Recommended Posts

The G4's are not 128bit or even 64bit CPU's period.

Unspec: Be Inc didn't have OS X :) OS X has the potential, the looks, the stability and the underlying stability of BSD. I really do believe that Apple could beat MS or certainly take a significant share of their market. Plus you're forgetting that Be never had the support that OS X ALREADY has just look at the games etc that are being ported/have been ported to OS X.....

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355661
Share on other sites

Ahhhhhh Azazel, you must be the person Alan told me about. Alan being the guy who wrote the article.

So no it wasn't me I'm afraid :) and as I keep saying, my opinions in this thread are just that, my opinions. I may be wrong it certainly wouldn't be the first time. ;)

[EDIT] What exactly is wrong with that guide by the way? Please do give me the benefit of your undoubtedly superior wisdom ;) [/EDIT]

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355664
Share on other sites

Well, as I stated in my comment (which was promptly deleted), to advocate and instruct people to disable services without a clear, concise description of what said services do, when simply telling them to set the services to manual would be just as feasible, is a tad bit idiotic. There are *many many* websites and instructional guides out there, dating back to the beginning of Win2k about the particulars of disabling services.

Example:

Windows Time

Unless you are in dire need to have exactly the same time as the administrator on your network this service can be safely disabled.
Um...no. This has nothing to do with a network administrator at all. It connects to an atomic clock server and synchronizes it. Can be set to manual. I'd think someone writing a "guide" would know this. It's pretty pointless really, considering far better has been written, and he states pretty much in every entry "depends on the person, but I recommend turning it off." Good advice.

Example:

Secondary Logon

Allow multiple users on one machine. Most people I think actually make use of this feature.

Real scientific there. Once again, um...no. This allows non-system administrators to install and run software as if they were an administrator, ie; su root. Since everyone at HOME (which is who this quide aspires to be written for) is their own system administrator, chances are, they are already running under an Admin account, so NO, you don't need to have this enabled at all. This can be, and is, set to manual on my system, and has been for a *long* time now.

I could go on and on, but this is getting tedious. In short, whomever wrote that is a stooge.

Sorry to everyone else for posting that here, but he asked.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355709
Share on other sites

Thanks for the feedback Azazel, and no I'm not being sarcastic. Without feedback how would any of us improve.

tbh with you I don't know enough about the subject matter to comment but to me it sounds like you just don't particularly like the style in which the article is posted. Which is fine and we know that not everyone is going to like every article but it's pointless falling out over it and tbh I don't really care that much for the way in which you approach the subject. Manners cost nothing you know.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355716
Share on other sites

I really do believe that Apple could beat MS or certainly take a significant share of their market.

And I really do believe that is currently impossible, especially without MS Office.

Fortunately, Apple seems to agree. The recent release of new hardware and the latest software acquisitions tend to suggest that they are aiming to expand into 2 distinct market areas.

1. The A/V market. By providing a Digital Hub that seamlessly integrates with many A/V peripherals. The low-end consumer side may also be bolstered by Apple releasing other A/V hardware e.g. an iCam digital camcorder/camera, while the professional side is supported by FCP/PS/Cubase etc "pro" software (1st and 3rd party) with the Mac still acting as a hub.

2. The education market. The eMac and Xserve are being pushed on their strong selling points, the easy-to-use integrated Mac combined with a server system that (because of the background of the OS) lacks the "licence tax" of a MS server, and it runs Office.

What is harder to say is the role of the Xserve. It's certainly not Big Iron material, but it is new direction for Apple. Previous OS X Servers were simply high-end Power Macintosh Towers. This is a proper 1U server, with a NAS option to follow.

It is possible that Apple are using the smaller education market to test the water with the Xserve before they sell it to the main A/V market, possibly for use as a render farm or high capacity storage for video/audio work (this is just a guess on my part, as it is unlikely that Apple are going to try and enter the enterprise server market).

That is my opinon on the future of Apple, and although it might not seem as exciting as that lovely OS X on a nice cheap PC you can build up from parts, I feel that it is far more likely.

--

unspec

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355750
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Advocate

Thanks for the feedback Azazel, and no I'm not being sarcastic. Without feedback how would any of us improve.

tbh with you I don't know enough about the subject matter to comment but to me it sounds like you just don't particularly like the style in which the article is posted. Which is fine and we know that not everyone is going to like every article but it's pointless falling out over it and tbh I don't really care that much for the way in which you approach the subject. Manners cost nothing you know.

I'm like this, because it's all in the presentation. You present something on a website in a manner in which you appear to be an expert in your subject matter, people will believe you. In this case, a bunch of people that don't know much about windows services. They go in, start disabling things, without a clear, concise idea of what they are doing, or what they are disabling, then screw something up. To be quite honest with you, it really ****es me off, seeing people being fooled into situations like that. Then you get thousands of support threads "How do I fix this after I turned this off" "I did this like this website said now my computer won't boot". It's quite demoralizing and counterproductive. I am the way I am because I'm a firm believer in the "If you've got nothing good to say, don't say anything at all". If, thru laziness or ignorance, someone gets screwed over by something they read by an "expert" on a website, then that site/individual deserves a little harshness.

