Got Windows? It’s been awhile since I’ve had the stain of Windows on my desk. We used to be a Mac family. These days we compute on Macs, iPhones, and iPads. But not Windows. This week I decided to think different. Rather than cough up the money for a new copy of Windows, and one of the Mac apps (Parallels or VMWare Fusion) I grabbed a cheaper solution.
Run Linux in a window on your Mac (works with Windows, too). The app that makes it easier than any other app is VirtualBox. What the app does is create a space on your Mac so you can install Linux or Windows (and some flavors of Unix). It runs as an app, so the app’s window features whatever you’ve installed. In my case, not wanting to waste money on a new version of Windows, I opted to play around with Ubuntu, a popular flavor of Linux.
First, install VirtualBox and walk through the setup to create a space to install Linux (or Windows, if you have a copy to use).
Here’s what the app looks like on a Mac.
After that, you have to download Ubuntu, then burn the iso image to a CD or DVD so it can be installed on your Mac.
Installation and setup is handled within VirtualBox. The settings can be a bit confusing, but less so than Parallels or VMWare Fusion (and with far fewer options).
In the end, your Mac also runs Linux (or Windows) from within a window on the Mac’s screen. This is a good way to find out what all the noise is about Linux being so cool (until you realize just how good Mac OS X is).
VirtualBox is free, but also runs under Windows and Linux. While setup isn’t difficult, it’s not as simple as Apple makes setting up a Mac.
Your Mac is already a Unix box so you don’t really need to install Linux. You could run X11 and install any GUI you’d like such as KDE or Gnome. What’s better is you can even run X11 on a PPC Mac. VirtualBox requires you to have an Intel Mac, but this probably isn’t an issue for most Mac users.
If you want to run Windows apps on your Mac, check out Crossover for Mac. You can run Windows apps without installing Windows. (I agree, don’t cough up money for Windows.)
A Mac isn’t Linux. It isn’t even true Unix. It’s a hybrid with plenty of proprietary parts. Ubuntu Linux is at least pleasant to use, so long as you don’t need many apps (Photoshop), but runs office-like apps very well. All this X-11 stuff will scare most newbies, but Ubuntu won’t. It’s very friendly.
I tried Crossover a few years ago. It’s anemic and doesn’t run many, many Windows apps. Not even the more recent versions of Internet Explorer. Worse, you have to pay for it.
OS X is UNIX certified up to 10.6 (takes awhile to certify, so 10.7 will be there eventually):
It’s UNIX at the core, but not the GUI.
That said, it’s a pain compiling x86 binaries intended for other flavors of *nix because Apple puts stuff in weird locations.
Ubuntu seemed more friendly in version 9 than 10. I don’t like icon interfaces like they introduced in Ubuntu 10. It was easier to navigate the menus in 9. No one was suggesting Crossover. Not worth your time.