Ben Ruset wrote:
I find it hard to believe it is all one file so to speak. I am sure underneath the hood it has files roaming around. In fact, I was fairly certain I read tech support issues where people did have to dig down to find some small files to do certain tweaks.
Maybe something in the user preferences, but for installing it's click and drag one file.
That was not to down play the simplicity of the system. It probably does have a very well oiled package system.
For the most part. Installing non-native X11 apps can be hairy.
Firefox and Thunderbird running 75% slower than on Windows? No, I think you are wrong here. My guess is the problem is not Windows. The problem is Apple hardware is much slower than x86 hardware for cost.
My rationale? I have worked with Mozilla and Thunderbird on much slower machines that would be comparable to the Macmini (Dual Pentium III 933). I have seen it on a K6-200. Firefox and Thunderbird are just very slow with regards to response time and load time. Sorry, but the Mozilla people just write some of the slowest applications I have ever seen. To some level, it is almost slower than java applets which is very disappointing given that Firefox and Thunderbird was supposed to be written in C++.
You could be right. I am comparing my Mini to a 3.2ghz HT P4 laptop with 1.5gb of RAM. (Coincidentally, it's for sale to fund a Powebook purchase.)
To give it some merit, I am not too surprised at your conclusions. I think I would enjoy the Mac environment well if I could afford it (software and hardware). It seems like a Unixy-background but with people who understand UI. That mix alone seems impossible to find nowadays.
The Mini makes the hardware part affordable. And there are many, many free OSX apps out there now.
