Windows vs. OS X vs. Linux

I'm pretty much in the "whatever came with the computer" boat, which means I'm running a laptop with Vista on it. I can't stand it and hope to either upgrade to Windows 7 or replace the laptop, but haven't done so yet. I wouldn't consider Mac OS X an option, because in my one experience of trying to use a Mac seriously I found it maddeningly unable to execute simple tasks because it was so insistent that it knew better than I did what I wanted, and I pretty much swore never to use one again. Unless I had a really good reason or something.

I have an Ubuntu VM lying around as well, but haven't really used it to any degree. I've been encountering an increasing number of "oh hai this only works on Linux sorry" recently, but somehow I suspect the opposite effect if I switched would end up being worse with things I take for granted.

Customizable isn't a word, according to the spell-check. Customisable isn't, either. :c

Butterfree said:

I've been encountering an increasing number of "oh hai this only works on Linux sorry" recently, but somehow I suspect the opposite effect if I switched would end up being worse with things I take for granted.

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Trust me, you would experience the opposite effect upon switching. :P There are a bunch of opensource alternatives, but still.

it's a word! spellcheckers are limited. also, I use ubuntu 10.04.

i use Trisquel GNU/Linux 5.5 whenever possible. It's basically ubuntu with no proprietary software or device drivers. At work I use ubuntu because I need the proprietary stuff. Occasionally I have to boot into windows to run games, because I refuse to install proprietary video drivers on my freetarded linux partition. My preferred desktop environment is xfce, because it is very memory efficient and reminiscent of gnome 2.

i find Mac OS X to be tolerable if I can install something sane like gnome2 or xfce on it.

Mewtini said:

Yeah, but I so happen to really really need Java. For school.

On the other hand, good ol' Adobe Flash works - Youtube works...

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Does OpenJDK not work? It was my understanding that as of Java 7 they should be roughly equivalent.

As for Adobe Trash, it's actually built into Chrome. In fact, that's the only place you'll find it for Linux. They stopped developing the standalone plugin, or will stop sometime soon. Sorry, Firefox users (if there are still any of those around).

the hundredth member said:

My preferred desktop environment is xfce, because it is very memory efficient and reminiscent of gnome 2.

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You could just use all Ubuntu releases pre-Maverick (pre-11.04. or .10? I forget. D:) They all use GNOME 2.

For memory efficiency, you could try out LXDE, but if you like xfce, what can I say?

(Also Xubuntu uses xfce by default.)

Most of my computers dual-boot a later version of Windows and some flavor/remix or other of Ubuntu, with some older Windows and older Linux kicking around on other PCs around the house. My desktop is Win 8/Ubuntu 12.10, for example, while my netbook is Win 7/Mint 14. My old laptop has something like Fedora 8 on it but I never really use it. My new(er) laptop has been temporarily commandeered as the family PC due to every computer in the house that doesn't belong to me being a Frankenstein hodgepodge of POS hardware that fails all the time, and atm it's also running Windows 7, but when they get a new computer of their own and I get it back it will return to being my Linux guinea pig/backup thing running Ubuntu or Mint when it isn't a guinea pig. I've been meaning to experiment with a less weenie Linux distro next, so I'll probably dig up a roll-your-own thing that looks interesting and see how that goes. I've also used a little Kubuntu in the past but I find I don't care for the KDE desktop as much as Gnome 2 or Cinnamon or even Unity (oh shock, oh horror).

I'm not sure I have a real preference for either Windows or Ubuntu (or whatever other distro) over the other. They both have their merits as far as compatibility and options and such are concerned, and I'm equally comfortable with either—I'm not a hardcore power user or anything, but I know my way around well enough. Usually I just end up booting into one and sticking with it until some minor issue happens that pisses me off enough to boot into the other, and by the time that one pisses me off I've probably figured out how to fix the first OS and so can switch back. Or if I need a certain program for something that only works on one and will be using it frequently for a while, I guess.

I'm... pretty okay with Macs, though! They were the computer of choice in my college labs and I've had to use them plenty of times before, so while I'm not as familiar with them (and boo hiss expensive etc.) I can work with them. I kind of want a Macbook and am hoping I'll be able to get one as a belated graduation gift, in part because they really are great for graphics stuff and in part because it is my secret dream to own the trifecta and become the lord and master of all the OSes. next stop FreeBSD or Solaris or the Haiku alpha or something go go go

Oh, and I've been meaning to play around a little with Chrome OS and/or Jolicloud, too, mostly out of idle curiosity. Got a nice new low-profile flash drive to run them off of live on my netbook, and if one pans out I may just go ahead and install it proper.

