PS3 Linux vs Mac Mini OS

C

Con

CAG Veteran
I know next to nothing about these two operating systems and wanted to see if you guys could help me make the right decision. I will be using the machine primarily for school puposes, internet, and gaming. What I need to know is 1)How fast is the OS (start-up, programs) 2) compatibliilty with media players and open source programs and 3) stability.

Oh I forgot to mention that ive never had a Playstation console but im only realy interested in PS1 and 2 games
 
I would suggest trying a live CD of a linux distro (ie Fedora, Ubuntu, SuSE, etc) but I don't think that its possible to do that on a PS3. Right now, I'm actualy on my desktop which is running Ubuntu. On my laptop I have it dual booted with Vista and Ubuntu (reminds me, I need to work on getting my internal wireless card to work with ubuntu on there, but thats besides the point).

As for Mac, last time I used one was my partners MacBook back in June. In terms of start up, both are fast (hell, ironically, MacBooks dual booted with Vista boot up, load, and run faster than an actual PC one).

Compatability wise, with linux, you'll have to download the codecs more so than with windows. For example, to play an mp3 (which is in Windows now), you have to download the codec. The only problem I have had is avi files. But I've fixed that mostly (ironically, the avi files that Vista won't play, I have no problems with on linux).

If you want open source, linux FTW all the way! If any fellow CAGs are MacHeads, please chime in about Mac and open source lol. Though, if you want, next time I talk to my partner I can ask him as well.

Now I do have a question, do you currently own a PS3? If not, by the time you get a mini Mac or a PS3 and feel like getting really froggy putting linux on it, you might as well buy a laptop. Either a decent Vista one (ie at least 2 gigs of RAM, big hard drive, good video card, and such) or a MacBook (which would be the more expensive route). I'm suggesting laptop since you said you'll be using it for school work (if your in college, then I would definatly go with a laptop). Of those two, you can have both the original OS and linux. Though Dell offers laptops and desktops with Ubuntu installed.

And if you're only interested in PS1 and PS2 games, best option would be to go with either a PC or Mac and a PS2.

Hope I wasn't getting too techy or anything, if theres anything you need help with, I'll try my best
 
Do you know if/when macbooks'll get upgraded to tablets? I think id rather sit out on a Mac notebook until they do. Yeah i think ima get a ps3. Do you have any tips for a linux newbie? Or perhaps what distro I should start with?
 
First, let me say that the following is coming from a supporter of both Linux and the PS3:
I'm not sure I would recommend a PS3 as a computer for things like school projects. The machine has a limited amount of ram (256 MB if I remember correctly). Running a modern Linux distro with OpenOffice with that little ram is going to bring the system to a crawl easily.
 
well is okay for internet browsing and word processing? Im not sure if ill be using it that extensively.
 
well is it okay for internet browsing and word processing? Im not so sure ill be using it that extensively.
 
Again, with the limited RAM, once it hits the max it can handle, the browser shuts down (then again, I rarely use the PS3 browser, why bother when my laptop and desktop are an 1/8th of a distance from me compared to my PS3). In terms of distro, try live cds first of different ones to get a feel for it and go with what you like and is easiest for you. Me personally, I use Ubuntu. I will admit that i haven't really touched any other distros. If I can triboot my laptop, I'd like to toss OpenBSD or FreeBSD on it and tinker with that for a bit.
 
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