[Bosk]

Which camp are you in? Are you completely happy or would you consider switching?

That's what I did a fortnight ago, purchasing my first Mac after decades of using Windows. The initial learning curve wasn't terribly steep since the differences between OS'es (coming from Win10) aren't as dramatic as they once were. Now neck-deep in the Apple ecosystem, I don't see myself going back.

 

[Trihexagonal]

Which camp are you in? Are you completely happy or would you consider switching?

You neglected to include BSD as an option.

I've got 4 laptops running FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE-p11 and 4 running Kali GNU/Linux 2022.1:

IBM Thinkpad T43 running Kali GNU/Linux 2022.1

Lenovo Thinkpad W520 running FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE-p11​

 

[ST33L]

We have Apple everything… watches, iPhones, iPads, iPods, MacBooks, and iMac. I’d say we’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid for about 25 yrs, and we’re “mostly” happy.

 

[AuRiMaS666]

Windows has served me well enough during my whole life up to this point, as I never had any investment in the Apple's ecosystem, did any work that Macs excel at or even particularity like them as a company. Of course Windows has many flaws, especially lately with all the silly stuff Microsoft does, but no option is perfect and we are left to choose the lesser evil from all of the evils, lol.

And Linux never was a viable mainstream OS for daily usage and gaming but, I guess, we will see what comes out off Valve's efforts with Steam Deck / Steam OS. Will probably take many years to evolve into something tangible.

 

[SilverEars]

I don't like Apple. I like freedom of repair, and swapping parts. I supports companies making separate parts. PC allows people to build their own PC and use whatever parts they want. I believe in competition to keep prices lower.

PC is freedom. Android is freedom. Apple is restriction. I also play games, and that's probably the biggest reason why I use a PC.

I don't want to be associated with image of a Mac, and their marketting. PC just feel realer.

 

[Trihexagonal]

Of course Windows has many flaws, especially lately with all the silly stuff Microsoft does, but no option is perfect and we are left to choose the lesser evil from all of the evils, lol.

Not to mention silly stuff like ransomeware, trojans, virus, etc. that Linux and FreeBSD are not vulnerable to. I don't have an anti-virus program on any of my machines.

And Linux never was a viable mainstream OS for daily usage...

I use Kali GNU/Linux and FreeBSD daily, as those are the only Operating Systems I have on any of my 8 laptops. I'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 running Kali Linux 2022.1 to post this from:

​

Machine Stats: for this T61:

Kali GNU/Linux Rolling 2022.1
Fluxbox Window Manager
Thinkpad T61
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.0GHz
4GB PC2-5300 RAM
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
15.4" 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) widescreen
Hitachi Travelstar 500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965
Hitachi CD-RW / DVDRAM combo
Intel HD Audio


Could you please be more specific than a blanket statement about how "Linux never was a viable mainstream OS for daily usage"?

I can surf the web, watch or download movies, videos or music, listen to music, burn and rip CD's and DVD's, etc. and everything I consider necessary to suit my needs to qualify as a Daily Driver fit for installation on 4 laptops.

If it's not a viable option because you don't know how to use it, having used Windows all your life, I have a Beginner's Tutorial on Building A FreeBSD 13.0 Desktop From Scratch with a target audience of someone who has never used the command line that takes you from installation of the Base System to a fully functional Fluxbox desktop using ports to compile third party programs.

https://trihexagonal.org/

 

[AuRiMaS666]

I meant that more from a casual users/gamer's perspective. If a more tech savvy people can make it work for all of their daily needs, then that's fantastic, more power to you.

Linux ecosystem is just too fragmented with all the distros and relies on all these online tutorials, just like you showed, instead of having one thing out of the box like with Mac/Windows, making it pointless and futile for regular person needing to just do stuff without jumping through extra hoops trying to make it work.

I always remember this quote when the topic arises: if Vista haven't killed Windows and made Linux rise to mainstream - likely nothing ever will, just deal with that.

 

[Trihexagonal]

Linux ecosystem is just too fragmented with all the distros and relies on all these online tutorials, just like you showed, instead of having one thing out of the box like with Mac/Windows, making it pointless and futile for regular person needing to just do stuff without jumping through extra hoops trying to make it work.

FreeBSD is not Linux. and the tutorial I linked to is not a Linux tutorial.

Did you miss the part about mine targeting people who had never used the command line? I was referring to Windows users. Nobody knows how to operate Linux, FreeBSD or Windows when they are born.

Pick one Distro, I would suggest Debian, then learn to use it. Kali is Debian based and uses the same apt framework for safely updating the System and packages as Debian.

I always remember this quote when the topic arises: if Vista haven't killed Windows and made Linux rise to mainstream - likely nothing ever will, just deal with that.

An insightful response to something you have no first hand experience in.

Windows has served me well enough during my whole life up to this point

Windows has held your hand all your life and now you can't handle life without it, though I did offer an alternative.
Just deal with that.

 

[davijohns]

Call me a victim of marketing. But I love Apple technology. I really feel the quality and the details that the manufacturers pay attention to. And I just enjoy using it. I don't provide anything else in my use at all. And I don't care about the price. I work to be able to use quality stuff.

 

[chesebert]

Mac for work, PC for play and neither for music.

 

[voja]

PC is obviously the way to go when it comes to performance (even though Apple is proving to be an amazing CPU manufacturer).

I own a gaming PC and a MacBook Pro (early 2015). I'd take Mac over Windows any day. I hate Windows' updates system, drivers, and all that stuff. There's always something going wrong and it requires you to be very knowledgeable and wastes a ton more time than the same thing would take on Mac.

Programmers and other people who know their crap, Windows is the way to go. For creative folks and people who surf the internet for the most part, Mac is just simpler, "faster", and more enjoyable to use (subjective). Imo, Apple's computers and laptops are just considerably more smooth-running than Windows computers. For us, basic and casual users, Mac is obviously preferable due to these conveniences. We are not looking for the specs and performance, we just want that simplicity (even though you can get more out of your wallet by not buying from Apple). Yes, we are aware that we are paying a premium for less performance. There's no argument about that.


Ideally, I'd want a Mac OS computer that runs on Apple's ecosystem, but have the freedom of adding your own GPU, RAM, and things of that nature. Of course, I don't think we'll ever see that happening, but we can dream =)

 

[Surf Monkey]

Which camp are you in? Are you completely happy or would you consider switching?

That's what I did a fortnight ago, purchasing my first Mac after decades of using Windows. The initial learning curve wasn't terribly steep since the differences between OS'es (coming from Win10) aren't as dramatic as they once were. Now neck-deep in the Apple ecosystem, I don't see myself going back.

I’ve been a professional commercial/graphic artist since 1995. I’ve worked on many flavors of Windows, UNIX, Linux and ChromeOS platforms. Back in the late 90s I even developed Web sites and graphics from a bash command line. Early in my career the only real choice for creatives was the Mac. So naturally I used the Mac platform from the get go.

Now a days a graphic artist (or really just about any kind of content creator) can use either Windows or Mac with no notable limitations. Adobe’s creative suite for example is virtually the same on both platforms. But ultimately I’m in a very long term relationship with the Apple ecosystem at this point so for me the answer to your question is “Mac.”

 

[carbonchris]

The synergy between Mac hardware and software is unmatched by competitors, in my opinion.

 

[chesebert]

The synergy between Mac hardware and software is unmatched by competitors, in my opinion.

Unless your software is from Adobe then no synergy no matter your computing platform.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Unless your software is from Adobe then no synergy no matter your computing platform.

Didn’t used to be that way. Adobe didn’t used to think it was an operating system company.