HardOCP News
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5 Things Linux Does Better Than Mac OS X
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brucedeluxe169
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eh, thats actually a reasonable enough list...
That is a terrible article. Particularly the part about reliability. The security bit isn't much better. The author clearly doesn't understand how OS X user accounts work.
Another useless article designed to get people into flamewars on the comments to bring in page views. yawn.
Another useless article designed to get people into flamewars on the comments to bring in page views. yawn.
Ditto. Never had my MBP crash on me the almost 3 years I have had it.
o-O
Yet another "power user" with their head in the clouds of super computer tech nerd land.
OSX is done as it is and popular in its own right for a reason, it's users arn't all basement linux nerds. The customise bit is a clear sign of being out of touch and having little knowledge of things that don't require a masters in computing.
OSX is done as it is and popular in its own right for a reason, it's users arn't all basement linux nerds. The customise bit is a clear sign of being out of touch and having little knowledge of things that don't require a masters in computing.
PornoSatan
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Astute observation my good sir; but let us not be so inclined to judge the potential validity of an article based on its formatting but of the content therein, lest we become fooled by properly formatted yet ultimately false articles that so often threaten us.
Damn, that was smooth.
BloodyIron
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I've been learning to support Linux (read: support, as in not only use it but help those i know use it also) for years now. In that time I have found that system failures like BSOD's are almost non existant.
I don't think I've ever been working on something and the ENTIRE OPERATING SYSTEM fails and forces me to reboot losing all my work. I have on the other hand had parts of the system fail on me, sometimes. In these cases I can usually just restart what failed and go. Failing that I can troubleshoot it in my environment, as in without rebooting.
However the times I have had "catastrophic failure" is typically when I am doing things I really don't yet know how to do. Most of these things occured when I was learning how to properly use Gentoo. I'm still not confident I know how to use Gentoo enough, but I sure do know a lot more about Linux now after using it!
All in all, I must say that the GNU/Linux/Whatever environment is one of the most resilient environments I have encountered, and I've been using Windows since 3.1. (I also used DOS 4.x for a while too).
I'm not sure about MACOS. I have had mixed results, some good, but lately pretty lame results. My parents decided to get an iMac and it has only partly worked for them. When I say that I mean from a functionality standpoint not a hardware failure standpoint. One of the wierd things the "Techs" (aka "Geniuses") at the Apple store did was setup 3 user accounts for my 2 parents. 1 for my Step-Dad, 1 for my Mom, and 1 for Mail...
Anyone see the problem here yet?
As such I have been helping them here and there mitigate this silly decision early on, and I suspect it will not be the easiest thing to do to fix this in the predictable eventuality that will ensue (redundancy omg).
As for other elements, such as stability, I havn't really heard of anything substantial in that regard in the MACOS realm. However I can't get past what keeps me turned off by Mac systems.
What turns me off from Mac systems is a few things. First off the price. Someone recently told me that Apple had gotten "better" at this. I systematically showed them how wrong they are. If you compare similar to identical specs to a custom build you will find it cheaper with a custom "PC" build (ugh a Mac is a PC, as in it is personal and a computer, this is stupid). Second off the limited hardware selection. I'm pretty sure I have to buy everything except maybe RAM from Apple because the selection of what you can put in the systems and have supported is stupidly limited. Third off is the lock-ins. Have any of you actually tried migrating a Mac user to another platform? I havn't yet, but I am not looking forward to the day when I have to move my parents over to another platform.
If you really want to see what I'm talking about, just go to their site and try and build a system. Take a look at their puny selection of graphics cards (Apple will never be a true gaming platform until that is fixed). Then go build a "workstation" and see how your wallet shrinks.
The closest thing I can come to even admiring is their Mac Mini's. They are okay in price and features, size and design. I still don't like the lock-ins though, that's just asking for trouble.
Fact of the matter is, I have never recommended an Apple product to anyone. Not one product in their entire line up. And I suspect I never will.
I don't think I've ever been working on something and the ENTIRE OPERATING SYSTEM fails and forces me to reboot losing all my work. I have on the other hand had parts of the system fail on me, sometimes. In these cases I can usually just restart what failed and go. Failing that I can troubleshoot it in my environment, as in without rebooting.
