iMac

The iMac is here! My setup has completely worked. OS X is pretty darn slick.

Three years ago Linux made a giant leap forward with XGL and Compiz. This added amazing desktop effects: a desktop cube, wobbly windows, water on the desktop... So when I first saw Windows Vista I thought, well thats spiffy isn't it? Then I plugged a usb thumb drive into it. That was the "WOW" effect for me. I was completely in shock that it had to install software for my new hardware, a simple usb drive. Its a usb drive! Just let me look at it! Then I felt like I was on a never ending elevator. (cue elevator music)... It just never stopped and I never got to look at my usb drive. So I go back to Linux and feel at home when my usb drive just shows up. It just worked.

Now I have taken another step out of my element and I sit here in OS X. When I first booted OS X it was more than a "WOW" effect. It was complete admiration. It was nice, beautiful, and slick. The user interface is well out of my element but it shouldn't take me long to get used to it. I am not so impressed with the way the mouse moves across the screen but after some changes in the preferences window I like it much more. I just wished it would work like it does in Linux. Flick your wrist and the mouse is across the screen. I hate having to lift the mouse up and bring it back to the other side of the mouse pad to finally get it where I want it. When it comes down to it I'm still impressed with OS X Leopard.

Anyways, here is the picture of my new computer station!

As you can tell my Linux box is well out of the way. I even hung the speakers so they were out of the way. This setup has satisfied the demands of the all powerful spousal unit.

So we bought an Apple iMac. Yeah, we are officially done with Windows, completely. For a long time now I have been using a Linux operating system and I have really enjoyed it. However, Linux is a little behind in the video world. Well, I should say the video world for the average desktop user. Unless you can shell out the cash for Maya (used by Pixar) or Autodesk Smoke (used by a miriad of companies) then your pretty much out of luck for a good quality video editor. We tried a number of video editors for Windows as well but preferred the simplicity of iMovie '06. Don't worry, iMovie '06 can be installed along side iMovie '08 which comes with Leopard. I also really like iDVD. If we really get into video editing pretty deep we may splurge again and purchase Final Cut Express, which looks pretty darn slick. And to top it all off Mac OS X is Unix based! How cool is that! That means I can still use a terminal to use programs like Imagemagik! Woot!

I told you that so I can tell you this next part. As I mentioned before I've been running Linux, and I really like it. However, the all powerful spousal unit has deemed it necessary to put the new iMac in place of my Linux box. This is very frightening to me. This computer may be old and is certainly showing signs of it's age, but it is still very useful. It contains a myriad of open source software that is versatile as well as fun. Besides, I'm still wanting to keep up with the latest and greatest of Linux distros. So instead of allowing Share to banish my Linux box I have come up with a solution.

So here is my solution to my problem. The new iMac will sit where that mess is on my desk. I'm pretty sure I'll move it around a little. My printer and computer tower will switch places. It will be a pretty sweet setup when its all done.