Operating System(OS) Wars

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by Stryder, Feb 14, 2014.

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Which OS is better? (post version/build and any reason for your decision)

  1. Windows OS

    18 vote(s)
    34.6%
  2. Mac OS

    7 vote(s)
    13.5%
  3. Linux based OS

    21 vote(s)
    40.4%
  4. UNIX

    2 vote(s)
    3.8%
  5. Other

    4 vote(s)
    7.7%
  1. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

    Messages:
    39,397
    Wrong. It works just fine in Windows, for example.
     
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  3. mmatt9876 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    846
    I am learning how to use GIMP and I have it installed on Windows 10. It also works for Mac, if I am correct. Photoshop is cross platform too, if I am correct.
     
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  5. Cris In search of Immortality Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,199
    I have recently transitioned away from Windows to Linux (Mint Cinnamon). I have 3 desktop systems, I use Linux on 2 of them and kept 1 for Windows 10. I have never bought a PC - always designed and built my own.

    The Mint Gui is significantly more pleasant to use than Windows - simple, elegant, no silly frills like libraries etc., or the huge MS bloatware. Software management and updates are so much easier in Linux.

    So for all my daily tasks I use Linux, with Firefox as my browser. LibreOffice suite is excellent - something that I missed on Windows. I retired in early 2010 and always had access to MS office at work, but never had a copy on my home machines, and I didn't want to pay MS prices - ouch. So for the past few years I had been using Google Docs and Spreadsheets - not bad, but not instant, and with many missing features. LibreOffice solves all that - at no cost.

    Photo management, editing and video editing, all have good packages on Linux. And Rsync and Grsync are superb for backups - never found a Windows equivalent. I use Banshee for the few thousand music files I actually own.

    But - Gaming? Windows is still king although it is possible to run many Windows based games and other software on Linux using the WINE translation layer. This works very well and performs well for many Windows packages, and many games, but not all. I loaded World of Warcraft on a Linux machine and used Wine - it worked very well except that the best performance for WOW needs DirectX 12, and Wine does not support that. I had to downgrade all my graphics settings to get playable WOW - not good enough - since I have a high end graphics card that I run with Ultra settings, WOW on Wine was just not acceptable - so had to keep that machine with Windows 10 that I now only use for gaming.

    Linux is immensely stable and its design means viruses and malware will have a hard time penetrating, although not impossible.

    In the world of enterprise business Linux dominates overwhelmingly and it is likely that every super computer on the planet runs Linux. Linux was based on Unix and so was MAC OS. They both have very similar internals and file systems. Also, Android is really just a pretty Gui sitting on an underlying Linux kernel.

    But, in the desktop field, MS has some 90% of the market, with MAC OS at 7% and Linux at 2%. It comes down to money - desktop Linux distros are free and community supported - just not enough financial incentives to attract developers. In the business world those versions of Linux are well funded. Desktop Linux is very much liked by a large dedicated community and will likely grow, but does need to have more Windows like packages ported before it can truly rival Windows Dominance. MS Windows continues to make huge gaffs with its support and updates that alienate many people, which could mean more people move to Linux - just need more people to spread the word.

    Linux is a great platform and fun to use - just been truly dissatisfied with the increasing complexity of Windows for doing the simplest tasks.
     
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  7. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    After many years of saying similar things myself, I now no longer have a single Linux system. I just got tired of all of the problems, disconnects and failures. The end was when Ubuntu just locked me out and I could not get back in. Just chucked the hard drive, got another and went back in with WIN 7.

    Now I have just finished building a new state of the art desktop system, primarily for art/photo and gaming. OS is WIN 10. I shut Concertina up, told her to leave me alone. Yeah, I hate the excess crap the MS loads on it, but at least stuff works. Installed Office 2003, Corel Paintshop Pro 2019 and Steam. Also like how fast it boots with WIN 10 resident on a SSD - real close to an "on" switch.

    Got an Acer 38" ultra-wide monitor too - pretty cool.

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  8. Baldeee Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,226
    I'm predominantly a gamer so Windows is the only real option.
    Was happy with win7 for many years but recently upgraded my CPU and motherboard so took advantage of the offer to upgrade for free to win 10.
    And yeah, with the OS on an SSD the boot up and turn off times are impressive, at least compared to previous versions.

    Cris, regarding MS Office stuff, with their move to a subscription model you can probably pick up versions of 2016 quite cheaply.
    I bought 2016 (professional edition, I think) for £30 - single PC license.
    Before that I used Open Office, which was okay, but not as good.

    But anyway, win10 gets my vote.
     
  9. Saint Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,752
    I just installed my hackintosh with Macos Catalina Beta.
    Very good.

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  10. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Another gripe I have with Win 10 is this stupid requester box that pops up every other time I boot up. It wants me to enter my password repeatedly so that I can gain permissions to make it the password for all of my electronics so they can 'more easily share information' with each other. Of course, that would also make it much easier to hack my systems and I usually do not have more than one device running at a time. Can't find where/how to permanently stop this POS from showing up either. Would be nice to right click up that "never show this again" direction, which, of course, is not there to use.

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    Waiting for the release of Crowbar Collectives Black Mesa finale...coming soon!
     
  11. JohnSoto Registered Member

    Messages:
    7
    My preferrences are about Windows. I tried the others, but they didn't work with me
     
  12. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,077
    Just picked the above as a lead-in

    Few months ago a ATM here in Bali ate my Debit Card. As the ATM was shutting down a Windows Desktop appeared on the screen

    Anyone have any info about ATM operating system? I would have thought each bank would have its own purpose built system

    Unless Windows just for bank staff to make adjustments? obtain readouts?
    Seems unlikely

    Reported lost card to bank with details of location of ATM, (should not have been necessary but this is Bali), the ATM ID number

    Few days later email - sorry can't find your card

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  13. Saint Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,752
    I had seen ATM machine screen shows Windows XP.
    Very old system, can it be easily hacked?
     
  14. Facial Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,225
    Now I'm curious as to what the fastest OS/web browser combination is. There are some awful tiny Linux-based OS' out there, like Slax.

    It could be nice to have an alternate OS to Win10 which is getting increasingly bloated all the time. Win10 started out really fast in 2016, when the free downloads were still going around. Progressive "updates" have slowed down the boot speed to a crawl, and now hibernation doesn't seem to help either!
     
  15. Dicart Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    465
    Better for what ?
    Conviviality ?
    Security of your data ?
    Compatible with some "best" material ? (so what is the best material... next question).
    Best if you dont know anything about computer science ?
    Best if you dont know anything about material ?
    Etc
    Etc
    Therefore, if you want to do rational classifying of the different OS you have to build some matrix : left you have the requirements (no all people avec the same requirement) and up you have OS.
    You check if OS apply or not (or you rate from 1 to 10 for example).
     
  16. mmatt9876 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    846
    I have been busy using a Windows 11 and Linux Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 dual-boot. I use Windows 11 for gaming, creative writing, and development. I use Linux Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 for development.
     
  17. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,057
    Window$
     
  18. mmatt9876 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    846
    I have been fascinated by the performance and efficiency of the Apple ARM chips. I wonder if we will see more affordable ARM PCs with the same, or better, performance and efficiency as the more expensive ARM Macs and ARM iPads currently available.
     
  19. danieldanieldaniel Registered Member

    Messages:
    5
    I'd say it depends on your needs. For PCs, I like Windows 10. For Linux, Ubuntu or Arch are good choices. Android is my pick for tablets and smartphones. FreeBSD for a minimal command-line setup is cool too!
     

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