![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , June 05, 2007
- Author:
- Brian Boyko
- Editor:
- Jason Wall
- Google +1
30 Days with Mac OS X
It's supposedly the best of both worlds - the stability and security of a Unix operating system with an easy end-user interface. It's Mac OS X, and we spend 30 days using it to find out what Apple has to offer over Windows. The "30 Days" saga continues...
Purchasing, Installation, and First Boot
Procurement
There's an interesting side story to tell about this project. Originally I thought that I would spend $600 on the low-end Mac Mini, and just keep it after the testing was done for my own personal use – if nothing else, it would make a promising low-profile file server. An Apple Store opened up almost literally next door to my apartment complex, and I felt that was as good a place as any to start.
I picked up a Mac Mini after trying out one of the floor models to make sure that it would work. Unfortunately, I didn't know (and Apple didn't make it particularly clear) that the floor model Mac Minis are the higher-end Mac Minis with 1GB of RAM. I left with a low-end Mac Mini with 512MB of RAM.
As I got into the testing, it quickly became apparent that the Mac Mini was sluggish and underpowered. Everything kept coming back to the same cause - there was not enough memory in the machine. Since I didn't want my experiences with the hardware to taint my results evaluating the operating system, I returned the Mac Mini to the Apple Store after performing as many tests on it as possible.
I then headed over to Fry's Electronics in Austin and left with an open-box MacBook. They were willing to let me return the MacBook within 30 days if I was willing to pay a 10%, rather than 5% restock fee and leave a deposit for the full amount. (Normal Fry's policy is only to allow 14 days for returns on notebooks with a 5% restock fee.) They were in no way obligated to offer me any sort of deal at all, so their kindness is appreciated.
Installation
This is almost a forgone issue - you need a Macintosh computer, which comes with OS X pre-installed, in order to get a platform that runs OS X; so I'm not sure if this would be in the average user's experience. There are upgrade discs available at most, if not all, Apple retailers, but anyone buying a new Mac will not have to deal with this issue until a new upgrade comes out. Nevertheless I wanted to reinstall the OS to see how it would be done.
It is a simple matter. Boot from the CD by holding down the option button during bootup and choose the CD drive as the boot device, then format your drive using the included Disc Utility, and follow the installation prompts. Choose a hard disk to install to and wait for the computer to install the OS. And I do mean wait. On the MacBook, which, if you'll recall, had an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 1GB of RAM, the installation took over two hours. (The installation took so long on the Mac Mini that I actually fell asleep during the installation process and had to resume installing the OS in the morning. Naturally, to my dismay, I had to go through the process again to get an accurate time.)
First Boot
Whether you've just bought your Mac and are setting it up for the first time or are reinstalling the operating system, you'll now find yourself facing the computer's lengthy setup process. You really can't skip the questions the Mac asks you to answer - you can fill in some of the blanks with gibberish, but you have to fill in something for the registration fields. Similarly, it asks you if you want to get an Apple username, then it asks if you want a .Mac account, and then it asks if you want to start a free .Mac trial. I wanted none of this. If you have an iSight camera - like the MacBook did, it will ask you to take a picture of yourself to be used as the login (and, if you use any IM programs, your avatar). For this reason, be aware that clothing is not optional when booting up a Mac for the first time.
Finally reaching the desktop presents the “dock,” filled with the default programs, and a Finder window (equivalent to Windows Explorer and Nautilus in Linux/Gnome). The default programs for the dock are Finder and Dashboard access, Mail, Safari (a Web browser), iChat (a video IM client), Address Book, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, iWeb, Calendar, QuickTime Player, Photobooth, and Control Panel.
I plugged in my 500 GB backup drive via USB, which was automatically recognized.
I clicked on “Applications” to find TextEdit, Mac's text editor (with limited formatting capabilities and a built-in spell checker) and started working, starting with the preinstalled programs on the left side of the dock.
The first program I clicked on was Finder, an "always on" program. This brings all open Finder windows to the foreground, and if there are no open Finder windows, it opens one in your home directory.
Mac OS X is based on a flavor of Unix called Darwin, a derivative of NEXTSTEP and FreeBSD - both Unix based operating systems, and because of that, much of the operating system has a Unix feel. Part of that is the idea of "Home" directories - personal space where you can edit and alter any of your personal files. Altering other parts of the OS often requires an administrator password.
I then clicked on Dashboard, another "always on" program. (Although, unlike Finder, I don't see why it has to be this way.) Dashboard is Mac OS X's interface for Widgets - click on the icon or press F12, and the widgets come up. Because I wanted to have some sort of monitor of CPU usage, I clicked to “install more widgets,” which brought up the Safari Web browser. I downloaded and installed iStat Pro and a few other widgets while I was in the area, including a countdown timer for 30 days of testing, AirPort Radar for monitoring the strength of WiFi connections, and a few other programs that I found personally useful, like BBC Radio widgets and a Presidential Election Countdown widget. These programs download instantly, prompt you for installation, and upon confirmation, delete the installation package file.
