UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hello. I'm in the market for a new computer (a laptop, for certain), and I was considering buying a high-end PC (I have a black MacBook right now). I've been wanting to experiment with Unix-based OS's (for developing mainly -- I'm a developer/programmer -- but for other purposes as well). I'd like to install on one of my computers a bunch of different Unix-based operating systems. I'd like to install and be able to run a few different ones, such as Solaris, two or so different flavors of Linux, and maybe BSD. I was considering installing these OS's on either my current MacBook or the new high-end PC I'm considering.

However, I've recently considered buying a cheaper laptop strictly for running Unix OS's. If I decide to take this route, there's some things I'd like to know about, if anyone can help. First off, the computer I would buy would be cheaper (unlike the $2500 to $3000 PC laptop that I'm considering), but I don't want it to be that cheap (probably $500 minimum and $1500 maximum -- that's just an idea though, I'm open to anything).

If I bought this mid-level laptop (and I definitely want it to be a laptop), would it have to a PC, or does someone in the market for a computer for Unix systems have other options besides the standard PC vs. Mac? Are there other computers out there (maybe ones just for Unix or something) that I might consider, or would I definitely want a PC?

Also, how cheap of a computer can I get away with and still have "full" functionality with the things I want to do? As I mentioned, I will mainly be developing on it, so most or all of the things I install and work with on the computer will be related to development. I will want to try out developing on each of the OS's I install on the computer (Solaris, BSD, GentOS Linux, other Linux's, ect.). What kind of specs will I need to achieve this? I can figure out what type of hard drive space I want for myself -- I'm mainly concerned with how much RAM I will need, as well as what type of processor / how much processing speed/power I will need.

Any help here will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Well, I think the best choice IS Mac because it's the only one where you can legally run OS X and everything else can be run in VMware, Parallels, VirtualBox or whatever.

If running virtual machines, your main limitation is RAM - how many do you want to run at the same time? Disks are so large and cheap today - hardly an issue.

I should have mentioned this in my first post, but I don't think I want to use virtualization. I will get a computer with a fair amount of hard drive space and probably partition the drive or something for each OS I want to install (I won't need much hard drive space for each OS, just enough to install and run whatever developer tools are available for the OS, and that's about it). Is this reasonable? Any further input? Thanks!

great idea.
I think linux systems run well on everything.
You can buy core 2 duo with 4gb of dual channel ram i consider enough , however there may be some hardware problems with virtual machines, i have no idea in what language you develop, but anyway these virtual machines have bugs in them, so there is no guarantee that it will work like a real one.

I'm not sure I completely understand what a virtual machine is. I mentioned in my last post that I do not want to use virtualization. In other words, I'm not trying to use Parallels or Fusion or Virtual Box or any of those. I want to partition my drive and install the OS's directly on the hard drive, so I can then select at start up which OS I want to run. Does anyone have any input or advice or recommendations or suggestions for me regarding this idea? Thanks.

If I were you, i'd just go for an inexpensive $500 PC laptop with a decent sized hard drive for your partitions. As said above, Linux systems run great on pretty much anything, i've personally seen them run on Pentium 3's with no problem.

A PC is your best bet for sure, maybe a decade ago there'd have been alternatives but now the days of the Unix Workstation are pretty much over.

Good luck with whatever you decide on :)

If you want to run under Solaris or better, OpenSolaris, I would suggest 2 GB or more RAM and a multi-core 64 bit CPU (but aren't they all nowadays ?).