Mac, Windows, and Linux [The Big 3] : Divide By Zero

I was reading the post on BoingBoing about how the Microsoft ads were created on Macs, and then reading the comments on The Cult of Mac blog. As a designer and someone who's seen how Microsoft does its marketing as a Student Partner, this didn't surprise me. Obviously Microsoft hires an ad agency to make its ads and the agency uses whatever it feels comfortable with to make the ads, this should be a non-issue except that it's a good headline.

Anyway, one of the commenters made a great post about how people should open their eyes a little bit more. He talked about how it doesn't matter what OS is inherently "better" because there's no answer to that. It depends on the user. He mentioned that as someone who views a computer as a tool, then all 3 operating systems provide good options.

If you've developed on computers you know these key things:

Every OS crashes. My iMac has crashed or froze more than my Windows PCs. Not that they don't crash, they do.
Each OS has something better than another.
Each OS has a toolset that is a boon to different kinds of developers.

That's my view, personally. I use an iMac at work and I love it for my PHP development and graphics design. Expose, Spaces, and Apple-Shift-4 are fantastic. At home I use a Windows XP desktop, which I love for my games and .NET development. I have my HP tablet with Vista that I love for its Tablet functionality and OneNote 2007. And finally, I keep a Knoppix bootable CD around in case someone's computer goes beserk and needs backing up.

As someone who's now used Vista for awhile, I can say that since SP1 was released it's a fine OS. Yes, the security dialogs can be annoying but it's not that bad. I haven't had my laptop crash yet and it's fast. My friend uses Vista daily as a gaming machine and he doesn't have any problems. My roommate has a 64-bit Vista laptop and enjoys his 4GB of RAM and gaming. It had a rough start but honestly, some features it has are much greater than XP. It's not that bad.

It will be beneficial to you in the long run to get acquainted to all the OSs, as it helps when you work at different businesses.

Comments

Yes, absolutely no OS is perfect. Windows-security, Linux-games, Mac-price.

Posted by: warnet linux
On October 29, 2008 10:34 PM

I couldn't agree more, everyone has a personal preference, therefore we can't dub one OS as "the best".

PS: You can turn of the security warnings in Vista in User Account Control.

Posted by: Cheap Mobile Calls
On December 12, 2008 9:49 AM

Personally waiting for Windows7. Hope that they change Vista and XP for sure

Posted by: Tomas
On January 8, 2009 6:30 PM

I must agree with that there is no OS that you could say it's the best. It all depends on what users wants from OS. I think Windows is the best solution for most users but if you by any chance want to try out Linux and can't or just don't want to install it on you own box you can check the list of free shell providers ( http://on-net.info/shell-accounts/ ) I made and play with Linux a bit for free. Another option if you don't want to install it is to use a live cd. Many Linux dostros have it.

Posted by: onyx
On January 24, 2009 7:16 PM

I thinks windows7 will get high security features when compared to other previous OS.waiting for Windows7.

Posted by: Windows Tutorials
On February 3, 2009 8:18 AM

Nice interesting Post.

Thanks

Posted by: navi
On August 10, 2009 4:57 AM

Yes, it all boils down to preference as you say, or trying to answer the question: Marmite: yes or no?

I suspect, though, Windows 7 is now turning heads...

Posted by: Steve M Nash
On January 6, 2010 12:05 PM

Windows 7 is the game changer for OS market, I'm very impressed with it because great compatibility and visual style looks elegance.

Mint Linux is one of my favorite Linux distro.

Posted by: Olao
On July 25, 2010 4:24 AM