However the times I have had "catastrophic failure" is typically when I am doing things I really don't yet know how to do. Most of these things occured when I was learning how to properly use Gentoo. I'm still not confident I know how to use Gentoo enough, but I sure do know a lot more about Linux now after using it!
All in all, I must say that the GNU/Linux/Whatever environment is one of the most resilient environments I have encountered, and I've been using Windows since 3.1. (I also used DOS 4.x for a while too).
I'm not sure about MACOS. I have had mixed results, some good, but lately pretty lame results. My parents decided to get an iMac and it has only partly worked for them. When I say that I mean from a functionality standpoint not a hardware failure standpoint. One of the wierd things the "Techs" (aka "Geniuses") at the Apple store did was setup 3 user accounts for my 2 parents. 1 for my Step-Dad, 1 for my Mom, and 1 for Mail...
Anyone see the problem here yet?
As such I have been helping them here and there mitigate this silly decision early on, and I suspect it will not be the easiest thing to do to fix this in the predictable eventuality that will ensue (redundancy omg).
As for other elements, such as stability, I havn't really heard of anything substantial in that regard in the MACOS realm. However I can't get past what keeps me turned off by Mac systems.
What turns me off from Mac systems is a few things. First off the price. Someone recently told me that Apple had gotten "better" at this. I systematically showed them how wrong they are. If you compare similar to identical specs to a custom build you will find it cheaper with a custom "PC" build (ugh a Mac is a PC, as in it is personal and a computer, this is stupid). Second off the limited hardware selection. I'm pretty sure I have to buy everything except maybe RAM from Apple because the selection of what you can put in the systems and have supported is stupidly limited. Third off is the lock-ins. Have any of you actually tried migrating a Mac user to another platform? I havn't yet, but I am not looking forward to the day when I have to move my parents over to another platform.
If you really want to see what I'm talking about, just go to their site and try and build a system. Take a look at their puny selection of graphics cards (Apple will never be a true gaming platform until that is fixed). Then go build a "workstation" and see how your wallet shrinks.
The closest thing I can come to even admiring is their Mac Mini's. They are okay in price and features, size and design. I still don't like the lock-ins though, that's just asking for trouble.
Fact of the matter is, I have never recommended an Apple product to anyone. Not one product in their entire line up. And I suspect I never will.
BloodyIron
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I take it you havn't actually used Ubuntu and tried to switch window environments have you? It's easier than you even think it could be.
Sounds like the pottle calling the ket black.
From the article: "Systems crashes and downtime are pretty much a fact of life when you're a Mac user..."
What? I can't remember the last time my Mac Mini has crashed. Current uptime since last reboot (for a security update most likely) is over 12 days. Firefox does start to act funny and needs restarting after a month or so of heavy use.
What? I can't remember the last time my Mac Mini has crashed. Current uptime since last reboot (for a security update most likely) is over 12 days. Firefox does start to act funny and needs restarting after a month or so of heavy use.
Yea it was man. Good stuff.
Sorry *snicker* but I couldn't help it. =)
DeathPrincess
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It just works?
fucking crApples. I had 3 months of non use which ends tommorow. I'm already in a pissed off mood. crashing with 2 different programs open (including calculator) happens more than daily, especially when doing something intensive. This is those shitty mac"pros" too. The only "professionals" that use them must have worked on wallstreet. Must be joy on the shittier laptops (unless you upgrade the OS). Can check mail ok however (with safari...more joy).
But anyway linux and OSX are for different user bases. Linux is more for...tech people, OSX is more for people who are scared of tech. The server things is because upgrades on linux can be done with no downtime (mostly). Also Mac servers are a big expensive joke.
fucking crApples. I had 3 months of non use which ends tommorow. I'm already in a pissed off mood. crashing with 2 different programs open (including calculator) happens more than daily, especially when doing something intensive. This is those shitty mac"pros" too. The only "professionals" that use them must have worked on wallstreet. Must be joy on the shittier laptops (unless you upgrade the OS). Can check mail ok however (with safari...more joy).
