I admit, I am anti-Microsoft, but why does nobody focus on Steve Jobs and Mac OS X, is it not closed-source software that costs a ton purely for Jobs' profit? Just curious if there is a different situation!

Probably because Apple don't try and exterminate FOSS or label it a "cancer" - they use FOSS and even contribute to it on occasion

Historically, Apple has had a different focus than MicroSoft; being more interested in selling hardware than software. Over time, Smac users developed an attitude of smug superiority, based in large part on the obvious similarities between SmacOS and Win3.x, which quickly transformed itself into an elitist mindset: "using our computers will prove you are more intelligent than anyone else, ease the pangs of liberal guilt, make your whites whiter, your colors brighter, and generally set you apart as superior in all things moral and intellectual."

According to some Business Gurus I'm acquainted with, their "we are not for the masses" image was so damaged by the widespread acceptance of the ipod, that its success may ultimately prove to have been fatal to Apple.

But I digress.

Up until now, Apple has been content to focus its disdain on M$ and ignore, for the most part, everyone else. Now that they've gone to OSX, which is *nix based (Darwin, i think?), we'll have to see what happens.

Thank you very much!

No problem!

It's not the fact that MS is not open source or OS X (ten) for that matter...

I don't think people bash Steve as much because he is not trying to take over the world...

KC

What I mean by this is we'll have to wait and see if Apple's attitude towards Linux will change now that they're *nix based, not that people don't rag on Apple and/or Steve Jobs because of what OS X is or isn't, or M$ being OSS or not. The same Business Gurus I referred to earlier also hinted that Apple may have decided that they aren't really very fond of Linux after all. I should have been more clear about that, sorry.

I would say the bulk of Linux users who hate Microsoft leave Apple alone for one of a few reasons:

1. They used to be Windows users and had a reason to switch to Linux. It's possible they may not have ever used a Macintosh (at least not recently).

2. It's trendy to hate Bill Gates. iPods are cool. Spyware'd Windows isn't cool.

3. If they're sophisticated computer users, both Mac and Linux appeal to them because they can tinker under the *nix hood. Windows is ideal more for the intermediate users. Mac and Linux have a similar super-beginner/super-expert user base.

4. Apple doesn't have a "get the facts" campaign targeted at discrediting Linux... at least not as far as I can tell.

5. A lot of people, like me, moved to Linux because of the "eye candy," and Mac OS X looks excellent--Windows does not.

6. Mac OS X does not enable root by default and prompts you for a password every time you try to install software.

Hate to repeat myself, but I believe that this anti-MS reaction may actually have a lot to do with the fact that many Microsoft users actually exhibit reverse elitism to the Linux community. Mac users generally don't come and troll about in online Linux communities/groups/forums etc.

This is a complex topic and no easy answers.

It's all about perceptions about people and how people judge other people collectively as a group rather than individually...

As I said, I'm trying to analyze all these phenomenon of why one particular community reacts negatively to another and so on.

i don´t feel that apple is better than ms. if market shares were reversed, apple might be even nastier.
that said, i really like their hw & sw on laptops. i just hope they maintain a good synergy with linux folks (some indications are in the air that they won´t - non-linux-compatible wifi, ati display adapters on laptops etc.).

I think it is based on the fact that so many people who use Macs like them, alot, and see no need to fool with other people. With Microsoft, the WindoZzze users have serious issues, hence why some of us are here and not on the phone calling Tech support every few days. Macintosh has, from what people I know have said, pretty damn good, and a few people I know who use both Linux and Mac like they for diffrent things. Granted my info on Mac is second-hand, Mac has gone to great lengths to try and give people a good, stable OS, while Microsoft has gotten so money-hungry, they make a few changes and put out buggy crap, and when they debug it fully, sell it as a new OS, and we all know the Linux ideal. Put out something that works, and damn the time. Anyways, I'm with the others. Hating M$ has turned into a fad, that is made worse by reasoning for the fire. Linux and Windows have a history with each other, one in which Mac has been nice enough to try and stay out of. I could be wrong, but eh, never know.

I use Slackware and OS X and love 'em both. A strange combination, perhaps, but they live in peace in harmony and I wouldn't have it any other way.