I apologize for coming on a bit strong. I know I do pretty frequently. But I remember what it's like to be a clueless n00b, and how frustrating it was to get incorrect information. It's not fun.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355856
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Wickedkitten

Since when was the amount of ram that a cpu can support the sign of how many bits it was.

The amount of ram a cpu can use is determined by the number of address bits available.

32-bit = 2 ^ 32 = 4GB memory accessible

64-bit = 2 ^ 64 = 17,000,000,000 GB memory accessible

I guess you have never seen the old servers that could run up to 64gb of ram off of a 450 pentium xeon which was 32 bit :roll:

Xeon's have 36-bit addressing, so they support:

36-bit = 2 ^ 36 = 64GB.

So before you go spouting off, know what you are talking about first.

Also, G4 processors are certainly NOT 64-bit. They have 32-bit integers, 64-bit floats, and 128-bit vector instructions. This is NOT the same as being 64-bit. In fact, the G4s can't touch the Athlon's in number-crunching. G4's are not as fast as Athlons, or even P4s.

And Windows XP-64 is going to be available for the ClawHammer cpu, as soon as it comes out, so hopefully we can all have state-of-the-art 64-bit systems soon.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-355947
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Sticktron

The amount of ram a cpu can use is determined by the number of address bits available.

32-bit = 2 ^ 32 = 4GB memory accessible

64-bit = 2 ^ 64 = 17,000,000,000 GB memory accessible

Xeon's have 36-bit addressing, so they support:

36-bit = 2 ^ 36 = 64GB.

So before you go spouting off, know what you are talking about first.

Nowhere in there did it say that the ****ing 450 xeon is 64 bit did it sherlock? Didn't think so.

Also, G4 processors are certainly NOT 64-bit. They have 32-bit integers, 64-bit floats, and 128-bit vector instructions. This is NOT the same as being 64-bit. In fact, the G4s can't touch the Athlon's in number-crunching. G4's are not as fast as Athlons, or even P4s.

reference back to the thread that claimed that a dual 1ghz system got beaten by a 500mhz p3 in compiling, also reference back to why it got "beaten" and then shut up and go away, and while you're gone you can read http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/18421.html

And Windows XP-64 is going to be available for the ClawHammer cpu, as soon as it comes out, so hopefully we can all have state-of-the-art 64-bit systems soon.

windows xp 64 was already out for Itaniums cos they did the beta testing last year at the same time as for xp pro and home. Only prob was that the people that consumers didn't have 64bit chips, and why is that? Cos the average consumer doesn't need one and the computer industry flows around the average consumer, thats why MS is on top, AOL is on top, and Dell is on top.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356529
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Advocate

I do agree that it would be a shame for Apple to leave the hardware market as they are innovative and produce damn sexy machines. But when you consider that a PC can do everything a Mac can at a better price all you have left is design and....yep you guessed it OS X.

Please Apple?

I think you're missing the point again.

Let?s say Apple did port OS X to the open x86 platform.

There would be a small user-base, with little hardware support (think Be). Hardware drivers don't magically appear, the manufacturers don't throw money at some ideal of Apple getting one over MS.

They will mostly ignore the x86 OS X as the effort to create and support drivers for such a small user-base are not worth the profit from the small market.

What applications would they run? Carbon based applications are heavily PPC optimised and would need re-written. The same applies to Adobe, Macromedia etc etc...

MS would pull OS X support and that means no Office.

Without MS with them and any A-list titles and poor hardware support just how can they create a large market share? It's a catch-22 situation and just because you love the idea of being able to fire up OS X on your home-built box does not make it a sound business plan.

BTW Apple hardware isn't overpriced. It is expensive and this plays to the ethos Apple like to sell themselves, as a supplier of a premium experience - not just a computer. If it really was overpriced, by definition it would not sell and Apple would go bust.

However it is expensive, so Apple sells to a smaller number of customers and thus enjoys good profits with a small market share.

But when you consider that a PC can do everything a Mac can at a better price...

Ahh but it cannot. It cannot provide the Apple experience, the way the iPod meshes with iTunes, the way iPhoto works with a digital camera, the way iDVD and iMovies allow quality home video editing.

Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can provide that level of integration. Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can introduce innovations like USB and Firewire across their entire market and have it tie into applications like iPhoto/iTunes, or features like booting off an external FireWire disk.

It is because they do control the hardware and software that allows them to create these value added innovations/services. Remove that and you don't have Apple.

From what you have written, all I can gather is that you have a (very reasonable) desire to have a quality operating system on cheap hardware. However, I don't see any justification of why Apple would or could move OS X to an open x86 platform.

--

unspec

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356579
Share on other sites

Ahh but it cannot. It cannot provide the Apple experience, the way the iPod meshes with iTunes, the way iPhoto works with a digital camera, the way iDVD and iMovies allow quality home video editing.

Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can provide that level of integration. Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can introduce innovations like USB and Firewire across their entire market and have it tie into applications like iPhoto/iTunes, or features like booting off an external FireWire disk.

Mmmm... maybe you'll flame me for what I'm about to say... but I really don't think as Apple as an Hardware company. I mean, excluding the Ipod (that's made by apple) when they do a new Mac they simply assemble various components... they took the Nvidia or Ati graphic cards, the motorola chips, and so on.... You could state that Apple write his Os on that specific hardware, but they surely don't make the hardware at all! So, when you say that Ipod meshes with Itunes let's say they make a good software, because all they do is a good software interaction between the Itunes softaware and the one installed on the Ipod.

Well that's what I wanted to say... and to me, Apple is not a real hardware company... even if they have a genius talent for Design..... I would love to have a mac desktop computer... but damn... it cost so much.... try to get the same piece by piece hardware (excluding the processor) and use on pc... it will cost surely half!

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356619
Share on other sites

Originally posted by shodan
Ahh but it cannot. It cannot provide the Apple experience, the way the iPod meshes with iTunes, the way iPhoto works with a digital camera, the way iDVD and iMovies allow quality home video editing.

Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can provide that level of integration. Only a company that makes the hardware and the software can introduce innovations like USB and Firewire across their entire market and have it tie into applications like iPhoto/iTunes, or features like booting off an external FireWire disk.

Mmmm... maybe you'll flame me for what I'm about to say... but I really don't think as Apple as an Hardware company. I mean, excluding the Ipod (that's made by apple) when they do a new Mac they simply assemble various components... they took the Nvidia or Ati graphic cards, the motorola chips, and so on.... You could state that Apple write his Os on that specific hardware, but they surely don't make the hardware at all! So, when you say that Ipod meshes with Itunes let's say they make a good software, because all they do is a good software interaction between the Itunes softaware and the one installed on the Ipod.

Well that's what I wanted to say... and to me, Apple is not a real hardware company... even if they have a genius talent for Design..... I would love to have a mac desktop computer... but damn... it cost so much.... try to get the same piece by piece hardware (excluding the processor) and use on pc... it will cost surely half!

would you consider dell, gateway, compaq, or alienware to be hardware companies then?

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356626
Share on other sites

Apple makes most of its profit from sales of hardware.

That makes it a hardware company in my book. While it does not make all the components that go into the Mac line up - what company does?

I mean, excluding the Ipod (that's made by apple)...

Is the HD made by Apple? Are the chips fabbed by Apple? No, they are sourced components. Apple does design many aspects of the hardware (mobo etc) but many parts that make it up are sourced externally. This is the way many modern businesses work.

The end product, say a Power Mac is a relatively expensive bit of hardware that Apple makes a good profit form.

They sell these bits of hardware with large mark-ups because of the added value they can give through tight software and hardware integration.

You might say that the MS X-Box isn't MS hardware, or that a Nokia 3330 isn't Nokia hardware on the same grounds.

I think that is a tenuous assertion at best.

--

unspec

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356648
Share on other sites

Well to my opinion (and it's my opinion of course) they just assemble and sells computers.... hardware companies are Nvidia, Intel, Motorola, Transmeta... and so on.. those people really produce hardware.

Of course Apple is a step behiond Dell, Compaq and so on.... because apple deveolp some kind of hardware, like Ipod for example.... but i simply don't consider them as hardware companies.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356652
Share on other sites

Originally posted by unspec

Apple makes most of its profit from sales of hardware.

That makes it a hardware company in my book. While it does not make all the components that go into the Mac line up - what company does?

Is the HD made by Apple? Are the chips fabbed by Apple? No, they are sourced components. Apple does design many aspects of the hardware (mobo etc) but many parts that make it up are sourced externally. This is the way many modern businesses work.

The end product, say a Power Mac is a relatively expensive bit of hardware that Apple makes a good profit form.

They sell these bits of hardware with large mark-ups because of the added value they can give through tight software and hardware integration.

That's what I want to say.. they take good hardaware (made by someone else) and write a great software integretion between them... after they sell a Mac Computer... but they didn't make the computer in the first place...

You might say that the MS X-Box isn't MS hardware, or that a Nokia 3330 isn't Nokia hardware on the same grounds.

I think that is a tenuous assertion at best.

--

unspec

In fact i say that Xbox is NOT Microsoft hardware... PS2 is made by Sony, GC is made by Nintendo... because they have develop the thecnology inside their consolle....

sorry don't know what's inside a Nokia 3330...

:D

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356662
Share on other sites

After reading this thread ive come to the conclusion that we could debate on and on and on....but wether OSX will be ported to X86 - we'll just have to wait and see.

Those wanting it to happen - keep your fingers crossed. In the mean time use DesktopX, ObjectBar etc etc to satify your OSX needs.

USELESS thread........

