Re: [tlug] Linux-compatible Mac laptop?

[Micheal Cooper <mcooper@example.com>]

On 2007/04/10, at 8:47, Curt Sampson wrote:

> Before you guys get too caught up in wonderful Mac hardware, I should
> ...
>
> And there are some wonderful features that PC notebooks have that Macs
> don't. My T42 has three mouse buttons (having only one button is just
> complete user-interface nonsense, IMHO), both a touch-pad and a nipple
> (as a 100 wpm touch-typist, the nipple is a very definite ergonomic
> advantage--anything that keeps my fingers at the home row is a good
> thing), and a fingerprint reader. The last I've not bothered to get
> ...

Apple definitely has a lot to learn when it comes to mouse and  
keyboard stuff. I am using an MS three-button mouse and a 12-year-old  
MS Natural US keyboard. The inability to zip to the beginning or end  
of  line with the home and end buttons is a constant frustration, and  
I am much slower typing on the Mac than I am in Windows. However, my  
Mac friend said that it would just take a little time. I only started  
with this Mac thing a few weeks ago.

> As well, I get a very fast processor (Pentium Ms are amazingly  
> speedy),
> a pretty good screen (1400x1050), a form factor slimmer than any Mac
> notebook I know of, and lower weight (less than 3 KG, even with a  
> CD-RW
> or DVD-RW). And this was 140,000 yen new.

Well, the Macs are packing dual core, and they are very speedy, and  
the screens are beautiful (though I think my Vaio beats 'em). On the  
other hand, even with the decrease in prices following the switch to  
Intel, Macs still are much more expensive than PCs.

My Mac friend (persistent bastard) pointed out that the OS includes  
software that you don't get with a PC, but I am rather on the fence  
about whether that justifies the difference in price or not.

If you have to support Mac and Windows (and maybe Linux) and would  
like to have everything on one machine, you have to get a Mac with  
Parallels because you cannot run MacOS in a VM on PC.