because both companies provide essentially the same product, so both consumers and the two companies need to convince people that there is a significant difference between the two.Originally Posted by VincentVanBro
this is the opinion of someone who has never done anything related to computer science so maybe i'm wrong and the two really are worlds apart!
They are as worlds apart as spearmint and melon flavored gums.
Sounds like someone's calling me. I run Ubuntu, and might switch to openSUSE soon. I suppose I'm obligated to give you my opinions on all these crazy operating systems.
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Windows- First off, for the love of any possible supreme being you may or may not believe in, DO NOT CALL IT PC, PC is a type of computer, not OS. Most Linux machines are PCs, and Windows can run on MAC, this doesn't make your MAC a PC, it's a MAC running Windows.
Now on to things that matter.
Gaming- Windows is compatible with most all games, and the platform for PC gamers.
Viruses- Windows is an inherently virus prone system. If you need an antivirus, you're doing it wrong, that simple.
Software Management- To install something you have to download an .exe, and install it. Updates are managed either from the individual program, or not at all.
File Management- Say you have a large file, it's broken up into tiny pieces and scattered about your HD, you have to de-frag to regain disc space. This also slows down Windows over time.
Efficiency- Not much. At least not by default. For example, the start menu is organized by the company that makes the software, resulting in confusion, many folders containing only one item.
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Mac-
Gaming- For a long time there was little in the gaming world for MAC, however Steam has recently become available, leveling the field a bit. However, Windows is still in the lead.
Viruses- Little, even if only because of unpopularity. Antivirus is not required, but recommended.
Software Management- I didn't think it was possible to be worse than Windows here, but wow, Mac is. To install a program drag and drop it somewhere on the HD and run it. It will create the needed support file directories. Of course there are also different formats which require a full install process. (LOL WTF Apple?!?)
File Management- At least semi-decent as i's Unix based. However it will leave hidden .thumbs_db (or something like that) everywhere.
Efficiency- The dock is great if you only use a few applications on a regular basis (I even have one on my Ubuntu installation) but a little awkward for large groups. The search bar at the top is actually a decent app launcher, and Quick Look makes file viewing easier (Another thing I added to my Ubuntu)
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Linux-(YAY!)
Gaming- Ok, fine. Linux is a little behind here. Almost everything available is quake3 based. However some of them are quite nice, and there is speculation Steam is being developed for Linux.
Viruses- Picture children with wooden swords. Now picture a twenty foot high, three foot thick steel wall. That's basically what viruses are to Linux. To anyone who responds with "That's cause nobody uses Linux LOL!", most servers that handle huge sums of money (bank servers and the like) run Linux, the others run BSD. If people could hack it, they would.
Software Management- Everything is managed from a central location. Looking for software, installation, updates, everything is done from one tool.
File Management- Linux puts files where they fit best, breaking them up only if absolutely necessary, providing for a faster system.
Efficiency- The menus in Linux, unlike in Windows, are arranged logically, all internet apps in one area, all games in another, making it easy to find apps. Linux also features multiple desktops, and some desktop environments, like KDE even support tabbing windows.
For more Linux stuff see Why Linux Is Better (Not mine, just a great site)
Man, using the application list in Windows to launch stuff is for chumps. I mean, unless you're in XP, just open and type. Done.
Hell, the taskbar itself is a dock now.
Really, a lot of the criticisms people level at Windows are about older versions of it. Windows 7 is a different beast.
This reminds me I really should upgrade from XP. I even get Windows 7 for free since I'm a university student or something like that (yet Microsoft Office is still $9 apparently >_>)
I'm just too lazy to do it is all. ;?_?
nice arguments on the linux here!
as far as the eailer statement about mac VS pc, i was really taking a shot at the commercials. your are completely correct in this.
Am I the only one who is still stuck with vista?
Am I the only one who was able to understand what a marvelous piece of software it is?
(okay, it used to suck balls, but with the updates and stuff its pretty decent)
No, dude, I used Vista for a long time and had zero issues with it. You are not alone.
I'm still using it actually. I haven't really had any problems with it.
you sir are not alone! i had vista on my laptop and i loved every minute of it, BTW many new features on "windows 7" were able to be receated on vista. just no one could see this so they all globally accepted it, ive cause windows seven to bluescreen without even trying, i had to end a system critial process (intentionally!) on vista to kill it! so unless it was my own fault vista was perfect!
im only usuing 7 now because by laptop image died and windows dosent accept my vista key =( so although i have the disk i cant seem to install it anymore and i have 7 working. bleh
However this brings a new question, as i have heared this argument as well, how many people think that vista/win 7 takes a lot of the mac os into it?
Microsoft has a history of that.
I'm okay with it.
I as well have no qualms with Windows Vista, no matter how much people pan it.
The only issues I got with it is a wonky graphics card, which doesn't matter to me unless it overheats. Which isn't because of the OS's fault.
I have tried openSUSE before, and it's okay as well.
Mainly I don't care much as long as it's got something for me to work with an office application set.
I use Vista. Never had a problem with it.
i think all os's are probably perfectly fine.
except for ME, that was a terrible terrible os and whoever designed it should feel terrible.
great image for that:
and as mentioned eariler, yes windows does seem to have a histroy of taking things from mac, even the GUI was taken as a result from them (which is why mac graphics are prolly better) but it remains diffrent due to operation environment,
theres been a lot of agreement on PC but im finding the MAC and Linux arguments are well thought out as well.
i hate to admit this as a tech but i have little to no experience on linux, for those users out there, how long did it take you to learn it?
