Favorite Operating System?

Favorite OS?

  • Total voters
    27
TheAppleFreak said:
Steam for Mac is coming out on Wednesday. That is all.
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I find that very hard to believe. Would you please show me your source so that I may read up on this?

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Oh, and I use Windows, despite posting this very message from an Ubuntu machine. I want to... you know... do stuff, and have a large community, and a reasonably open operating system, and video games, and tons of software to play with.

That being said, I wouldn't mind Linux. In fact I tried setting up a dual boot twice.

The first time, it managed to screw over the graphics drivers causing a Command Prompt of death on startup. Somehow, VISTA managed to function with an admitedly screwed up interface. (What the heck? Vista, STABLE?)

Then Microsoft Support managed to find out the problem, over the phone, with relative ease. (That's just embarassing.) And gave me a simple fix, that admitedly took about 5 hours worth of copying files. It did work though. =3

The second time... it bricked my hard-drive without me even doing anything.

At that point I decided Linux was too much of a steep mountain without any guard rails for me. I want to screw around without killing my OS.
 
@ Yellow: look here at the very bottom of the page. Steam for Mac coming soon. It's currently still in beta testing.
 
Like anything that involves strong opinions, I'm neutral.

PCs have uses, Macs have uses, and Linux has uses. It all depends on what you want out of your computer. Of course people that want to use it for lots of gaming won't like Macs. Of course people who want complete control over everything the OS does (and have the knowhow to not mess something up) will prefer Linux. I don't think any one OS is 'the best' unless you put it in terms of certain tasks, and even then it's just subjective opinion. It's like apples and oranges (no pun intended).
 
Gerri Shin said:
@ Yellow: look here at the very bottom of the page. Steam for Mac coming soon. It's currently still in beta testing.
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Incredible...

:\

Now the question is how are they going to pull that off. It would seem to me there would be several crippling limitations in a Mac they'd have to overcome.

I guess it's a good thing though, though I have this sinking feeling I'm going to have to PK some of the inevitable loudmouth fanboys though.
 
Actually, Yellow, they just released Steam for Mac today, it appears that there are currently 64 games that are able to work on both mac and windows versions of steam. (BTW Portal is free until May 24th for anyone who wants it.)
Also, what do you mean by "crippling limitations"?
 
How many of them can be played on anything less than the latest Mac computer?

How many of them are relatively bug free?

How many of them accept the single-click mouse?

And how many of them are not graphically crippled o.O

Furthermore, why is the release so casual? If I'm not mistaken, porting even a miniature library of games as small as 64 to the Mac is HUGE news.

I'm not sure if I should be happy for newcomers or feel sorry for Mac fanboys who will soon have to bear being put up against Windows machines in a gaming environment.

I see them finding out why Apple doesn't bother the hard way.
 
PkMnTrainer Yellow said:
How many of them can be played on anything less than the latest Mac computer?
If I'm not mistaken, anything with discrete graphics can play these. Unfortunately, I have integrated...

How many of them are relatively bug free?
Most of them. Valve's done over 9001 hours of bug-testing for the release.

How many of them accept the single-click mouse?
Who'd play with a single-click mouse? But that's besides the point; all of them should since there are double-click sensors in Apple mice after they released the Mighty Mouse in 2002 or so.

And how many of them are not graphically crippled o.O
Early reviews have given the games much praise for their graphics, which are apparently on par with the Windows versions.

Furthermore, why is the release so casual? If I'm not mistaken, porting even a miniature library of games as small as 64 to the Mac is HUGE news.
You obviously haven't been paying attention to the tech communities. Every Mac-related website that I went on back when they announced their decision to port Steam had some sort of headline about it.

I'm not sure if I should be happy for newcomers or feel sorry for Mac fanboys who will soon have to bear being put up against Windows machines in a gaming environment.
What's the difference? They play the same games, the only difference is skill, which is remedied over time

I see them finding out why Apple doesn't bother the hard way.
Just reread this... is this supposed to be a question?
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Answers bolded.

