iMac vs. Mac Pro

[wrldwzrd89]

I am considering buying an Intel Mac (probably an iMac or Mac Pro) sometime after Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" is released, probably after both the iMac and Mac Pro come with it preinstalled. What my plan involves is getting at least 1 500 GB hard drive, partitioning it into 2 250 GB sections, installing Mac OS X on one, and Windows Vista on the other one. The reason I like the dual-boot solution is because the Windows programs I use performed abysmally under Virtual PC, and would probably not be much better under Parallels Workstation.

I like the idea of getting a Mac Pro with 4 500 GB hard drives, installing Mac OS X on the first, Windows on the second, using the third for a Mac OS X backup drive, and the fourth as a Windows backup drive. However, I'd also need a display - I'd love the 30 inch model, but combined with all the other things in my ideal Mac Pro config, the price would be more than double that of the iMac (also in an ideal config). Any advice on the iMac vs. Mac Pro issue?

By the way, I'm doing this to replace both my iMac G5 and my Windows PC with a single computer. It's possible that I'd make some of the purchase price back from selling those computers used... though I doubt I'd get much for the Windows PC, given the power supply burnout problem it had once.

 

[speakerwizard]

hhmm, sounds to me like your a 3D person like myself, i just payed out for upgraded imac 24" to replace my G5 powermac dual 2.7, so should be about the same performance wise, but i wanted the resale price on my powermac whilst its still good. maya and photoshop arnt universal yet so ill have to dual boot until parallels does full gfx card support. shame but its just the way it is, winodws and linuz are the 3D choice because of gfx card support which apple is terrible at, but i love osx too much and hate windows soo much lol

 

[miles01110]

Just a note....Parallels is light years ahead of Virtual PC. It's almost an insult to parallels to compare the two.

 

[dmw007]

Sounds like a 24" iMac would work fine for you right now wrldwzrd89, but that could change depending on how the specs of the Mac Pro and iMac change between now and the time that Mac OS X 10.5 is released.

 

[EGT]

I like the idea of getting a Mac Pro with 4 500 GB hard drives, installing Mac OS X on the first, Windows on the second, using the third for a Mac OS X backup drive, and the fourth as a Windows backup drive.

This is why I'm swaying towards the Mac Pro as my next computer, I'd be doing the same thing with the drives.

One thing I'm not sure about though. Does it matter what drive you install OS X/XP on or can it be any drive you wish? I seem to remember reading that user had trouble installing XP on any drive other than the first in the series. Any truth to this?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This is why I'm swaying towards the Mac Pro as my next computer, I'd be doing the same thing with the drives.

One thing I'm not sure about though. Does it matter what drive you install OS X/XP on or can it be any drive you wish? I seem to remember reading that user had trouble installing XP on any drive other than the first in the series. Any truth to this?

As far as I understand it, you can install XP on a separate drive with Boot Camp v1.11. However, it may not work perfectly, as Boot Camp is still a beta product.

 

[emptyCup]

I am considering buying an Intel Mac (probably an iMac or Mac Pro) sometime after Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" is released

Since Leopard isn't expected to be released until early '07 it would make sense to see what exists then (not that it isn't fun to talk about it now).