Photo Finish said:

I mainly use windows so I can play as many of the games I own as I can.

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Valve is really trying to get the Linux client up to snuff! Granted, it will take a long time for every game to be ported, but hey.

I would have linux as well if it weren't for some idiotic person over at Dell who decided it was a good idea to prevent you from booting into any OS other than the one that comes with the laptop unless you don't mind your computer not turning on at all ever again without any warning that they do this.

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Every "official" Win 8 computer does this.

sovram said:

Dell is bad. Build your own machine!

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I had mine built by a Linux vendor!

I use Windows 7 at the moment, and I'm kind of tempted by Windows 8. I also know that, as a (mathematician U computer scientist) I need to familiarize myself with some Linux platform at some point. Suggestions? I want easy to use and stable. Doesn't have to be particularly interesting.

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Having done my fair share of distro-hopping, I am a firm believer the Ubuntu family are the "easiest" for the reasons of: a) easy OS installation (and easy partitioning), b) easy software installation (and maintenance through PPAs). The 12.x family (12.04 is long-term support, 12.10 is more bleeding edge) is actually really stable IMO, especially for Ubuntu. It's not going to Debian stable, of course, but that's because it's not Debian. Unity 5 has come a long way; if you want to try a modern (read: different) UI, try regular Ubuntu. The HUD is so very great for keyboard enthusiasts like me. Xubuntu (with the XFCE desktop) would be your best bet, I think, if you want something more traditional/less flashy but customisable. I've convinced less tech-savvy folk that it's XP.

Mint also exists, but stability issues are what always push me away. Being third wheel with a heavily tweaked and/or immature (as in age) desktop environment, it suffers in that respect.

Mewtini said:

Yeah, but I so happen to really really need Java. For school.

On the other hand, good ol' Adobe Flash works - Youtube works...

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You actually do not need Flash for YouTube if you're using an HTML5 compatible browser!

Butterfree said:

I have an Ubuntu VM lying around as well, but haven't really used it to any degree. I've been encountering an increasing number of "oh hai this only works on Linux sorry" recently, but somehow I suspect the opposite effect if I switched would end up being worse with things I take for granted.

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Have you then considered running Windows in a VM!

Adrian Malacoda said:

i find Mac OS X to be tolerable if I can install something sane like gnome2 or xfce on it.

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I didn't know that was even possible haha. All I know is everyone's Mac I've ever seen looks the exact same. (Also I'm on the "I hate OS X" boat. So so so very many usability flaws, especially for us lefties.)

As for Adobe Trash, it's actually built into Chrome. In fact, that's the only place you'll find it for Linux. They stopped developing the standalone plugin, or will stop sometime soon. Sorry, Firefox users (if there are still any of those around).

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There are plenty. I hate Chrome.

Mewtini said:

You could just use all Ubuntu releases pre-Maverick (pre-11.04. or .10? I forget. D:) They all use GNOME 2.

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I don't suggest this at all. You run the risk of broken/unsupported packages. If you *really* want GNOME 2 and don't mind old software, there is Debian.

For memory efficiency, you could try out LXDE, but if you like xfce, what can I say?

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LXDE would indeed be for memory conservation if you really need it. XFCE is much prettier, I think.

Fynx said:

Have you then considered running Windows in a VM!

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Mostly it sounds like a bother; if I have both, using the one compatible with more stuff and that I'm more used to as the main seems pretty reasonable.

There are plenty. I hate Chrome.

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Same. The sentiment that ~everyone~ should be using Chrome now puzzles me; Chrome's entire design goes so poorly with every aspect of my browsing habits that it would be completely unusable as a main browser for me. I'm using it for a few sites these days because my Firefox profile keeps bugging out and making them suddenly stop working, but even then it annoys me endlessly (yes, sufficiently so that "sites suddenly stop working in ridiculous ways" pales wholly in comparison).

Fynx said:

If you *really* want GNOME 2 and don't mind old software, there is Debian.

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Actually, *is* there any way to install the GNOME 2 desktop on a modern thing? Or did they steal it from repos and stuff.

Fynx said:

You actually do not need Flash for YouTube if you're using an HTML5 compatible browser!

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whoaaaa

I'm pretty sure Chrome is, so! I was wondering why hypothetically everyone was like "adobe hates linux" and at the same time I had flash.

