What OS Works For You?
on 02.27.07, 08:50pm in mac • share on facebook • comments (7)
[Thomas Hawk] And it has been the most positive thing to happen to my computing since. I live with my computer. It’s a big part of my life. I use it upwards of 20 hours a day. And although there was about a 72 hour learning curve and I had to ask Kristopher some really dumb things like “how do I rename a folder,” after this short learning curve it was over and done and now I’m far, far more efficient with my computing than I’ve ever been… Don’t get me wrong. Things *can* go wrong on a Mac. It just happens like 20x less than on a PC.
While I agree with Jeff that the my-computer-is-better-than-your-computer arguments are tedious and useless, I’ll go ahead and throw my two cents in here. Back in 2005, I personally made the switch just to check things out and better understand the competition. Today, I use my mac for almost every task. For the things that I do on a day to day basis, the experience just feels better, for me.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I still use Windows frequently – I have Windows 2003 inside a Virtual Machine (via Parallels) as my development environment and my media ’server’ is running Vista (albeit in the closet). And yes, despite what you’ve heard – I’ve had the mac crash a few times.
In the end, computer and operating system choice really just boils down to a single thing: what works best for you to accomplish the things you want to get done. Heck, I know folks that are still on Windows 95. (I don’t know anyone still on Bob though).
What operating system works for you?
Charlie Owen (February 27, 2007 @ 9:21 pm)
The one I’m using right now.
aawoken (February 28, 2007 @ 1:27 pm)
I switched to a Mac in Sept 06 after getting so frustrated at troubleshooting my WIndows problems (and every other member of my family’s Windows problems). I was spending 10+ hours a month dealing with this crap. I figured anything wold be better. When my hard drive failed…..well the barriers fell to buying a Mac.
Long story short. You were one of the people who helped convince me. I have not regretted my decision as woring wiht the computer has once again become a joy rather htan a burden.
If I switched, Microsoft has to worry. I am/was a diehard user.
ken partridge (February 28, 2007 @ 1:43 pm)
Both kids use a Mac (running Parallels for those games that don’t run under OSX), my wife uses a Mac. I use both a Windows XP (80%) and a Mac (20%)
Steve H. Asnohair (February 28, 2007 @ 2:33 pm)
For me, the OS I spend most of my time with is the OS that comes on my phone. For me, that is a Blackberry. I don’t even think about it – the phone just does what I want and I never think about a crash or apps or anything; it just does what I want.
When it comes to the world of laptops and desktops, I have used Microsoft products since DOS days. Even an OS/2 1.0 convert (pre-presnetation manager) and then back to Windows, Windows for Workgroups, Win9x, WinNT, WinXP, and now Vista. At the same time, I always had a Mac (Classic, Plus, SE, Mac II, PowerBook, MacBook Pro). And I must say that Windows was the clear winner for a long time because I was a technical guy. Now, OS-X is the winner because I am a technical guy. OS-X is better for technical people than Windows. With OS-X, I run Terminal.app and use ssh, scp, write Java code, write Perl, write PHP, dink with MySQL — and avoid OBJECTIVE-C like the plague. My switch wasn’t because it was easier, crashed less… the switch is because it does what I want. This is in my professional toolkit as well as my personal toolkit. I use iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Address Book, Mail, and iCal. I would use iChat if it had MSN (or is it Live) Messenger integration. I get to use my Mac because I don’t have to install drivers or software.
The net-net is that OS-X has all the tools I want and I don’t have to download software or install anything. It is a perfect little box. I get XCODE for developing (yet, I wish it came with TextMate), I get photos, music, etc. I get it all. With Windows, I need to install something on the very first day (such as the Adobe PDF reader). The second I have to install something, all hell breaks lose. Even installing Adobe PDF sucks and it instantly slows my system because it puts something in the Start-up folder and forces a process to run. That is the problem – Windows needs stuff, the Mac doesn’t.
So, the Mac is like my phone, it just works and I don’t need to think about the os or the applications. Everything is just there and it works the way I want.
Kees Leune (March 1, 2007 @ 12:56 am)
A few months ago, I would have answered this question with a resounding Linux works for me. And while I still have the feeling that of all the OSses that I have worked with, I still have the most control of a Linux box (or BSD), I have come in contact much more with professionally administered Windows Server 2003 infrastructures.
Although I agree with the observation “it depends on what you need to get done”, and additional consideration should also be “it depends on who you need to do it for”. As said, I am currently working in a professionally administered infrastructure consisting of hundreds of windows 2003 servers and it definitely changed my opinion.
For me, I still do a lot of server-based development work based on LAMP, and for that, I’ll choose a Debian-based Linux any time. However, when doing other tasks that are more office-oriented, I will definitely be using Windows more and more.
Nintendo Wii (March 1, 2007 @ 3:30 pm)
Linux Here!
gdkzen (March 1, 2007 @ 7:30 pm)
Creative Work: OSX
Non-Creative Work: XP