Linux, Mac, or Windows?

[paulewog]

Yes.

 

[GoodwinLabs]

Have none of you seen the pretty interface of OsX? It's Unix based, which means all the wonder and stability of Unix to go with it. Sure they cost an arm and a leg, but it's so worth having a machine that does everything so smoothly and a operating system that never gives you any mess.

 

[paulewog]

Linux looks pretty good too, "with all the stability of Unix," and more, and it's free.

I find several problems with Macs.

(1) Lack of software. Same reason I don't use Linux much.
(2) Price.
(3) It's not as stable as everyone claims it is I don't think. You don't get "all the stability" of unix.... hehe.

 

[GoodwinLabs]

Well you see...

every piece of software worth messing with is on a mac.

let's see what we have here:

1. Wings3D (best modeling ap ever invented www.wings3d.com)
2. Adobe Photoshop (standard use for anything picture-like)
3. All those wonderful wysiwyg web makers like Go Live and such
4. A selection of Word Processors (like Word if you must us M$ software)
5. Alias|Wavefront's Maya (best all around CG ap)(there are others too)
6. An assortment of web browsers for whatever suits your fancy
7. iTunes (plays all your music nicely)
8. Final Cut Pro (for all your movie making needs)
9. Anti-Virus stuff (if you care)
10. text editors (for people who want to make real web pages)
11. Scince it's Unix based, you can run unix stuff on it too
12. And hey, Linux runs on macs too, so simply have your pretty mac run Linux for the other cool things you love to do.

 

[Elijah_A]

I use linux for everything else, other apps like Macromedia flash or most games I use windows

 

[kiwimac]

What about Lycornis Desktop? This is linux-based but seems to almost windows like? Anyone here familiar with it?


Kiwimac

 

[Elijah_A]

Lycoris? yup I've tried that one, it's pretty good
they made it look like xp...

 

[Stryper]

mac os is more stable, if the computers werent so expensive, i would get a mac

 

[Athlon4all]

Probably more often than not, games do not have mac versions. I myself have one key app compatibility issue that keeps me strapped to windows...for now and that is my ISP which is MSN. MSN is a great ISP but it won't work on Linux or Mac's. Things may be achanging soon for Mac's (ie hopefully x86 Mac's with an x86 OSX that runs on other PC's and other apps on other PC's)...

 

[PhilipDC78]

I much prefer Windows over Mac or Linux. I think it is just a better product. Linux might be made better, but it's inherent flaw is that since it is open source, people don't get paid to improve it. So the improvements come slowly, usually through people doing it in their spare time. It can be very powerful, but is VERY user-unfriendly. Windows is a MUCH better consumer product. Only expert computer users should even think about using Linux. I've been using it now for two years, and I'm not even close to understanding all the ins and outs of it. I MUCH, MUCH prefer my Windows XP system. Also, the only reason why Linux is "more secure" is that people don't bother writing viruses that attack linux because so few people actually use it. People write viruses in hopes that it will affect as many people as possible, and since a majority use Windows, then that is what most viruses are written for.

 

[Elijah_A]

umm, creation of viruses for linux is hardly worth it. True there are less people using *nix but one of those reasons is that creating viruses for linux is insanely difficult, that's as far as I know after collaborating with some linux gurus. Virus makers would have to face file permission issues which would only limit the virus to user's accounts only, not the whole system.. unless you're root. Being open-source, vulnerabilities are spotted right away, you'll realize there are a lot of developers out there willing to spend time with it for many reasons: they want to learn, it's their hobby, etc. Being Opensource you know very well what's inside your system, proprietary software doesn't want you to take a peek at their code, whether it's good or not.

I have to agree that linux can be unfriendly to the user, I faced that head-on and realized that there are now friendlier linux distributions(Mandrake, Redhat, SuSe)..

I respect people's preference on their OS, it simply depends on their tastes. If they had no time to learn and be productive right away, use Windows or Mac. Otherwise learn linux -- and own a powerhouse of an OS

 

[datan]

Linux might be made better, but it's inherent flaw is that since it is open source, people don't get paid to improve it. So the improvements come slowly, usually through people doing it in their spare time.

not really...that's its strength. People WANT to play around with it, since its open source, its easier to play around with new ideas in the developmental branch of the kernel.
take a look at the linux-kernel mailing list; you'll be surprised how active it is.

 

[nChrist]

"Prefer" might not be the appropriate term. I use Windows 98 because I am used to it. I am reading about Linux for the future. I sometimes grow tired of all the garbage that Windows deposits all over your system for the most simple tasks.

