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The Linux/Mac/Windows Debate

CCCXXIX

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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.
 

Spaceskye

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I use Windows. It's ok, laggy, sometimes get on my nerves, but it's pretty easy.
I also have a Mac, it's nice looking, smart, sometimes it annoys me- but not as much as Windows does.
I've never tried Linux. I've heard good things about it, but I've never tried it... how do you get Linux? I don't know of any computers that automatically come with it.

But my favorite would be Mac, I think... I've been using Windows so long I think it might be brainwashing me into believing it's the best. That's another thing, for newbie computer users they might think that there's only one OS to use.
 

chickpea

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i've used both windows and mac and always enjoyed using my macs more. i'm not nerdy enough for linux. i mainly use computers for pirating movies, music, tv shows, etc. the only benefit of pc's is a wider range of programs available, but mine have always gotten slow and died way faster than my macs, and it's not worth it.
 

Oaky

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Goodness... haven't used windows for about 2 months since windows laptop got stolen. Tis nice it wasn't the mac.
 
N

NPcomplete

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I used to dual boot Ubuntu/Suse with Windows on both laptops but the Linux was more for "fun"..I still had to use Windows for everything else (mainly school), so I ended up reformatting the computers and installing only Windows. I'm not that worried about viruses, adware etc...I know what I'm doing 99.9 % of the time.
 

entropie

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Linux for engineering stuff
Windows for games

apple products are too expensive seen from a pragmatic cost effective view
 

spirilis

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Apple stuff is great if someone else pays for it (like work... haha)
My MacBook Pro is a very comfy system for doing tasks like Arduino development, Android development, along with terminal access to all the Unix systems I need to do script development/system administration over SSH.
After owning an Android phone recently I must say Android's the choice of mobile O/S for geeks who want to tinker... especially once you root the phone. The Eclipse SDK and Android tools work marvelously on the Mac. Many of the android "rooting" hacks aren't written for the mac though.
 

Qlip

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Apple stuff is great if someone else pays for it (like work... haha)
My MacBook Pro is a very comfy system for doing tasks like Arduino development, Android development, along with terminal access to all the Unix systems I need to do script development/system administration over SSH.
After owning an Android phone recently I must say Android's the choice of mobile O/S for geeks who want to tinker... especially once you root the phone. The Eclipse SDK and Android tools work marvelously on the Mac. Many of the android "rooting" hacks aren't written for the mac though.

I just need to point this out if anyone doesn't know, Android is a flavor of Linux. :D

I'm currently using Windows, but I have a couple Linux servers. Windows feels restrictive, but there are a few tasks that are easier to do on it than Linux, like working with video. Linux is just so adaptable, especially for server stuff and embedded and special purpose applications. I kind of think of it as a Lego OS, build your own OS, block by block.
 

kdk

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I prefer Linux in general. For things that have to be done in Windows I use a VM, but use a Windows partition for most games.

Linux is a lot more fun to use, and play around with... once you get the hang of the terminal, lots of stuff is just faster to do there.
 

Coriolis

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I prefer Linux in general. For things that have to be done in Windows I use a VM, but use a Windows partition for most games.

Linux is a lot more fun to use, and play around with... once you get the hang of the terminal, lots of stuff is just faster to do there.
Same here, except that I don't do gaming so I don't bother to run many Windows programs. Linux is virtually immune to most viruses, and overall has better security than Windows. Mac has some of this, but at far greater cost. I have worked with all 3 OS's now, and never liked the overall attitude of Mac to insulate the user from what is really going on in the OS, let alone keeping us from tweaking things. When MS came out with the earliest workable Win versions, it seemed they were just trying to be like Mac, and were going in entirely the wrong direction.

I use a recent Ubuntu distro of linux. I am a relative novice to the OS, and like that I can use the GUI for things until I learn how to accomplish them using the terminal and the configuration files. Best of all worlds. I like the open source model, not just because most SW is free, but because it is all accessible.

When the MS antitrust lawsuit was going through the courts, I remember thinking that the government should dispense with the expense of the case, and just have all government offices switch to linux. Contractors would soon follow suit. Any dearth of needed apps would quickly be corrected as developers responded to the new "market".
 

