A recent study said that many Windows users are planning on evaluating other platforms. What about the tech savvy OSNews readers? Are you staying with Linux, OSX or Windows, or switching to something else? Come in and vote!Note 1: The poll is now closed, thank you for voting.
Note 2: The poll asks IF you are going to actually *switch* your full-time/main OS to another OS, it doesn’t ask you which OS you currently use or would like to use more.
I can’t vote? Is the voting closed already?
I checked osnews maybe 12 hours ago, and then there was no poll… and when I checked there was this poll and some other new articles… Why can’t I vote? I only see the results…
I use Mozilla Firebird, with JavaScript enabled…
I’ve switched to Win2K after using BeOS and Linux for years.
Then I’ve switched to Win 2003. And now I’m using FreeBSD 4.8 more and more and eagerly waiting for FreeBSD 5 to go production.
Win 2003 rules the desktop imho, no crashes whatsoever, but FreeBSD is stable, slick and fast (compared to Linux).
Hi!
I’m Linux user from any years ago, no M$ in my $HOME =)
But i’m thinking to switch to Mac OS X.
My history: SunOS->Linux->OSX =) ¡Windows Sucks!
(excuse me formy tiny english, so i’m spanish)
I was switching to BSD/Linux for a long time and this year finally migrated to BSD for developement, networking, writing documentation etc. I dual boot WinXP for multimedia and other family members.
My experience with: Linux – nice, but I don’t wanna get into licencing traps. BSD – free, raw, consistent, faster, easier to maintain, good documentation, harder to set up but no strings attached.
I’m done with switching for now.
From Dos all the way to Win95, to Linux, to BeOS, to OS X and now FreeBSD with WIndows XP when I feel like it. Can’t complain at the moment, finally everything works just as I want it to.
Currently I’m stuck with XP, just because I work with it and there are loads of interesting videogames, so I do my personal stuff on it.
But I love BeOS, and since Zeta _will_ be a new BeOS, I will get it. And OpenBeOS after it.
(please note that it is almost eight years I’m trying to use Linux, but I just don’t like it)
Well, I use Server 2003 (stable as a rock) for my everyday stuff, but I’m a huge fan of BeOS, MDK and Lyc (although less of the latter two). I’ve tried out several other as well, ranging form FreeBSD to QNX (wonderfull suprise BTW, QNX).
Oh, I’m forgetting my soon-to-enter my top 3: SkyOS!
I’m switching from Linux (used for more than a year without touching Windows) to Windows XP.
Not because I like Windows that much, but things I’m interested in have changed lately and those things cannot be done using Linux.
(at least, not as easy as it can be using Windows)
Also, I don’t really care about this whole OS-war anymore.
I just want to get the job (and hobby) done, and I really don’t mind anymore if that’s using Linux, Windows, OS/2 or BeOS.
I switched to Apple in July of this year and OS X is the best desktop OS I have ever used. I also have FreeBSD running on two boxes, one a desktop and the other a server. I ordered OpenBSD that I’m going to use for a firewall and I’m also thinking about trying it as a desktop as well.
“If everyone takes the leap of faith, the apps and games will follow the masses.”
Yeah, I heard the same lines some years ago in reference to BeOS. I guess you know how well that went.
I haven’t switched yet, but soon I’ll switch from Mandrake Linux to Mac OS X, as soon as I can afford a iBook.
I have been toying with Mac OS X in some of my friends Macs, and it feels great. I mean, does all that Linux can do and has a better graphical environment.
But Linux rules on the server side. Maybe BSD.
Switched from BeOS to MacOSX a year ago, and recently resurrected my BeOS Machine.
I only keep my BeOS/Windows around to:
· Chat/Share on BeShare
· Submit Tax Return with Australian Tax Office (WinME)
· Test CD-Rs for Compatability (I’m yet to master MacOSX “Disk Copy” with truely Multi-Platform CD-Rs, and can’t afford Toast ATM)
I might resurrect my old Linux Box as a File-Server. Have to get a new Case & PSU for it…
I’m Swiching from windows XP to a dual booting Solaris 10 Mandrake 9.2 machine.
