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March
21st, 2005 - A few days with the new Mac
mini left me wanting more. Not that there
is anything technically new with this
machine: its size and its price are currently
making it one of the most desirable computers
and there are back orders worldwide.
I had the 1.25GHz version to play with,
like the eMac I have been using problem-free
for the last six months (it has been on
all that time apart from restarts after
updates). It apppeared slightly slower
than the eMac, perhaps due to the different
speeds of hard disks used. There was also
new software to play with.
I did the usual trick of having several
applications running at the same time.
One of these being the DVD Player meant
that the screenshot facility was crippled,
so I had to take a real photograph with
a less than stellar monitor. As well as
scenes from Cabaret, I had open iTunes,
iPhoto, Preview (for pdf files), a QuickTime
movie, the Safari browser, and a DOS Window
through an emulator called DosBox. There
are also Bochs and Virtual PC (now owned
by Microsoft) if you really need to run
Windows applications.
Apart from using it at home on a small
network, I took it in to work in my backpack.
Several days of such treatment caused
no problems, although with a large camera
and all my papers, the weight was noticeable.
The same would apply with a laptop computer
(Mac mini, 1.32 kg; 12-inch PowerBook,
2.1 kg). The mini also has a power supply
that looked like a white brick (made in
Thailand by Delta Electronics).
With the daily location change, I created
two sets of networking data. Switching
between the two was just a mouse click
and would not require a restart. At home,
not only was Internet access total simplicity,
I used the Sharing facility in iTunes
to play music from the eMac upstairs,
using the Mac mini downstairs. As a twist,
I then managed to have the eMac play music
from the mini: both running at the same
time. On both computers, a message told
me port 49152 had to be opened. OS X comes
with all firewall ports closed by default.
The size, weight and price (as well as
OS X) mean that a lot of people are beginning
to experiment with Mac minis. Apple were
aiming at three markets (PC switches,
Mac owners expanding their systems and
iPod owners), but there are several more
developing.
Despite the non-user-accessible environment,
many people are reporting making some
advanced adaptations: two Ethernet cards,
soldering on audio connectors, changing
hard disks (even MacInTouch reports this
as not recommended because of the space
problems), putting them in cars, adding
a back-light to the top, installing OS
X server. Apart from the last (which I
think is a brave and good idea), I am
a coward on this sort of thing, apart
from the warranty-voiding risk. I do not
mind putting a new disk into a G4 or G5:
not the eMac, and certainly not the mini,
especially when some local retailers are
so helpful.
I am told that Mac minis here will have
the standard configurations. Additions
like Airport or Bluetooth will have to
be done by the importer (not the retailers),
but no prices are known as the parts are
not available yet.
The main criticism that diehard critics
(better to say something negative and
appear sophisticated) have is concerns
about the "headless" nature
of the beast: no monitor, no keyboard,
no mouse. I circumvented this quickly
by borrowing a monitor from work (I had
to assess it for my employers, no?), using
a spare keyboard, and sharing the mouse.
If I had a second computer permanently,
I would pick up a Logitech mouse from
one of the IT shops in town.
Mind you, with OS X you can have mouse
use without a mouse. In Network Preferences>Universal,
there are the settings for those with
seeing difficulties, hearing problems
or physical handicaps. The interface can
become easier to use, including a setting
by which the cursor can be controlled
by the number-pad. It is slow but if someone
cannot handle a mouse, this is a built-in
alternative.
Mac users moving to a new computer can
use the Setup Assistant utility that comes
with the latest machines. PC users could
try Move2Mac (http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/move2mac/)
to transfer files. I would also strongly
recommend a program like Lapcop, which
reports back if the computer is used elsewhere:
the small size means it could easily disappear.
Rebeca Freed wrote in PC World: "If
I were recommending a starter system to
someone (who hadn't already taken a side
in the Mac versus Windows holy war), I
wouldn't hesitate to send them in the
direction of the Mac Mini."
The Mac mini is a lower priced (not cheap)
way into the Mac world and OS X. Some
people will never have Macs - and never
want to have - preferring to stick with
Windows. Whatever.
Graham K. Rogers teaches
at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol
University. The opinions expressed here
are his own. He has web pages at www.extensions.in.th
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Detto
Technologies won
Consumer Product
of the Year! go
>
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