@Gerri: It came out yesterday, not today. But yes, Portal is free. And Macs are now Tier-1 game systems. Check Steam's website for details.
 
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I have to say that my favourite operating system in the Apple Macintosh OS. Now, I know a lot of people don't like the Mac OS - and I can relate to the people who feel this way. The Mac isn't made to be the most user friendly operating system in the world - certainly not for someone who just wants their computer to browse the web, check some e-mails or maybe play games. If you are one of those people, Mac is certainly not for you - honestly, it's just a waste of money and I would recommend a Windows OS in that kind of situation.

However, I'm not just an average computer user. I do a lot of different things with my computer which makes me like a power user. An example of my average computer usage is: Check e-mails; do some graphics on Photoshop and Illustrator; probably code a bit the do some computer server side testing and then chillax by watching some anime and start some graphics again, code again etc. So, yeah, it might not seem like a lot but it is. Trust me. You might also think that "hmm, well a Windows computer can do this just as well" but the fact of the matter is - it can, but not as innovatively as a Mac. There's always these little things with Macs that just make the great for stuff like design and coding.

For example, a useful tool I use on the Mac is called "Coda." It's a web development tool. Now that sounds basic enough, but it's just so powerful. You can edit multiple files, change the local and server side directories (add/delete/edit folders), upload them automatically using the built in FTP, and all within one application! I mean, for someone like me, it really does cut the time down. It's like three programs in one and it makes everything so easy! It's Mac only, too. Also, little things that the Mac OS has just helps so much. when I think of ideas and I don't want to lose them, I open up Text Mate, type them down (normally snippets of code) and save them. If I forget the name of the file but still remember the content, I simply type it in and it tells me where the file is.

Also, the OS feels so well finished, refined and, for a power user like me, incredibly useful. So, yeah, I love the Mac OS because it helps me with what I like to do. However, you've still gotta have some love for the good ol' Windows beastly Desktops. XD
 
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PkMnTrainer Yellow said:
How many of them can be played on anything less than the latest Mac computer?

How many of them are relatively bug free?

How many of them accept the single-click mouse?

And how many of them are not graphically crippled o.O

Furthermore, why is the release so casual? If I'm not mistaken, porting even a miniature library of games as small as 64 to the Mac is HUGE news.

I'm not sure if I should be happy for newcomers or feel sorry for Mac fanboys who will soon have to bear being put up against Windows machines in a gaming environment.

I see them finding out why Apple doesn't bother the hard way.
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Seems like some of your opinions of Macs are outdated. Apple's always put out a wide variety of hardware on the market, it's just been that it's been so proprietary and overpriced. Some Macs are beastly computers, even if they can't be easily modified, because there's a lot of high-end software that works just fine on Macs, and those who need to use that software but prefer Macs will go with those systems. I know a few people who do serious gaming on Macs... they have no problem running the higher-end games that do get ported over.
 
Windows, better for games and pretty much everything else I use a computer for. Mac just feels to pretentious and overpriced for my liking.
 
How many of them can be played on anything less than the latest Mac computer?
Portal seems to run just fine on a 4 year old Macbook pro. (that's what I use.)

How many of them are relatively bug free?
see TAF's post, "Most of them. Valve's done over 9001 hours of bug-testing for the release."

How many of them accept the single-click mouse?
As TAF said Apple mice have had secondary click for a while now, not only that trackpads have secondary click and my MBP seems to like my Microsoft wireless mouse just as much as it would an Apple mouse.

And how many of them are not graphically crippled o.O
None, Steam doesn't usually release a game for sale unless its a quality game. or at least equivalent to it's Windows version

Furthermore, why is the release so casual? If I'm not mistaken, porting even a miniature library of games as small as 64 to the Mac is HUGE news.
I take it as casual simply because I'm not that heavy of a gamer. I am reasonably interested when something like this occurs, but I don't get hyper about it.

