MS Depression

[Lord C]

As most of you know, I'm a big fan of Ubuntu.
I'm also into Open Source Advocacy.

I hate dual-boot. It sucks. I like to leave my PC on 24/7, reboot occasionaly, but never turn off.

I totally love my Ubuntu, but I am a gamer.
I have played games on Ubuntu, but it's just a waste of expensive hardware tbh - Most games need WINE, which doesn't use the full potential of my nice system.

I installed Windows XP so I could play Neocron2 again (a game which doesn't work with Cedega/WINE), but I'm missing Ubuntu.

I'm also going to Uni in a couple of months, to do games programming/design, which means I'll need to be running Windows/OSX apps.

I need a new PC, I have specs in mind, but I'm still thinking of possibilities.

I could buy a mac, which would run my design/programming apps at uni, and/or Ubuntu, but not my games.

I could build my new PC, and use Windows :/ being able to design/program and game.

Or I could build a PC with Windows on for gaming, and a mac notepad for design/programming/ubuntu
But that would be expensive lol.

Or I could build the PC, as above, but also have a PC laptop with Ubuntu on it xD

Anyone know of cheap Mac notepads? (imacs, dmacs, cmacs w/e they're called lol) Places like eBuyer.com for eg, so I can compare the prices with PC notepads.

[Lord C]

I'm not quite sure if the above post makes any sense.

But basically I want my games and Ubuntu, and pretty soon, I'm gunna need to design/programm (with Uni's chosen applications, not my OSS alternatives) too.

[WMD]

The cheapest new Apple laptop is $1000 US.

If you go: http://www.macofalltrades.com , they have refurbished ones (only one cheap one right now, but they usually have more).  There's also powerbookguy.com.

[bedouin]

You qualify for educational pricing at Apple, which could get you a new iBook for $899 with a vanilla CD-ROM without burning capabilities (this is not available as a consumer model).  For $949 you could get a model with a CD-RW.

However, I run OS X on an 800mhz G4 and an 800mhz G3 and find it to be perfectly fine.  A number of people have had positive experiences with refurbished models, and the 1 year warranty, and ability to extend it another two years with Applecare still exists.  I run Debian on a 400mhz G3 and it's snappy enough (it's actually not awful with OS X either).

There's actually one reason you may want to think of getting a G3 iBook: no PPC Linux distribution to date can support an Airport Extreme (801.11g) card, but it can support Airport (801.11b).  I'm pretty sure all G4 iBooks used Airport Extreme.  Since the iBooks lack PC card slots, your only wireless upgrade path in Linux involves USB dongles; D-Link and Linksys ones can be made to work, but it's by no means out of the box.

15" and 17" Powerbooks have PC card slots, so the situation isn't quite as complicated in Linux.  Really though, I kind of doubt you'll care about Linux much once using OS X for a while alongside something like Fink or Darwinports.

[Orethrius]

...and if he does, he can always use VMware to run other systems.  That reminds me, is there a FOSS answer to VMware yet?  I can't remember whether we answered this already.

[WMD]

That reminds me, is there a FOSS answer to VMware yet?

It's called QEMU + KQEMU, it's buggy, and it doesn't even run Windows 2000 properly (last time I checked).  But it's pretty easy to get going.

In other words, not really.  VMware is *extremely* good at what it does, so it won't be easy for FOSS to catch up to it.

[RaZoR1394]

Instead of buying a mac + your new PC I would recommend you get that nice PC and buy a console. On the PC you can run Ubuntu and VMware/wine together with all your design apps. I don't know which apps you are talking about but the newest Wine should handle many of the common design apps.

Your games can either run in Cedega or on the console (XboX?). Cedega wouldn't work well with all games so a Console would be perfect. If you want to game It's either WinXP or a console that matters, that's a fact and as I suppose you don't like Windows so a console would be better. Maybe you could hold on a while and buy a PS3 or a Xbox360 as they are a huge leap performance wise instead of buying a PS2/Xbox.

I also think a Mac is a waste of money as you want it just to run your design apps. Instead of working on another comp (the mac) you can just work in wine or vmware with your new pc.

Personally I have a pretty monstrous comp but I can't game so much on it except some native and Cedega compatible titles. I also refuse to have Windows installed at all. VMware is an exception though. That's why I'm leaning towards buying a console preferrable a PS3.

[Lord C]

I kind of doubt you'll care about Linux much once using OS X for a while...

Hehe, nah I used Macs for 2 years during college.
Ubuntu > Mac OS X imo

@Orethrius: As WMD said, there are FOSS alternatives to VMware, but they are no where near as nice. They over complicate.
VMware is not very good for any of the apps I run - VMware to me, is just good for tasting new Operating Systems.

@RaZoR1394: Sorry I should have mentioned in my initial post, "Consoles ain't my bag".
I really dislike console gaming. I has one purpose for me, and thats when a few friends come around.
I never ever play games on my own, I find single player games a waste of time and a bore.
I'm a big fan of multiplayer games. Generally Massivley Multiplayer Online Roleplay games, suchas the afore mentioned Neocron 2, which doesn't run with Cedega
I also love first-person-shooter games, like CS, which are PC genre.

I did play Anarchy Online for a while, which ran with Cedega, but the FPS was rubbish. I really don't want shit FPS when I just payed over