8 ms·

Top 6 advantages Ubuntu 11.10 has over OS X & Windows

10 points by mrschwabe 15y ago

cleverjake 15y ago
I was really hoping for compelling reasons, because I do love ubuntu, but this list is /really/ subpar. The number three reason to get ubuntu over windows or os x - "Unity is better than ever"...? Within that, its "on par" with os x's dock. "Free software" Again, eh. I can get a lot via brew or ports, and compile most other things on os x. I love ubuntu, but I can't imagine sending this list to anyone Im trying to convert.
- nodata 15y ago
  True, but then again you're pretty much always able to compile X on platform Y. That doesn't make X a feature.
gravitronic 15y ago
I agree virtual windows increase productivity. I've been using them in windows for years via http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ Works just as good as the linux counterpart.
- dhimes 15y ago
  Wow- thanks for that. I didn't know it existed.
  - briandear 15y ago
    Well based on the article leading with the virtual desktop as a reason UB is 'better' than OS X, you'd think that someone obviously didn't know. Lion came out almost 4 months ago.. UB isn't breaking new ground with that feature.
    - dextorious 15y ago
      It's worse than that. Even before Lion OS X already had Spaces. And before that there was third-party support for virtual desktops. On Windows I used VirtualWin ever since 2000, but there are tons of other third party tools too.
    - mrschwabe 15y ago
      Fair enough, but is mission control as fluid as Ubuntu's virtual desktops? Like SuperKey + S to quickly zoom out and CTRL + ALT + up/down/left/right to slide screens? And can you set it up to have like 9 or 20 some screens? I ask because I honestly don't have OS X running on any systems atm. But I have a feeling OS X cannot match Ubuntu's depth on this feature.
- mlwarren 15y ago
  Also, OSX has mission control. You don't necessarily have to "go back to the single desktop paradigm of Mac or Windows". There are solutions for that, and on OSX it's even built in. It's a great feature in Ubuntu but it's definitely not exclusive.
- mrschwabe 15y ago
  Thanks for the headsup on VirtuaWin. Another one for Windows is "Dexpot". Its OK, but nowhere near as good as the polished Ubuntu experience.
ShaunK 15y ago
Has the author of this article never used Spaces on OS X? The very first point seems to indicate they have not.
- briandear 15y ago
  And mission control is even better -- especially with dual or triple monitors.
  - super_mario 15y ago
    Actually, mission control is a giant step back. Spaces prior to Lion were actually more useful and usable. Now they have turned to a gimmick to impress the clueless in the apple store. This is one of the many reasons I have not updated my macs to Lion, and if they continue this way I may just install Ubuntu on them.
    - dextorious 15y ago
      I'm not clueless (I'm a CS graduate, I've cut my teeth on Sun OS) and I find it more useful than Spaces. YMMV, but when you assume you make an ass out of you and me.
      - revdinosaur 15y ago
        There are features of Mission Control that are impressive (full screening certain applications creates a new Desktop, for example) but I'd consider integrating Dashboard into the mix to be something one might consider the "dumbing down" of Spaces.
      - super_mario 15y ago
        I never said you are clueless, but I have been using OS X for a while now and it seems ever since iOS and massive iPhone uptake Apple has modified their OS design to dazzle rather than actually do work. They often take good ideas and concepts out of the OS and put something in that feels like a hindrance and step backwards to users who depended on the functionality and behaviour.
drivebyacct2 15y ago
I love a Linux environment over Windows and increasingly as 10.x progresses OS X, but none of the things on this list would be reasons I would cite.
hamidpalo 15y ago
Virtual Desktops are insanely cool - You mean like those that OS X has and that a billion utilities for Windows give you? The Community support is awesome - And there isn't ##windows or ##macosx, or sites like stackoverflow.com in addition to all the articles written by the 90%+ who use OS X or Windows? Unity is better than ever - Unity being better than ever is an advantage over earlier versions of Ubuntu, not OS X and Windows. What happens if I connect my Dell laptop with an ATI card to a TV to watch a movie? Beautiful Themes - They are beautiful indeed, but not very polished. OS X and Windows have huge teams whose only job is to make sure that the UI not only looks good, but also is functional and doesn't break down in all sorts of situations. An enormous free software library - Can I run iTunes on it and sync my iPhone properly? I also want to watch Netflix and Hulu full-screen. Sometimes I like playing that Angry Birds game, is that on there? No? I can't do any of those things? But you say there's a 3D modeler there, as well as something called DDD? Ubuntu is Free & Open Source - Because all developers and nerds rewrite parts of the kernel the way they work. Also, how does the OS being open source prevent the OS vendor from making huge changes to it? If Canonical introduced a breaking change to your application are you going to fork the OS or fix your app? Ubuntu is a great OS and arguably the best Linux distro out there, but this article performs feats of logic I have never thought possible.
- MaxGfeller 15y ago
  I thought exactly the same way. But I really like the new Ubuntu, gotta give it a try on my pc at home. I think with all the possibilities you have now on the web, it is a nice thing to have a light weight operating system. There is not much native software that I regularly use, most things work in my browser.
- mrschwabe 15y ago
  Great counter. Regarding the prospect of Canonical introducing a breaking change to your app - obviously you fix your app. But the larger point is that you can trust Canonical more than Microsoft or Apple that they won't introduce a breaking change to your 'business model'.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
chris_dcosta 15y ago
I always get the impression that Ubuntu is trying to be OSX for PCs. I know it's more than that, I don't have a use for it myself, and I won't hold it against you because you use it. The point being that OSX is the one to emulate (in the non-computing sense) if you're going to do it, and I have to say, Ubuntu now looks better than Windows does, which is always so damned ugly. At least I found myself liking what I saw. But actually whilst we're on the point, what the hell are Microsoft spending their money on? Mac OSX has been around for 10 years and you would have thought MS would just take a pile of cash, hire the best graphic artists out there and catch up. What's stopping them?
endeavor 15y ago
This list sucks. On the other hand, I've been running Ubuntu 11.10 on my notebook for almost 24 hours now and it is pretty nice. I think the biggest improvement is Unity. Unity sucked in 11.04. But now it feels right. It's got the smart ideas from Gnome3 while leaving behind the holier-than-thou stuff (i.e. the removal of the minimize button). I will say that Unity in 11.10 has a number of bugs. None of them show-stoppers but it's crashed on me a few times -- but it automatically restarts so it's not a big problem. A few minor hardware issues specific to my Lenovo notebook also seem to have been resolved by default. I agree with a couple posters that Ubuntu seems to be trying to copy a lot of OS X and bring it to the PC. They are at least doing a half decent job.
serverascode 15y ago
I run linux on my laptop full time, but that article doesn't really do desktop linux much justice. It's a softball article at best.

