At the risk of getting *very* OT, I'd like to get the community's opinion on the minimum hardware required to run OS X 10.2 or later.
As it may be useful to those who are migrating to OSX and considering Communigate and/or something like postfix, I'll put this back to the list...
Obviously, answers are necessarily subjective, because everyone has different opinions as to what is acceptable. As far as absolute bang for buck, you likely know that you don't get that with Apple, but that is also highly subjective.
Having used Apples since 1986, and seriously since 1993, I would have to say that the G5 is the *first* Apple computer whose hardware could more or less keep up with the dictated eyecandy. Took 'em 20 damn years to get to that point, the fools. I have a dual 2GHz on my desk at work, and it is sweet, the best and fastest computer I've ever had. I highly recommend it.
If that is out of your price range, I would say these things based on other machines in my use or possession, past and present:
B&W, 10.2.8: slow (G3) but OK for occasional, or repetitive and non-demanding, use. 10.3 would help, but a G4 upgrade could be pretty good. Otherwise, this box has ADB and USB and Firewire, which may be interesting to you.
G3/800 iBook, 10.3.2: quite acceptable for general use, a pretty good workhorse, my main knockaround machine, but no speed demon. The 640Meg RAM limit is a real issue at times. FWIW I believe the current bad press about the motherboards and video and hinge wiring problems, and won't be surprised to see the threatened class-action suit become real (for me and another person I know, it's all true). Do not buy this computer unless you can get an Applecare contract! Mine has paid for itself.
Cube/450. Would not pay more than $600-650 for this (bare cube and peripherals; many of them are sold for higher when bundled with the monitor). Beware the Cube has its own sordid history, in particular the "sudden shutdown" syndrome. Write me privately for much more info on this. On the flip side, solid upgrades to 1.2 GHz are available, and soon to 1.4, and I plan to get one. Also, PL has come out with cooool new enclosures that have the bonus of allowing video upgrades as well as fixing the sudden shutdown syndrome for most of its causes. These upgrades are likely not a cost-effective use of computer mad money but I'm going to do it because I just can't resist.
Dual G4/533. I really liked this machine on OSX. It was slow at times, but not horribly slow (of course I would never go back, now that I have a G5). Recommend this if you can get a good price, especially if you can upgrade it (I don't know what they go for these days).
G4/733. One word: no. When the 733 first came out, there was discussion about how it was slower than the 667. We got one, as it was the fastest at the time. My dual 533 beat the ever-living crap out of it, although it should have been only a little faster or about the same for most things. Even now, the 733 seems slow, and has always been a bit quirky for us. It was (seems like) the first of a series of "bad" G4 boxes (windtunnels, etc).
OK, enough of this. Write me off-list for any other opinions. My opinions above are more related to desktop workstation use; as a server, I think the upgraded B&W or dual 533 would be good picks. Whatever you do, wait for the chips from tomorrow's announcements, whatever they may be, to settle.
Stefan Jeglinski
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