Later on I’ll get a AmigaOne-light to run OS4,
which will then be my main OS.
Dpi wrote:
2) PhotoShop for 2D graphics -> GIMP is both free speech & beer; Photoshop is neither. If you understand GIMP, you can do a lot nice things with it. Especially the new 1.4 release will have a lot good improvements.
If you want to pay that much $ for PhotoShop, then you can still run it on Linux with WINE. In fact, Walt Disney has done exactly this and done professional things with it. In short: Fallacy.
4) Cubase or Cakewalk for MIDI and audio -> Search and find, and you’ll find very good and nice MIDI and MOD stuff, especially when using ALSA. What would this be: “zynaddsubfx is a opensource software synthesizer capable of making a countless number of instruments, from some common heared from expensive hardware to interesting sounds that you’ll boost to an amazing universe of sounds.”
I wish people would stop saying GIMP is as good as Photoshop. Its support of colour spaces is crap to non-existant.
Zynaddsubfx and other pieces of software are NOT Cakewalk or Cubase and would not be used in production of professional quality audio.
Also you took my comment about “only working on email clients and media players” too far, it’s called Hyperbole – exaturating a truth. The truth being that there are a lot of people spending time re-inventing the wheel rather than getting involved filling the gaps in the apps.
I am a full-time GNU/Linux user and I am very satisfied with the platform. However, I think that OS X has the best things of several worlds (Unix compatibility, brilliant GUI, good cooperation with other systems, supported by hardware manufacturers). Since my laptop needs replacing and Apple makes damn good notebooks, I am saving up money for buying an iBook or PowerBook. However, this will not replace my Linux desktop machine, so it won’t really be switching.
MorphOS 1.4 !!!!!!!!!! Great OS !!!!!! And 6 months ago
I switched to Mac OSX … better than any Windows !!!!!
“Are you kidding?! Macs ARE expensive. Everything about them is expensive. They are, -however- different and quite useful, but let’s all be honest – they are expensive.”
It is true that you can’t own a new Mac as cheaply as you can own a new x86 PC, but that’s not all there’s to it. Macs are high quality machines, and Apple puts a lot of effort in ensuring that everything Just Works. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Apple machines outlived cheaper PCs of comparable performance. The dual G5 PowerMac has a very good price/performance ratio, and both looks and sounds nicer than current high-performance x86 PCs. iBooks and PowerBooks have impressive battery life; I am hard pressed to find any x86 offering with comparable battery life that is cheaper. Of course, aestetics and battery life may not matter to you. It depends on your criteria.
Apart from the quality of the hardware, there is what you can do with it. Non-Apple computers can’t run MacOS X, which is a great operating system providing compatibility with the ubiquitious MicroSoft applications on the one hand, and a horde of open-source software on the other, as well as providing a unique GUI that can match any competing product in both aestatics and usability. OS X seamlessly integrates with Windows, Mac, and Unix networks, sometimes easier than the native systems. On the other hand, Macs can’t run the whole slew of games that come out for Windows, and OS X doesn’t provide some of the features of Linux (e.g. ReiserFS). Again, it depends on your criteria.
In conclusion, I think the whole Mac vs. PC debate (and many similar ones) are mostly futile. Different people have different needs. What’s best for me may not be what’s best for you, and no single solution is best for everyone. I just wish more people realized this, so that maybe one day people can use whatever system works best for them in the workplace, instead of being hampered by the deployment of platform-specific features. Realizing the support cost of heterogenous networks I think this is just a pipe dream, though…
“Now some would mention apt and yum. I like these too, but where the heck are all the good repositories?”
ROFLMAO
What about debian.org makes it not a good repository?
I am not switching to anything. I am using Windows XP as a full time OS and I am very happy with it. I use Linux for fun. I really do try to like Linux as much as I like Windows but it just doesn’t do it for me. Don’t let my comments hurt anyone’s feelings. For some people, Linux or any other OS works the best, for me it’s Windows but I am an OS enthusiast — I like trying new OSes and see what they have to offer. Once I find anything close enough to Windows perhaps I will swicth. I am used to Windows and the only thing to make me swicth to another OS is an OS that gives the feeling of using Windows or similar. That’s why whenever I use KDE on Linux, I try to make it as Windowish as possible.