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356667
Share on other sites

Originally posted by shodan

That's what I want to say.. they take good hardaware (made by someone else) and write a great software integretion between them... after they sell a Mac Computer... but they didn't make the computer in the first place...

In fact i say that Xbox is NOT Microsoft hardware... PS2 is made by Sony, GC is made by Nintendo... because they have develop the thecnology inside their consolle....

sorry don't know what's inside a Nokia 3330...

:D

ford cars aren't ford cars, mercedes aren't mercedes, and fender guitars aren't fender guitars

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356677
Share on other sites

GC is made by Nintendo...
An IBM processor, NEC manufacturing process, Matsu****a optical drive, ATI GPU - all hooked up to a custom mainboard, running a custom OS.
PS2 is made by Sony...

A Toshiba processor, Simplex Solutions Graphics Synthesiser chip running on a custom mainboard, running a custom OS.

The point is that these days, consumer hardware is rarely the product of a single company. Parts are bough it and assembled.

Apple is no different.

Why is the iPod Apple hardware when the Power Mac is not?

Both have sourced parts from other companies and custom parts designed by Apple. Yet you don't consider this Apple hardware.

The GameCube and PS2 are both built with a mix of sourced and custom parts, yet you say they are Nintendo/Sony hardware.

I think your logic is flawed.