But anyway linux and OSX are for different user bases. Linux is more for...tech people, OSX is more for people who are scared of tech. The server things is because upgrades on linux can be done with no downtime (mostly). Also Mac servers are a big expensive joke.
I've been linux-only for over a year, pretty sure that with Wine able to emulate win apps (with near, and sometimes better, comparable performance vs native windows execution - funny i know) theres little reason to even waste the space on a dual boot drive, though i'd still dual boot XP for old time's sake.
Ion Silverbolt
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I think Linux is better than OSX but that article is crap.
Just anecdotally, I've had a couple unrecoverable crashes in Windows 7 and several instances of Explorer crashing. In OS X, I've had applications get pissy and have needed to force quit them (typically Adobe's shit, Illustrator especially). I've also had an Aqua freak-out recently. Getting that sorted out is a bit more difficult than restarting Explorer in Windows, but it isn't bad. I haven't had a kernel panic since...shit, 2004 or 2005 maybe.
I expect Windows to crash more often because of the nature of third-party drivers. I expect it to happen less frequently in OS X (on a genuine Mac) and, for the most part, that's been the case in my experience. You have to give Microsoft a lot of credit, though, for building an OS that more-or-less holds itself together with all of these thousands (or tens of thousands) of device drivers cobbled together.
Less secure, fundamentally. Practically, I consider it more secure unless you go around taunting hackers. A skilled hacker won't need to struggle for too long to get into OS X, but they're more likely to end up exploiting vulnerabilities in a third-party application than the OS itself (not that it really matters at the end of the day). But as far as malware is concerned, that's fairly rare, and OS X has a built-in catcher to help stop users from installing some of the "major" malware. And actual viruses I'm not sure if there are any functional OS X viruses in the wild right now.
Calculator, huh? You don't say. You have the Crash Reporter logs?
DeathPrincess
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Not mine, so no, its probably somewhere on the network, I could ask for them, but theres many many.
It basically goes like this. One of the sound labs is fitted with a macpro. doing some kind of sound wave generation test using reactor. Think "hey need fundemental frequency for whatever" fire up calculator, slows to a crawl. often instant freeze. Waiting for rendering off protools. get bored, fire up a webpage. slows to a crawl. often instant freeze. Usually when it comes back from these 3 minute hangs, the audio cards have all dropped out. So needs restarting. This is on 5 different machines (2 macpros, 1 G4 and 2 imacs) all of them the same, under various different cat branded OSs.
Use same programs on a core2duo win laptop. Open a tonne of stuff, it's fine. Even my ancient single core AMD unit runs the stuff better.
If you're constantly crashing, you've got a hardware problem. Check Crash Reporter like phide suggested.
The only time I _ever_ got a kernel panic running OS X was when my 8800M GTS died.
DeathPrincess
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5 units, 4 less than 2 years old, 2 less than 1 year old, all have hardware problems?
In that case, yeah, clearly something else is wrong. Why don't you check Crash Reporter like phide suggested and start from there?
All I can say is daily crashes with 2 apps open (or even 20 apps open) is not normal for OS X, no matter what version.
RanceJustice
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I find the article a bit poorly written as it jumps around a bit, but overall the assertion is sound.
1. Security. Linux is simply more secure by design, especially to desktop user issues like malware. Privilege levels and whatnot help, and the fact that most tasks don't require su/sudo helps users from getting used to just clicking "okay fine" to escalate at the drop of a hat. Windows is built for convenience from the ground up and thus isn't as fault tolerant to this stuff. OSX however, has the benefit of the UNIX subsystem but borks it up in huge ways. Sure, Windows centric viruses won't work, but there are a lot of crashes and whatnot that come from any sort of exploit delivered in a way the system recognizes as "The Apple Way", like a corrupted payload into iTunes etc, stuff with Safari that really shouldn't lead to system-wide vulnerabilities etc...
2. Customization - This pretty much hits it on the nose. Linux is unparalleled in this field. Swap WMs and DEs as you like, add compositing via Compiz or Kwin etc... Windows allows a fair bit of customization itself, but some are "gray market" like hacking the theme engine and others require lots of 3rd party programs like rainmeter/rocketdock that don't replace the current DE as much as sit on top of it. OSX has a very particular "Oh that's a Mac" style of built in shiny, but it really isn't easy to customize - its the Apple Way or the highway. Quadruple this for any cutdown device like AppleTV compared to Myth for instance.