Fluffywolf

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Windows all the way for me, because I can play around with it and tweak it to my standards. So it runs the way I want it to run. And it has the best compatibility with a lot of products on the market.

Sure enough it's also the most targeted by virusses, malware and adware, but I know my way around a pc enough to shield myself from that.
 

Daemon Corax

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Windows all the way for me, because I can play around with it and tweak it to my standards. So it runs the way I want it to run. And it has the best compatibility with a lot of products on the market.

Linux is also tweakable, at least the distributions I've read about and used (even though some argue that certain distributions, especially Ubuntu, aren't Linux after all). It's a well-known fact that making things work the way you want to in Linux is more difficult than in Windows and requires more effort/knowledge/whatever. I tried to have Ubuntu as the only OS installed on my laptop, but, yes, there are compatibility issues that emulators can't solve and there are bugs I couldn't really put up with. I'm now dual booting Ubuntu and Windows because:
1. Linux has its advantages. They've been discussed before, most people know them already. Thus, I'd like to get more familiar with it and maybe I'll end up completely replacing Windows with some version of Ubuntu or open SUSE.
2. I don't always have the time to browse Ubuntu forums, copy libraries from a Windows-based pc and other workarounds. Also, I don't always want to deal with who knows what kind of problems, so Windows can be more reliable from this point of view.
 

Stanton Moore

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I use Windows for work and a Mac at home.
Windows PC's are clunky and quirky to me. Macs used to be very reliable and hardy, but since they went away from Motorola chips to Intel, they are a lot more buggy. And I hate the platform integration that requires me to move music through Itunes, which frankly, is not a very good program at all.
 

Daemon Corax

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Mac is Catholic. PC is Protestant. And Linux is Non Conformist.


http://blog.hunch.com/?p=45344
Here's the result of a survey comparing the profiles of self-described Mac users and PC users. It can be slightly biased and the conclusions may be affected by several factors they didn't have in view, but it's interesting in a stereotypical and lighthearted way.

P.S: The survey is rather old, so chances are that many of you are already aware of it. Ignore my post in that case, I'm sorry to bring you "old news".
 

Such Irony

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I use Windows and have little issue with it. Windows seems to be compatible with more things than Apple or Linux is.
I have seldom used Macs and I have never used Linux.
I've used Windows for so long now, that I can't imagine switching over to another operating system, even if it might be better for some things. I don't want to deal with another learning curve.
 

Mole

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Religion, but not as we know it

[MENTION=9914]Arthur Schopenhauer[/MENTION]

Insufficient consideration has been given to the new underground religious war which is modifying the modern world. It’s an old idea of mine, but I find that whenever I tell people about it they immediately agree with me.

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is
counter-reformist and has been influenced by the ‘ratio studiorum’ of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach–if not the Kingdom of Heaven–the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revellers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.

You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It’s true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions; when it comes down to it, you can decide to allow women and gays to be ministers if you want to…..

And machine code, which lies beneath both systems (or environments, if you prefer)? Ah, that is to do with the Old Testament, and is talmudic and cabalistic…
 

highlander

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First, I like Macs. Therefore they are better. Windows has always sucked. Always. And I have used Windows a hell of a lot more than Macs. It is just an illustration of how unfair life is and how market forces sometimes end up affecting people in suboptimal ways. Our lives would all be better if we had Macs. Linux? I can't be bothered but my DVR runs on it.

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.

I completely disagree. There is a lot more malware targeting Windows than Macs. No comparison. There is a good reason. The cyber-criminals make a lot more money targeting Windows machines because they are so much more prevalent. It's not that the Mac is so much more secure. It's just that they are far less of a lucrative target.

So, if you want something that is easy to use, that is "instant on" (no long boot times, immediate start from sleep mode), you want to reduce security risks, and are willing to spend a little more money - then buy a Mac.
 

Coriolis

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So, if you want something that is easy to use, that is "instant on" (no long boot times, immediate start from sleep mode), you want to reduce security risks, and are willing to spend a little more money - then buy a Mac.
If you want to do all this and spend less money, AND not be treated like an idiot by your own OS, use Linux.
 
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