--

unspec

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/35887-mac-os-x/page/2/#findComment-356723
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • (I know it's just an image and also not the point at all, but it really bugs me that the two halves of the necklace don't really fit together... 😅)
    • It is the same everywhere. Gitlab's boss recently had a lengthily blog post about the future of AI in the company and in general. The usual drum beating. When I saw it I checked their stock prices - close to 50% down.
    • Cloud Security Fundamentals eBook —was $131.95, now free to download by Steven Parker Claim your complimentary copy (worth $131.95) of "Cloud Security Fundamentals: Building the Foundations for Secure Cloud Platforms" for free, before the offer ends on July 1. Description In Cloud Security Fundamentals: Building the Foundations for Secure Cloud Platforms, cybersecurity leader and educator, Jason Edwards, delivers a comprehensive guide to safeguarding data, applications, and infrastructure in the cloud. The author offers a complete walkthrough of cloud security, moving from foundational concepts to advanced, forward-looking practices. The book is filled with practical examples, hands-on guidance, and lessons drawn from real-world cloud security incidents and breaches. It equips readers with the tools and knowledge they need to defend against threats in cloud environments and how to understand coming developments in cloud technology that will impact organizations in all industries. Inside the book: A thorough introduction to cloud-native and advanced security practices for contemporary firms A chapter on relevant cloud security certifications and professional growth advice Practical discussions of foundational concepts in cloud security, including IAM, Zero Trust, and DevSecOps Complete treatments of advanced cloud security themes, like leadership strategies, operational best practices, and techniques for dealing with common and emerging threats Perfect for cloud security professionals, IT managers, and DevOps professionals, Cloud Security Fundamentals will also benefit system administrators, compliance and risk officers, consultants, auditors, and technology students in a variety of fields who require a foundational understanding of cloud security concepts. How to download for free Please ensure you read the terms and conditions to claim this offer. Complete and verifiable information is required in order to receive this free offer. If you have previously made use of these offers, you will not need to re-register. Was $131.95, but is now FREE | Below link offer expires on July 1. Cloud Security Fundamentals: Building the Foundations for Secure Cloud Platforms The below offers are also available for free in exchange for your (work) email: The Vibe Coding Playbook: Building Your Tech Business with AI ($35 Value) FREE - Expires 6/23 The Persuasion Engine: How Any Business Can Use AI-Powered Neuromarketing to Understand and Win Customers ($28 Value) FREE - Expires 6/24 How to Do More with Less: Future-Proofing Yourself in an AI-driven Economy ($28 Value) FREE - Expires 6/30 Cloud Security Fundamentals: Building the Foundations for Secure Cloud Platforms ($131.95 Value) FREE - Expires 7/1 The Complete Free AI Learning: Master ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini & More ($21 Value) FREE How to Build an AI Design Workflow with Gamma ($21 Value) FREE The Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide – Featured Free content Python Notes for Professionals – Featured Free content Learn Linux in 5 Days – Featured Free content Quick Reference Guide for Cybersecurity – Featured Free content We post these because we earn commission on each lead so as not to rely solely on advertising, which many of our readers block. It all helps toward paying staff reporters, servers and hosting costs. Other ways to support Neowin The above deal not doing it for you, but still want to help? Check out the links below. Check out our partner software in the Neowin Store Buy a T-shirt at Neowin's Threadsquad Subscribe to Neowin - for $14 a year, or $28 a year for an ad-free experience Disclosure: An account at Neowin Deals is required to participate in any deals powered by our affiliate, StackCommerce. For a full description of StackCommerce's privacy guidelines, go here. Neowin benefits from shared revenue of each sale made through the branded deals site.
    • TerraMaster F4-425 Pro review: an octa-core Intel NAS that ships with AI (OpenClaw) by Steven Parker It has been a while since I reviewed a TerraMaster NAS, but the company reached out to me asking if I was willing to test the F4-425 Pro, which goes on sale today. It is an upgrade on the F4-425 Plus, which I reviewed back in October 2025 What you need to know is that it basically follows the design principles of the four-bay F4-425 series, with its all-metal exterior. Here are the most important specifications: TerraMaster F4-425 Pro CPU Intel Core N350 (8x E Cores/Threads, Max burst up to 3.9 GHz) Intel Core N305 (4x E Cores/Threads, Max burst up to 3.8 GHz) TDP: 7W / 9W (Base) Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 32 EUs (1.35 GHz) Intel UHD Graphics 24 EUs (1.25 GHz) Memory 1x slot 16 GB DDR5 4800MT/s non ECC SODIMM (Max 32 GB) 1x slot 8 GB DDR5 4800MT/s non ECC SODIMM (Max 32 GB) Disk Capacity 120 TB (30 TB x 4) Supported RAID Types TRAID, TRAID +, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 6, RAID 10 Network 2x RJ-45 5 GbE Internal storage 3x M.2 2280 NVMe Slot (PCIe 3.0 x1) Bootloader 2Gbit 256 GB NAND Flash card (MX30LF2G28AD) USB port (internal) USB Ports 1x Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) 3x Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) HDMI 1x (HDMI) Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, VC-1 Maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); Maximum FPS: 60 Size (H/W/D) 219 x 181 x 150 mm Weight 2.9 kg System Fan 150 x181 x 219 mm Power 90W, 100V - 240V AC, 50/60 Hz, Single frequency Power consumption (HDDs) 45W (4x 4TB ST4000VN008 in read/write state) 14W (4x 4TB ST4000VN008 in hibernation) Noise Level: 20.9 dB(A) Using 4 SATA HDDs/SSDs in standby mode; Test environment noise: 17.3dB(A); Test distance: 1m Warranty 2 Years OS TOS 7.0.0706 (Beta) MSRP £639.99, $699.99, €739.99 / £739.99, $799.99, €839.99 As you can see above, there are two variants of the F4-425 Pro releasing today. The lesser variant has the slightly weaker N305 CPU and iGP, and 8 GB less RAM, although it also costs $100 less than the top variant we are testing today. In addition, these new F4-425 Pros are shipped with the as-yet-unreleased TOS 7 beta. So what is TOS 7 exactly? During the device initialization, you are warned not to use it in a production environment, which we'll get into later. My contact told me that TOS 7 exits beta today, June 23 with version 7.0.0746. The clear difference with the F4-425 Plus is that it contains the more powerful N350 Intel CPU released in the first quarter of 2025, with support for DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, LPDDR5 (4800), DDR5 and DDR4, and a max TDP of just 7W. It also supports AV1 decoding, as well as H.264, VP8, VP9, H.265 (8 bit), and H.265 (10 bit). The different capabilities in the Alder Lake-N (and Twin Lake) series are listed below. Processor E-cores L3-cache Turbo clock GPU GPU-clock TDP Intel N355 8 6 MB 3.9 GHz 32 EUs 1.35 GHz 9 W Intel Core 3 N350 3.9 GHz 1.35 GHz 7 W Intel Core i3-N305 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 9 W Intel Core i3-N300 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz Intel N250 4 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 6 W Intel Processor N200 3.7 GHz 0.75 GHz Intel N150 3.6 GHz 24 EUs 1 GHz Intel N97 1.2 GHz 12 W Intel Processor N100 3.4 GHz 0.75 GHz 6 W The CPU is part of the Alder Lake-N series that sits just below the top N355 offering, albeit with an impressive TDP (less than the N355 and N305) for the features it offers. It is designed for low- powered systems and entry-level laptops. As before, we are seeing another NAS with an acceptable, if not great, amount of RAM. It should be noted that the F4-425 Pro only has one SODIMM slot, so if you are planning to upgrade the already 16GB included in this NAS, it will have to be on one module of Single Rank DDR5. As a reminder, up until a couple of years ago, it was commonplace to only get 2 or 4GB max on a flagship Synology or QNAP home NAS. Ever since the likes of TerraMaster and more have entered the market with ample RAM sizes included in their NAS offerings, it has gone a long way in forcing the hands of the traditional makers to up their game a bit. Before we dive in, you can view the different SKUs released so far since the 2025 series launched for Home and SMB users, with the most important specifications listed along with the MSRP listed below: SKU CPU Cores Memory Link Price F2-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $249.99 F4-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $369.99 F2-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $399.99 F4-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $569.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N305 8 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $699.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N350 8 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $799.99 The F2 in the product name means two 3.5-inch HDD bays, where F4 is four 2.5-inch bays. First impressions Like with the F8 SSD Plus packaging, the F4-425 Pro is using the upgraded box materials, which certainly look better than a plain cream colored box with TERRAMASTER stamped on the sides. The box gives off a premium feel and certainly adds a positive vibe to first impressions. In the box F4-425 Pro TNAS device Power adapter LAN cable (CAT 6) Quick guide [full online guide] Limited warranty notice Screws (for HDD bays) Stickers 2x rubber feet (spares) Design As has become kind of common with TerraMaster, certainly in the last three years, the 2025 F2- and F4-series have received a makeover that really adds to the premium feel of the NAS. Gone are the plastic shells, now replaced with an aluminum outer shell, with the front and back retaining the textured black plastic we saw on the 2024 models. Some key differences from the 2024 series include placing the power button back on the front, along with the addition of a Type A USB port. It's not much bigger or heavier either; in fact, it weighs 500 grams less than the F4-424 Pro. It's slightly shorter in height and depth (length), but only by a few millimeters. The front and back do retain a similar style to the 2024 series. On the front, you just have your four bays along with LED indicators for the HDDs and power. The welcomed change is having a USB port on the front for quick access, should you need to back up a USB drive, for example. Around the back, from top to bottom, you have a reset pin hole, an HDMI port, two 5 GbE Ethernet ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type A ports with a Type-C port below them, and a connector for the barrel port power source. Again, there's no Kensington Security Slot present, which is a bit of a shame considering it's a data storage device. Left side Right side On the left and right of the F4-425 Plus, it is completely smooth aluminum with a TERRAMASTER logo printed on both sides. On the bottom, there are some holes to assist ventilation. Unlike with the F4-425 Plus, the rubber feet did come unstuck during the teardown, which was also an issue on the 2023 series. It seems like other customers have lodged complaints about them, as TerraMaster now includes two spare rubber feet in the box, in case any of the preinstalled ones are lost; however, this seems more like a papering over the cracks solution rather than actually fixing the issue with better quality rubber stand-offs. There are also four screws that must be removed in order to access the internals. Teardown Upon removing the four screws, you can slide the device out of its shell to reveal the three NVMe M.2 slots (PCIe 3.0 X1) and single SODIMM slot connector, which is populated with a single 16GB DDR5 4800MT/s module. I added a couple of MP44Q M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs (2 x 4TB) that can be availed on Amazon for $492.99 that TEAMGROUP supplied us with, along with a 250GB 970 Evo Plus that my colleague Chris White sent me by accident and let me keep a few years ago. As I have said in previous reviews, TerraMaster support staff actually encourage installing whatever you want on their devices, and happily, the USB port for the bootloader is now easily accessible should you want to use it for your own flavor of NAS OS, such as TrueNAS, Unraid, or maybe Xpenology. Yes, because TerraMaster has now switched to a 256 GB NAND Flash card (3rd photo above) for the TOS bootloader. This is also replaceable, but you can also simply add a USB bootloader, access the BIOS, and tell the F4-425 Pro to boot from that instead of the Flash card. Unlike earlier iterations of TerraMaster NAS, you don't have to tear this down any further than the four screws on the outer shell in order to be able to access and manage the memory, NVMe slots, and USB bootloader. However, if you need to access the NAND Flash card or CMOS battery, then eight more screws (four on each side) need to be removed in order to take off the rear panel with the 120mm fan, and then the motherboard can be lifted off and removed from the SATA connector PCB. There's also no risk of threading the screw holes, because the four that hold the shell in place are metal on metal, while the screws that hold the rear panel on do screw into plastic. Either way, like last time when I reviewed the F4-425 plus, I was just happier to see larger screws being used. Overall, it follows some great improvements in build quality from the 2024 series and earlier. Setup BIOS The F4-425 Pro includes an Aptio BIOS from American Megatrends [1, 2], and you can setup pretty much everything here including the boot order, which is locked to the UEFI OS, however above that choice you can enable or disable booting to the USB bootloader so this would still allow you to switch to a USB stick with an alternative bootloader and boot from it, or disable it to instead always start from the first disk with an OS installed on it. Initial Setup Setup is roughly the same as the F4-425 Plus, along with the new TOS 7 setup dialogs, so there will be no surprises here. Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the F4-425 Pro can be reached by navigating to http://tnas.local. If that doesn't work, you can use the local address assigned via DHCP, which you can find using the TNAS PC desktop application, which is essentially a TerraMaster NAS finder. The setup process is pretty straightforward, through a wizard, and in full below: TOS 7 Initialization As you can see, TOS 7 received a new coat of paint, and the initialization requires fewer interactions. Happily, TOS no longer decides to throw all disks into the same Storage Pool; 2.5-inch HDDs are allocated into Storage Pool 1. This is because two of the HDDs are allocated to hold system files. Previously (with TOS 5 and 6), if you pre-installed HDDs and SSDs, they were all placed into Storage Pool 1, even if you did not select the SSDs for inclusion during the onboarding. TOS 7 Setup On first boot, there is a tutorial and some steps to take to harden the TNAS (or not), which includes an immediate update from TOS 7.0.0616 to 7.0.0706, of which the changelog screenshot is also included in the above gallery. It must be noted that the Security Advisor still contains (in my opinion) a pretty major bug in that if you enable SPC and then do the required rebooting, the Security Advisor still says that SPC is disabled. TerraMaster provided the following statement about it: It is disappointing that TOS 7 has been in beta since December, and this OOBE issue is still there. Shutdown option has moved Instead of a Taskbar option to manage the NAS, all of these options have been moved to a "Start panel", initially I didn't see it and my contact had to show me how to power off the F4-425 Pro. To logout, reboot or power off you can find those controls at the top right of the Panel. It is also possible to power off through the TNAS mobile app beta. Storage setup Above, you can see the steps I took to create the Storage Pools and Volumes. I made a second Storage Pool using TRAID on two 4TB MP44Q SSDs (which, in this instance, is similar to RAID 5), and finally, I added the 250GB 970 Evo Plus drive as Hyper Cache on Storage Pool 1 in Balanced mode. Registering If you decide not to lock down the F4-425 Pro in Security Isolation Mode (blocking all external connections), then you could set up a TNAS device ID through the Remote Access setting in the Control Panel (which must be unique). This works in combination with an online TerraMaster account. TOS 7 TNAS Online Creating a TerraMaster account and linking the device online activates the warranty when you provide proof of purchase and the serial number, but it also gives you access through the TNAS mobile app, which allows you to complete certain operationsб including powering off and restarting the NAS remotely. A TNAS mobile update is required to gain access through TOS 7, and this is provided on the TerraMaster website, as it is not yet on Google Play. The app is evolving all the time and has made leaps and bounds since I first started reviewing TerraMaster devices almost three years ago. It is not quite there yet if you are comparing the likes of Synology, which, sadly, a lot of users online do all the time. OpenClaw setup One of the main selling points of the new F4-425 Pro is the inclusion of OpenClaw, with TerraMaster claiming that it is "powered by the world's first AI-native TOS 7 OS, supporting local-first smart workflows and independent data control." However, I immediately ran into problems trying to enable OpenClaw. After waiting 20 minutes at the "Enabling" message of the OpenClaw app following installation, I decided to do some searching online and discovered that it couldn't complete the installation process due to SPC being enabled, which is something TOS 7 immediately recommends to be enabled on first boot. SPC for NAS (TOS 7) is basically the same principle as UAC in Windows; it blocks executables from being launched by non-Super Users. After reaching out to my contact about these issues, I received the following response: Anyway, this only became clear when I closed the OpenClaw app screen and clicked on the OpenClaw icon in the taskbar; that is when I saw the message about disabling SPC. I think, due to the fact that this is a requirement, this should be a prompt during the installation process, not when closing the App Market and then trying to launch OpenClaw. There's also no 'Getting started' guide for people like me who have never used OpenClaw. I tried to add an LLM and discovered the tutorial led nowhere. That's when I started looking around the official TerraMaster forums, and I found a guide that helpfully explains that you won't get anywhere with OpenClaw unless you have a paid plan, which is disappointing because I imagined there would be an option to use a local LLM as I do in SubtitleEdit with Whisper-XXL. In addition, with the marketing imagery on the official site, it says that the OpenClaw feature is "all processed 100% locally for absolute privacy." which led me to believe that I could install a local LLM, not one that required paid tokens. In any case, TerraMaster does not provide guidance for this new feature, which was also a selling point of the F4-425 Pro! My contact also provided clarification about the above points I raised with TerraMaster Since it is not in the scope of the review to add paid services, I'll leave that to the people who are more qualified with OpenClaw. F4-425 Pro Surveillance App TOS also comes with a Surveillance app, which is not installed by default; it can be found in the App Market recommended section. In addition, after installing, it doesn't drop a shortcut on the Desktop or top taskbar, but you can "Send to Desktop" from the App Market listing for the app for a quick way to open it. Adding my Reolink POE doorbell camera was painless. TerraMaster doesn't appear to have a repository of preconfigured cameras; instead, the camera must be added using ONVIF or RTSP. No mobile Surveillance app TerraMaster still doesn't have a dedicated Surveillance app, although from searching online, Surveillance can be used and managed through the TNAS mobile app. I tried this with the updated TNAS mobile app beta in combination with TOS 7 and got a message that Surveillance was "Only accessible through web browser," so I reckon this must be limited to the stable versions of TOS 6 and the mobile app. More quirks In addition, whenever I minimized the Live View window in the browser Surveillance app, the feed appeared to switch to the Low-bandwidth stream, and there was no way to get the High-quality stream back. To get the High-quality stream back, I had to close Live View and then reopen it. Benchmarking A pretty cool feature of the TOS 7 is that it allows you to install directly to the NVMe M.2 SSD. In order to do that, you would have to leave out any HDDs during initialization, and even then, the system partitions are always written to two HDDs when they are eventually added. With three NVMe slots, this also gives an interesting scenario where you could build a TRAID storage Pool for installing all your apps and Docker on, and keep the third for SSD cache on the HDD pool. Limitless options! SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 5 GbE hub was well within acceptable ranges. Although the read result on SATA was a little less than with the F4-425 Plus, for some reason, while writes were generally better. