[CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Nate Hill
Is anyone on the list using mac computers and bootcamp or some other partition to offer public access to either a mac or windows environment for their users? This seems like ti could be a pretty cool option to present folks with. Any thoughts on the matter? I'm trying to figure out what to

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Cary Gordon
I think that you would be diving down the support hell rabbit hole if you did this. Personally, I think that iMacs or Mac Minis make awesome public workstations OOTB. Cary On Aug 12, 2013, at 8:57 AM, Nate Hill nathanielh...@gmail.com wrote: Is anyone on the list using mac computers and

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Ross Singer
If you want to go with Mac Minis (which, having had to use one as my primary work machine for the last two weeks while my Macbook was in the shop, seems like a perfectly inexpensive and awesome choice), I would probably just max out the RAM on them and opt for putting Windows in VirtualBox (or

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Francis Kayiwa
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 11:57:21AM -0400, Nate Hill wrote: Is anyone on the list using mac computers and bootcamp or some other partition to offer public access to either a mac or windows environment for their users? This seems like ti could be a pretty cool option to present folks with.

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Cary Gordon
Aside from the aforementioned support hell issue, a Mac Mini that would run Windows 8 and Mountain Lion or Mavericks with decent speed would cost over $1k ++. I run them both on my fairly maxed-out two year old MacBook Pro, and while the results on the PC side are acceptable for what I need —

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Francis Kayiwa
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 11:57:21AM -0400, Nate Hill wrote: Is anyone on the list using mac computers and bootcamp or some other partition to offer public access to either a mac or windows environment for their users? This seems like ti could be a pretty cool option to present folks with.

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Cornel Darden Jr.
Hi, The issue at public terminals is being able to switch between operating systems with out having to reboot. To my knowledge refit nor boot camp offers this. Thanks, Cornel Darden Jr. MSLIS Librarian Kennedy-King College City Colleges of Chicago Work 773-602-5449 Cell 708-705-2945 On Aug

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Ross Singer
Why would it cost $1k++? We have the 2.5 Ghz dual core i5 ($599 new) which we upgraded to 16GB ($131.99 via Crucial.com - no doubt there are cheaper alternatives). Runs Windows fine in a VM (although, like you, I really only use it for IE testing). Certainly this doesn't account for

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Francis Kayiwa
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 12:56:12PM -0500, Cornel Darden Jr. wrote: Hi, The issue at public terminals is being able to switch between operating systems with out having to reboot. To my knowledge refit nor boot camp offers this. They weren't designed to do that. You can use Policy Updates

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Ryan Engel
inline: compose-unknown-contact.jpginline: postbox-contact.jpg smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Riley Childs
I have had to deploy workstations in this way before, here is what I recommend: option 1: If you are doing simple web browsing and word processing, create a CD with Ubuntu (you don't even need a hard drive in the computer. option 2: If you need simple web browsing and word processing, but with a

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Nate Hill
So VirtualBox allows you to feel like you are switching your OS without rebooting, correct? A user can, for example, fire up a Mac and then if they want to launch a Windows environment they can do so with a double-click, yes? Thanks all for your thoughts on this, it is helpful... On Mon, Aug

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Cary Gordon
It would cost more because you would want at least the base i7 version ($799) if not the faster model. We have tried the base version, and did not think that performance was acceptable either with VirtualBox, or with the somewhat better performing Parallels. Your mileage, of course, may

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Cary Gordon
These virtualization tools run as apps in OSX. Double-click (wait...) and go. VirtualBox is owned by Oracle, which picked it up from Sun who bought it as a way to promote Solaris on the desktop (We know how well that worked out). Like MySQL, it is free for now, but no guarantees. Other

Re: [CODE4LIB] public computers- Mac mini and Bootcamp?

2013-08-12 Thread Francis Kayiwa
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 03:08:51PM -0400, Nate Hill wrote: So VirtualBox allows you to feel like you are switching your OS without rebooting, correct? A user can, for example, fire up a Mac and then if they want to launch a Windows environment they can do so with a double-click, yes? Thanks