Mac Mini & Boot Camp alternatives?

[JennyB]

Time for a new computer. I'm looking for something quiet and unobtrusive, mainly for writing, light programming and website maintenance, that I can easily shift from from room to room.

I'm very tempted by the Mac Mini because I have suitable peripherals already, including a nice 19" LCD. That means that to use some of my favourite software I'd need Boot Camp. Has anyone any experience with this, or can suggest suitable Mac writing software? (I think the bundled office suite is a trial).

Alternatively, Windows system boxes in the same price range?

[Mark0]

Never used a Mini, but I'm using an Intel iMac for about 1 year now so maybe I can provide some feedback.
I use it mainly as a classic WinTel machine. With BootCamp (that really is just a partitioning utility + boot loader + a bunch of Win drivers + a nice installer), and setting the Win partition as the default bootup option, you'll forget you are using a Mac (if you need).
So, if you had some doubts about compatibility issues, or strange "quirks" about using the Mac as a PC, you can be sure there aren't any.

Bye!

[Lashiec]

Did you consider an HTPC system? You can buy one preassembled or a barebone if you plan to go DIY. Shuttle is a renowned maker, and for I can see they have good prices to boot.

[mwb1100]

I have also thought about getting a Mac when I move to new hardware, but instead of using Boot Camp to run my Win32 stuff I was thinking of running Parallels Workstation or the VMware Mac offering (which is still in Beta).  I'm figuring that would give the best of both worlds concurrently (I hate rebooting). I don't know if a Mac Mini supports enough memory to effectively run a WinXP VM.  1GB would be a bare minimum, I'd feel more comfortable with 2GB.

I've run Parallels on Windows (Parallels Desktop), but not nearly as extensively as VMware.  That said, it ran my Win2K installation just fine - I was impressed;  I've heard good things about their Mac offering (though I have not tried it).

[f0dder]

How well does Parallels support DirectX, though? (I'm thinking of running shader-intensive games).

[Lashiec]

It does not support it. The entry in the Wikipedia says that it will be supported in a future version, version 3 to be exact. That's for Parallels for Mac, not for Workstation, for this one it doesn't mention nothing. Now, you got to figure out what to do with Wikipedia information...

[Mark0]

Just read now on OSNews.com that it seems that Paralles 3.0 will support GPU virtualization.

http://apcmag.com/62...3_0_3d_gpu_emulation

Bye!

[JennyB]

Decisions, decisions!   

I can get a pretty well-specced minitower locally for the same price as the Mac Mini, but I'm still tempted by the Mac Mini and OSX for everyday use. At least it will be quieter than the old tractor I have now. 

I've found a very useful and informative forum at http://www.123macmini.com/

[mwb1100]

I just read on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.co...-your-mac-267905.php) that Parallels can virtualize a Bootcamp partition.

So, you can set up Windows as a dual-boot system on an Intel Mac and run your resource intensive Windows stuff (read: games) natively  and when you're running from the OS X install you can still access & run your Windows stuff seamlessly.

Nice!