I own a Mac mini 2011 server which I use as workstation. Currently Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7 Professional are installed in parallel (via Boot Camp). Both are 64-bit operating systems.
I'd like to install a Linux system on the machine. Which distro would you recommend the most? I thought of Ubuntu but I'm not sure about the 64-bit support in it (which I believe is needed to make use of the full 8 gb RAM).
By "best" I mean "best hardware support". Specifically:
- drivers for 64-bit operation
- support two displays
- support Bluetooth in general
- Bluetooth support for Magic Trackpad, specifically
- good WiFi support
Of the above, most important would be full support for:
- Two displays are connected, one via HDMI, one via Thunderbolt
- A Magic Trackpad via Bluetooth
Best Answer
From a few minutes of searching, it looks like Ubuntu 11.04 would be a good fit and match most of your requests, and what you were looking to use as well.
64bit would be needed to reach more than 4GB of RAM. And there is a 64 bit version, although (to me) confusingly named AMD64. This would be the version you need.
There are also Magic Trackpad drivers available, and a good writeup available on the Ubuntu Wiki.
I also found a good site documenting installing 11.04 on a MacBook Pro. This should be rather similar to your instal.
Finally, in most cases, choosing the right Linux distro is also a feel and how you like the install. But in accordance with your list of support, it looks like Ubuntu will cover this.