What is your Favorite OS?

[DMNT]

Google isn't alway right.

Well then I encourage you to do some research of your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pyvi0cySw

That isn't Mac OS X...

 

[supertails]

Okay I will. mac osx vs linux beryl

 

[Gerri Shin]

I'd have to agree with DMNT on that video tht person was obviously using the Fly A Kite transformation pack on a windows computer. and a pretty shoddy job at it too, (I did a better job with it, check the desktop screenshot thread)

 

[txteclipse]

Meh. Windows XP. If you know what you are doing, it is the most customizeable, unless you can code and have Linux.

Mac is too flowery for me, doesn't play most games, and isn't as open with hidden software as windows is. I haven't had much experience with Linux, but I may try it out sometime.

 

[DMNT]

...isn't as open with hidden software as windows is.

You're going to have to elaborate on that one.

doesn't play most games

I'll agree with you that Windows is a much more viable choice when it comes to playing games. However, I much prefer a dedicated console than a PC for playing games.

Mac is too flowery for me...

I'm assuming you've seen Vista and how Microsoft thought it would be such a good idea to incorporate transparencies into every window as well as add useless effects which do not contribute to the use of the operating system. Really, it's unfair to compare Mac OS X with an older version of Windows. Especially since Vista is obviously the direction Microsoft is taking their operating system.

 

[txteclipse]

Why is it unfair to compare OS X with an older version of windows if I think it's better? This is a discussion of use, not of age. All editions of windows are still windows, and if Vista happens to suck, that doesn't mean XP does, as well.

As for hidden files, I mean you can just tweak absolutely everything in windows. From window borders to what type of font everything is in to what programs are prioritized by internet use to whatever, you can basically make it do whatever you want, all from menus. You can emphasize performance, looks, storage space, or speed, or combinations of these and other things.

As for gaming, I see your point. Some games just play better on a dedicated system. However, some don't: no video game interface can beat a good old mouse and keyboard when it comes to an RTS or an FPS.

 

[supertails]

I'd have to agree with DMNT on that video tht person was obviously using the Fly A Kite transformation pack on a windows computer. and a pretty shoddy job at it too, (I did a better job with it, check the desktop screenshot thread)

What's Fly A Kite and what does it do? Red means to ignore.

 

[DMNT]

What's Fly A Kite and what does it do?

Basically, FlyakiteOSX makes Microsoft Windows look like Mac OS X.

More Info: https://osx.portraitofakite.com/

In that video you linked, it was pretty obvious that the guy who made that video wasn't showing Mac OS X in that video, but Windows skinned to look like Mac OS X.

As for hidden files, I mean you can just tweak absolutely everything in windows. From window borders to what type of font everything is in to what programs are prioritized by internet use to whatever, you can basically make it do whatever you want, all from menus. You can emphasize performance, looks, storage space, or speed, or combinations of these and other things.

You can do the same for OS X.

...no video game interface can beat a good old mouse and keyboard when it comes to an RTS or an FPS.

I think the Wii comes pretty close. ;)

 

[txteclipse]

I think the Wii comes pretty close. ;)

Duly noted. Although it's still lacking in my opinion...there's a few bugs, such as not being able to turn fast enough or switch weapons fast enough or go to prone/crouch fast enough. It's nice to be able to point and shoot, though.

 

[supertails]

Basically, FlyakiteOSX makes Microsoft Windows look like Mac OS X.

More Info: https://osx.portraitofakite.com/

In that video you linked, it was pretty obvious that the guy who made that video wasn't showing Mac OS X in that video, but Windows skinned to look like Mac OS X.

I know Gerri Shin® have been PMing me about that. Sorry about that though.

 

[Cartmic]

I use and love a british Operating System known as RISC OS.

Here are some points to why I use it:

* It has one best and most user-friendly GUI's.(obvisly opinion so you would need to try it out for your self)
* OS in ROM - fast startup, can't be corrupted by viruses.
* ARM or XScale processors - low power consumption.
* Excelent useage of a three-button mouse.
* Fast, efficient software - economical with disc space and RAM.
* Anti-aliased outline fonts, why before MS and Apple, they had this feature back in 1990
* Helpful software developers and vendors.
* Excellent applications like TechWriter, Artworks 2(The Windows fork of this is known as Xara) , Photodesk and Ovation Pro.
* BBC Basic V with built-in assembler, which also allows you to create multitasking WIMP programs.
* Uses file type - no need for filename extensions.
* The Iconbar, which holds launched applications, printers, disc drives etc. Was the fire operating system to have such a feature years before the Microsoft taskbar and Apple Dock offerings.
* Full drag and drop
* OS a total of 4MiB
* Boot in 5 - 10 seconds.