I have seen there is a lot of happy XP users, saying that XP is rock solid, stable, etc. When I installed XP, I thought it was fantastic. 15 mn after, after having installed the lightweight word processor I needed to work, I began to think: hey! This is Windows after all. The word processor would only run on the root account, which made me delete my user account (easiest than anything else) 10 mn after having created it! I know, maybe it was not because of the OS.
While I stay with an overall positive experience of XP, I began to see funny things. I couldn’t say in what order my startup items would start, it was different every day. Some day, an explorer window would appear without scrollbars, showing only a third of a folder, or a cancel button would not appear in a save dialog box. And it was taking more and more time to boot. And there was no known virus on the machine. Then I would see an assistant I had never heard of insisting (about every 3 mn) to get rid of what it called useless icons on my desktop. After I clicked 2 times to stop the annoying thing my mouse freezed. The next reboot the loging screen freezed (no mouse, no keyboard, no cursor blinking). That was its last day.
I never saw anything that funny with Linux, BeOS, FreeBSD or NetBSD. I have yet to see it with OS X, an OS that always crashes, if I believe one of the posters.
Am just switching to OSX on a Powerbook; partly to let
me work with a particular client more easily.
The rest of the logic is that one laptop runs Unix,
Windows (if I get Virtual PC) and Mac software; all
without rebooting.
Still missing that second mouse button ….
A
I haven’t read all the comments, so I’m sorry if this is a repeat…
The poll could be taken to support Windows because it doesn’t ask what OS you are currently using It only asks if you are going to switch. Since this is a techie website, and the handful of comments I did read were by satisfied OSX and Linux users, the majority of answers will prob’ly be “I’m not switching”. Then, the polsters get the data and say, “Well, the majority of computers run Windows, and the majority of answers was ‘not switching’, so the majority of people must like Windows.”
How can you guage anything with this poll? How do you define the main OS? Does the poll assume that the main OS is currently Windows? If that’s not the case then I’d have to select that I will not be changing my OS, however it will not be accurate because not everyone would realize that since it’s not worded very well.
I migrated from DOS/Windows (95->Xp), over Linux (various distro’s: Debian, SuSe, Slackware, Redhat, Mandrake,…) and FreeBSD to OpenBSD, which I’ve been happily using for quite a while now.
From time to time I also play around with Linux, Free/NetBSD, Solaris, HP-UX and soon, IRIX. I probably won’t swith to any of these, but I do enjoy the experience.
The only times that I still use Windows is when I have to fix someone else’s Windows pc, so I hardly ever see a Windows box in good working condition. Most of the time they’re messed up pretty bad
switched to OSX through me buying an iBook. And i’m impressed. After years of Windows (like 13 years i think) and quite some time under Linux i finally found an OS i really love. It’s sexy, it’s good the Unix underpinnings i always lounged for, it’s got the application support i needed (flash, photoshop, logic, cubase, reason) and it’s got a great usability. i don’t know why but i’m kinda more productive on OSX.
so, my main machine is still a 1600XP Runnin XP and MDK, but i’m currently saving up for a G5 and i’ll probably do a 100% switch in about 6 months.
and i can’t wait to do so. (though i’ll probably install OSX and Linux on the G5)
I have a dual boot setup. (w2k/gentoo) I really want to use linux more, but I don’t because instead of getting stuff done, I spend all my time playing ‘janitor’ trying to get stuff working.
System updates are painful too. Gentoos emerge system works wonderfully most of the time, but having to update configuration files is just a users nightmare.