3. Hardware - No contest. Apple is a hardware/platform company. That is what they sell. Though some of it LOOKS really nice, the vast majority is underwhelming performance wise and overly expensive. The fact that you can't run OSX, legally, on common off the shelf hardware of your choice nails the coffin up pretty nicely. Windows runs on x86 based hardware of just about any type, but Linux will run on just about ANYTHING. My bloody monitor is running a lightweight linux kernel to handle its OSD and calibration functions! SPARC, ARM, x86-64 etc... Linux has been ported to damn near anything - that's the power of open source. It isn't just limited to what is immediately profitable.
4. Reliability - My usage time with OSX is limited, but even in that short time I've found that I get the bouncing beach ball of death WAY more than any UNIX based OS should. Trying to do something that is not "The Apple Way" can result in a crash, a hang, or something else happening not as it should. Barring malware, fragmentation and other possible Windows hangups, I've actually found Windows 7 to be more reliable than OSX. Linux of course takes the crown here again. We've all heard about servers with YEARS of uptime. As a desktop OS, Linux is pretty damn reliable as well, though issues typically arise in response to something you did - Update X and your video drivers aren't updated for that version of X.org? Boom. Linux doesn't seem to "just accumulate crap" where doing a basic function will one day just go boom due to a variety of factors, but instead seems to react to increasing complexity. Thankfully, there are very few things that will really lock up a Linux system, but granted there can be daunting errors that may require a CLI visit to fix properly.
5. Price - Easily in Linux's favor here. OSX is clearly the worst having expensive underpowered hardware the cost of entry to a (relative) modest OS price itself. Sadly, OSX is also seems to be stuck in the mid 90's in terms of 3rd party developers where everything is expensive shareware or obscenely expensive "pro" products. OSX users must throw their money around - I can't see why there are 59.99 unzipping programs and CD burners out there in this day and age. Such is the price of hipster cool, I suppose. Windows isn't cheap, especially the full featured Ultimate version, (not is MS Office), but there are a variety of programs from the reasonable, to professional, to libre and open source due to the size of the installed base. Linux however, does win hands down. The amount of software available for free to a desktop user (especially for one who spurns piracy) is nothing short of amazing. Load up Ubuntu 10.10, Linux Mint, Arch Linux etc... and look into the repositories or easy-to-use software centers and you have thousands of programs available for free. Unless you are shackled to a particular program for a particular reason (and can't get it to work in WINE - another free program!), Linux is generally superior. Truly, if those "key" programs would develop Linux versions I am sure that adoption would be through the roof. Picture if every AAA PC game worked native on Linux - I'd never have reason to boot into Windows!
1. Security. Linux is simply more secure by design, especially to desktop user issues like malware. Privilege levels and whatnot help, and the fact that most tasks don't require su/sudo helps users from getting used to just clicking "okay fine" to escalate at the drop of a hat. Windows is built for convenience from the ground up and thus isn't as fault tolerant to this stuff. OSX however, has the benefit of the UNIX subsystem but borks it up in huge ways. Sure, Windows centric viruses won't work, but there are a lot of crashes and whatnot that come from any sort of exploit delivered in a way the system recognizes as "The Apple Way", like a corrupted payload into iTunes etc, stuff with Safari that really shouldn't lead to system-wide vulnerabilities etc...
2. Customization - This pretty much hits it on the nose. Linux is unparalleled in this field. Swap WMs and DEs as you like, add compositing via Compiz or Kwin etc... Windows allows a fair bit of customization itself, but some are "gray market" like hacking the theme engine and others require lots of 3rd party programs like rainmeter/rocketdock that don't replace the current DE as much as sit on top of it. OSX has a very particular "Oh that's a Mac" style of built in shiny, but it really isn't easy to customize - its the Apple Way or the highway. Quadruple this for any cutdown device like AppleTV compared to Myth for instance.
