A friend of mine is doing a report for school comparing the three major operating systems (Linux, Windows, Mac). However, he does not have access to the internet, so I sugessted that I could ask peoples opinions on each OS and to vote for which they prefer to use on different CS based forums. If anyone would like to post what you do and don't like about each OS, I'd really appreciate it. The votes will be tallied and the most well thought out arguments for each OS will be put into the report. If you do not want your post put into the report, please state so in your post. Thank you very much.

Not to sound like a jerk but I have a few questions first.

• Is your friend in high school or college? (College students shouldn't need this help).
• Is this report supposed to be the random opinons of others or a technical description of how each OS works and differs from the others? Put another way, what is the teacher looking for in the report?
• Why can't your friend get a copy of Linux (such as a LiveCD like Knoppix) and test it out for himself? I assume you could burn a copy for him if he needed it.
• Why can't your friend go to the library and use the Internet computers there, or just borrow your computer?
• Does your friend know anything about the different OSes?
• How technically savvy is your friend and how technical do you want the responses to be? Meaning is the level of response like "I like Mac's cuz they're cute" or like "Linux kernel 2.6 provides these enhancements over kernel 2.4..."

I have no problem giving my opinion, but I think the people on this forum would like to know how much information they need to provide.

If these questions are out of line, I apologize. Don't want to upset anyone.

No problem at all. This is a high school report. I found out today that he mainly wants to know what people use each OS for (IE which they prefer for programming, web development, servers, gaming, ect.). He will also be including information about the capabilities of each OS that im going to pull off the internet fo him. As for the library, he's lucky to get a ride anywhere and our school computers hardley ever work. Unfortunatly, im not sure exactly how technical he wants. Im guessing not very since this is a research paper for english over anything, not a report for a computer class, but I would say the second statement would be more in line of what he is looking for. If you wish to put very technical information, that would be fine as he'll definetly be able to understand it. He knows quite a bit about linux and windows, but the teacher doesn't want it all to be out of his head. Thanks for the questions Crystallatice.

Well okay, now that we have the ground rules settled.

I used to use Windows exclusively until roughly 4-5 years ago. At that time I was getting sick of stupid Windows idiosyncrasies and wanted to try Linux. (I had installed it once before in 1998 but it wouldn't work w/ my computer; I think it was a BIOS issue). I installed Linux on a dual partition and ended up using it exclusively, except for video games.

Currently I use a Mac but have a Linux server for web development. I don't use Windows unless I have to, i.e. I have to use a program for school or something and I can't get it working on Linux or Mac, or when I'm at work.

I use the Mac for pretty much everything nowadays, though I still like to use Linux. Once you overcome your fear of Linux, it's really a comfortable OS; editing config files is so much easier than working your way through dialog boxes.

I like the fact that OS X is Unix-based (FreeBSD AAMOF), so much of what I learn in Linux is transferable. Plus there are some things you can do in the OS X command line that you can't do otherwise, or at least it's more difficult such as setting up NFS.

My current Linux distro of choice is Gentoo. I learned more about Linux when I first installed Gentoo than I thought I already knew. It forces you to learn about config files and where things are located in the filesystem. I also like using portage, since I'm guaranteed to have the latest version of an app and full disk updates only require a single command; a single flag determines if you want to update dependencies or just the core program. USE flags are great to "customize" the distro so you don't have to take the usual "one size fits all" of most other distros.

Regarding uses, as I said, I like using the Mac for just about everything. However, when I program in Python I prefer to use Linux. Though Python is supported by Mac (and is installed by default), the tools to use it seem to have many issues and act buggy.

I use my Mac for web development because I can get Dreamweaver for it; hand coding large sites in Linux got to be too much work. I would use my Mac as a web testing server, but Apache (which also comes w/ the OS) doesn't understand my ISP's URL so I can't login via localhost. That's one of the reasons why I currently have my Linux server; the other is that I wanted to learn how to set up an Apache server from scratch w/ PHP, Python, etc. support.

As a final thought, OS X and Linux don't have the security flaws Windows does. I've never had a virus, even in Windows, but that's because I practice "good computing". But when MS knows of a security problem and refuses to fix it in a timely manner (like the WMF problem a few weeks back), I don't want to put up w/ that. They may feel it's a low priority but w/ the increasing number of 0-day hacks, I don't think I should have to chance it. Plus, I really don't like MS's policies and their "we know what's best for you" attitude.

Hope that's along the lines of what you're looking for. If not, I can do better.

Wow Cody - you were totally out of line back there

No one or hardly any one can escape the evil empire. Windows is main stream and is written for the masses. It is necessary and to be honest, Microsoft has made leaps and bounds in their O/S IMHO. For most anything work related I have to use Windows. This includes mostly Autocad and office type stuff.

There are two main catagories in which I use Linux. As a server - file, web, ftp, dhcp, anything else you can think of and also for programming. I feel crippled when I program with Windows.

I don't have a fair comparison for Mac, as I don't use it often. However, if you are doing any type of publishing, chances are that you are using a Mac.

A couple of analogies for Windows vs. Linux.

First, if you tell me that you use Windows quite often, I would not be sure whether you were technically adept or whether you first turned on a computer yesterday. If you tell me that you are using Linux, I would be confident that you were very technically adept.

Lastly, I like to compare Linux/Windows to a car. Windows is like that brand new sports car that cost quite a bit of money. It is all integrated, all stock and fits together nicely. It runs well, but when it breaks down, you probably don't have any idea how to fix it even if you are pretty competent with cars.

On the other hand, Linux is like an older hotrod. It is a collection of parts, mostly custom and is generally known inside and out by its owner. It is prone to break as well, but when it does, the owner is going to be able to know what to do to fix it, even if it involves a bit of chewing gum and duct tape.

Hope this helps.

Not to mention it probably is an automatic shift that you must use the 4-on-the-floor to get moving,

There is only one knob inside that controls wipers, lights, turn signals, horn, windows, heater and radio, and rather than behind the steering wheel, it's behind the passenger seat for safety. And you must be the purchaser to work it.

And when a truck passes and tosses a stone at your windshield, the stone will pass thru the windhield without a mark and smack you right in the forehead.

And you will only be able to make 5 trips, then you have to call the manufacturer and have the trip counter reset.

Oh, and the gauges? One Blue Signal of Distress light labeled "Something might be wrong" indicating Oil, Temp, Gas, Engine, etc. may need looking after.

I like this comment. It's along the lines of the old "Unix snob" remarks but it's too true.

Running Windows doesn't take too much effort. MS has "dumbed down" the OS so much that it takes more knowledge to not break it than to run it. I've dealt with so many people who inadvertantly did some and corrupted the file system or other broken-beyond-belief problem.

I'm not denying that Windows is a capable OS and MS has steadily increased it's abilities. But saying it's the best OS out there simply because it's the only thing you know isn't saying too much about your abilities, though it says volumes about your closed-mindedness.

AMEN crystal