I installed the dual boot saying to myself, that once Gentoo linux worked better than w2k, I’d change for good. Six months after that day still seems to be just beyond the rainbow…
FYI, you don’t need to dual-boot to Linux to run KDE. The latest XFree86 (and the past few versions, too) can be run using the Quartz libraries, so you can have Mac OS X and KDE running side-by-side. You can also run rootless, allowing you to have Aqua windows and KWM (or whatever) windows on the same display surfaces. As long as the applications you need don’t *require* a Linux distribution specifically (in which case, they probably require an 80×86 Linux distribution), you should be able to compile the apps if necessary. There are plenty of screenshots on the web from happy people showing various KWM/Sawfish/MetaCity windows side-by-side with Mac OS X ones – usually applications such as Word/Excel/PowerPoint or Photoshop, for added measure 😉
I’m in the “not planning to switch” category. Love running Jaguar, and looking forward to getting Panther soon. Throw in a bit of NT 5.1 and YellowDog, and I’m happy =)
[x] I’m planning to switch to Linux 2.6.0
[x] my main-OS is Linux 2.4.22
I’m going for bust: dual-G5, new 12″ PB and new 17″ PB. Should be really fun. I was on Win2k until it borked. Now on Mandrake. My main box is a home-brew Dual-PII 200.
I am planning on purchaseing SuSE v9. I own a Compaq x1000 series laptop. I need to be able to use the built in wifi and the built in internet. Does anyone know if SuSE v9 will support this?
I need to use the built-in Ethernet as well as the built-in wifi. I use a standard connection at home and the wifi at work. With Win XP I can switch between the two connection types without a problem. Is this possible with SuSE?
Have very recently made the switch to apple and I must say the OS X is impressive. Being a UNIX admin from way back you have got to love such a slick GUI that can still run all of your unix utils on at the same time.
I’m currently using XP, mainly. But I plan to switch once Longhorn is introduced with all its “Trusted Computing” components and XP is no longer fully supported by MS. At that point I’ll probably switch to some flavour of Linux that does not have TC incorporated or that at least allows the user to fully configure it for his or her needs.
I guess the mane reason I’m still using XP is so that I can still play the latest games. But as I seem to be loosing interest in games this is no longer an issue.
From Mandrake 9.1 to somthing else…
Mandrake 9.2 🙂
MarkP
I would like to see a poll about which OS is being used. My guess is around 70% of OS News readers use Linux.
I like FreeBSD. Never was disapointed with it. I don’t do dual boot.
I use MDK 9.1 for all my work (which is internet research, text processing, etc.) I think every OS has advantages and disadvantages, and althouhg I’m in love with Linux and Unix, I must accept that there are some lackings… Maybe WinXP or 2K is better for those people who don’t like fighting with the computer and like gaming a lot. I don’t care about gaming, and I love to take risks… and now I’m sticked to any Unix OS…
Well, I began to use Linux in 1997, I think. the fisrt Linux I used was Red Hat 5.0… That was difficult to configure… Some time later appeared better software (KDE desktop, for example), Linux improved and I began to use it as my only operating system in my home computer to do everything… Some moths ago I tryed FreeBSD… I was so impressed that it is my only operating system now. What I most like is the pkg systems. No more libs problems!!!
In the past years I tried Solaris x86, Unixware, BeOS, Windows (of course) and some others. Definetely FreeBSD or Linux are the best options. But I am sure any BSD derivate is good and I’d like Solaris x86 to have more drivers for the x86 platform… otherwise it is always difficult to use it.
The other night I went to use my laptop for something and during the boot process I got a blue screen that said something like “Could not mount boot volume”.
That was the last straw. Knoppix Linux read the volume just fine and quickly copied the important files off onto an external firewire hard drive in preparation to format and finally make the switch. I’ve been using Linux exclusively on my other computer for a while now, but was waiting for kernel 2.6 before switching the laptop in order get software suspend. Guess I’ll have to do without that feature for a while.
“If you need stability and performance, use FreeBSD.
If you need to get some work done, use Windows.
If you want to play, use Linux. ”
There is always at least one…
I’ll bite…besides gaming, which is changing with UT2K3 running natively, as well as Doom 3 will be released with a linux binary, not to mention RTCW, etc..what can’t be done on Linux? This is a serious question since I have not found anything I usually work on not available. The things I do consist of writing web pages, playing games, editing images, burning CD’s and DVD’s, do design work for electronics, as well as the usual office documents.