3. Hardware - No contest. Apple is a hardware/platform company. That is what they sell. Though some of it LOOKS really nice, the vast majority is underwhelming performance wise and overly expensive. The fact that you can't run OSX, legally, on common off the shelf hardware of your choice nails the coffin up pretty nicely. Windows runs on x86 based hardware of just about any type, but Linux will run on just about ANYTHING. My bloody monitor is running a lightweight linux kernel to handle its OSD and calibration functions! SPARC, ARM, x86-64 etc... Linux has been ported to damn near anything - that's the power of open source. It isn't just limited to what is immediately profitable.
4. Reliability - My usage time with OSX is limited, but even in that short time I've found that I get the bouncing beach ball of death WAY more than any UNIX based OS should. Trying to do something that is not "The Apple Way" can result in a crash, a hang, or something else happening not as it should. Barring malware, fragmentation and other possible Windows hangups, I've actually found Windows 7 to be more reliable than OSX. Linux of course takes the crown here again. We've all heard about servers with YEARS of uptime. As a desktop OS, Linux is pretty damn reliable as well, though issues typically arise in response to something you did - Update X and your video drivers aren't updated for that version of X.org? Boom. Linux doesn't seem to "just accumulate crap" where doing a basic function will one day just go boom due to a variety of factors, but instead seems to react to increasing complexity. Thankfully, there are very few things that will really lock up a Linux system, but granted there can be daunting errors that may require a CLI visit to fix properly.
5. Price - Easily in Linux's favor here. OSX is clearly the worst having expensive underpowered hardware the cost of entry to a (relative) modest OS price itself. Sadly, OSX is also seems to be stuck in the mid 90's in terms of 3rd party developers where everything is expensive shareware or obscenely expensive "pro" products. OSX users must throw their money around - I can't see why there are 59.99 unzipping programs and CD burners out there in this day and age. Such is the price of hipster cool, I suppose. Windows isn't cheap, especially the full featured Ultimate version, (not is MS Office), but there are a variety of programs from the reasonable, to professional, to libre and open source due to the size of the installed base. Linux however, does win hands down. The amount of software available for free to a desktop user (especially for one who spurns piracy) is nothing short of amazing. Load up Ubuntu 10.10, Linux Mint, Arch Linux etc... and look into the repositories or easy-to-use software centers and you have thousands of programs available for free. Unless you are shackled to a particular program for a particular reason (and can't get it to work in WINE - another free program!), Linux is generally superior. Truly, if those "key" programs would develop Linux versions I am sure that adoption would be through the roof. Picture if every AAA PC game worked native on Linux - I'd never have reason to boot into Windows!
Ashbringer
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Some stupid list.
#1 Security? Really? Mac users aren't concerned about security. Maybe from an IT perspective, but from an end user, it's nothing to lose sleep over.
#2 Customizability? If you're a Mac user, chances are Steve Jobs is god, and everything he does is supreme. So, if he says you like default options, you like default options.
#3 Hardware? If you're using a Mac, then you have a Apple computer. Why do you care about hardware? You hate everything none Apple, cause you bought an Apple product.
#4 Reliability? Ubuntu doesn't have that, thanks to it's flinky power saving problems. Can't tell you how unreliable Ubuntu is when you try to resume from suspend. I've experience this with multiple machines, including a Mac.
#5 Price? Give me a break, Apple users don't care about price. They'd sell their soul to Steve Jobs, if it was a payment option. Lets not forget that Apple computers come with Mac, so it's not like Apple users pay. It's only cheaper if you don't buy an Apple computer, and even then it'll come with Windows.
Just wanna add that Steam isn't coming to Linux, but Mac has it. Good news is that DX10/DX11 is going to be native on Linux. Yes, that means linux developers can use Direct 3D instead of OpenGL. No emulation or anything. Can't believe that bit of news didn't catch on.
#1 Security? Really? Mac users aren't concerned about security. Maybe from an IT perspective, but from an end user, it's nothing to lose sleep over.
#2 Customizability? If you're a Mac user, chances are Steve Jobs is god, and everything he does is supreme. So, if he says you like default options, you like default options.
#3 Hardware? If you're using a Mac, then you have a Apple computer. Why do you care about hardware? You hate everything none Apple, cause you bought an Apple product.
