Re:Best way to run Linux on a Mac... (Score 1)

Depends upon what you do.

Mom and Dad's iMac (rev b, 96MB) crashes about three times a day. And no, they ain't computer idiots- Dad sys-admins a 6 CPU Solaris Enterprise Server, and has been using Mac OS since he had a 512k fat Mac with MacTerminal 1.0. He's been in computers for a LONG time, and has a four foot in diameter disk platter to prove it (btw- that disk platter is a point of pride for him. The driver he wrote for it was 4 times faster than the vendors driver at the time).

Mac OS 8.5/6 and 9 do not have protected memory or truly pre-emptive multi-tasking, and do crash 'cause of software bugs, both in the OS and in whatever.

Before I went Linux on My Mac, I would get about 5 days between crashes, but I had a lot of RAM. With MOL running under Linux and 96MB alocated to it, it stays up for about three days- but I only use it for Eudora.

Macs with a Lot of RAM tend to crash a lot less- but you know what? My one Mac that still runs Mac OS runs OS 7.5.5 and has 20MB of RAM and NEVER crashes, up 24/7- running EIMS. It's a 16MHz SE/30 (with a PDS ethernet card). So no, OS 8.5/6 and 9 are NOT automagically less crash prone than OS 7.x. All depends upon what you do. The SE/30 has been up for three months now (power failure took it down last time).

Running Virtual PC would cause a Mac to crash more often. I guarantee it.