3 ms·

Here are two real-world (not hypothetical; a (self-employed) person I know actually has these) problems: * The person needs to exchange forms in Word Documents

Here are two real-world (not hypothetical; a (self-employed) person I know actually has these) problems: * The person needs to exchange forms in Word Documents with other people (agencies and public authorities) on a daily basis, and the exact formatting matters, so LibreOffice doesn't cut it. * There is trade specific software for which there is no alternative (open source or paid), which the person couldn't replace with an alternative if there was one (because it's effectively agency mandated), and which only runs on Windows. (And to give you a sense of how special-purpose this is: it has it's own hardware VPN box which you have to put between your computer and the internet.) So it's sad, but the requirement is not "at least as good as Windows" but "Windows".

arm 11y ago
Yeah, that’s probably a major advantage of OS X over Linux; access to native versions of what the general populace would consider 'major' applications. Edit: Well, the edit just done to the parent comment makes my comment mostly useless now. :P At the very least, speaking to the specific example of Word documents, I’m not aware of any features that current Windows Word has that Mac Word doesn’t (that would result formatting not carrying over perfectly).
- vetinari 11y ago
  Mac Office is not the same as Windows Office. It lacks the extended functionality (i.e. in Excel: PowerQuery/Pivot/Map, Inquiry) or for some reason doesn't work (Mac Excel does not work with psqlODBC - Windows Excel does).
- Ao7bei3s 11y ago
  Not in the world I'm living in. Windows-only software is far, far more common than Windows+Mac software. (The software I'm talking about is Windows-only. I know you might mean Mac Office.) PS: And because writing portable software, deploying and maintaining it is apparently hard, companies are now switching to web-based solutions. Yay :(
aexaey 11y ago
I've seen a (reasonably big) company that has deployed a Citrix VDI cluster exactly for this purpose - for MacOSX/Linux users to deal with both of problems you have listed, plus a third one: * Legacy Intranet websites that only work in IE.
- Ao7bei3s 11y ago
  Sure, it might work for big companies. The person I'm talking about is self-employed and not, erm, technologically affine, so why not just stick with Windows?
  - aexaey 11y ago
    Sounds like that is an excellent opportunity for this person to invest some time into honing one's technical skills. > why not just stick with Windows? Hm... because Windows is essentially a platform for Microsoft and assorted 3rd parties (most of which are not even affiliated with them) to spy on and meddle with you beyond any reasonable control or limitations?

arm 11y ago

Yeah, that’s probably a major advantage of OS X over Linux; access to native versions of what the general populace would consider 'major' applications. Edit: Well, the edit just done to the parent comment makes my comment mostly useless now. :P At the very least, speaking to the specific example of Word documents, I’m not aware of any features that current Windows Word has that Mac Word doesn’t (that would result formatting not carrying over perfectly).

vetinari 11y ago
Mac Office is not the same as Windows Office. It lacks the extended functionality (i.e. in Excel: PowerQuery/Pivot/Map, Inquiry) or for some reason doesn't work (Mac Excel does not work with psqlODBC - Windows Excel does).
Ao7bei3s 11y ago
Not in the world I'm living in. Windows-only software is far, far more common than Windows+Mac software. (The software I'm talking about is Windows-only. I know you might mean Mac Office.) PS: And because writing portable software, deploying and maintaining it is apparently hard, companies are now switching to web-based solutions. Yay :(

aexaey 11y ago

I've seen a (reasonably big) company that has deployed a Citrix VDI cluster exactly for this purpose - for MacOSX/Linux users to deal with both of problems you have listed, plus a third one: * Legacy Intranet websites that only work in IE.

Ao7bei3s 11y ago
Sure, it might work for big companies. The person I'm talking about is self-employed and not, erm, technologically affine, so why not just stick with Windows?
- aexaey 11y ago
  Sounds like that is an excellent opportunity for this person to invest some time into honing one's technical skills. > why not just stick with Windows? Hm... because Windows is essentially a platform for Microsoft and assorted 3rd parties (most of which are not even affiliated with them) to spy on and meddle with you beyond any reasonable control or limitations?