#4 Reliability? Ubuntu doesn't have that, thanks to it's flinky power saving problems. Can't tell you how unreliable Ubuntu is when you try to resume from suspend. I've experience this with multiple machines, including a Mac.
#5 Price? Give me a break, Apple users don't care about price. They'd sell their soul to Steve Jobs, if it was a payment option. Lets not forget that Apple computers come with Mac, so it's not like Apple users pay. It's only cheaper if you don't buy an Apple computer, and even then it'll come with Windows.
Just wanna add that Steam isn't coming to Linux, but Mac has it. Good news is that DX10/DX11 is going to be native on Linux. Yes, that means linux developers can use Direct 3D instead of OpenGL. No emulation or anything. Can't believe that bit of news didn't catch on.
DeathPrincess
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It's a bit more than daily. Unless I don't use multiple applications, then it's daily. I know the OS struggles with sound, but its such a PITA. When it freezes, it just freezes, doesn't respond to any keypress, or anything. The power key is one of the more used buttons. I am pretty helpless to make any changes because of system admins (2 different branches).
DX10 and 11 isn't native on linux yet. It is apparently going to happen in the future...possibly like the desktop year, or possibly not, but through wine. Steam for mac is some kind of expensive joke. It is not AAA games, just half life mods and casual/puzzle games. This weeks specials, only 8% are mac (and windows too, no exclusives yet). The AAA games on the front page are all windows only. Same with the upcoming releases, 1 valve and 1 casual game aside 100% windows only. Its one of the reasons it took off to start with.
Let the charts for 2010 speak for themselves:
MacOSX http://secunia.com/advisories/product/96/?task=statistics_2010
Win7 http://secunia.com/advisories/product/27467/?task=statistics_2010
Debian GNU Linux 5 http://secunia.com/advisories/product/21392/?task=statistics_2010
MacOSX http://secunia.com/advisories/product/96/?task=statistics_2010
Win7 http://secunia.com/advisories/product/27467/?task=statistics_2010
Debian GNU Linux 5 http://secunia.com/advisories/product/21392/?task=statistics_2010
BladeVenom
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Mac fans here talk about reliability, but all the people I know who have them, their Macs are less reliable than my PC.
My brother in law is a huge Mac fan. He sounds just like the Mac fans on this forum. He always mentions how great Mac are, but I know I know the truth, that he's had more problems with his Mac than I've had with my last 5 PCs.
My brother in law is a huge Mac fan. He sounds just like the Mac fans on this forum. He always mentions how great Mac are, but I know I know the truth, that he's had more problems with his Mac than I've had with my last 5 PCs.
1) Why are mac nerds on HardOCP?
2) By being on HardOCP in the first place, they must already realize part of their own hypocrisy, which is Mac can't do half of what Windows or Linux can do, because Big Brother Steve Jobs doesn't want them to. So obviously we are back to question #1, and why come to HardOCP to learn about the world of PCs?
2) By being on HardOCP in the first place, they must already realize part of their own hypocrisy, which is Mac can't do half of what Windows or Linux can do, because Big Brother Steve Jobs doesn't want them to. So obviously we are back to question #1, and why come to HardOCP to learn about the world of PCs?
heatlesssun
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This is essentially true, there's just too many hardware configurations for Windows as a whole to be as stable as a typical Mac, which comes in far fewer models than PCs of course. But I would say that in particular situations with knowledgeable users and good hardware with good drivers Windows machines can be every bit as solid as a Mac or even Linux machine with a hell of lot more capability. Just take your average high end gaming rig around here.
Sure there are people that have their issues, putting together all the kinds of systems that people put together in a forum like this, well of course there will be problems, but when it all goes well like my sig rig, Windows 7 is just a joy epic proportions. Games, triple head monitors with 3D Surround, tons of apps, fantastic performance, Blu Ray, Netflix, HDTV (hope to get my CableCard tuner some year), iTunes, Zune and let's not forget torrents! Reason #1 why Windows has a tough time with security!
But all in all I can't complain, all of my main Windows 7 machines are very stable though out of my fairly big software catalog there's a total of two apps that don't behave 100%, that's OneNote and Windows Live Essentials Photo Galley. One rather esoteric bug in OneNote on my tm2 and Photo Gallery crashes on my W100.
