PC Buyer’s Guide has posted a shootout comparing Max OS X to Windows XP to Linux, comparing basic, factory-included functionality. It includes a huge side-by-side chart. The overview seems to be pretty evenhanded, and isn’t too preoccupied with declaring a winner and drawing much of a hard and fast conclusion. The bottom line: OS X is a very usable and elegant OS, XP has a leg up on some functionality (and of course more apps), and Linux is an impressive contender.
The home user might not be. However, I never wanted a XP clone/equivalant for free. I wanted a Unix environment on x86 hardware. Pretty much the same goal that Linus had when he started out on the kernel.
Ehrm… but if that is what you want? Why aren’t you using FreeBSD??? Because that is unix mate…
“Ehrm… but if that is what you want? Why aren’t you using FreeBSD??? Because that is unix mate…”
FreeBSD is *NOT* in fact Unix. It is descended directly from Unix, but it is no longer Unix.
I really think that for the average user, Windows and OS X are still much better choices for desktop uses (word processing, email, internet, etc) just because it’s easier to set up and maintain. However I think Linux is much better as a server environment. I recently installed win2k server, and I have to say I don’t enjoy administering this OS as much as Linux. I just love using ssh to log in remotely to do all the server functions that I need. With win2k server I have to log in with the slow, choppy terminal services client.
OT: does anyone know of a Dynamic DNS update client for linux? I’ve found some for windows, but cant find any for linux.
Try google, in IpCop (special distribution for routing) it’s supported out of the box…
geee, can’t even use a better player than VLC for DVDs, and there are still Zealots saying Linux is ready for desktop.
Since I know you are pro-BSD, let me ask you: how is the DVD-playing on *BSD, these days? 🙂
Seriously, Mplayer and Xine can play DVDs flawlessly once you’ve installed the right packages.
In fact, Mplayer leaves pretty much every Windows + Apple media player in the dust. Which media player do you know can play:
DVDs
VCDs
MP3s
Quicktime movies (including Sorenson v3)
Windows Media files (.wmv, .asf, .asx, name it)
Real Media files
And of course .mpeg, .avi, .dvx and so on…All from a single interface or browser plug-in. Truly, I have yet to see as versatile a media player as this on any platform.
Eat your heart out, troll.
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For Fitt’s law, Mac OS leads the way by some margin with Linux occasionally second and Windows way behind.
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The task manager is one place where Microsoft blatantly violates Fitt’s law, where they could have easily adhered to it. Slam your mouse to the edge of the screen where your task manager resides and see if there’s anything to click on. Nothing. Everything clickable lives just a pixel or two from the edge.
Four out of five rheumatologists believe this is the second-highest cause of nervous twitching and carpal tunnel syndrome in Windows users. The #1 cause is those pesky tool tips that are always getting in the way. 😉
re: Windows task manager
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At least for the Windows XP Task Manager, there is nothing clickable that lives right at the edge of the window. The application has a FRAME. I hope the Mac culties are not having trouble understanding a window frame.
It sounds like the Mac user — in their normal paranoia and drug-induced hallucination — thinks there is stuff hiding on the edges of the screen (where the eye does not even focus well), when there is NOTHING.
In Windows, the user is assumed to be smart enough to use more than one window at a time. That is why the UI works the way it does.
And looking at the 95%+ marketshare, it would seem that most people are indeed smart enough to use more than one window at a time.
When will Mac users face up to the reality that Macs are designed for the mentally crippled? One button… one window… one menu… one vendor… one music service… it is all monoculture for the mindless.
Mac is like a toy. But not everyone wants a toy. Some people are looking for a tool, not a toy.
Most of the world is just fine with multi-window systems, multi-button mice, etc. I am just plain tired of Mac users and their “computers for dummies” i.e. “think different” mantras.
If all the Mac GAP-style computing bullshit were so right on and powerful, wouldn’t more people save their hard earned dollars to buy Mac? So far, it doesn’t look like it. Mac fails the ultimate test of consumer preference.
Wow, so many myths and misconceptions, so little time. Are you really expecting a response, or is this cleverly disguised sarcasm?
In case it’s the former, I’ll at least respond to your Fitt’s Law statement about things “hiding on the edges of the screen”. It’s not that there’s some invisible objects near the edge of the screen; it’s that there are UI elements near the edge (e.g., the menu bar) of the screen that (and this is the important part) extend all the way to the edge so you can quickly, easily click on them.
If they’re *near* the edge, they might as well extend *all the way* to the edge so they’re easier to click on. Right? That’s my beef with the Windows task manager.
Funny you say that one can’t use Linux for long before having eye problems:
“It is unhealthy trying to use a Mac screen or Linux screen for any significant amout of time because it wrecks your vision. ”
In my personal experience (I use a Samsung SM750v model), using the drivers provided by microsoft, I have easily better performance of the monitor using the manual configuration of the XFree.. And I am not “techie”.
So… maybe you are not “at least” perfectly right about it…
Funny you say that one can’t use Linux for long before having eye problems:
“It is unhealthy trying to use a Mac screen or Linux screen for any significant amout of time because it wrecks your vision. ”
In my personal experience (I use a Samsung SM750v model), I’m using the drivers provided by microsoft in Windows2k. I have easily better performance of the monitor using the manual configuration of the XFree in Linux.. And I am not “techie”.
So… maybe you are not “at least” perfectly right about it…
What is all the posts about anyway ? has no-one ever heard of a multi-boot ?
Windows might have a 95% market share, but of that 95%, how many users have the brains to set up a system that runs more than one operating system. Most of the trolls on these sites buy a PC and learn how to use that os. they hear about another os and decide they would like to see what it is like……..
Linux (Beos, Freebsd etc etc) gets installed and looks/works totally differently to what they are used to, hence, they boot back into windows and come on sites and shout as loud as they can that linux (or other os) is crap coz it can’t do this or it can’t do that……
BUT, the only thing is that the user, did not spend time learning the system. They had to do this with windows at first and for a totally unbiased view, they need to learn as much of each os as they can.
Personally, I use Windows XP and Beos on a dual boot PC and Windows 2000 and Mandrake 8.2 on another dual boot pc. The final pc has Redhat 7.3 and it will eventually dual boot with Darwin (if it included the mac os x desktop)
That is my bitching over for the day, thanx for listening
mandrake is of course the easiest linux distro with probably the most powerful multimedia tools
like xine and mplayer
xmms and more