Heh heh, if you go to my school and say that, you will get pwned for heresy (or something to that degree). The Macs in our school are REALLY slooow... They give Macs a bad name and I guess it sticks to me Linux is really fast too if you have ever used it before. Especially if you use the hacked ones
fixed for you When more software can run native on a Mac and the hardware is not locked in I'll consider Mac OS. It's getting better but still not really worth the limited benefit. And honestly the result your tout can be achieved in any OS once you remove from the start up the unnecessary crap; only worth if it really matters to you. Linux is even worse for most people. Ubuntu is gaining ground but still. I mean really look at the popularity of say XBoX and the PS3 in relation to a computer when you consider the performance versus price difference and how much do you expect to go way beyond that to Linux.
Linux is amazing. You can literally do almost anything on Linux. It is virtually hacker/virus/adware/spyware proof. You can make it as light-weight or as heavy-duty as you want. For almost any useful software that you can give me on Windows (both free and paid), I can probably name a free, open-source equivalent or better. Ubuntu is ok I guess, I'm using it now, but I'm switching to Gentoo. Ubuntu is too much like Windows, it hides all its errors and doesn't tell you what's going wrong when something happens to your system. With Gentoo, you are in more or less complete control over your system. Of course, it takes a bit of reading of documentations and stuff, but once you spend 2-3 weeks with it, you will know your computer inside and out.
I've really only worked with XP and a little bit of Vista. I think Vista is more user-friendly to the more novice users, whereas XP (In my opinion) is pretty basic, yet it has lots of room to expand and improve your knowledge on operating systems. This is all from my personal experience though, everyone's view will change =)
Will Linux run my games? Will Linux run my copy of the software I MUST use at work to allow me to do work at home. Will Linux have access to the latest drivers for hardware and drivers/keys for software/movies. Now granted everything I've described is a failing more of the market then of Linux but for most people Linux is a pointless option. Now say it does become more main stream, then the whole no virus/malware benefit goes out the window. Open source is nice enough in theory but they are not better, really just admit it they are not. You consider the price and they are more then decent I admit but better, no. Most people don't' want complete control over their system, that was my point, so to them easier is more important, hence Ubuntu > Gentoo or any of it's cousins. I'm not apposed to either, the only reason I haven't jumped ship is I'm a gamer. I'm not going to sacrifice performance for control. I spent the time to get reasonable control over XP anyway. Now if my choices were Vista, Linux and OSX....wow...it wouldn't be Vista for sure. buy a bare bones rig for the linux boot and save yourself the hassle, you wont' need the chug power on it most likely anyway it's out it sucked...start hoping sp2 will fix your problems
yes yes Usually Whoa, you lost me there. Linux doesn't have viruses/etc not because its not mainstream. It doesn't have that kind of bad stuff because linux is simply more secure. Read this and educate yourself (while having a good laugh): http://www.linux.com/articles/42031 I'll grant you that one Your opinion so I won't agree/disagree You know, some Linux gamers actually get BETTER performance running a Windows game on Linux. I've never personally compared the two side by side, but I'll take their word for it
My OS on my comp. is XP. Thoe i loved 98 alot more since when XP first came out, it had problems just like Vista now a days. But you get use to things and get over it. I'm sure it will happen with Vista soon and XP will be a thing of the past. ~Dirt
No they won't. Especially out of the box. In many cases the drivers are not even up to date and you have to tweak with that. And you cannot claim to get the same performance because you inherently have to run it through emulation. Custom software that is made for one company, for example Sony's billing and logging of repairs, or Nextel's billing and switching or even Time Warner's repair / maintenance logs will NOT work on Linux. There is a huge difference between able to make work and working. Much of this type of software is proprietary so good luck messing around with that mess, in some cases it barely works on the system for which it was designed. ...if you are willing to wait weeks or months and willing to trust to 3rd party ports in some cases and even worse sometimes to lose features. It's very rarely out of the box, why do you think people were so overjoyed over AMD's buyout of ATI. Nvidia doesn't play nice with Linux, the company not the hardware. I'll pull a quote from Eve here: "There is no safe...there is only safer". Linux has fewer vulnerabilities, new builds aside, and fewer bloat but do not pretend that it is crack proof. Hackercrackers don't bother with Linux because it's too much of a hassle in most cases. Windows has a larger target base with less knowledgeable users so they are the easier mark. If say Linux had 90% of the market share do you think it would stay this way? Mac fanbois used to tout how Mac had no viruses etc. until a while back someone got around to making a big one...it was pretty lame compared to some of the mean ones Win OS has but all the same if you buy it they will come. not so much me personally here just how I see the general populous in relation to the Linux options It's better today I'll admit but I'm still going to hold off believing gaming is a fun experience on Linux. It's not out of box at all. It takes a good bit of knowledge, time and tweaking. In many cases it still requires emulation so already you're handicapped. Thankfully with the hardware what it is nowdays it can be somewhat negligible, even more so compared to other factors like bandwidth lag and my general lack of higher competition play. Even more promising is the general acceptance of some of the bigger 2nd tier companies that holds promise for the future. Eve Online just recently released a Linux and Mac client. It really is just collousion amonst MS and the gaming companies, especially if they can port games to the PS3 and to a lesser extent XboX.
