About five years ago, frustrated with my Windows XPerience, I took the leap and switched my home server to Linux. Initially, making the change was a challenge but I actually had a fun time with the entire learning process. Hardware support usually involved the customary kernel tweakage and beyond that, I had to give up much of the handy software that I had grown so accustomed to. In time, I adapted and grew to admire the Linux concept. It gained my trust and my respect. I was a faithful fan of its stability, robustness and flexibility.

Times have changed! Or, actually, maybe they haven't...

Hardware support for Linux still appears to be lagging. With much excitement, I attempted to upgrade my Linux box to a fancy new AMD 64 3000+, Asus motherboard, 1 GB of RAM, and a sleek new S-ATA hard drive. For the most part it was a success however at a tremendous cost to my patience, time, and pocket book. For the most part, S-ATA support with Linux still has much to be desired. Ultimately, I found myself back to square one. I contemplated resorting to Windows XP for about 5 seconds and realized very quickly that I would be settling and that I would never be happy with Windoze. Five years ago, putting up with Linux's short-comings was something worthwhile but today one factor exists that didn't before... the Mac mini.

I came to the conclusion that an affordable and powerful low-cost UNIX-based OS alternative existed and this time around it wasn't just Linux. Best of all, with a Mac, hardware support wasn't going to be a major hassle anymore. I decided to go with one of the new 1.42 GHz Mac mini's and a sleek 400gb miniMate from MicroNet. In short, the Mac mini solved my problem cleanly and quickly.

For my simple home server needs the Mac mini does the job perfectly. As a bonus, it interacts far more smoothly, of course, with my existing Macs. I still hold a special place in my heart for Linux and I always will. Linux taught me a lot of great things and it is still an excellent value for the price (free). I bid Linux well and I'm sure we'll meet again. Hopefully, in the meantime, Linux will continue to persevere and innovate in a Microsoft dominated world.