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Title says it all. Which operating system do you find to be superior to all the others?

This is NOT comparing the hardware (Macbooks, HP, etc), but the physical software, and what can be dome with it.

I'm throwing in for PC. The ability to run Linux and OSX, and have a great way to play games.

My only gripe with Windows 7 is that some games developed for XP/Early Vista require some file editing or fanmade patches to run properly on 7. Still gets my vote though. It's so much more streamlined than Vista, and it has none of the godawful faults and bugs that caused problems with -everything- you installed on it.

Windows, cause I'm lazy, and hate macs.

Haven't tried Windows 7 yet. I've heard it's pretty good

My international megacorp is still on Windows XP, and we are skipping Vista entirely, which will have saved many millions of dollars.

I use Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS professionally.

I used to have Win 3.1 J at home, and I switched to OSX for preference once the Win box was old enough to have to retire it.

I have a couple of little Linux boxes, but the hassle of fiddling around to make them work means I can't be bothered to get everything out of them that is possible.

I've been using computers professionally for 25 years, having started on DOS, CPM and Atari ST.

Windows 98 is more powerful than anyone really needs an operating system to be.

Linux is the clear winner for "superiority". It is the most powerful and most user-modifiable OS ever.

But, it's a giant pain in the ass to use unless you're a computer engineer.

I've never learned how to use it, nor will I any time soon. But, I can recognize the fact that it's the best.

WARBOSS TZOO wrote:Windows 98 is more powerful than anyone really needs an operating system to be.

I foresee the day when there could be seven or even eight computers in this country.

George Spiggott wrote:

WARBOSS TZOO wrote:Windows 98 is more powerful than anyone really needs an operating system to be.

I foresee the day when there could be seven or even eight computers in this country.

I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year.


-The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

The poll is a bit weird for me to comprehend...

OS X is certified Unix, but Apple does do enough under the hood, and use their file system (HFS+) to qualify it into it's own category. Otherwise, it has a BSD Kernel, a Unix shell, and operates a lot like Unix under the hood. I prefer to use Macs to be honest. Though I also like to use Linux, and I hate Windows. Windows is the worst OS out there for many reasons, but that is a different conversation/rant all together.

However, I think the biggest set back from deciding to use either a Mac, Linux or Windows is the following:

Macs - people just hate them because they see it as pop culture, or status symbol and they think the hardware is weak (though we are leaving hardware out). Then they have the idea that everything should be like Windows

Linux - Linux is NOT Windows, Windows is NOT Linux. Almost all people who switch from Windows to Linux always come back after a month and say a lot of the same things. Only if Linux did X, Y and Z it would be better than Windows. Well, Linux is not Windows, therefore it is going to be different. It doesn't take an engineer to use it either, just time to learn a different platform is all really.

Windows - most people just assume windows is the best choice because it is the most used, or they aren't aware of any alternatives. Gaming, if you want to play all the latest and greatest video games you pretty much are locked into Windows. This is because video game developers like to use DirectX to develop games instead of Open GL. If they used Open GL it would be easier to port games to Linux and OS X. However, there are some companies out there like id software, and valve and now steam which are porting games over to Macs, so hopefully soon to follow will be Linux.

However, all technical specifications aside, it really only comes down to one thing in particular. That is preferences. If you prefer to use one over the other you will always have that bias. I am a sys admin by trade and manage 6,000 macbooks, 2,000 Mac desktops, 40 OS X Servers, and around 10,000 Windows/PC devices (large urban school system) so I have to deal with the support aspect of each platform and use them day to day. I can code in a few languages semi-proficiently (enough to automate daily tasks by writing scripts) and have dealt with every type of user environment you can think of, like: creative, design, education, legal, management, so on and so forth. All of these types of users will have a biased preferences based on their experiences. As I have my own biased opinions based on my experiences.

I could list off a plethora of specifications of why each OS is advantageous over the other, but that won't sway the minds of people who already use what they prefer. My beef with Windows also deals with things your average user would never care about, therefore Microsoft has no intentions of changing their OS model. In the end you just end up using what you like and prefer and that is it.

My reason for hating macs is that all we have at work are macs, who the hell invented a mouse with one button?

Xerox Parc.

Soladrin wrote:My reason for hating macs is that all we have at work are macs, who the hell invented a mouse with one button?

Macs have had right click since the beginning of time, well not really, but since like OS 6. You either had to use an Apple mouse and do ctrl + click for right click, or buy a third party two button mouse and it would work out of the box. Of course the standard Apple mice that have come out in the last decade support two buttons.

To be completely honest, you get what you pay for when it comes to software, so long as you read the box first and know what your getting. I will not buy a mac because the cost of getting a computer is OTT. I like the Windows OS when it actually wants to cooperate, but for what its worth I voted Linux, because I like open source stuff I can play with, break and download again without paying an large amount of money.

btemple0 wrote:To be completely honest, you get what you pay for when it comes to software, so long as you read the box first and know what your getting. I will not buy a mac because the cost of getting a computer is OTT. I like the Windows OS when it actually wants to cooperate, but for what its worth I voted Linux, because I like open source stuff I can play with, break and download again without paying an large amount of money.

Do you take in account overall total cost of ownership?

I was previously a SE major in college, before I joined the military, and costwise from my experience, you can save more money by building/upgrading your own computer, granted you know what you are doing. As for mac I will not touch the price tag of a new box with a 90 foot pole, it even burns my eyes when I look at it, but of course I am not saying that the Mac OS is very visually appealing. The issue is with "visually appealing" is that the computer itself may have many more numerous software and hardware flaws, or is lacking in features I want to have. Windows and Unix based OS have their disadvantages to them, and to be completely honest I can afford on my paycheck to replace a windows or unix based PC, versus a mac.

