OSX on a Mac Mini

[nine3o]

@TheMagicM

The Mac Mini is a great starter machine for OSX, I started with a G4 version.

But if you do plan on getting some more horsepower for a desktop, I highly recommend looking into a hackintosh.

For $700 (CAD) I built a Quad core, 4gig 800mhz DDR2, 1TB, 512MB 8800GT, 850W psu power house in February of this year and is awesome compared to the mac mini.  Only thing is there is a bit more maintenance when software upgrades are available, but worst case you can always get a EFiX (but only works with specific Gigabyte mother boards)

As for every one beating up on you about going into to a store to check our hard ware, ignore them.  I do it all the time but I end purchasing from where it will suit me best (just as in your case).

[nine3o]

I take it its a x86 based system running OSX

Yup, that's exactly what it is.  There are many different ways to run OSx on an x86 machine (including nVidia chipset motherboards).  There is a great article in lifehacker (this is what prompted me to build mine)

There is also EFiX now which makes installation and updates straight forward, that is if you have the hardware on their HCL (Hardware Compatibility List)

[nine3o]

@StormLord

I have to disagree with you.  I am on the same page with Flashlab, I'm running 10.5.5 and this system is as stable as my Mac Mini was, never crashed.  I dual boot this machine into Vista 64 bit and the amount of times Vista has BSD'd on me compared to my hackintosh since I built it in Feb is something like 34 to 0.

I do agree with you in terms of if you want to build a Dual Xeon CPU power house, you can not build a machine cheaper than a real Mac Pro, BUT if you want something that is much faster than a Mac Mini or iMac, nothing will beat a Quad Core Hackintosh in terms of price.

@spihunter

Your right in terms of a hackintosh not being a good start for someone that is new to Mac's (or Unix) that's why the Mac Mini is a great start for TheMagicM.  But since EFIX has been released, automatic OS updates work perfectly (not speaking from personal experience but from all the reviews I have read on Tomshardware and the InsanelyMac forums) so now even newbies can build a hackintosh with ease for an extra $130

When it's time for me to upgrade my laptop (later on this year or early 2009), I will be purchasing a Macbook Pro.