My view of the Mac OS after switching to Linux
Instead of buying a brand new MacBook Pro, I instead bought an HP laptop and installed Ubuntu 7.10 as my OS. After using a Linux-based OS for a little while as my main computer (I still use my 24" iMac at home as my main desktop and I have the option to *shudder* boot into Vista on my laptop), I have come to several conclusions:
-The Mac OS is easy. It is easy to install stuff, it is easy to find things for it, it is easy to run. Linux is harder to use. Many people think it's easier, but that's just because they want to seem more "cool". As long as you are logged in as the Admin on your Mac, you can do almost everything in the GUI. If don't like doing command-line stuff (which I do ^_^), you will feel very awkward doing "sudo" and "chmod" commands all the time.
-Mac is behind the times when it comes to modding. I guess the reason why you get a Mac in the first place is because it "just works", but GUI environments, like GNOME and KDE offer vast options of what you want your desktop to do. I could make it look and act like a Mac and somepeople would not know the difference (SOME people.... very few.)
-Free is good. Linux offers some very great software out there that is developed "just cause". I guess some person (or team) wanted to develop something for the greater good and developed whatever program. Yes, GIMP is not better then Photoshop, but it is nice knowing that you did not download it off Limewire. It's also nice to know you have free updates for life (somewhat). It's kind of cool knowing OpenOffice.org came standard with the OS install when I already have it on my Mac.
-Both OS's have a great fanbase. I have met several Apple people in real life, some of them are cool and some are way too into themselves, and I have met some Linux users who are cool and some are way too geeky AND into themselves. Both have great forums with people willing to help you.
Final Conclusion:
Mac wins. I am glad to have Linux on my laptop, but it was a HUGE pain to get it to work properly, and there are still some bugs I need to work out. Once being on it, I love how I can do anything to it (and if I can't someone else can) and have all the code readily available to me so I can change it, but the thing I love about my Mac is that it "just works". It's simple, works well, fast, and keeps me happy 24/7.
-The Mac OS is easy. It is easy to install stuff, it is easy to find things for it, it is easy to run. Linux is harder to use. Many people think it's easier, but that's just because they want to seem more "cool". As long as you are logged in as the Admin on your Mac, you can do almost everything in the GUI. If don't like doing command-line stuff (which I do ^_^), you will feel very awkward doing "sudo" and "chmod" commands all the time.
-Mac is behind the times when it comes to modding. I guess the reason why you get a Mac in the first place is because it "just works", but GUI environments, like GNOME and KDE offer vast options of what you want your desktop to do. I could make it look and act like a Mac and somepeople would not know the difference (SOME people.... very few.)
-Free is good. Linux offers some very great software out there that is developed "just cause". I guess some person (or team) wanted to develop something for the greater good and developed whatever program. Yes, GIMP is not better then Photoshop, but it is nice knowing that you did not download it off Limewire. It's also nice to know you have free updates for life (somewhat). It's kind of cool knowing OpenOffice.org came standard with the OS install when I already have it on my Mac.
-Both OS's have a great fanbase. I have met several Apple people in real life, some of them are cool and some are way too into themselves, and I have met some Linux users who are cool and some are way too geeky AND into themselves. Both have great forums with people willing to help you.
Final Conclusion:
Mac wins. I am glad to have Linux on my laptop, but it was a HUGE pain to get it to work properly, and there are still some bugs I need to work out. Once being on it, I love how I can do anything to it (and if I can't someone else can) and have all the code readily available to me so I can change it, but the thing I love about my Mac is that it "just works". It's simple, works well, fast, and keeps me happy 24/7.
Comments
With that said, I use the terminal about as much in Linux as I do in Mac. GUI aside, there are a lot of mods for the mac, too. Yeah, almost everything is customizable in Linux, but you get tired of that at some point, and want something that "just works." The UNIX layer of the mac has totally invigorated the platform. For $0 and a rainy Saturday, you can install some pretty great stuff (if you're a geek). I've said it before: the Intel mac is the best platform for developing software for all but one target. That target is embedded PPC, for which older PPC macs are best! Even Windows is best developed on a mac, where you can use the mac for your day-to-day stuff and windows tools for the actual development.
BTW, I'm really interested in the Asus EEE ultra portable that comes with Linux.
In short, Linux and Windows are "adding features" to the OS. No matter how fancy those features are, Apple has a different goal in mind: creating the OS of the future. This means changing the philosophy behind the OS, not just adding features.
Linux wants to run on all hardware. It is developed by a very large community organized on 'per project' basis. Inter-application integration is not likely to happen in Linux world, or it will be harder to manage. It will be harder to integrate innovative ideas such as touch-screen gestures as well.
