Because Shiny Things Are Fun - The New New Windows v Linux Thread

Originally Posted by Jeebizz I could probably see some argument for 'professional apps', then again all Adobe products are also available on the Windows side. The design/aesthetics argument however is just so superficial and has no real merit. I don't care if I have an 'ugly beige' tower, in the end it is just a computer and it does what I need. I spend 99% of the time in front looking at the screen anyways, not the tower.

I'm also talking about laptops though, which design is a make or break-er and aesthetics matter because everyone see your laptop. If a laptop has a keyboard with flex and poor response, productivity on that keyboard will suffer. Same with the touchpad. If a user cant effectively manipulate his or her computer to do what he or she want because the touchpad is unresponsive and glitchy, productivity with the touchpad will suffer. And aesthetics? These certainly matter. A good looking screen with good color gamut, sharpness, display angles and brightness could be the difference between "I hate my laptop", or "I love my laptop. Design is also sensible stuff; the MacBook Pro line has edge to edge glass, so crumbs and other foreign material does not get stuck. The design of the MagSafe power connector could be the difference between a tug-&-drop nightmare or a tug-&-release annoyance.

Even on desktops design has real merit. Take the iMac for example. It's space saving design and minimal cords gives it the opportunity to be used where a beige tower couldn't.

Don't underestimate a computer's sex appeal. Sure, you may not give one iota what the machine looks like, but a teenage girl might think much different.

Furthermore, there is certainly an argument for professional applications. Take Logic Studio or Final Cut Studio for example; these two applications are used around the globe for content creation. In fact, it is close to, and in many cases is, what Hollywood producers use for movies or music professionals rely upon.

Pursuing this further, you must not underestimate the ubiquitous iOS platfrom. The Mac in most cases is necessary to produce an application for iOS.

And certainly, as we Linux users can attest to, UNIX is nicer to use than Windows. Unfortunately, Linux, BSD and their UNIX cousins have very limited availability for proprietary applications. Mac OS X bridges this gap somewhat effectively.

Originally Posted by leopard Unfortunately, Linux, BSD and their UNIX cousins have very limited support for proprietary applications.

I think you are confusing something here. It is up to the application to support an OS, not the OS to support the application. That has nothing to do with licenses.

Originally Posted by TobiSGD I think you are confusing something here. It is up to the application to support an OS, not the OS to support the application. That has nothing to do with licenses.

I know.

What I mean is the availability of proprietary software on Linux is much, much, much less than Mac OS X.

EDIT: Amended my mistake in original reply.

Originally Posted by leopard I'm also talking about laptops though, which design is a make or break-er and aesthetics matter because everyone see your laptop. If a laptop has a keyboard with flex and poor response, productivity on that keyboard will suffer. Same with the touchpad. If a user cant effectively manipulate his or her computer to do what he or she want because the touchpad is unresponsive and glitchy, productivity with the touchpad will suffer. And aesthetics? These certainly matter. A good looking screen with good color gamut, sharpness, display angles and brightness could be the difference between "I hate my laptop", or "I love my laptop. Design is also sensible stuff; the MacBook Pro line has edge to edge glass, so crumbs and other foreign material does not get stuck. The design of the MagSafe power connector could be the difference between a tug-&-drop nightmare or a tug-&-release annoyance.

Of the many times I have used my notebook when it was alive, not once have I had any issues you described, and aesthetics? Things looked just fine, no bad colors, no blurring or any kind of graphical glitch; the design was rather sensible to me.

Originally Posted by leopard Even on desktops design has real merit. Take the iMac for example. It's space saving design and minimal cords gives it the opportunity to be used where a beige tower couldn't.

So because I have a beige tower, I can't tame the chords? I can just wrap them together neatly, no tangling and are just as neatly as the iMac, big deal. I don't care how Apple designs their cases (practically thats probably the only thing they design, and probably even that is assembled in China ), to me the philosophy of Apple and their 'stylishness' pretty much crosses the line into snobbery if you ask me, and usually the people who I ever spoken to who buy Apple products are the type that would never be technically inclined to fix or troubleshoot any problem should they come up themselves. Thats not to say that there isn't at least SOME Apple/Mac users that have technical expertise.