sorry for the double post here but it really does not flow well into the last one and it was a big one Please do not compare XPs early problems with Vista. Granted some of the driver and support issues are similar but Vista was designed inherently to keep as much control in the hands of MS as possible. You just payed 300 to 600 dollars for a half working OS that tells you what you can and can't do. I will not pay for DRM. Good luck trying to remove all that crap from it. Honestly when Vista gets forced through and XP stops receiving support it'll be an interesting day for the computer market. My bet is the lemmings follow MS but the big players are a toss up.
Linux is usually pretty good with drivers, the free software community develops drivers for most hardware that you will ever get. You have to look for them, that's all (here's a little test, google "linux [insert hardware here] driver" and you'll probably find the driver you're looking for). I'll admit, its not as easy as with Windows, but if you think about it, you don't have new hardware coming in very often. Yes they will, very easily too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_%28software%29 Wine works very well with Windows applications 99% of the time. True, its not completely void of exploits, but certainly safer than Windows, by a LONG shot. However, since Linux is open source and actively developed by developers around the world, vulnerabilities are MUCH easier to patch than with Windows. Major vulnerabilities are patched within days, whereas with Windows, you may have to wait weeks or months. Heh heh, I can see that we could go back and forth for a loong time. Let me sum up some stuff here: Linux is safer Its free (big plus here) It allows for more user control Can emulate well Very good community support It can look really really cool (look near the middle of the video for really cool effects): http://youtube.com/watch?v=bvnQE1EAEZY I think we can agree on those points Now, cons of Linux: Not as well supported by hardware companies as Windows Requires emulation (Wine) for certain software Requires much more set-up work than Windows Essentially what I'm trying to say is that Linux is probably a better choice if you are an experienced computer user. However, the average (not very knowledgeable) computer user probably doesn't need the features Linux offers and that Windows will suit them much better. I'm not completely against Windows, its just that I think that many (not most) people will be better off with Linux.
XP for the win. I love windows because of the ability to enter the mainframe of the computer, giving you more power over the computer and the processes it runs. I use Vista as well, but I seem to find XP can generally run more productively. Macs are the best for the average, simple user, but not good for technologically advanced people.
lol clash of the titans. i have to say i agree with zer0. speed + emulation + no viruses + opensource/ huge dev. comunity + compiz fusion make linux insane.
Then you are relying on 3rd party support which is often hit or miss. I admit for the most popular stuff there usually is some group releasing stuff for free but there is no production company support and often it's hard to fully utilize all the hardware can do because for example NVidia will not release it's specs. I've seen in some cases the drivers take months, I've seen them be unstable and I've seen them been almost as good or better. Such as Omega drivers, with ATI's cards a while back their CCC was quite unstable with some windows programs, though that's windows. I generally buy my hardware 3months to 6months old when I get new stuff so it would be less of an issue for me but it's still 3rd party support. That's emulation and 99% isn't something you want to relay on when it's your $$. Often it's not because of Linux but because of DRM type lock-in that needs windows. I could see myself in the middle of a big order and it go caput...granted it happens in windows to sometimes but I don't want to be the one that has to say oh yea I was running it on Linux when they ask if you were doing anything unusual. Just off todays tech news: http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?si ... 4&from=rss No arguments with your statement directly but I still argue that number would spike if the benefit to hackers was enough. Hotmail had an exploit that was only publicly know for 3 days or so but you can imagine all the havoc it caused. One vulnerability is enough to inject a weeks work of worth to clean off, of course unless you just clean install. fully agree both vary here but getting better And some thrid party companies are working on emulation for the most popular games, I can't think of the name right now but runs stuff like FFXI and WoW and many CS/FPS type games almost to the point of there being little to know loss of performance. But it's pretty limited atm and it lags behind the game for a few weeks to months. If windows continues down the Vista route I might be jumping ship myself