Different cable – same diagnosis. Different PC – same diagnosis.  Then returning after my lunch break I pondered FIFO buffers.  Geeky yes. Irrational – no.

Turns out the Transmit Buffer on the PCI Serial ports default to an ITL or transmit buffer of 14 – whereas the incoming buffer size on the 10+ year old Mazatrol is likely less. I  changed it to 4 and low and behold we were sending and receiving.  The Receive Buffer on the PC would work at default 16 due to the lower incoming buffer size of the Mazatrol.  When you think of it like a geek – IT does make sense.

Productivity-wise I’ve not yet taken the plunge.  Finding OSX applications for the best Adobe apps are easily obtained.  So too, is Microsoft Office.

Hardware-wise I have to really respect the 3-year old design of the machine and its style/function but feel sadness at its 1gb DDR2 667 ram.  Considering my main rig has 12gb of DDR3 12800 ram.  Yeah – just a tad of differential.  Compare the 2.0ghz 2mb cache duo core with my main rigs quad processor @ 3.6ghz Corei7 920 with 8mb cache.  What can ya do. Buy the big mac? Not there yet.

All-in-all I enjoy its placement on the kitchen island – as it looks classy – makes for quick use – and feels like a quick in and out type function as opposed to my main rigs cockpit type setup.  Simplicity saves the day.  So simple, the goldfish can figure it out. 

But when you need to blow some shit up – I don’t think I’d start with an iMac – however as the first proverbial bite into my apple experience – im genuinely impressed and left dreaming for the flow and style of OSX snow leopard vs. Windows 7.

And wait until i get home later today – I’ll have some keen rants on how even I felt .. well.. wrong – feeling impressed with Windows Vista/7 before playing with Tiger/Snow Leopard.

I use MSN everyday  – I use Microsoft Office – I rely on NTFS.

What the hell am I doing?  I’m looking to be challenged on new fronts. Not just a Windows Junkie – but THE Windows Junkie – I’m bored with Windows – bored with networking complex Windows-based networks. Ha – i think the keyword was complex.  I think i come full circle in the facts of toying with PC’s as a youth and now living the life as a dude who would not otherwise be successfully employed as a Network Admin, SQL Admin, Web Admin, <Your Favorite Technology> Admin, Etc. – without the world of Windows. 

So – i set up this iMac and without any issue im hooked up to the network – im watching dvd – im surfing the web – im watching DVD’s.. was this Windows 7.. NO! This was OSX which came out over 3 years ago.  Phenomenal.  Can I query my SQL Server from my iMac? Now that’s the real question.

I’ve even added a new Category to the blog. Can you feel the domino effect? (just wait)

I’m about to upgrade from a run of the mill wal-mart special to a leather high back blah blah something or other.. hmm.. maybe i should go open that box up.

Less resources – good performer – im stoked.

Ran into a few snags upon upgrading where a few systems were stuck @ 72%. Here’s the fix:

Variable Name: MIG_UPGRADE_IGNORE_PLUGINS
Variable value: IphlpsvcMigPlugin.dll