10 points by mrschwabe 15y ago

I was really hoping for compelling reasons, because I do love ubuntu, but this list is /really/ subpar. The number three reason to get ubuntu over windows or os x - "Unity is better than ever"...? Within that, its "on par" with os x's dock. "Free software" Again, eh. I can get a lot via brew or ports, and compile most other things on os x. I love ubuntu, but I can't imagine sending this list to anyone Im trying to convert.

nodata 15y ago
True, but then again you're pretty much always able to compile X on platform Y. That doesn't make X a feature.

gravitronic 15y ago

I agree virtual windows increase productivity. I've been using them in windows for years via http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ Works just as good as the linux counterpart.

dhimes 15y ago
Wow- thanks for that. I didn't know it existed.
- briandear 15y ago
  Well based on the article leading with the virtual desktop as a reason UB is 'better' than OS X, you'd think that someone obviously didn't know. Lion came out almost 4 months ago.. UB isn't breaking new ground with that feature.
  - dextorious 15y ago
    It's worse than that. Even before Lion OS X already had Spaces. And before that there was third-party support for virtual desktops. On Windows I used VirtualWin ever since 2000, but there are tons of other third party tools too.
  - mrschwabe 15y ago
    Fair enough, but is mission control as fluid as Ubuntu's virtual desktops? Like SuperKey + S to quickly zoom out and CTRL + ALT + up/down/left/right to slide screens? And can you set it up to have like 9 or 20 some screens? I ask because I honestly don't have OS X running on any systems atm. But I have a feeling OS X cannot match Ubuntu's depth on this feature.
mlwarren 15y ago
Also, OSX has mission control. You don't necessarily have to "go back to the single desktop paradigm of Mac or Windows". There are solutions for that, and on OSX it's even built in. It's a great feature in Ubuntu but it's definitely not exclusive.
mrschwabe 15y ago
Thanks for the headsup on VirtuaWin. Another one for Windows is "Dexpot". Its OK, but nowhere near as good as the polished Ubuntu experience.