And no I am not a “Zealot”, as I still run windows as well, just pretty much for the gaming only anymore.
Are you kidding?! Macs ARE expensive. Everything about them is expensive. They are, -however- different and quite useful, but let’s all be honest – they are expensive.
LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL!
Oh lordy, I almost fell off my seat with such a laugh. Thanks for that. You know, I had a really bad day until you bought up that classic comment.
Seriously, anyone who can’t afford AUS$1899 for a community must be living on skidrow and have a card board box as a house. Either that or they’ve never heard of saving up money. I put $100 away per-week, after around 4-5months, I had the cash and I was happy once I purchased it.
Maybe the US education system should introduce “school banking” to teach people how to save up money, like the good old days. I am sure your grandparents will be able to tell you of the good old days.
“Seriously, anyone who can’t afford AUS$1899 for a community must be living on skidrow and have a card board box as a house. Either that or they’ve never heard of saving up money. I put $100 away per-week, after around 4-5months, I had the cash and I was happy once I purchased it.”
My friend, we don’t all have rich daddies who give us $100 per week to save. Some of us actually work for our money– and if you are 18/19 yrs old like me, and you are a student, it’s impossible to save E100 a week without destroying your social life.
Or doesn’t your social life matter to you
Face it, a Mac is expensive. But it is worth every penny though, I presume.
As a long-time Wintel user (starting with 8086 PC’s in 1983), I just recently (3 weeks ago) bought a 17″ wide-screen iMac and I’m having more fun than I’ve had in the past 10 years computing. I just got tired of chasing down virii, email trojans, and buggy software — I just wanted something that works. After buying the iMac, it was apparent to me that Apple puts more thought into the PACKAGING of their machine than most manufacturers put into their machines.
Apparently you need to get on the clue train – a large number of students graduate college with _debt_. Putting even $50 away a week is a real trick for many students.
Just because mommy and daddy aren’t paying for their schooling doesn’t mean they don’t know how to save money.
-Erwos
Hi,
just wanted to say I’m a XP user and .NET programmer with basic Linux knowledge. Most likely I won’t buy Longhorn when it comes out because I like open source and I’m a open source developer myself but I will stay with XP for a few years and then switch to a open source OS. What keeps me away is the lack of programs, what I would miss on Linux because I don’t know equivalents: a IDE like VisualStudio 2003 or SharpDevelop, RAD IDE in general (I hope the Linux folks here know what RAD means, it means Rapid Application Development, something that can’t be achieved with C/C++) AviSynth, VirtualDubMod, Namo WebEditor or Dreamweaver, mp3DirectCut, NoteTab Light, PhotoImpact, The Godfather, TrayBackup and Zoom Player.
What’s also bad is it’s hard to choose between a desktop environment, GUI toolkit etc. In the past I did some bad descisions. I don’t want to do a bad descision again by choosing a wrong OS, destop environment, GUI toolkit or whatever so I say with the things I’m currently using until I’m sure I’m right
I use BeOS as my main OS, with SuSE Linux as a secondary OS. While I like Linux, it seems every time I want to install something different I run into Dependency Hell, or somebody that thinks I want to compile his/her app. – yeah, right. I’ve ordered Zeta, and hope to use it as my main OS in the future.
“While I like Linux, it seems every time I want to install something different I run into Dependency Hell”
this is also something what keeps me away from Linux but probably most OS aren’t optimal in installing and deinstalling software, I consider Linux one of the worst
Apparently you need to get on the clue train – a large number of students graduate college with _debt_. Putting even $50 away a week is a real trick for many students.
Just because mommy and daddy aren’t paying for their schooling doesn’t mean they don’t know how to save money.
Funny, and I paid my way through University by WORKING and SAVING. I put aside a social life, “experimentation” and getting pissed on the weekends for a little short term pain.
I *SAVED* *MY* money for 2 years. Working in a crappy job, saving every penny. After 2 crummy and crappy years I then went to university and used the money I saved to pay for the course and books I required.
The problem with people like you sunshine, is you expect the whole world to give you a hand out because you happen to be in the luckly 24.7% who happen to think that going to university is your god given right.
