05-29-2006, 11:12 AM

Can anybody tell me which of the two they favor and what qualities makes u like the OS u chose as your favorite and the qualities of the other OS that you dont like.

IM doing a paper on Mac OS VS. Linux OS and i wanted user responses alongside the cold hard facts

05-29-2006, 02:03 PM

Are you doing it on a specific build of Linux? There are so many out there, it might be a good idea to choose a more popular one or stick to the ideas behind mac v the ideas behind linux rather than a feature comparison.

05-30-2006, 11:34 AM

Along with what flavour what market is it aimed at? Home, Business, Networking? A few more specifics would help us to give you the answeres you need

05-30-2006, 11:42 AM

For everyday, consumer based, uses:

Mac > Linux

05-30-2006, 05:01 PM

very true.

I have Ubuntu Linux on my powermac. I hardly evver use it. I installed it mostly to see what the fuzz was about.

05-31-2006, 01:46 AM

I wouldn't be able to tell you, because most of you are gonna drop your jaw when you read this... I haven't used Mac OSX. I sat down in front of an iMac, looked at the desktop, clicked on a thing or two, and thats it. This iBook I have was given to me, bad HD and no restore disk. So I put the new HD in and installed Fedora Core 5. I use my PC for main stuff, the iBook is just for on the go music or movies, or just internet while I sit in bed(what im doing right now). Fedora isn't really all that great, I was hoping ubuntu would work but for some reason, after installing it twice, it doesnt work. I like Ubuntu, its on a seperate HD on my PC. Fedora is more of a project, but I customized it to look just like Mac OSX. Linux on the PPC format isn't that great. Most Linux based programs are for the i386 format, including WINE(lets you use windows programs on linux). Flash isn't made for PPC, when I first installed it, the sound didn't work so it was tough finding drivers that would work. I just want to get OSX and get this retarded OS off my laptop lol.

By the way, im ordering Tiger and iLife on Thursday, FTW.

05-31-2006, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by iBeldar

I wouldn't be able to tell you, because most of you are gonna drop your jaw when you read this... I haven't used Mac OSX. I sat down in front of an iMac, looked at the desktop, clicked on a thing or two, and thats it. This iBook I have was given to me, bad HD and no restore disk. So I put the new HD in and installed Fedora Core 5. I use my PC for main stuff, the iBook is just for on the go music or movies, or just internet while I sit in bed(what im doing right now). Fedora isn't really all that great, I was hoping ubuntu would work but for some reason, after installing it twice, it doesnt work. I like Ubuntu, its on a seperate HD on my PC. Fedora is more of a project, but I customized it to look just like Mac OSX. Linux on the PPC format isn't that great. Most Linux based programs are for the i386 format, including WINE(lets you use windows programs on linux). Flash isn't made for PPC, when I first installed it, the sound didn't work so it was tough finding drivers that would work. I just want to get OSX and get this retarded OS off my laptop lol.

By the way, im ordering Tiger and iLife on Thursday, FTW.

Have you looked at Yellowdog? It's a Linux Distro compiled for the PowerPC platform.

05-31-2006, 05:31 AM

the only bad thing about that IMO is that its Fedora based but as you like fedora then you might enjoy it

05-31-2006, 07:12 AM

I switched from Windows XP to Linux to OS X...
In my experience, Linux is a very nice & stable OS for most everyday tasks.
But "some assembly IS required" and especially newbies might be frustrated to find that certain things don't just work out of the box the way they do under OS X and even windows.

Having said that: I found Linux (Ubuntu specifically) much easier to setup and configure than Windows (how on earth could someone at Microsoft greenlight the control panel?). If you're looking for an OS for a cheap, generic x86 machine that is only used for web surfing, image editing, office work - then linux is probably worth considering.

If you're buying a new computer: Get a mac, no doubt about it in my mind. The extra cost is well worth it considering the headaches it can save...

06-01-2006, 12:29 PM

I am a recent switcher. Spent FOREVER with every version of Windows since Windows 3.1 and DOS, right through Windows XP. Along the way, I got SO fed up with Windows that I started experimenting with Linux. I quickly took the plunge and went to Linux full time. Over the last two years, I have worked almost exclusively in Linux, keeping Windows around only for Photoshop and iTunes. When it was time to get a new computer, I realized that I could get Photoshop and iTunes on a Mac, and be done with Microsoft for good. This is what I have done. I got a shiny new Power Mac G5 and I love it.

I was planning to load Linux onto this new Power Mac and dual boot, using Linux for day-to-day and Mac OS X only when I needed it, for Photoshop and iTunes, just like I used to do with my PC.

I haven't done this though. Mac OS X is just TOO good. In fact, I haven't loaded Linux at all, and after working with Mac OS X for a few weeks now, have dropped my plans to do so entirely. Why?

Well, lots of reasons. As someone pointed out, with Linux, assembly is ALWAYS required. I am used to this, and not at all frightened of it (I use Arch Linux, second only to Gentoo in the need for ongoing "assembly", but control = speed, and so I do it). With Mac OS X, everything just works, no assembly needed. There is an obvious and graceful way to do everything with no muss no fuss, at least so far. Then, there is the interface itself. It is a thing of beauty. I *love* the look and feel of the Mac OS X interface. On the Linux side, the only thing close is KDE, and it is really a distant second.

Further to this, you can run almost all of your familiar open source programs on Mac OS X. Apple supplies X11, and both the Darwinports and the Fink projects open the world of Open Source Software to the Mac. Just as an example, I went out and got GIMP and am happily running it under Mac OS X!

Then lets talk a real paradigm shift - widgets! What an amazing idea! Once you try Dashboard, you will be hooked. There is no going back!

Linux does have its pluses though. The thing I miss the most is multiple desktops. If I could improve one thing on the Mac OS X interface, it would be that. Also, the Mac OS X window manager doesn't support window snapping, so windows don't snap together when they get close to each other, a feature I really like, and which is on most Linux window managers. Finally, window resizing is pretty archiac on the Mac. You can only resize using one small corner of a window, AND you get no visual feedback (change of mouse pointer shape) when you position the mouse into that area. Even Windows does better than this, allowing you to grab the sides or bottom of a window to change its size.

So, pluses and minuses, but the pluses far outweigh the minuses. My two cents.

06-01-2006, 04:59 PM

Download Virtue for multiple desktops and be forever happy (although there are other clients too)