Originally Posted by VENGEANCE MX
How? If you're going to make such blunt statements, at least back it up with reasoning.
I use all of the Big Three Operating Systems a pretty much equal amount nowadays, and I can say that the user experience on OS X and Linux is by far superior to Windows. There's no inexplicable errors, no annoying speech bubbles (doing the same thing after you repeat an action... thanks for telling me you found a new device, you don't need to do it on every boot), no need for antivirus, no scrabbling around for drivers... it took me about 3 years of owning my Windows PC before I figured out how to get sound drivers for it (no driver CD had come with it, and there's no obvious tools provided with Windows for finding out what motherboard you have).
Hardly the pc's fault, most alerts either require your attention and they'll go, or you check a box so they don't appear again.
Linux is also going in the right direction. So long as you can get your head around basic Terminal usage, it's really quite intuitive. In most cases, downloading+installing new software takes just one command (on Ubuntu, at least).
Agreed, I have Ubuntu on a separate partition and apart from it not recognising my screen at first its been all smooth.
In my opinion, the only reason to use Windows (obviously talking about XP; Vista never really took off) over any other OS is for the large library of software (and the admittedly nice though selectively functional Add/Remove programs tool). But everything else about it really doesn't seem to work properly. Main problem is that the apps don't seem to play nicely together. For example, a few days ago, I was trying to play Unreal Tournament, then a Windows Update dialogue popped up mid-game (minimizing my session, thanks a lot), telling me that updates had been installed (wait, what? I never even opened Windows Update; I don't even know how! And which 'updates' are these?), and that in 5 minutes, my computer would restart. I was given options to 'Restart Now' or 'Restart Later'. So I clicked 'Later', and the dialogue came up again 5 minutes later. For about a full hour, I humoured it by clicking 'Later' every time it showed up, never once wising up or giving me a goddamn 'cancel' button. In the end I just had to stop playing and restart.
Another gripe I have with XP is that damned Start Bar. You can launch programs from it, but here's the catch - not all the software in Program Files gets put into the launcher. And it's in a completely random order - I checked once, and found that mine wasn't sorted by name, date, or any other conceivable indexing system.
right click, sort by name perhaps?
And you know what would also be nice? Being able to open any of the folders listed in the Start Bar. Sometimes I don't want to launch an app, I want to go into its folder. But clicking on the folder does... absolutely nothing.
But double clicking does wonders ;)
Also, no spring-loaded folders. I often need to drag-and-drop files down multiple directories. Can't be done on Windows. You've got to Copy and Paste, or get two windows of different directories open side-by-side. How intuitive.
how about the Folders sidebar?
And Windows is bloatware. 20 years of legacy support, and still Microsoft aren't attempting a purge. Macs pick up new technologies in a heartbeat. Apple pioneered the switch to CDs and USB. They redefined the desktop computer (putting an end to beige), and embraced new standards such as Firewire and H.264, to make the most modern and streamlined user experience possible. In 10.6, they are focusing on upping RAM limits, adding GPU processing, and adding system-wide support for multiple processors. Anything and everything they can do to make it run faster and take up less space, work more intelligently, etc... they are truly pushing the boundaries of personal computing.
Just put the windows disc in as soon as you buy your pc if you wanna remove the bloatware. It's not hard for a semi-knowledgable user, which is good because the casual user won't care or know about the effects of the bloatware.
There's not much software for OS X and Linux, but absolutely everything that I have ever needed to do (plus, I imagine, loads of stuff that other people need to do) can be done with freeware downloads on Mac OS X. In any given case, there are usually only a handful of choices, and there is always one clear, free program for the job. This freeware situation is driven by the fact that on Linux, there is a thriving open-source community, and OS X dev kits are free, well-documented, extremely capable and come with your install disc. From what I've heard about the Windows platform, Microsoft charges for their VB kits, which really does suck for devs.
I have Visual Studio C++ and C# and they're free, I think other versions cost though
So can you see why my preference and usage of OS X and Linux over XP is more than just an unfounded, fanatical notion? OS X does not suck, Macs do not suck, and you need to open your eyes.
