Travis Swicegood

A new Mac in my future?

Published On
May 05 2005
Author
Travis Swicegood

I've been thinking about buying a new computer. I already have a handful of Linux machines, and one that I can boot into Windows XP Pro whenever I need a slow, unreliable system, so I was thinking about giving a Mac a try. It's the one operating system that I'm not comfortable in doing day-to-day stuff in.

Anyhow, I'm clueless as to what to look for in a Mac. I'm trying to decide between an iBook/PowerBook and a mini-Mac. I may use it some for a little bit of programming and design, otherwise it would be used for Internet stuff and video/photo editing. I can handle most of my photo editing in the Gimp, but video editing in Linux is more trouble than it should be.

I know some of my readers are Macites (or something along those lines) and would appreciate any feedback you can offer. Moving from a PC to Mac, what are the things that differ that I need to look at? Are there any specs I should keep an eye on?

About

Travis Swicegood is a professional programmer and owner of Domain51, a web development company with a focus on non-profits, NGOs, and online activists. He doesn't change the world, he supports those who do.

He has personal a focus on web applications, performance, and stability; is author of Pragmatic Version Control using Git; and working on his second book. He has been using PHP; since '99 and still remembers how revolutionary PHP 4 was, but can't remember why. He's a TDD, open-source, and open government advocate—sometimes called a zealot—and lurker on many an open-source project mailing list when not learning other programming; languages; for fun, exploring his surroundings on bike, or tasting his latest kitchen and home-brew creations.

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