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. TOS 7, which, as of testing, is still in Beta, comes with an App Center that has a bunch of handy programs you can install right off the bat, such as Emby, Plex, Docker, as well as in-house Backup and Surveillance solutions. As you can imagine, any media streaming services you would want to host off the F4-425 Pro will work great, thanks to the Intel Core N350 CPU and its 16 GB of DDR5 memory. Accessing from mobile is only possible if Security Isolation Mode is disabled, which can put your NAS at risk from external sources, so there was no way to access it from the TNAS Mobile app. It's also quiet. I had this sat next to my computer on my work desk for the past week, and I did wonder if the noise I was accustomed to with NAS devices would annoy me, but all I could hear was a soft whirring of the rear fan (which was a little annoying) when the disks were not actively copying or reading data. Conclusion So what have I learned? Unfortunately, this release raises a few important questions and concerns that I feel haven't been adequately addressed. What I didn't like Our variant shipped with TOS 7 beta, and it's advised not to use it in a production environment. I feel that's a bit limiting on an $800 device. The mobile app is also still in beta and does not support some of the first-party apps, like Surveillance, and it still has quite a few bugs. I am a bit confused about the OpenClaw marketing along with the F4-425 Pro. I feel like that if it's going to be a main selling point, then offer official guidance on how to get started with it. TerraMaster recommends enabling SPC, but then markets the NAS for use with OpenClaw, which requires disabling SPC to be able to use it, opening up genuine security concerns for the NAS; and that's before you get into the security concerns of OpenClaw itself. Of course, the above issues won't be a problem if you decide to install something else on it, or even go back to the stable TOS 6. I wish TerraMaster had just given TOS 7 as opt-in rather than shipping with it. TOS 7 has been available as a preview since December 2025 (so well before my last TerraMaster review), and according to a thread on Reddit where a user shared a screenshot from the TerraMaster Facebook page, it is scheduled to launch today, June 23, but there's nothing about that in the TerraMaster news blog. My contact confirmed over email that TOS 7 exits beta today. The rubber feet also deserve a mention as they continue to be a problem, with them coming unstuck the moment you shift the F4-425 Pro anywhere on your desk. What I liked What it comes down to, though, aside from what I already mentioned, you are still getting a quality, affordable device here, so recommending it will depend on the individual's use case. If you're just looking for a relatively small NAS device to manage virtual machines on, backup your files, and take care of your home theater streaming, then it is a great device that will certainly futureproof you for some time. It provides good performance, takes up little space, and is, on the whole, very quiet. Four bays afford proper redundancy using TRAID or RAID 5, and you can even expand on storage capacity by adding the 2-bay D5, or 4-bay D8 Hybrid DAS over a USB 3.2 (10Gbps) link. Considering the 2024 releases were more about power, with the likes of an Intel Core i5-1235U high-end laptop CPU under the hood, I asked my contact last time if we could expect more of the same in higher-end models and was told: It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N350 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the F4-425 Pro is intended for, media streaming and backup. The only downside is still the clear lack of community and even staff support on the official forums. In the past, I have had topics go unanswered for days, or there would be generic-type "we've noted this and passed it onto our developer team" type responses. Along with the other things I mentioned, it all ends up costing it a couple of points. If you are comfortable with the command line, Docker, and setting up TrueNAS or Unraid, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. In TOS, the apps are a bit lacking, and things don't always work as expected.\ AI NAS?! What has become clear to me this year is that we are going to start seeing all kinds of "AI NAS" come to market, and while that might be good for us consumers, be diligent and research these claims. Although the F4-425 Pro technically comes with AI, it is really using a cloud service that is externally sourced off-device through the third party OpenClaw app. My colleague did review a newcomer to the NAS space earlier this year, and it includes a local AI assistant inside the Zettlab D4 NAS, and they do not even use AI in the product name, check out Chris' review here. Where to buy and a discount coupon However, it does not change the fact that this is truly a great entry-level home media-class NAS that you can buy right now. TerraMaster is having a 20% off launch discount, plus you can also still apply our unique 10% off coupon on checkout, which only works on the official website. So here is a breakdown of the pricing that is only valid on the official TerraMaster website. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $575.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $503.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £525.59 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £460.79 Use NEOWIN coupon code during checkout for 10% discount Over on Amazon US and UK, the F4-425 Pro also gets a 20% launch discount, but here, the above 10% coupon cannot be applied. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for $639.99 at Amazon US (was $799.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for $559.99 at Amazon US (was $699.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for £583.99 at Amazon UK (was £729.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for £511.99 at Amazon UK (was £639.99) As an Amazon Associate, when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Rookie
      DaviKar went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Dedicated
      HidekoYamamoto94 earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      463
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      161
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      112
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      85
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!