“…it’s difficult to buy a cost-effective, quality PC that’s
equipped with Unix from the get-go. That represents a modest
opportunity for resellers: If you can transform a generic white
box–or a customer’s existing system–into a killer Unix system,
you’re sure to get repeat business. Here’s our formula.”
“We started with a high-end Gateway machine and replaced
incompatible or unsuitable hardware as needed. The operating system
we used in our tests was FreeBSD, which–like Solaris–is a
descendent of Berkeley Unix.”
“Generally speaking, all of the current Unix implementations are
more CPU-efficient than Windows or NT, so CPU speed is not a
critical consideration in the Unix universe. But while some Unix
users make do with text-based displays, the majority will want a
GUI. And an X Server–the graphics software that forms the
foundation for the GUIs on Unix machines–eats lots of CPU cycles.
So, it never hurts to get a fast CPU if your Unix system will have
graphics. These days, the AMD K7 or Intel’s Pentium III is the way
to go.”