How about instead of being a whining student, why don’t you realise that there are the other 60% of the population carrying the can for your university education.
As for my parents financial status, my parents aren’t wealthy but they *COULD* have put me through university, but they didn’t. *MY* old man didn’t want be to be born with a silver spoon and expected me to work my way through university. I did it, and now I feel that I have achieved some thing.
I received a free & legitamate copy of WinXP and had it running on my home computer for 6 months. 3 days ago I installed RH9, not dual booting, it’s RH only. I couldn’t be happier. The Evolution Summary page blows the doors off Outlook. Weather, slasdot stories, etc. It’s great. I’ve got a bunch of new audio tools like ALSA, Grip, Xmms and they work! Mozilla is very nice too.
I’m a Systems Analyst supporting Windows ’95 to XP at work. So you could say that I really know my way around Windows. I’ve never been happy with Windows. Windows XP sucks less, is the best way I can describe XP.
I’ve used lots of different OSs over the years. I used to be a big OS/2 fan. I’ve tried Linux (I also have a Lindows computer – NON ROOT USER) as a second computer. But after seeing Mac OS X and playing around with it for awhile and reading everything about BSD UNIX (actually I knew about BSD UNIX before) and seeing the much better interface than Windows (including the Dock which I for one really like), I went and bought an 800mhz iMac Lamp last year. And I’ve never regretted one second of it.
I still have a Windows computer at home. I haven’t turned it on once this year. When I’m not using my Mac (because my wife is using it), I resort to the Lindows 4.0 (NON ROOT USER) computer. For Linux systems, I like Lindows (NOT ROOT USER) better than the other distros out there. I don’t mind paying for a good user experience.
“While I like Linux, it seems every time I want to install something different I run into Dependency Hell”
Dependancy hell is an OLD problem that has been SOLVED! I use Mandrake and ArkLinux, both RPM based distrobutions, and they there is no dependcany hell!. Other distrobutions have squashed it as well, SuSE has, Debian has, Gentoo has, and others have too. The only distrobution that I know that still has the dependancy hell problem is RedHat, and even that is being solved with the Fedora project.
I received a free & legitamate copy of WinXP and had it running on my home computer for 6 months. 3 days ago I installed RH9, not dual booting, it’s RH only. I couldn’t be happier. The Evolution Summary page blows the doors off Outlook. Weather, slasdot stories, etc. It’s great. I’ve got a bunch of new audio tools like ALSA, Grip, Xmms and they work! Mozilla is very nice too.
That sounds like a good convert story Red Hat could use 😉
I’ve been tracking Fedora and it will be a great disitribution once it has stablised and released.
I made the switch about a year ago, from Linux to Windows XP. Linux is still playing catch-up, and XP has just widened that gap. XP is stable and rock solid and has the apps that I need.
Linux is still for servers and the programmers, but not for people who have work to do. There is nothing on Linux, free or commercial to match:
1) Cinema 4D for 3D graphics
2) PhotoShop for 2D graphics
3) Flash, 3DFA, SWiSHmax, Swift3D for Flash
4) Cubase or Cakewalk for MIDI and audio
5) Freehand or Illustrator for vector graphics
6) Quark or Indesign for print
I’ve followed Freshmeat regularly and all people seem to be working on are new mail programs, new window managers and new media players.
I did think of switching to Mac, but then I’d have to buy all my software again.
I’m going to agree. I was dual booting between WindowsME and Mandrake. I hated ME because it frequently crashed, so I was thinking of switching full time to Mandrake Linux. Then I needed some software that required XP, so I bought it. XP hasn’t crashed on me once since I bought it. On occaision on Mandrake Linux, Gnome or KDE would freeze up, with no way for me to recover other than a hard reboot.
I still dual boot between XP and Linux, however I won’t be switching to Linux full time until the window managers stabalize.
I plan on switching back to Windows CE as my primary OS pretty soon. WinCE itself is a means to run Dynapad, my OE.
