MAC Loveliness

OK, so think Hyper-Pathetically I a bloke was to swan out and pick himself up one of 'thim thar MAC Mini dual proc litres of loveliness A bloke is likely to get home with said litre and keg 'O Beer only to find certain items would still be required like Keyboard, Mouse, Chips, Dip, DVD Porn. Cetain MAC users would argue that if you got a PC you would still need to go out and buy a real computer but bigot bashing can be saved for another day. O.K. attempts at humor aside, input from those on the darkside (MAC) I would appreciate input on preferences and advice for the the following.

1/ Am I right in assuming my Microsoft Cordless Elite Keyboard (USB) won't work on the MAC?

2/ Am I right in assuming my Microsoft Cordless Intellimouse 2.0 mouse also won't work?

If 1 and or 2 are true, what are your recommendations for both?
The mouse MUST be two button min and MUST have a scroll wheel?
The box of loveliness wil linitially primarily run XP but will shift over time will Parallels software to run OSX with windows VM's and I'm simply way to much of a scroller to give it up especially in Traktor.

3/ NAS What Mac targeted consumer / prosumer Network Attached Storage solutions exist that you would reccomend?
I have 2 USB2.0 external drives currently and ultimately want to build out extra storage into a NAS box to support MAC and Windows use

4/ O/S tuning. A while ago there was a slew of tuning recomendations for OSX (some relating to scheduler) in the light of MACTEL are these needed or essential? Any good online reading on the matter?

5/ I'm a HUGE multi-monitor fan is there a solution for Dual monitor MAC displays? My LCD panel has DVI / VGA connections and my 19" monitor has VGA only, this I need to find a solution for.

6/ What is the quality of the internal Audio on the Mini? I can see my 410 being nearly full time connected to the Mini for Mixes


Theres lots more to ask, these will do for now...

Phil

 

Here are my responses, they are usually correct with an accuracy of +- 2.5% 19 times out of 20

-- 1 & 2 --
I have tried MANY keyboards and mice with my macs from very early USB products to the latest wireless laser mice. Overall, if its USB it should be recognized by OS X without any drivers for the basic functionality (left click, right click, scroll wheel, standard keys). Usually, for any further functionality like mice with an extra 20 buttons or keyboards with volume and video controlls, an OS X driver is needed. Logitech is good in that they usually make most of their products work well with both platforms. Microsoft would probably not have drivers for the Mac but I blieve the basic stuff should just work.

-- 3 --
I strongly believe in LaCie products. They are aimed at both consumer and pro, depending which product you get. I have a pair of D2 drives with a triple interface set up as a mirror and outfitted with their rack mount adapter. Very sturdy and professional looking. They also have a desktop rack mount kit if interested. Their entry-level NAS is the Ethernet Disk Mini at 250, 300, 400, and 500 GB. They have rack mount units up to 2 TB. We have these at work for back up and they are great.

-- 4 --
Tuning recommendations would be the same for Intel Macs and PowerPC Macs if running OS X. If running XP, then thats a completely different discussion.

-- 5 --
Currently I do not know of a dual monitor sulution for the Mac Mini. Even though the connector is indicated as DVI/VGA, this means that it can run EITHER, not BOTH. The internal graphics card is for a single monitor only using 64 MB of shared RAM. Remember, this is an entry level box so the display capabilities are somewhat limited. Even so, it can run a 23 inch wide LCD at 1920x1200 pixels. For dual monitor, a Mac will always have two monitor connections and OS X takes care of the rest. I am curious however how they will handle dual monitors with XP when the higher end Mac Intel boxes come out later this year.

-- 6 --
I would think the internal ANALOG audio would be what any entry level PC would have, basic sound quality. If we are talking DIGITAL audio, then I believe that its on par with any Mac laptop, that is, it can feed multiple streams of 44.1 or 48 KHz, 16/24 bit through the FireWire or USB 2 ports. My personal set up will be relying on a PowerBook (or MacBook (Pro)) being able to output 4 simultaneous stereo streams (44.1/16) with no problem. I expect the Mini to be able to do the same thing. Additionally, it has an audio out minijack that is some kind of analog/digital combination. I think you can get optical digital audio in/out of it with the adapters that are included.

Hope thats enough for now ...