Mac OS is tied to limited hardware options. Most people assume it is a marketing strategy to sell more hardware using OS as a marketing tool and effectively cutting off the competition. They are completely wrong! Did you notice that even the OS UI is tied to the hardware: it was Bondy blue iMac-like back in 10.0 and aluminum-like in Leopard?
The most important part is what is under the hood, however. Very few reviews i've read noticed the level of inter-application integration in Leopard (even those who do don't envision the future of this integration). You can browse your iPhoto and/or Aperture images, iTunes and/or Garage band music, Mail and iCal etc. And this is not Adobe-like proprietary integration: it is there 'for free' and available for everybody! In every Open dialog you can use Spotlight to find the document and it will show only the relevant document types. Some of these features are immediately available to all applications and others are packed in Frameworks which could be used by developers with minimum effort. All applications can use Spotlight queries (programmatically) on their own, browse the iTunes/iPhoto etc. media files or communicate with Calendar. If you think about it, this is a whole new OS foundation for the future. 20 years ago it was considered a job for the application to manage fonts, printers and menus, if any. The original Macintosh changed everything. I think Apple has a long-term strategy to do this once again. The OS of the future will manage much more resources which are an application domain today: media files, calendaring/events management, location management (e.g. a search may return different result depending on your GPS-provided location, application will launch with different defaults when double-clicked at home or at work, on workday or Sunday etc.). The main reason for Apple to keep it's hardware under control is that they want to be able to add whatever hardware they want to accomplish particular functionality and to strip off everything which is outdated. Compare this to the Catch 22 situation in Wintel world: you may add harware with you own driver but without an application using it, or, better yet, system wide availability, it is worthless. And then, why add support for something which is not widely available from hardware manufacturers. Remember the USB progress: it was original iMac that forced it's usage. And an example from the opposite side: the floppy drive.
Even with Tiger, and much more with Leopard, developers have a lot of options to start playing with: media browser is available for everybody, Spotlght and QuickLook plugins are system wide, spell- and grammar-checking (no matter how good they are, they will be improved, the point is, they are UNIVERSAL), image editing and browsing (RAW camera format support included!) and so on.
If the current trend continues, in 10-15 years Linux may close the gap with Widows on usability but the Mac OS will surpass both Widows and Linux and set new standards for a modern OS!
I think it's an age thing. When I was a young geek I loved customizing stuff on my computer. It gave me a feeling of power. Now I'm grown up and have a wife, job, etc. and get that feeling from other areas in my life and I just want to OS to look nice and function well. I still do a little customizing but very minimal.
shadow: re: last line of your last post: it already has. Linux used to be the 1337est OS only 6-7 years ago. OS X seems to have taken that crown.
I figure I'll join the linux love-in and say that I too have run linux off/on (mostly on) for about 7-8 years. I finally nuked my linux partition due to a need to have Windows on it for an upcoming job (3D related). I'm an artist; I need my Mudbox/Maya/Photoshop/etc. I'm surprised there aren't more Joe/Jane Averages using linux. For email and web surfing, it's a much better option than Windows, IMHO. Especially given that linux FLIES on old hardware and new hardware.
I love linux. I enjoy tinkering. I enjoy using insane make flags that both me and my MBP know will only cause instability and mayhem. I've mostly used Gentoo, an uber-geek linux system that used to be the flavor of the month, before Ubuntu's time.
I love my minimalist Fluxbox 'desktop' with transparent aterms spouting arcane info. I surfed the web with w3m in such an aterm.
But as fun as it is, at the end of the day, to get anything actually done I booted into OS X.
If OS X did not exist, I would definitely be a full time linux user. It's a great OS. It's fun to watch it evolve before your eyes. I can see it really eating into Windows' market share, particularly in developing nations and in situations where performance and security are critical (google, military, etc).
i like to install/update linux every year or two and see what progress has been made.
Anyone notice how Gnome 2.x 'smacks' of Mac OS 9?
Windows = development by commitee (or so it apears to me)
Mac OS X = top down fascism
Linux = controlled chaos
It will be interesting to see where we are with those OSes in 25 years time.
I've been a unix/linux weenie for 20+ years. If I never see a shell again it's too soon...
Lemme see...the first Linux I ran was in 1994 on a brand spanking new Pentium 90 box. I don't recall the BogoMips reading but the thing was much faster than the Sun IPX machines we were using as our desktops.
The "just works"ness of the Mac never gets old. When using Ubuntu, I don't really get tired of doing the extra work to get the results I want, but I can totally see where it would.