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As someone who has used both systems at length and who has commented on the subject before, I'll simply tell you that your opinion is obviously very subjective.
by rufugee 16y ago
As someone who has used both systems at length and who has commented on the subject before, I'll simply tell you that your opinion is obviously very subjective. I find the out-of-box Ubuntu experience to be far surperior to the OS X one, and to get OS X to even approach the level of efficiency I get from Ubuntu/Gnome/Compiz I end up investing well over $100 in utilities. Not that I mind supporting the developers, but it is what it is. I don't want to get into a features pissing match, but I can point specifics when I have more time to write. OS X is fine if it fits your view of the world or if you're willing to adapt your world view to fit it, but Ubuntu gives you a very solid experience out of the gate which you can mold to your heart's desire.
- bcrescimanno 16y agoI think you've got some fair points here; but let's not forget that (at least as of a while back, I can't speak for newer releases) Ubuntu would not have support for even basic mp3 playback without downloading support for it. I understand the "free software" reasons for such restrictions--but I think it's difficult to justify the statement of Ubuntu having an "far superior out-of-box experience" when difficulties such as this are considered. ...and let's not even get into video drivers. :P
- buster 16y agono problem at all for a few releases now ;)
- rufugee 16y agoActually, mp3 support is a checkbox during the install process now, so this is a non-issue. Video drivers have been just fine for me for the past six years or so, but perhaps that's because I always buy nvidia cards that are well supported. The only place OS X has a leg up on Linux IMHO is video codec support, and you can't really blame the open source developers for this one. I keep waiting for a hardware manufacturer to issue 3 or 4 different machines and make Linux work very well on them, akin to what Apple does with OS X. Most of the issues I see people have with Linux is due to the immense variability in hardware combinations. Eliminating this variability would make it pretty easy for a company to provide a seamless desktop experience to users.
- bcrescimanno 16y agoDidn't know that about mp3 support; that's really good to hear. What about installing proprietary video drivers? Can that be done at install time too? Has maintaining up-to-date versions of these drivers become easier? I admit ignorance--the last time I used Ubuntu regularly on the desktop was just before my first mac arrived in late 2006. I've toyed with it since then; but never gone through installation and configuration.
- rufugee 16y agoI'm not sure if it can be done at install time, but it's very easy after you're booted up. Almost all cards I've tried are supported by the basic drivers, and enabling third-party driver support (to get nvidia drivers, etc straight from the commercial source) is as simple as System->Administration->Additional Drivers. Click activate and you're good to go.
- buster 16y agoThis. My last setup of Ubuntu took like two hours (a few ubuntu releases back) and has been a great experience in terms of efficiency/usability. The really nice point about linux is to ask yourself what could you do to work more efficiently and usually there will be several tools available. I often ask myself that question and i don't know what could be better :)
- hollerith 16y agoWell, I will definitely give Ubuntu (and Gnome) another try.