[oclug] MAC OS X GUI vs Linux vs Windows

[Brian's Linux Box]

On Thursday, November 6, 2003, at 03:13  PM, <psaz at rogers.com> wrote:

> I love the "hardcore" aspect of linux....the fact that I
> can manipulate the OS to do what I want, without having to
>  download or purchase tools continuously. I love how
>  programming friendly it is. But many companies are pushing
>  to make it the "Windows" of the future. Which brigns me to
>  my question / oppinion.
>
>
> I've used linux for about 2 years now, and I still hate the
>  GUI...console is where its at. I'm sorry but KDE and GNOME
>  are very nice, they have quite allot of very good
>  features, but its still not as "reliable" or "efficient"
>  as the Windows GUI. (I know...I said reliable and
>  efficient when relating to a MS product :-| )
>
You stated in your next mail you were comparing RH7.1 to Win2K
on a PIII450.   Let me tell you, GUI has come a long way since RH7.1
I'm not knocking Shad's [:-)] Mandrake, but RH9 GUI looks and works
much better than 7.1
>
> It could be the ports of linux I've been using, but I've
>  found when KDE works, it works well, but when it doesnt
>  work.... The interface is generally slower for Redraw and
>  window creation than the MS coutnerparts etc.
>
> It really pisses me off, cause that, and the fact that
>  mozilla  butchers webpages when they are displayed, are
>  the only thigns stopping me from moving to linux once in
>  for all.
>
> In comes MAC OS X: I've seen this thing in action....the
>  GUI seems to be quite robust, some of the features are a
>  little too "lovey dovey" but I like it. Plus the fact that
>  its built on Unix really makes it a plus. Allmost wanna
>  become a MAC user because of it :-|

I hammer on an OSX machine 9-5 M-F  (witness the mail client :-)
The GUI is great. It's quite possibly the best of the bunch.
The stability is good (not quite Linux, but much better than Win98)
Apple hardware is generally really solid and pleasure to work with too.
But, if you like the console you may be disappointed.
Most apps don't have a command line interface.
There are holes like half the darned man pages aren't there.
The file structure is, well, messy if you look at what they
actually did from the command line.  The GUI hides what's really going 
on.
Mac specific commandline stuff is poorly documented or not at all.
Color 'ls' has to be hacked in after the fact. etc. etc. etc.

The GUI is well designed and well rounded.
The commandline hasn't received the same amount of attention.
Also, (although the brand new Panther is supposedly better)
the GUI can be as slow to respond or slower than KDE even
with modern Mac hardware.

That new G5 is pretty impressive mind you (drool, drool)

All in all, I would prefer OSX if it were GPL - As it is,
I run linux at home.

Brian

> Keep in mind, I havent used MAC or linux long enough to get
>  over their shortcomings....but if linux is to become the
>  desktop OS of the future, I wish it had a good GUI...kinda
>  like MAC OS X.
> Discuss.
>
> Pierre
>
> 1
>
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