 

[supertails]

Those all sound like nice features. Can you download the software for free or do you buy it from them.

 

[DMNT]

Oh wow. A lot of good ones here that I missed.

https://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/14/50-reasons-to-switch-from-microsoft-windows-to-apples-mac-os-x/

 

[Cartmic]

Those all sound like nice features. Can you download the software for free or do you buy it from them.

Software like Techwriter(very powerful feature filled Word Proccessor, Ovation Pro(DTP[the magazine I write for uses this]), and Artworks are all comercial programs, are very worth the amount they are sold for.

They are hundruds of programs freely avaliable for it still though.

The Version 5 stream of the OS is bit by bit becoming Shared Sourced under the Castle Shared Source licence, which means you can download it modify it to your hearts comptent as long as its not on a comercial bases, i so they asked for a small royalty (i beleive it is mere pennies but dont take my word for it).

It is at this moment in time in a transitioning point from underdevelopment to very active development, this phase of underdevelopment was caused by Acorn withdrawal from the Desktop market back in 1998/1999, with not knowing where RISC OS was going to go. It ended up being bought by a STB company Pace Micro, where it was developed for Set Top Boxes, and licenced to a company known as RISC OS Ltd. which created the RISC OS 4/Select strand of it. With RISC OS 4 various companies started making new hardware for it to run on, these companies were Cerilica, Riscstation, Millipede Electronic Graphics, Microdigital, and Castle. around 2002 Castle bought RISC OS off pace and created a new machine called the Iyonix, which was released in December 2002, where, as well as this Castle also licenced the use of RISC OS across the world on Set Top Boxes. Now bring forward to 2005 Advantage 6 released the smallest ever ARM based Desktop computer called the A9home. Somewhere in all of this project such as Netsurf and other software brought new life into the OS. Now in 2007 the OS began to be Shared Sourced.

So today RISC OS is getting back on its feet(you shouldnt beleive what the depresives say that it is all doom and gloom) and loots of new developments are appearing alot of them free and Open Source.

Phew, I hope that made sense :P

 

[supertails]

Not very much sorry but are there 3rd party software you can get.

 

[Zanacross]

1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don't like the default setup
4. Install twenty programs with one command
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
11. Try out software, decide I don't like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn't leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer...in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
16. Use the command "dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list" to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced...I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications

This is why I'm installing ubuntu. Hopefully I will get it done on Wednesday.

 

[supertails]

Cool. Good Luck. I hope it goes well.

 

[DMNT]

2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware

Same thing on OS X. Every time Apple releases a newer OS, it actually runs faster on the same hardware because Apple optimizes so much more code during each OS release. (This has been true for each new release of OS X, including Leopard).

9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates

Also true for OS X. In fact, I haven't logged off or restarted my computer for 6 months and 8 days.

10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever

Same here. OS X automatically defrags any files on the fly that are less than 20 MB.

11. Try out software, decide I don't like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn't leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine

Same here.

13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer...in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login

Just tried that on my G5 and it took approx. 36 sec. (that's the time it took from booting up to the computer becoming useable).

17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously

Same with OS X 10.5.

18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it

Also possible on OS X 10.5.

21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one

This is also the case on OS X. In fact, many products which don't advertise Mac compatibility work perfectly on a Mac because Apple makes the drivers themselves.

The reason why I bring up all these points is because the article is titled: "What is the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can't do with Windows or on a Mac?" However, a lot of the points brought up do not apply to Macs. Poster #9 in the Comments section of that article puts it a little more bluntly.

 

[supertails]

Is Linux and Mac almost the same. Linux can do all of that stuff too.

 

[Gerri Shin]

well both Linux and Mac OS X are based off of the Unix framework, so they work similar, but the development of Mac OS X is way farther than on most linux distros. I mean just look at the search feature, you don;t even have to finish typing the name of a file and it brings it up. I've never seen a feature like that in any Linux distro.