I'm not sure if I should be happy for newcomers or feel sorry for Mac fanboys who will soon have to bear being put up against Windows machines in a gaming environment.
there really isn't a difference, besides the competency of the player, which is strengthened over time. Hardware differences are moot because Apple hardware is still fairly good even after a couple years (it might not be the best, but it's still good

I see them finding out why Apple doesn't bother the hard way.
Why Apple doesn't bother to do what?

@TAF: Oh, ok. I just got the headline today, so forgive me if I'm slightly late to the party. XD
 
Serene Grace said:
I have to say that my favourite operating system in the Apple Macintosh OS. Now, I know a lot of people don't like the Mac OS - and I can relate to the people who feel this way. The Mac isn't made to be the most user friendly operating system in the world - certainly not for someone who just wants their computer to browse the web, check some e-mails or maybe play games. If you are one of those people, Mac is certainly not for you - honestly, it's just a waste of money and I would recommend a Windows OS in that kind of situation.
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But the biased ads say the mac is super duper user friendly, are you calling steve jobs a liar?

Though most Mac users who say the Mac is better than Windows, can't use a Windows OS.
 
Actually I find the Mac OS is rather user friendly. (I like only clicking two buttons to get to the energy setting than going through 3-4 dialogs)
I've used Windows for years, it's an ok OS, I could use it if I have to, and I won't knock those who use it, it's just not my personal preference.
 
To be honest, I find the Windows OS to be way more user friendly than the Mac. Certainly something that you can use right out of the box - whereas with a Mac you have to configure this and that. For example, you actually have to tell a Mac that you want the secondary mouse button to right click (it automatically makes it another left click) which, to me, makes no sense and doesn't come across as user friendly. However, with a Windows computer, things are certainly set out much easier. But, like I said above, it depends on what you use a computer for. For how I use a computer, a Mac is so much better configured and useful so it's more of a personal choice, if anything.
 
Gerri Shin said:
How many of them can be played on anything less than the latest Mac computer?
Portal seems to run just fine on a 4 year old Macbook pro. (that's what I use.)
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That'd be because Portal is a 2007 release. It's also not particularly hardware intensive.

Gerri Shin said:
How many of them are relatively bug free?
see TAF's post, "Most of them. Valve's done over 9001 hours of bug-testing for the release."
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That's good. I'll wait for actual results though. I don't think they will get off bug free. I'd be surprised if they did.

Gerri Shin said:
I'm not sure if I should be happy for newcomers or feel sorry for Mac fanboys who will soon have to bear being put up against Windows machines in a gaming environment.
there really isn't a difference, besides the competency of the player, which is strengthened over time. Hardware differences are moot because Apple hardware is still fairly good even after a couple years (it might not be the best, but it's still good
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No it's not. o.O There is a HUGE difference. I'm sorry but "okay" doesn't cut it in the competitive gaming world. Upgradability is not a Mac's strongpoint, nor is diversity. (See: Price of upgrading, and limited choices in kinds of computers.) These are things that are uniquely important to gamers, especially pros / addicts such as myself.

Hardware differences are EXTREMELY important. o.O Do you have any idea how many gamers are obsessed with having the latest and greatest? I'm sorry but this is a very clear disadvantage to using a Mac for gaming.

This is a conflict with Apple's style of doing things, simply put.
 
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i perfer Windows Vista, and xp because they don't have all those extra 3D effects and other stuff running
 
Linux, I just love it, its so versatile and opensource is the way to go
 
davidthefat said:
Linux, I just love it, its so versatile and opensource is the way to go
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Go you man, I use Ubuntu, Fedora and sometimes Puppy Linux. What do you use? [/offtopic]

I believe there's a problem with the computer industry. There should be more opensource OS avaliable on comptuers like FreeBSD or OpenSolaris.
Open-source is usually overlooked but it has potential. While there are many fail distros of Linux, there are also many win distros, even more than Windows or Mac.
 
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