In the last couple of years or so, I've been watching the development of the OSX operating system. Apple dumped the old OS, revamped a version of UNIX, BSD Linux I think, slapped a new interface on the front end and created a very elegant and user friendly OS.
I've hemmed and hawed ever since about becoming a "Switcher." I even bought a G4 PowerPC once and implemented it into my audio and video studio. That lasted about a month before I sold it. I liked the OS, but it wasn't fast enough to edit video really and I have a bunch of Windows plug-ins for ProTools that I couldn't afford to replicate on the Mac. That was a year and a half ago.
Being a Network Admin at a K-12 school district, I have the opportunity to see and evaluate a lot of software. I also have the need to upgrade equipment and the mandate to be stingy about it. Thus the revisit to Apple OSX and the Macintosh. I have a lab with 5 year old computers, Pentium 400 Celerons, running Windows 98. That lab is probably the most current lab at Lakewood High School. As a matter of fact it is the most current lab in the entire district! That's a sad fact, but true. Enter the Mac Mini. For $479 per seat (26 seats) I can upgrade that lab to a very capable state. I just have to make sure the OS will play nice with Windows 2003 server, Active directory and the rest. I'm told it will.
So I've been researching these Macintosh computers, OSX and the applications available for them. In short, I've been very impressed. I am also impressed with Apple's very up front commitment to education both with hardware and with software. Al I need is some assurance that the OS will really do what they claim. So I've made one small Switch. I ordered a Powerbook G4 for my own use.
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