In the end the choice is yours, you work hard for your money and I in no way can tell anyone how to spend theirs. YMMV

I vote for going outside and getting some fresh air and sunshine.

Outside is dangerous.

Having worked with Windows for some time and just completed a DST course in Windows 7, I naturally voted for W7.

btemple0 wrote:I was previously a SE major in college, before I joined the military, and costwise from my experience, you can save more money by building/upgrading your own computer, granted you know what you are doing. As for mac I will not touch the price tag of a new box with a 90 foot pole, it even burns my eyes when I look at it, but of course I am not saying that the Mac OS is very visually appealing. The issue is with "visually appealing" is that the computer itself may have many more numerous software and hardware flaws, or is lacking in features I want to have. Windows and Unix based OS have their disadvantages to them, and to be completely honest I can afford on my paycheck to replace a windows or unix based PC, versus a mac.

In the end the choice is yours, you work hard for your money and I in no way can tell anyone how to spend theirs. YMMV

Overall cost of ownership on a custom built computer is actually higher (though I always build my own PC as well) because the second you buy it, it loses value. If anything breaks you must deal with each individual company for warranty. You get no support, ie you cannot call and talk to a human if you have computer problems. Though today's tech support is generally outsourced so if you want to talk to a human you can understand that may not be possible. Also, building your own isn't cheaper anymore, it actually costs more, unless you use junky cheap parts, and that defeats the purpose of building your own.


Now on to the Macintosh, which actually defies all of these things. For one, Macs actually retain value, and resell at high prices. I can buy a Mac brand new out of the box and own it for two years, then after those two years sell it for about 75% of what I paid for it. Just looking on Craig's list and ebay I see 5 year old G5 desktops (last PPC desktop Apple made, they went to intel in 2006) for $600. 5 years ago that machine sold between $2300 and $3000 depending on configuration. If you had built/purchased the equivalent in the PC world, it would be worth maybe $100 or so. I just found a 4 year old dual Xeon Dell workstation, which is selling for $199 on New York City's Craig's list. G5s were dual G5 processor desktops and were comparable to a dual xeon workstation. The G5s sell for $600 to $800 on Craig's list and are 1 to 3 years older than that Dell. That Dell also had a RAID controller and came with SCSI hard drives so hardware wise you are getting more.

OS X allows you to run as a non admin user, and it also follows a standard set of POSIX and is POSIX Certified as Unix. This means that you can actually run as a non admin user and mitigate malicious software/attacks from being installed. Anything that wants access outside your home folder will prompt you for a password. There are also zero known viruses for OS X. Now, I will openly admit the end user is the weakest link, but out of the box the Mac is way more secure than Windows, thus making the chances of you getiting spyware/malware/viruses a lot less. Apple also has customer support located here in the USA, they are one of the few companies that still do that. So, they are one of the higher ranked companies out there in customer satisfaction.

Now, also take into account that every Mac you get, you can typically use for about 4 to 5 years before it becomes obsolete. My 5 year old first gen (first C2D processor model) Mac Mini runs OS X 10.6.6 blazing fast. A 5 year old PC would choke on Windows 7.

Now, I am not trying to sound like fanboy here, because even though I really do like the Mac platform, it is not with out it's faults. I also am a heavily biased power user. I am a sys admin by profession and manage thousands of PCs and Macs and Servers. I also can code in a few languages and love that out of the box my Mac can run shell and python scripts no problem, and I automate tasks like back ups and such with my own scripts. So, I am really trying to just lay down some facts here that Macs, in all fairness aren't over priced because the overall cost of ownership is lower than most people think.

In the end you are going to use what you prefer. If you hate Macs or Linux you are going to use Windows or vice versa. It all comes down to preferences.

Why is linux even an option? Your workflow will be rock bottom if you run a purely linux driven box and do anything other then program linux for a living.

I run a 2008 macbook pro with snow leopard and I have a win7 boot drive for gaming. Both operating systems work well and both have their minor issues. Before I got this mac (required in my major) I had had windows PCs for the previous 15 years, one of which I built myself from scratch, two of which were cheap boxes that got a million virus' were loaded with spyware, and bogged down and died.

Win7 was a huge step forward for windows, xp was awful by 2011 standards (and still is). For a good length of time macintosh was wrecking windows in workflow productivity, search times, and general performance. 7 evened out the competition, though OSX still provides better general safety and stability. With a cost benefit analysis, people generaly poopoo macs, but they possess universally superior build quality which is where a lot of your money usually goes. They sport better battery lives, generally better screens, much better trackpads, and superior performance for weight. They're more expensive for a reason.

Which is better depends on what you're going to be doing on it. Lotta gaming, the internet, and not much more? Windows. Visual/video work OSX. Office work? Who cares, you aren't a power user.

'Power User'.




What a strange thing to be macho about.

Reasons to use a Mac:
- Required by work
- You are a trendy hipster who doesn't know how to use a computer but wants to sit in Starbucks and pretend they are writing a novel.


Reasons to use a PC (w/ Windows 7)
- You're a man's man, full of confidence and and a great attitude
- You're a fully realized women, ambitious, competent, and on the go

Reasons to use Linux
- You are scared of the sunlight and connecting to the internet

Albatross wrote:'Power User'.




What a strange thing to be macho about.

I didn't come up with the term...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_user

Reasons to use a Mac:
- Required by work
- You are a trendy hipster who doesn't know how to use a computer but wants to sit in Starbucks and pretend they are writing a novel.


Reasons to use a PC (w/ Windows 7)
- You're a man's man, full of confidence and and a great attitude
- You're a fully realized women, ambitious, competent, and on the go

Reasons to use Linux
- You are scared of the sunlight and connecting to the internet

uhhhh hahahaha is all I can respond to that one.