There is no "perfect" OS (in my opinion), every operating system on the market has their market and fan base.
Mac fanboys tend to be the Windows haters. Usually these fanboys consist of people that have had a bad experience with Windows. (viruses, adware, all those programs that load on boot, and everything else that bogs the PC).
Windows fanboys tend to be functionality lovers. They want everything to work with just a click. They want the world to live off a standard.
Linux and OS fanboys want customization without limitation. They want to be able to fully customize their desktop, their GUI, etc. Whenever their is a need for functionality, the open-source community comes together to create it.
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So which operating system is right for you (in my personal opinion)?
If you are somewhat computer literate, are aware of security vulnerabilities and risks, are aware of downloads that could have a negative effect on your computer, are the type of person that researches a program (briefly, for security purposes) before downloading, and are the type of person that just wants everything to do to work and be very simple. Pick Windows.
If you are not computer literate, have no idea what a security risk looks like, if you download and install "cool" looking programs without giving any thought to where the program came from and who created said program. And you are the type of person who wants everything to be a simple as possible. Pick Mac.
If you are computer literate, are able to process how the back end of a computer works, don't really care if you have to spend time increasing functionality (when needed), don't use netflix (lol), and you love the idea that every piece of the GUI is 100% customizable. If you love the idea that you can get similar, but often times somewhat lacking, programs for free, and the idea that a community is constantly contributing free programs for everything you could ever imagine. Linux is for you.
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What do I use?
I use all three...
I have a Windows desktop that I dual-boot with Linux
I have an iMac and two MacBook Pros
I have two Windows laptops
I had more computers, I gave them away.
I have used many different OS, all the way from Windows '95 through Windows 7, Ubuntu/Suse/Fedora/Mint/etc., different distros of Mac OS X.
My favorite computer to use is definitely my dual-boot desktop. This is mostly due to the fact that my desktop is 100% hardware customized by me. The advantage to this is that for a significantly low price (about $800), I built a machine that can handle a lot and never bogs down no matter how many videos I'm encoding, how many programs I run in the background (photoshop/illustrator/flash pro/dreamweaver/filezilla/etc). Whenever I get bored or am doing something I consider risky to the security of my computer, I can boot into Linux and work from there while monitoring the incoming connections to my computer. My Macs are really meaningless too me, I rarely use them. I like them for when I need something lightweight to do simple tasks on.
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Expanded for clarification: Linux Distros
DE=Desktop Environment
Ubuntu: Head of the PC industry for Linux, high functionality and extensive community for any headaches you might encounter. Debian-based distro
Kubuntu: Ubuntu with Kde instead of Gnome DE.
Mint: Ubuntu with increased packages for extra functionality, the aim of this distro is to be 100% functional with everything you need right out of the box. It fails for some, works for others.
Suse: Been around forever, has a pretty solid community. Suse is RPM-based Distro. Comes with KDE.
Fedora: If you are new to Linux, steer clear, Fedora is by devs for devs.
More info on Linux distros can be found at: http://distrowatch.com/
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One last thing I want to discuss before I stop writing is insecurities of Windows.
So why is Windows so insecure? The biggest reason is also the reason Windows is so functional. When you download a file, it is downloaded as executable. This means that the file can be executed (lol obviously).
Other OSs download files as non-executable, and the user has to write executable permissions before the file can execute. In an OS like Linux, you have to re-write the permissions, which requires an administrative PW, in order to execute the file. This is a big security hole. Windows has attempted to fix this with the dialog box in later versions of Windows that requests permission to execute.
This has increased security, but the hole is not closed and most likely never will be. This explanation in it's entirety would require many many pages, so if you're curious, go do research.
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So what is your experience with different desktops environments? What is your nerdly opinion? Obviously some of you will disagree with me and some of what I have said, so disagree and give some explanations as to why. Try to keep to the context of the thread and avoid going off on tangents.
Mac fanboys tend to be the Windows haters. Usually these fanboys consist of people that have had a bad experience with Windows. (viruses, adware, all those programs that load on boot, and everything else that bogs the PC).
Windows fanboys tend to be functionality lovers. They want everything to work with just a click. They want the world to live off a standard.
Linux and OS fanboys want customization without limitation. They want to be able to fully customize their desktop, their GUI, etc. Whenever their is a need for functionality, the open-source community comes together to create it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
So which operating system is right for you (in my personal opinion)?
If you are somewhat computer literate, are aware of security vulnerabilities and risks, are aware of downloads that could have a negative effect on your computer, are the type of person that researches a program (briefly, for security purposes) before downloading, and are the type of person that just wants everything to do to work and be very simple. Pick Windows.
If you are not computer literate, have no idea what a security risk looks like, if you download and install "cool" looking programs without giving any thought to where the program came from and who created said program. And you are the type of person who wants everything to be a simple as possible. Pick Mac.
If you are computer literate, are able to process how the back end of a computer works, don't really care if you have to spend time increasing functionality (when needed), don't use netflix (lol), and you love the idea that every piece of the GUI is 100% customizable. If you love the idea that you can get similar, but often times somewhat lacking, programs for free, and the idea that a community is constantly contributing free programs for everything you could ever imagine. Linux is for you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do I use?
I use all three...
I have a Windows desktop that I dual-boot with Linux
I have an iMac and two MacBook Pros
I have two Windows laptops
I had more computers, I gave them away.
I have used many different OS, all the way from Windows '95 through Windows 7, Ubuntu/Suse/Fedora/Mint/etc., different distros of Mac OS X.
My favorite computer to use is definitely my dual-boot desktop. This is mostly due to the fact that my desktop is 100% hardware customized by me. The advantage to this is that for a significantly low price (about $800), I built a machine that can handle a lot and never bogs down no matter how many videos I'm encoding, how many programs I run in the background (photoshop/illustrator/flash pro/dreamweaver/filezilla/etc). Whenever I get bored or am doing something I consider risky to the security of my computer, I can boot into Linux and work from there while monitoring the incoming connections to my computer. My Macs are really meaningless too me, I rarely use them. I like them for when I need something lightweight to do simple tasks on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expanded for clarification: Linux Distros
DE=Desktop Environment
Ubuntu: Head of the PC industry for Linux, high functionality and extensive community for any headaches you might encounter. Debian-based distro
Kubuntu: Ubuntu with Kde instead of Gnome DE.
Mint: Ubuntu with increased packages for extra functionality, the aim of this distro is to be 100% functional with everything you need right out of the box. It fails for some, works for others.
Suse: Been around forever, has a pretty solid community. Suse is RPM-based Distro. Comes with KDE.
Fedora: If you are new to Linux, steer clear, Fedora is by devs for devs.
More info on Linux distros can be found at: http://distrowatch.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
One last thing I want to discuss before I stop writing is insecurities of Windows.
So why is Windows so insecure? The biggest reason is also the reason Windows is so functional. When you download a file, it is downloaded as executable. This means that the file can be executed (lol obviously).
Other OSs download files as non-executable, and the user has to write executable permissions before the file can execute. In an OS like Linux, you have to re-write the permissions, which requires an administrative PW, in order to execute the file. This is a big security hole. Windows has attempted to fix this with the dialog box in later versions of Windows that requests permission to execute.
This has increased security, but the hole is not closed and most likely never will be. This explanation in it's entirety would require many many pages, so if you're curious, go do research.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what is your experience with different desktops environments? What is your nerdly opinion? Obviously some of you will disagree with me and some of what I have said, so disagree and give some explanations as to why. Try to keep to the context of the thread and avoid going off on tangents.