Dell Linux vs. Apple: Let the Debate Begin
An interesting debate has started in The VAR Guy’s home. His old Windows XP PC is running out of gas. He was leaning toward a Mac Mini as a replacement. But now, Dell just complicated things. Michael & Company has officially announced plans to introduce desktops and notebooks with Linux. So what’s it gonna be: Dell Linux or Apple? Any advice out there? The VAR Guy is all ears.
First, some background about Dell. Despite accounting problems at Dell, the company still knows how to do quick math: More than 100,000 people took part in a Dell Linux survey, and more than 70 percent of participants said they would use a Dell Linux system in both the home and the office, according to the Direct2Dell web site. Dell wrapped up the survey on March 23. Less than a week later, the company now vows to act quickly to meet customer demands for Linux.
“Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line,” the Dell blog states. “Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems. We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today.”
Indeed, it does.
Buy a Mac and if you really want to put Linux on it.
This is really dull. Wow, Linux. Snore…
Dell used to be the no-brainer choice, back when they had great products and excellent support — neither of which is the case at this time.
As a “geek” that has had all multiple computers with Windows, Mac, and Linux I can say Mac is the no-brainer choice. As pure hardware/dollar you always get more out of a mac. Sure the initial investment is more expensive (cheapest mac gt; cheapest pc) but its always worth it. And now that parallels and bootcamp are here, running Windows, Mac and all versions of Linux is painless. You can even run them all at the same time. Sure, linux will catch up with virtual OS support – but support in Linux just sucks, and always will, cause of the primary market is programmers. Lastly, windows is so block-headed and afraid of loosing market share that their VM will never compete – just like Vista is big on marketing and short on everything else. Case in point… in the last year 15 of the 20 people closest to me bought a mac (10 of which are in IT). The other five didn’t buy anything. Hence, I’m long as can be in AAPL, forget about the IPODS.
I agree with JC “geek”. If you have a real need to get Linux by all means get it – otherwise get the Mac.
Dear Var Guy,
How old is your XP machine? If it’s less then 3 maybe 4 years old I think you should try Ubuntu or if it runs to slow Xubuntu. If you have an older machine I think Puppy Linux, Zenwalk, or Vector linux would be great choices. Linux has made great improvements over the last few years and is much easier to set up then it used to be. I recently aquired an old PIII 450 Mhz laptop and used both Xubuntu and Puppy linux on it. Based on that experience I decided to install ubuntu on my new (feb 2007) laptop. Keep in mind that with easy to use live cds like gparted you can repartion your hard drive and dual boot xp and linux with out much pain. Just remember to defrag your hard drive first. One of the great advantages of linux in this debate is that unlike osX you can try it out and see if its something to you can live with. Keep in mind that there are many linux distributions out there so any minor quibles you have might be resolved by another distribution.
Matt,
It’s a sony desktop from around December 2002. Sounds like you’d recommend Xubuntu for something that old. How would The VAR Guy determine if Xubuntu would install properly? Is this a case of simply trying it to see if it works?
-TVG
You might also like system76 they offer Ubuntu and have a spot on the Ubuntu forum. If I were going to get an Apple and throw Linux on it I would do some research. A lot of the Apples have Ati cards which are bad for Linux.
I’ll field your question too Var Guy. You can do a little homework to find out how your hardware would work, or burn a cd and try it. I would also try Mint Linux it is Ubuntu with more media support mp3,dvd,flash, so on and so forth. That would save you about 15 minutes of work. Anything better than a Pentium 3 and 512 of ram should have no problem with any of the standard Linux desktop environments. If you want the 3d desktop effects and good games push the system requirements a little higher. What I said about ati cards holds true about 3d effects and games because the open source drivers work good for 2d not 3d and ati’s closed source linux drivers are traditionally behind say nividia or intel graphics cards.
Why is this even a debate? Opt for a PC… and you’ll be limited to your linux distro or Windoze. Get the Mac… and run anything you want. Even concurrently if you so desire. WHY would you paint yourself into a corner with a PC?
Here are the things I’ve done.
Buy the Mac
Download and burn the current Ubuntu CD.
Boot that CD.
Repartition the HD
Install Ubuntu
Install Grub (boot loader)
Viola, when you boot, the Mac will ask which OS you want to run.
Or….
Buy a Mac
Buy Paralles
Download and burn the current Ubuntu disk.
Run Paralles
Install Ubuntu under Paralles
Voila. You boot Mac OS and run Paralles to run Ubuntu Linux in a window.
Notice that neither solution involves a purchase from Dell.
If money is no object, I’d agree with purchasing a Mac Mini. The hardware is excellent, and you can run Ubuntu in a dual-boot or virtual configuration. Why not?
If money matters, though, I’d recommend the Dell.
A 1.6x GHz dual-core Intel processor with 1 GB RAM and 160 GB disk will cost you $499 from Dell. A similarly equipped Mac Mini will cost $1002, just over twice as much. (Prices as configured from dell.com and apple.com on 27 Jul 2007.)
Since I’m exceptionally happy with Ubuntu (we have 3 desktops and a laptop running it today), I’d personally choose the Dell. 🙂
Sorry, the Dell is $329, less than a third of the price of a similar Mac Mini. I inadvertently included the default monitor in my original Dell quote, which is sold separately for the Mac. sigh
“Similar” means: The Mac includes 10/100/1000 networking (Dell includes only 10/100). Dell is expandable to 4 GB (Mac only 2 GB) of RAM. The MAC includes a firewire port and a remote control. If any of these are critical for you, they may sway your choice.
You cannot run Mac OS on a Dell.
Further,
If you want a Triple or Quadruple boot computer, you need to get a Mac.
You can run Linux, Mac OS 10, Windows XP, Vista and UNIX on one Mac. Boot into whatever OS you want, or run apps from each in Mac OS.
You cannot do this with a Dell.
Trying to compare a Dell bargain basement PC to an Apple computer is absurd.
Just review this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_Live!#Sound_Blaster_Live.21_Dell_OEM
But the Sound Blaster Live! video card you got from Dell is the same as the one you got from IBM, right?
Only cheaper, that’s the difference, right?
You mean Dell’s Sound Blaster Live! soundcard isn’t as good as the one in the Lenovo desktop I was going to get?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_Live!#Sound_Blaster_Live.21_Dell_OEM
Back to the matter at hand,
If you are trying to revive an old generic PC with x86 chip, use Kubuntu or some other form of livecd linux.
You can download about 15 different LiveCD’s from http://www.linux.org in a weekend.
You can boot from CD and install all of them in about a week.
You will decide which one is best for your computer, and have fun learning about the different operating systems.
One linux LIVECD boots and installs onto an old laptop that I have and supports 3D along with all the sound and so on.
The same Linux LIVECD boots, but does not install on an old compaq tower that I have.
Take your pick, all free, all available from http://www.linux.org.
sorry, the Sound Blaster Live! is most obviously not a video card, it is a sound card.