Im just a poor 20 something working at a call center but have aquired many computers. my network has 2 macs 1 older imac with os x 10.2.8 a G4 with the same OS , a Xbox running gentoo linux and PC, with windows xp linux and beos max edition on them. honestly none of them are perfect. My mac G4 was my main system but the HD on it just gave up and no longet receives power for some reson, im usering my XP as a main box till i get a new large drive for my mac witch i curently have put a old xbox 7.5 gig harddrive in just to tide it over. Now as far as the topic goes, i prefer mac os / Beos easy of use and unix based, Zeta looks awsome but i wont buy it till i get to try it. also what happened to Beos on PPC architecture, it died after os 4, too bad. someone needs to breath some life into it. im not complaining about OS X but if their was a alternative user freindly OS for the mac not made by apple i bet it would force apple to come up with better ideas
I have A SuSE linux personal 8.1/Win2k, Windows just for this game I play.
“The poll could be taken to support Windows because it doesn’t ask what OS you are currently using It only asks if you are going to switch. Since this is a techie website, and the handful of comments I did read were by satisfied OSX and Linux users, the majority of answers will prob’ly be “I’m not switching”. Then, the polsters get the data and say, “Well, the majority of computers run Windows, and the majority of answers was ‘not switching’, so the majority of people must like Windows.””
Well, the majority of computers run Windows? Who says that’s the case on this site? Who says that’s the case on readers of this poll? Hard to say, ain’t it?
Oh well, don’t use polls on the internet for statistics, cause that’s always biased. Proxies, shells, doubles, 2-or-more-people-at-1-static-IP, and much more!
Using computers to vote just doesn’t wor. Have you checked the fraud stories in California? (:
I’m happy with my OS/2 and BeOS setup thanks. I’ll be staying with it, and my nice old hardware. No need to upgrade anything for any reason so far.
Err.. what do you peeps are actually thinking you are talking about when saying “lightyears”..? Time or distance?! Usually, one would mean so say that something is ahead loong way time-wise, but lightyears are a measurement for distance, not time…
Dreft gaat lichtjaren langer mee dan andere afwasmiddelen.
For the rest I use mostly FreeBSD 5.1, and sometimes W2K for Transport Tycoon and Texas Instruments Interactive, which we need for school.
Using: Primarily BeOS, Windows XP Pro for IE, and Syllable for pleasure&pain. Soon to try: Zeta, Linux 2.6, Cosmoe/Linux, BlueEyedOS/Linux. Longterm interest: OpenBeOS, Linux, DragonFly BSD
Currently coding for BeOS/OpenBeOS and Syllable.
Windows is Windows, Linux is a mess, MacOS X is a pretty mess I can’t afford, BeOS is niche, BSD isn’t evolving as fast as Linux. It’s frustrating really. :-]
What’s also bad is it’s hard to choose between a desktop environment, GUI toolkit etc. In the past I did some bad descisions. I don’t want to do a bad descision again by choosing a wrong OS, destop environment, GUI toolkit or whatever so I say with the things I’m currently using until I’m sure I’m right
Who told You that tale?
One _does_ _not_ have to choose between GUI-TK or DE!
It’s just normal to use e.g. a Gnome-App. under KDE.
Everybody has several GUI-toolkits installed on his box.
They _do_ _not_ influence each other!
I’ve used windows forever now and I’m finally moving everything I do to FreeBSD. Its fast and I like the licensing scheme. Now that I got OpenOffice 1.1 to compile on FreeBSD 5.1, I only need windows for gaming… unless I somehow got winex to work.