I didn't buy a computer for it's looks, I bought it for it's performance.

Agreed with Jeebizz. My laptop I've had for 2 years now, and it's only been dropped once because of my sister (She messes EVERYTHING up...). I don't have crumbs or anything in my laptop, but it may be a little dusty. Nothing a little dust rag or a paper towel can't fix. And besides, mine looks pretty sleek. I like the sleek black look. And I have a 1080p screen on mine. My keyboard and my touchpad have shown no problems and they're very responsive. And frankly, I'm not a professional. I don't need professional movie editing software, PiTiVi works great for me. Then we have Audacity which is another great app. If I want any Adobe products (I have CS4), I just reboot into Windows and use Photoshop/Flash/Illustrator there. No biggie. So again, they're very overpriced for what you get. If you NEED all that professional stuff, then its a great buy. But for home users who don't do much, stick with Windows and/or Linux.

And I did wish that Apple would open up the iOS platform so you could do development on Windows and/or Linux (no virtualbox). But then Android came and shut that wish up. I'm good.

Well if I ever need any kind of professional video editing (non-linear) software, I can just turn to lightworks since they recently announced that they are going open source, and even more recently just released a public beta. Sooo, I need a mac because.....?

Originally Posted by Jeebizz I didn't buy a computer for it's looks, I bought it for it's performance.

I also think that Apple's idea that a computer is like a fashion statement is silly.

I think *ALL* of Apple's ideas regarding computing (especially their opinion that a computer is to have an OS that is vendor-locked to itself) are downright insane.

What it boils down to is that:

• Microsoft has prporietary software
• Apple has proprietary software locked to proprietary hardware

See the pattern?

So then technically Microsoft is the lesser of the two evils. I can install Windows legally to whatever I want that is capable of running Windows, well provided it is x86. It is not like the old days when WindowsNT would run on multiple platforms, x86, DEC Alpha, MIPS, PPC, PA-RISC...

If you don't want OS X, you can just not buy a Mac.

But Windows is practically forced upon you by almost all computer manufacturers.

Originally Posted by MTK358 If you don't want OS X, you can just not buy a Mac. But Windows is practically forced upon you by almost all computer manufacturers.

That's a good point as well. Of course, considering Canonical's OEM muscle, there are some more vendors besides Dell (HP I believe being one of them) that plan on offering Ubuntu boxes.

Originally Posted by Jeebizz I could probably see some argument for 'professional apps', then again all Adobe products are also available on the Windows side. The design/aesthetics argument however is just so superficial and has no real merit. I don't care if I have an 'ugly beige' tower, in the end it is just a computer and it does what I need. I spend 99% of the time in front looking at the screen anyways, not the tower.

If the aesthetics are all wrong with your beige tower just find some interesting stickers for it LOL

Originally Posted by Kenny_Strawn That's a good point as well. Of course, considering Canonical's OEM muscle, there are some more vendors besides Dell (HP I believe being one of them) that plan on offering Ubuntu boxes.

The problem is that almost everyone uses Windows and I'm pretty sure that most people who buy computers with Linux on them already are experienced Linux users.

Originally Posted by MTK358 The problem is that almost everyone uses Windows and I'm pretty sure that most people who buy computers with Linux on them already are experienced Linux users.

This unfortunately is a valid point unless the consumer decides to choose Ubuntu to try for the novelty of the OS.This however is not a good selling point.

Originally Posted by tiredofbilkyyaforallican If the aesthetics are all wrong with your beige tower just find some interesting stickers for it LOL

If I wanted to, and I actually thought about it but just been too lazy; I can just get some spray paint and colour my beige tower to something else. I have considered giving it a total silver make over.