I guess the big advantage of Windows is the huge software selection and compatiblity issues. I'm beginning to think that the down side to Windows is that it must be in control instead of the user. I understand that Linux is becoming fast, efficient, and user friendly, especially for those who don't want thousands of unknown tasks running in the background all of the time.

In Christ.

 

[Glenn316]

I love Mac's! I have a imac at home. Unfortunately I have to use windoz boxes at work. The only good thing is at work they have a T-1 internet connection.

 

[PhilipDC78]

umm, creation of viruses for linux is hardly worth it. True there are less people using *nix but one of those reasons is that creating viruses for linux is insanely difficult, that's as far as I know after collaborating with some linux gurus. Virus makers would have to face file permission issues which would only limit the virus to user's accounts only, not the whole system.. unless you're root. Being open-source, vulnerabilities are spotted right away, you'll realize there are a lot of developers out there willing to spend time with it for many reasons: they want to learn, it's their hobby, etc. Being Opensource you know very well what's inside your system, proprietary software doesn't want you to take a peek at their code, whether it's good or not.

I have to agree that linux can be unfriendly to the user, I faced that head-on and realized that there are now friendlier linux distributions(Mandrake, Redhat, SuSe)..

I respect people's preference on their OS, it simply depends on their tastes. If they had no time to learn and be productive right away, use Windows or Mac. Otherwise learn linux -- and own a powerhouse of an OS

Actually, I use Redhat 7.2, 7.3, and 8.0 at work and they are a major pain in the butt. Although it is improving. They are putting in a bunch of gui functions to make it look more like windows. (Especially with KDE 3), but you still have to know how to do most stuff with the console window because the gui features are still very buggy. Redhat is getting as big as Windows (it can take up to 4 GB of hard drive space), and will have just as many things running, so I stick with windows on my home machine.

 

[Elijah_A]

kde, I have to admit is bloaty though I still use it and it seems decent enough. It can be 'unbloated' by checking out the preferences and remove some aesthetical stuff you don't need. Furthermore the processes running in the background could be removed, that depends on the number of packages installed when you initially installed Redhat(It's got a lot of packages for a default install). 4gig? Yikes, you must have done a full install? I'm using Debian and Gentoo linux and it only took about 2.5 gig for every basic app I need(email, gui, a few games) it could be less than that.
There are also other window managers out there to try out (kde, gnome, fluxbox, enlightenment, waimea, etc.), I suggest fluxbox or enlightenment. They're fast!

 

[quicksilver]

Mac for me please. Use PC at work, leave frustrations at work. I don't like the windows is cheaper defense. #a) an e-mac is cheaper than some PC deals out there...and more reliable (my POV) and
#b) Hyundai's are cheaper than Bentley's, which one would you rather be in.

Also, I don't care for the no programs defense. How many programs do you need to do a single task? Now I will admit that if you like games, PC is leading that category (although we now have a 64 bit processor in the new G5's). But I have a PS2, and a Game Cube. There's no game on PC that I want to play that I can't find for either system, and playing on 48" HDTV is better than on 22" LaCie monitor.

So in conclusion, I honestly don't mind PC, just prefer my Mac.

 

[Heinrich2]

Defnitely Linux!!
I had too many occasions were windows destroyed my data or even my partition table.
Windows is good for the basics.. But I like to program.. And that is near imposible on Winblows.

Further Linux is free.

I nowadays only run windows when I have to..

Yes most software runs on windows.. But if you know what you're looking for you'll find an equivalent for most things under linux..
And there's lots of stuff windows can't do.

O yes. $M is yet to create a proper journalling filesystem that doesn't need defragging. And mmm lets not speak about memory managers..

 

[enslow]

a) an e-mac is cheaper than some PC deals out there...and more reliable (my POV) and
#b) Hyundai's are cheaper than Bentley's, which one would you rather be in.
Also, I don't care for the no programs defense. How many programs do you need to do a single task?
So in conclusion, I honestly don't mind PC, just prefer my Mac.

A lot of my colleagues on Macs have had floppy disks crash, taking all the data with them. Also, I don't like the fact that you must 'close' the disk first before removing it from the drive. I've destroyed a few disks that way too. I've never lost any data from a PC disk.

My ibook died last month, after living for 18 months. I also use a PC. So if Macintosh is trying to sell based on reliability, they lost my vote.

Oh, and one more thing.... WordPerfect is no longer written for Macs. I used to use WP exclusively, and IMHO it's a far better program than Word.
Enslow

 

[Orihalcon]

i'd like to get started on linux, just to see how much better it is. and when is lindows coming out?