The above graphic reminds me of an odd quirk I've noticed in my own programming/writing/thinking ability - when I'm slightly sleep deprived for some reason I think more clearly. I think it's because the voices in my head get tired of yelling at each other. However, at this moment I am rapidly approaching Window ME levels of sleep-deprivedness.
I recently upgraded to Win7 - didn't have any real problem with Vista but Win7 seems like all the best things about Vista but with extra amenities thrown in. I can't actually think of anything I dislike about Win7, though I can with all other operating systems I've tried. Also, Pro version was definitely worth the cost with this one.
Yeah, I also didn't have any problems with Windows 98, but I'd still rather not go back.
man how did you not have problems with it? ive BSOD that thing like crazy. granted it was more stable than 95.
does this deem a topic change to mac vs pc + random info about computers?
Depends on what you mean by "learn".
I found how to move everything to my liking within an hour; I'm still meandering through programming figuring out what everything is at this point, and slowly figuring out shell scripting when I have a need to figure out something that isn't already working. Suffice it to say this will vary.
Ah the old Mac vs. PC debate. This is probably going to come off as a rant, and it probably is.
I'm currently typing this from a Bootcamped MacBook, and let me tell you, the arguement that MacOSX is more stable than Windows is a marketing campaign at best. In all of my years of owning PCs, I've had errors, BSODs, freezing up and even a couple of viruses, but I've never had a problem that couldn't be reasonably handled or explained. But I've never had a hard drive corrupt on me and especially not from installing legitimate 3rd party software until I had owned a Mac. And it wasn't the WinXP partition that died on me. I've hardly used MacOS since I've reformatted, but it seems to have corrupted itself again since MacOS simply refuses to boot.
Combined with its relative lack of a software library, restrictiveness, lack of customization, and being just generally unintuitive, I think that's the last time I'm going to be giving Apple any of my cash.
Yeah, what orngjce223 said. Almost no time before you can use it properly, but you can always find new features and new ways to tweak things.
Lunix all the way
I've pretty much been a die-hard Mac user for the past 5 or 6 years, presumably less so in recent times (the Apple fanatic in me has since left). Regardless, I love my 2007 Penryn Macbook (refurb, purchased in 2008), although I wish it were faster, and I've upgraded the RAM and the HD myself (2 GB from 1, 500 GB from 120) and am looking to replace the optical drive once I have the money for the part. And I may send it in to these guys for a tablet makeover. I don't really see myself "going back" to the PC side, but Windows 7 is looking rather spiff, I will admit.
My boyfriend (SeanArgus) is, I guess you would say, "a PC" (although he argues that all computers, no matter the operating system, are a PERSONAL COMPUTER, and I agree). A few months ago, he traded his behemoth refrigerator of a desktop for a $900 gaming laptop (maybe a year and a half, two years old) running Windows 7 via Craigslist. It's a fantastic and gorgeous machine with amazing hardware specs. You're probably expecting some terrible "hurp durp Windows am dumb" story, but there isn't. We are both happy with our lappies, and it isn't causing some horrible rift in our relationship. Despite his satisfaction, he has expressed interest in owning a Mac. Whoops!
On the Linux side is my father. We both witnessed him wrestling Ubuntu (7 Feisty Faun, I believe) into a old, work-issued-from-a-job-he-no-longer-has IBM Thinkpad the other day, and I've always been watching him install and configure some distro on some machine we have in the house. (I think one of our home servers is Ubuntu, and we used to have a Redhat server.) That aside, he's generally happy with Windows XP.
tl;dr Everybody's happy with their own thing!
Also, someone mentioned earlier that any PC can run OSX: Have you looked at the OSx86 project?
oh no i havent, though i am unsurprised by it seeing the wiki theme. everything's gone wiki now a days.
though your post reminds me of something, i read a review on mac's and someone bought a great new one from apple, and later on upgraded the RAM and saw NO difference in speed.
now, this might just be me here but has anyone found this true in any form? or only a small increase when adding memory? they had gone from 2 to 4 gigs of ram and states that it made no diffrence.
if that is the case, i find that a major lack within the OS as when dealing with computers you always need a way to update them and make them run better. heck the new win 7 x64 bit supports up to a Terra of RAM (not like thats physically possible, but through software it is!)
I actually preferred OS X until Windows 7 came along, because Msoft solved the last bit of my gripes, but I've stuck with Windows almost exclusively since 3.1 (with a short foray in between 98 and XP with RedHat Linux, then FreeBSD, then Gentoo).
Now, yes, there still are some issues I have with the newest version, quirks, if you will, but then again, every OS does.
And as for Windows being virus prone, well...
If you were a virus maker, which OS would you target? The one with the largest market share, right? Software developers, especially virus makers, can be remarkably creative, and if you wanted to spread a virus into even the most perfectly secure OS, it can and will be done in time. The reason OS X and *nix have little to no viruses is because of two reasons: firstly, *nix users tend to be computer nerds, so they're cautious already about stuff, and secondly the market share for *nix and OS X is (regrettably) significantly smaller than Windows.
I do agree a significant amount of Windows vulnerabilities are due to Internet Explorer and of course the OS itself... but nonetheless, because of this larger market share, it's much easier to cause a very disruptive virus in Windows than any other OS, especially older versions of Windows that haven't had vulnerabilities patched.
For the record, I really did almost buy a Macbook Pro. I really love Apple laptops. I ended up going with an ASUS EeePC and put Ubuntu UNE on it. (May change to a different netbook-oriented distro. Any suggestions?)
Just sharing my thoughts.
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