Mac Training

pctech · Dec 14, 2011, 16:57:18

I started a three day Mac support training course today, well really a chance for us to play about and ask questiions with the trainer giving us an overview of the OS and how things are structured.

As he was going through how programs store data something struck me as being rather familiar, that of plist files being similar to ini files on Windows 3.1 so it seems in the case of Windows it is the registry that causes a lot of issues.

He went over the flashy stuff which doesn't interest me that much but then started on permissions via the unix command line which really interested me.

While I don't think I'll be ditching the PC anytime soon I will be purchasing a Mac mini to complement it I think.

Rik · Dec 14, 2011, 16:59:14

Damascus strikes, eh Mitch?

pctech · Dec 14, 2011, 17:02:34

Not quite as I like the hardware flexibility of a PC and some things would irritate me in the Mac OS GUI if I used it as a main system but from a support point of view they definitely look easier to support and of course things can be done via the command line which I like.

Technical Ben · Dec 14, 2011, 17:11:13

I completely hate the "registry" system. The fact that programs such as firefox, etc exist without a single change to your registry, shows how things should be done.

pctech · Dec 14, 2011, 17:27:48

Not quite true Ben

Tacitus · Dec 14, 2011, 18:36:59

Quote from: pctech on Dec 14, 2011, 16:57:18
....I will be purchasing a Mac mini to complement it I think.

And so it begins.......

pctech · Dec 15, 2011, 00:29:40

I will say I was pleasantly surprised.

Technical Ben · Dec 15, 2011, 17:37:30

Well.... the portable version has no registry.

Tacitus · Dec 16, 2011, 10:23:35

Quote from: pctech on Dec 15, 2011, 00:29:40
I will say I was pleasantly surprised.

Once SSDs become larger and more widespread, the Mini will become a very capable little machine which punches way above its weight. I've got one of the previous generation server minis on (2x7200rpm drives) on which I've installed the client OS and it's surprising what you can do with it. If Apple sold a client version of the current server with its 4-core processor at a reasonable price, they'd fly off the shelves.

Steve · Dec 16, 2011, 11:23:57

I was wondering about running Mac OS X Lion server on my mini but it gets poor reviews. I was musing about setting up my own mail server and a few other functions like IOS file sharing. Interestingly there's an E-book in progress from the owner of the WeGotServed website which I've purchased although he's not written the mail server chapter yet. He's fairly positive about the server OS which surprised me with his Windows server/ WHS background , so perhaps it's not that bad afterall.

Rik · Dec 16, 2011, 12:00:51

It'll give you something to do over Xmas, Steve.

Steve · Dec 16, 2011, 13:45:34

True, but I already have someone who's says do this do that.

Rik · Dec 16, 2011, 13:46:10

I was trying to provide balance.

pctech · Dec 16, 2011, 18:35:05

Well after three days of training I am now convinced to buy one as a secondary machine and was actually thinking about setting it up as a mail server as I have a fixed IP allocation so could do so.