplot or
some of other gnu tools, but it is worth looking into, IMHO.

This may not go over too well with some of the Linux/BSD fans,
but take a look anyway. This may be a viable option for you.

--

Phil

nmdc69@hotmail.com wrote:

You can pay someone else to do it. http://www.emperorlinux.com .
I havent' used them, I just noticed that their web site says
all the right things. Not sure if you'll come out ahead moneywise,
compared to an OS X.

--
pa at panix dot com

You could just load MS's Services for Unix V. 3.5, its a free download and
will give you native unix support from with-in Windows. It includes an NFS
client 350 unix utilities, 1900 Unix API's including the C shell and Korn
Shell, rsh, ssh all of your unix commands. Its worth a shot.


HTH,

Jeff
<nmdc69@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1135103724.523075.146100@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
My Dell Latitude D505 was just stolen (may they rot in hell) and
I need to buy a new laptop very quickly. It was configured as a dual
boot XP - Linux box.
I've been using Linux for 10 years as my main OS, but I´m thinking
whether I should switch to OS-X and buy a Powerbook. I'd really
appreciate some feedback (I know, not exactly a new topic, but
still...).

I'm a scientist and in summary my concern is: will the extra money
really save me from wasting time tinkering to get Linux to work,
and will I be just as productive on OS-X as I am on a *fully functiong*

linux box?

Below are more details. I do all my work on the laptop. I'm willing to
spend up to 2300 USD. Things I do 95% of the time are:

- emacs and GNU applications like gnuplot
- Latex, Mathematica
- C and sometimes Fortran programming
- a lot of number crunching
- shell scripts and standard Unix utilities (awk, sed, etc)
- Powerpoint, Word, etc.

Main reasons why I'm thinking to switch to OS X:

1. I don´t have the time to tinker with Linux any more. Getting
it work on the Latitude was a chore and wireless still didn´t
work. Plus I hate going under the hood of Unix, I´m just a user.
My knowledge of Unix beyond user level is weak.

2. It'd be nice to have wireless, Powerpoint, and everything
I need on a single OS without having to turn the machine off.

My main concerns about switching:

3. OS-X is slow. Or is it?
4. I will still use various Linux machines. Is compatibility
an issue? will all my C programs and Unix scripts work
with NO hassle?
5. will I have to tinker just as much as with Linux?
6. I've actually gotten used to a few Windows things (but
I can live with the Mac equivalent I guess).

well, and price, but the research grant pays so not the main
problem.

thanks a lot.
Matt

Jeffrey W. Roach wrote:

It sorta works. Personally having tried all three I'd go with either Cygwin
or Linux in a virtual machine (or Windows in a virtual machine under
Linux).

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

nmdc69@hotmail.com wrote:
Hopefully very soon:
<http://thinksecret.com/news/0512yonah.html>