Linux [2]

So as many might have already guessed, I'm a geek. That's right. I said it - I'm a geek. I love to play with computers, whether it's gaming or just plain taking them apart and putting them together in new and unusual ways. But this particular little project that I got bit by the geek bug over most recently is a departure for even me. How to make an older iMac...into something else. Hense we delve into a little tutorial and some measure of a learning curve on my part as we take apart and put together an iMac as it might have been better done in 2000 when this little beast was first introduced, or at least the one I laid my hands on.

I'm forever playing the "I wonder if I can" game. And more often than not, I find that the answer is, "no, I can't". Usually that's as a result of my own ineptitude. But this particular project really sparked my interest and I thought, eh, what the hell...

While out perusing the local haunts around town, shopping at the mall, that kind of thing, I came across an older iMac. You remember, the old "all in one" computer that had the hockey puck for a mouse and was meant to be "cute". And it was and it turned out to me the model that saved Apple from imminent collapse. It was the rage. But it didn't last. Apple has since given way to the Intel platform and improved on it quite a bit using a type of Unix dirivitive to power its operating system and potentially creating one of the most potent computers I think I've ever seen for the personal computer market.

But then, despite their looks and the look and feel of their operating system, which left most people thinking, "ah, isn't that cute" and most considered them toys, they have ALWAYS been stout computers at their core. The IBM family and clones, despite all their bluster, were always working to go down the "cheap" road. Despite the rounded looks and kind of comic feel to the Mac going back all the way to the 80s and the very first iterations of the Mac, everyone remembers the familiar and pleasant "booong" followed by a little smiling computer as the computer booted up. That's what people remember until the advent of OS X and their latest crop of power computers. But if one looked deep enough at what actually powers the older iMacs and the Mac classics of old, one finds that, at their heart, they were a potent little beast by anyone's standards.

Powered by a RISC based processor system, Apple tried to go in a different direction by using a different type of architecture to power their machines. And while it worked within the confines of the Mac world, it proved not to be able to compete with the sheer price difference to get a "comperably equipped" x86 based platform computer. But that never stopped the Mac lovers in the world so Apple lived on.

Having been fortunate enough to have played on both sides of the fense, I can say without a doubt that the Mac had ALWAYS had one thing up on the Windows based PCs. Utter stability. You could kick it, you could smack it, you could run it through the mud. But when you pressed that button, it would always greet you with the familiar "booong" and the smiling computer. Do that with Windows and it might never boot again. But despite that, I never really caught on to Mac. Largely because of software compatibility issues...and price. It's always been historically cheaper to get an x86 system. AND games were more readily available and cheaper for the Intel/AMD based platforms.

Still, my gears are always turning and when I see something that might prove to be an interesting little playtoy or pet project, I always have to take a second look.

In this case, as my Mrs. Evilbunneh and I were out cruising our favorite haunts, when I saw the lonely little iMac having been abandoned by its owner, I thought to myself that this might be a rare and fun opportunity to try something completely different. The price was right - a whopping $10.00, plus another $5.00 in the same store for a plain jane USB mouse and optical mouse combo - STILL NEW IN THE BOX...even if it was wired. So happily for less than a $20.00 bill I walked out of the store with a cute little computer and intentions of doing something evil. Would you have expected anything less from the Evil Bunneh??!

So what follows in the next few segments of this particular trip are actual pictures and documentation of what I call "Attack of the iMac". Stay tuned, because this is going to get fun!! :)