I’m using XP and Suse 8.2 at home and all kinds of windows versions at my “steady” job and sometimes I boot up knoppix on a laptop just to have my own office at work. If I could run a widely exepted video edit program like final cut pro or avid on linux I would. I’m not a gamer so I only use windows to edit video and to learn Avid Xpress. If I were rich I’d put xtra money into open source, I love it and loving it more each new version of linux comes out. Mind u i’m just a simple user not a compiler or config file typist
I run 4 machines here, all with multiple OSes. One is a triple
boot machine for my son. He runs Linux (Debian), Windows 2000
and 98. He uses Windows 2000 for his school work, and newer
Windows games. Windows 98 steps forward when he wants to play
legacy type games (the early Command and Conquer series, for
example). Linux is for games and e-mail. That’s right, games
and e-mail. He is having a blast checking them out, and there
is a certain innocence in a lot of them I find refreshing. As
for the e-mail, I insisted on it. I got tired of the multiple
threats to Windows. I have taken good precautions, got hit
with multiple virii, but never got infected. With Linux
running the e-mail, one huge infection route is closed. He may
move his school work to Linux when I get his Palm to synch
with Linux, and I install test to speech software. Right now,
things are working well.
My daughter boots Windows 2000 and Linux (Debian, again). Like
her brother, she plays games on both OSes, but spends most of
her time on Linux, as she does her school work there. Linux
also handles Web browsing and e-mail.
My laptop dual boots Linux and Windows 2000. Windows 98 runs
with the help of Win4Lin. Because of Win4Lin, I almost never
dual boot. As for games, it’s a Transmeta machine, so nothing
heavy duty.
We have another machine called the server. It dual boots Windows 2000 and Linux (again Debian). Other machines save their data to it. They also back up to it (the server has a lot of drives). I have set up the file shares so that they look identical in Windows and Linux. Backups seem to go 30-50% faster when the server runs Linux.
The server also serves as my photo processing machine, with its two scanners tethered to it. I know XSane runs the Canon flatbed, but have not tried to get the Polaroid film scanner to run. I use Vuescan under Windows, and may switch to Linux. If I do, I will try some processing with Cinepaint.
Debian is at its best when it comes to maintaining the OS and all the software that comes with it. To my mind, KDE has pulled ahead of XP’s and 2000’s desktop. Windows maintains a big edge when it comes to software availability. Still, I suspect 2000 will be my last Windows OS.
Some 18 months ago I switched to Linux after getting a new laptop with Windows XP installed.
I had a few ups and downs with it to begin with, running Redhat 7.2 and KDE 2.2
Now I’m on Mandrake 9.0 with KDE 3.0 and it works like a dream. Unlike Windows I feel I just have more control over the OS and know what is going on. I also feel a lot less patronised.
I’m mostly looking forward to the point in the future (hmmm, maybe 2 years or so?) where I will get the chance to install KDE 4.1. Should be interesting.
Finally feel Linux will do everything I want it to so switching both my systems full time over to Red Hat 9, well kinda, going to keep a 15GB partition for WinXP just so I can play games now and then (ie: Half Life 2)
Well ive been running debian as my main os for about 3months ever since winxp crapped out on me.
Personallly i love linux. I finally got all my favorite games to work: UT/UT2k3, ET, Simcity4k, Starcraft, GTA4, The sims, etc. Also im now able to run my favorite win apps: Photoshop 7, IE 6.0(lol i need it for acouple of sites), and trillian.
For anyone who hasent tried out a linux distro in a while, I would seriously consider giving one of the new ones a try. They have come so far!!!
I currently run IRIX as my main Os, but as an old Amiga/Commodore Fan, I have an irresistable urge to get Morphos and a Pegasos. So even if I don’t like Morphos like I think I will, I can still run Qnx, Linux, and BSD on the Pegasos…Cool computing with a few options for a change…:)
I recently bought a little G3 iMac which runs OSX, just to play around with OSX… and although my main system is winXP on P3 box, I find myself gravitating to the slower iMac. As a result of my tinkering with OSX on slow hardware, I have decided I need to run OSX as my main system, with hardware to back it up. So by Jan 04 I will be switch completely to OSX; I’ll be Buying a Dual G4 w/ panther. I’d go a G5 but Im a student.
OSX really is a stunning OS. I find it hard to fathom why I didnt switch sooner
A common English expression is “Product X is miles ahead of its competition,” meaning Product X is much better.
A light-year is many orders of magnitude longer than a mile (which travels approximately 186,000 miles/second), so the phrase “Product X is light years ahead of its competition” is sometimes used to indicate that Product X is so far ahead of its competitors that it isn’t even in the same solar system. 🙂