The issues simply pale in comparison with everything else that tends to work very well, software quality seems to be much better these days, just far fewer issues and things that do crop up do eventually get fixed though sometimes the going is slower than I'd like. Bottom line: a high-end PC can be a hell of piece of machinery capable of a freaking lot and also capable of being VERY reliable and reasonably secure, with security being perhaps Windows' last Achilles heal.
Interesting, so only 9 advisories for OS X, 30 for Windows with almost half coming in one month, and 150 for Debian. Not really sure to make of those numbers but interesting.
I loved the part about having more hardware choice.
Um. Ok. There are entire forums worth of posts in linux land dedicated to "hey, does anyone know where I can get a driver for FOO?"
And with Mac who gives a shit? You don't buy a mac to upgrade the parts. Mac users typically don't do that. That's actually part of the plus for the Mac. It works out of the box. The drivers, if you ever need them, are in the box. You stay in the Mac habitat and things work.
Um. Ok. There are entire forums worth of posts in linux land dedicated to "hey, does anyone know where I can get a driver for FOO?"
And with Mac who gives a shit? You don't buy a mac to upgrade the parts. Mac users typically don't do that. That's actually part of the plus for the Mac. It works out of the box. The drivers, if you ever need them, are in the box. You stay in the Mac habitat and things work.
heatlesssun
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When I say the word "Mac" generally speaking of a Mac runing OS X thought obviously that doesn't have to be the case but that's just Apple's policy and business model in that OS X can run on generic hardware.
However I do think he has a point, a lot of Mac users use Windows often times because Windows does something the Mac just doesnt have much support for, namely gaming probably if youre in the this forum, most people in this forum play some kind of game on Windows.
There's more to it than just that. First secunia doesn't track all vunerabilities, there are other vulnerability trackers that have sometimes more, sometimes less, but usually some different vulnerabilities databased. Second, Macs have an incomplete implementation of ASLR, unlike the complete implementation in Windows, additionally, the browser is not sandboxed by default like it is on Windows. So though Windows has more vulnerabilties it is more secure over all (if you ignore the fact that almost no hackers are going to waste their time shooting for macs in the first place because of market share.)
As far as stability, it's not even an issue on Windows if you don't buy ghetto hardware that has ghetto drivers. I ran Vista for 3 years with NO crashes (except for a dying psu and gpu), I've run Win 7 for 1 year and had exactly 1 crash, due to an old buggy nvidia driver, so not even the OS's fault. And I push my two machines very hard all day. Even if a mac or linux could do better it would be such an insignificant difference that it doesn't matter.
And she says "linux uses user accounts by default" - yea and Windows runs programs as standard user by default too, so so what? It'd be nice if one of these 'leet linux hackers' could get their facts straight for once. It seems they make a few bash scripts, compile a few programs, and then think they know everything about computers.
metallicafan
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - May 2010
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Wow. That is a horrible article. There are so many blatant generalizations in that article that I'm not sure how anyone could take it seriously. This is why tech writers shouldn't write Linux vs Windows vs OSX or Intel vs AMD articles. Anyone who argues exclusively for one side of any of these arguments is failing to see that there are strengths and weaknesses in all of these products.
1) Why are mac nerds on HardOCP?
2) By being on HardOCP in the first place, they must already realize part of their own hypocrisy, which is Mac can't do half of what Windows or Linux can do, because Big Brother Steve Jobs doesn't want them to. So obviously we are back to question #1, and why come to HardOCP to learn about the world of PCs?
Nerds? I wouldn't call them nerds. Good question anyway. I've seen Apple fanboys on Linux-related websites, and they defend Apple even on the lack-of-freedom parts; why are they even here?
On the security part, Apple is usually very slow at correcting critical vulnerabilities. The PDF exploit of iOS, for instance, was the worst handling of a vulnerability I have seen in years.
On the reliability part, I guess the guy who wrote the article got an overheating "MacBook" (which is quite common given the "design over functionality" mentality). Mac OS's file system is pretty though too compared to what you can get on Linux.