I’m not too worried about running Ubuntu on it now - I think I’ll just keep it running OSX.
We picked up the machine on Saturday and I set it up in my daughter’s room. I’ve installed Firefox and NeoOffice on it and I’ve tried to set up wireless networking (it doesn’t have an Airport card and I’m using a DLink USB wireless dongle which does have official drivers, but only seems to work after it is unplugged and replugged once the machine is booted up. I’m going to try a different brand of adaptor, I think.
In general, I’m liking OSX - even on this fairly old and low-ish spec machine, it seems to run fairly well. It’s a little tardy in loading larger applications, but unlike a Windows installation on a machine of approximately similar vintage and power, the user interface isn’t rendered sluggish and laggy - I think this is probably an expression of the fact that the kernel and GUI are very distinctly separate on this platform.
It is the absolutely ideal computer for a kid’s bedroom though - one compact, stylish box, no sharp corners, few cables, slot loading CD (nothing to be left ejected and snap off). I was even fairly impressed by the quality of the sound from the tiny inbuilt speakers - certainly good enough for comfortable listening.