2 weeks ago, I bought a MacMini. The reason was I wanted to use the MacMini in combination with my new NAS as a Home-Entertainment-Server. The MacMini should stream music and videos from the NAS and display it with the cool feature of Mac OS X Front Row. You have to know that an infrared remote controller comes with the MacMini. My plans were 1 computer for my work and one computer for the personal entertainment.
Well, plans tend to be deprecated. My plans changed the first second I started my MacMini. Well, not the first second because to start the MacMini you have to connect a USB keyboard. I had only one with PS2-keyboard. I ran out of the door, forgetting everything around, going to the next keyboard selling store. But thats another story . I’m not realy able to describe how cooool Mac OS X is, you have to experience. Since 1999 I’m working only under Linux and I’m realy happy with Linux. But Mac OS X brings much fun. MacMini is a good combination of a MiniPC and Home-Entertainment-System with FrontRow and the remote controller. Now, I use MacMini for everything expect development. I can’t imagine a better development computer as a Linux machine.
To use the MacMini and my computer at the same time, I added a KVM switch. With a KVM switch I only need 1 keyboard, 1 mouse, 1 monitor and 1 speaker. I have to connect them directly to the KVM switch. I only have to press a button on the switch and the devices changes the owner from my MacMini to my computer and vice versa. That quite handy. The KVM switch I’m using was designed for the use with a MacMini and has the same dimensions.

The most surprising thing is the similarity of the NAS Cube Station CS-406 from Synology and the combination of the KVM-Switch and the MacMini. Both use the same white, the same metallic and the same curves. It’s fantastic. I’m on the way to put an Apple sticker on the Cube Station I got for buying the MacMini. They look harmonic together. This fact brings me to the following idea:

• Imagine an MacMini with a NAS extension. The MacMini and the NAS extension have the same design and don’t make a lot of noise. Wouldn’t it be beautiful to have such a combination in the living room?

I think a combination of an NAS and a MacMini as a combination would be a realy hot Home-Entertainment-System. It would be the perfect product bundle with high synergy effects.