December 6, 2009 14:28
It bothers me when people still believe that a Mac is somehow special hardware-wise, it's not. It's simply a different OS, and a more legacy free hardware platform (no BIOS, no serial ports, etc).
Apple hardware is nearly identical to what people refer to as a "PC", there's barely anything Mac about it (aside from generally better exterior build quality, etc). A Mac is an Intel CPU, Intel-like main board (sometimes they're very similar to some Gigabyte models), ATI or Nvidia graphics, Intel chipsets, and everything else is run of the mill "PC" components, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Everything from the USB chipset to the Realtek audio and ethernet chipsets in this Mac Mini is no different to what's in a Dell, Lenovo, etc.
People run custom generic intel hardware combinations all the time, and would have no issue obtaining support from most vendors. As long as you're running Windows and have drivers for your devices, a Mac is a "PC". The hardware and drivers all come from exactly the same places.
AugustH: Reading the above back to myself, it comes across a bit snappy/rude as just text. I just wanted to clarify it was not intended to!
I know of at least one company which uses new IMacs as desktop computers and never uses Mac OS. They only run Windows 7 (and previously Vista). They're in the financial industry, and have never had issues with their software vendors supporting them.
If anyone ever pulls the "it's a Mac" quote and won't provide support, just tell them your system is Intel-based (meaning CPU, chipsets, and sometimes the graphics too). You could also be more specific and say something like: "It's a Core 2 Duo with an Nvidia Geforce 9400"
Apple hardware is nearly identical to what people refer to as a "PC", there's barely anything Mac about it (aside from generally better exterior build quality, etc). A Mac is an Intel CPU, Intel-like main board (sometimes they're very similar to some Gigabyte models), ATI or Nvidia graphics, Intel chipsets, and everything else is run of the mill "PC" components, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Everything from the USB chipset to the Realtek audio and ethernet chipsets in this Mac Mini is no different to what's in a Dell, Lenovo, etc.
People run custom generic intel hardware combinations all the time, and would have no issue obtaining support from most vendors. As long as you're running Windows and have drivers for your devices, a Mac is a "PC". The hardware and drivers all come from exactly the same places.
AugustH: Reading the above back to myself, it comes across a bit snappy/rude as just text. I just wanted to clarify it was not intended to!
I know of at least one company which uses new IMacs as desktop computers and never uses Mac OS. They only run Windows 7 (and previously Vista). They're in the financial industry, and have never had issues with their software vendors supporting them. If anyone ever pulls the "it's a Mac" quote and won't provide support, just tell them your system is Intel-based (meaning CPU, chipsets, and sometimes the graphics too). You could also be more specific and say something like: "It's a Core 2 Duo with an Nvidia Geforce 9400"