Mac OS X - Woo!
I’m in the process of installing Panther (OS X 10.3) on the iMac DV+ sat next to my desk, which is used for cross-platform testing. It used to run OS 9.1, and wasn’t actually used that much. Due to its Unix underpinnings, OS X should make it a more useful machine, as my place of work is a pretty-much exclusively Linux shop. I have chosen to install X11, so I’ll be able to open gvim (my editor of choice) from a server, and have it display on the iMac.
All of which makes me even more keen to get hold of a Mac of my own. But, wait! Kathy’s uncle Robert (yeah — “Bob’s your uncle” — she knows) has offered us his iMac 350 MHz slot-loader when he gets his new Anglepoise iMac, the only proviso being that I help him set his new machine up. “Fair enough,” said I.
Back to the install. Note to self: read the frellin’ manual. Actually, read the whole frellin’ manual. I noted the piece about original iMacs (“boot partition must be no larger than 8GB”) but not the bit about running the firmware update before trashing OS 9.1. I had to reinstall OS 9, apply the updater, then install OS X. And it turns out that this iMac doesn’t even need to have its boot partition no larger than 8GB. Harrumph.
Still, the Aqua interface is gorgeously lickable…