I've actually never used LXDE, just seen screenshots. But I have used xfce, since I'm running Xubuntu (I just stuck KDE on it later.)

Iiiiiiiiii actually don't really like GNOME 2 - my mom and I have tried to use it (I VM'ed Lucid Lynx) and we were like "um so how do I do this?" Though I think GNOME 3 is prettier, it's for like. people who don't use tabs and task managers.

Unity is super-pretty and all, but it's rather slow :/ I made a VM of the alpha 2 release of Raring (Ubuntu 13.04), and we'll see how it goes.

Fynx said:

Mint also exists, but stability issues are what always push me away. Being third wheel with a heavily tweaked and/or immature (as in age) desktop environment, it suffers in that respect.

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It is *extremely* third wheel. I like Mint, but I don't like it as much as my current setup. Also - isn't its DE GNOME 2? I'm not certain, but, well, GNOME 2 definitely isn't that young of a DE.

Kratos Aurion said:

Oh, and I've been meaning to play around a little with Chrome OS and/or Jolicloud, too, mostly out of idle curiosity. Got a nice new low-profile flash drive to run them off of live on my netbook, and if one pans out I may just go ahead and install it proper.

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Eheh, when I was the first three quarters of your post about the netbook, I was about to say "oh, chromium os! oh, joli os!"

Kratos Aurion said:

in part because it is my secret dream to own the trifecta and become the lord and master of all the OSes.

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wahahaha

I use Windows because I like having access to pretty much all programs. Also, I've been using it since I was, like, 5. Despite the fact that my family's first computer was a Mac.

Iiiiiiiiii actually don't really like GNOME 2 - my mom and I have tried to use it (I VM'ed Lucid Lynx) and we were like "um so how do I do this?" Though I think GNOME 3 is prettier, it's for like. people who don't use tabs and task managers.

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It's definitely prettier, but a lot of people say it takes a lot more getting used to because it threw out a lot of the traditional desktop patterns they were familiar with. I was sort of confused by it when I tried it briefly, but then again I also started out with a roaring hatred of Unity (I even did a "usability evaluation" of it for a class that was mostly a thinly veiled attempt to whine about how weird it was) and I've gotten pretty comfortable with it aside from the occasional slowness; maybe it's worth another look, idk.

It is *extremely* third wheel. I like Mint, but I don't like it as much as my current setup. Also - isn't its DE GNOME 2? I'm not certain, but, well, GNOME 2 definitely isn't that young of a DE.

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One of Mint's DEs is MATE, which is a direct fork of GNOME 2 iirc (possibly with some elements from 3, I don't remember); more recently they've been pushing toward making their own DE entirely, though, called Cinnamon. It's supposed to have the same "traditional desktop" feel of GNOME 2 but is based on 3 (and has some of its features like the hot corners) and has more of an aesthetic update. It's nice and has a growing number of extensions, but since it's still very early going it is prone to a lot of weird foibles and bugs and such from time to time. Cinnamon isn't quite ready to compete with more mature environments, no, but it might be worth installing alongside your main DE and playing with, see how it develops. I actually have it installed alongside Unity for that reason, but I keep forgetting it's there and so haven't tried it on Ubuntu proper yet. Not bad on my netbook aside from a couple of issues, though.

EDIT: As for the Firefox and Chrome thing... my opinion on those is largely what it is for OSes. They both do certain things well enough that I'm hard-presesed to find a reason to fanboy/rabidly hate one over the other. I do have a distinct preference for Firefox, mostly due to some of its extensions and a newfound love for Panorama/Tab Candy, but I can generally use Chrome just fine and will hop back and forth between them whenever one starts bugging me and I'm too annoyed to fix it at the moment. :P

I'm in the 'whatever came on the compter' person too. Right now my desktop is running Windows 7. It's not that bad at all, at least it's better than Vista was.

My friends all swear by Ubuntu. Though one of them has a laptop with Windows 8 and I absolutely hates it, and I'm pretty sure it hates me.

Mewtini said:

You could just use all Ubuntu releases pre-Maverick (pre-11.04. or .10? I forget. D:) They all use GNOME 2.

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Thanks, but I use Trisquel as a matter of principle (Also, those ancient Ubuntu versions are ancient, and I don't see the need to restrict myself to ancient software just to have a sane desktop environment).

Speaking of which, Trisquel 6.0 LTS (based on Ubuntu Precise) was just released so I am in the middle of upgrading my computers to that.