ShaunK 15y ago

Has the author of this article never used Spaces on OS X? The very first point seems to indicate they have not.

briandear 15y ago
And mission control is even better -- especially with dual or triple monitors.
- super_mario 15y ago
  Actually, mission control is a giant step back. Spaces prior to Lion were actually more useful and usable. Now they have turned to a gimmick to impress the clueless in the apple store. This is one of the many reasons I have not updated my macs to Lion, and if they continue this way I may just install Ubuntu on them.
  - dextorious 15y ago
    I'm not clueless (I'm a CS graduate, I've cut my teeth on Sun OS) and I find it more useful than Spaces. YMMV, but when you assume you make an ass out of you and me.
    - revdinosaur 15y ago
      There are features of Mission Control that are impressive (full screening certain applications creates a new Desktop, for example) but I'd consider integrating Dashboard into the mix to be something one might consider the "dumbing down" of Spaces.
    - super_mario 15y ago
      I never said you are clueless, but I have been using OS X for a while now and it seems ever since iOS and massive iPhone uptake Apple has modified their OS design to dazzle rather than actually do work. They often take good ideas and concepts out of the OS and put something in that feels like a hindrance and step backwards to users who depended on the functionality and behaviour.

drivebyacct2 15y ago

I love a Linux environment over Windows and increasingly as 10.x progresses OS X, but none of the things on this list would be reasons I would cite.

hamidpalo 15y ago

Virtual Desktops are insanely cool - You mean like those that OS X has and that a billion utilities for Windows give you? The Community support is awesome - And there isn't ##windows or ##macosx, or sites like stackoverflow.com in addition to all the articles written by the 90%+ who use OS X or Windows? Unity is better than ever - Unity being better than ever is an advantage over earlier versions of Ubuntu, not OS X and Windows. What happens if I connect my Dell laptop with an ATI card to a TV to watch a movie? Beautiful Themes - They are beautiful indeed, but not very polished. OS X and Windows have huge teams whose only job is to make sure that the UI not only looks good, but also is functional and doesn't break down in all sorts of situations. An enormous free software library - Can I run iTunes on it and sync my iPhone properly? I also want to watch Netflix and Hulu full-screen. Sometimes I like playing that Angry Birds game, is that on there? No? I can't do any of those things? But you say there's a 3D modeler there, as well as something called DDD? Ubuntu is Free & Open Source - Because all developers and nerds rewrite parts of the kernel the way they work. Also, how does the OS being open source prevent the OS vendor from making huge changes to it? If Canonical introduced a breaking change to your application are you going to fork the OS or fix your app? Ubuntu is a great OS and arguably the best Linux distro out there, but this article performs feats of logic I have never thought possible.

MaxGfeller 15y ago
I thought exactly the same way. But I really like the new Ubuntu, gotta give it a try on my pc at home. I think with all the possibilities you have now on the web, it is a nice thing to have a light weight operating system. There is not much native software that I regularly use, most things work in my browser.
mrschwabe 15y ago
Great counter. Regarding the prospect of Canonical introducing a breaking change to your app - obviously you fix your app. But the larger point is that you can trust Canonical more than Microsoft or Apple that they won't introduce a breaking change to your 'business model'.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

chris_dcosta 15y ago

I always get the impression that Ubuntu is trying to be OSX for PCs. I know it's more than that, I don't have a use for it myself, and I won't hold it against you because you use it. The point being that OSX is the one to emulate (in the non-computing sense) if you're going to do it, and I have to say, Ubuntu now looks better than Windows does, which is always so damned ugly. At least I found myself liking what I saw. But actually whilst we're on the point, what the hell are Microsoft spending their money on? Mac OSX has been around for 10 years and you would have thought MS would just take a pile of cash, hire the best graphic artists out there and catch up. What's stopping them?

endeavor 15y ago

This list sucks. On the other hand, I've been running Ubuntu 11.10 on my notebook for almost 24 hours now and it is pretty nice. I think the biggest improvement is Unity. Unity sucked in 11.04. But now it feels right. It's got the smart ideas from Gnome3 while leaving behind the holier-than-thou stuff (i.e. the removal of the minimize button). I will say that Unity in 11.10 has a number of bugs. None of them show-stoppers but it's crashed on me a few times -- but it automatically restarts so it's not a big problem. A few minor hardware issues specific to my Lenovo notebook also seem to have been resolved by default. I agree with a couple posters that Ubuntu seems to be trying to copy a lot of OS X and bring it to the PC. They are at least doing a half decent job.

serverascode 15y ago

I run linux on my laptop full time, but that article doesn't really do desktop linux much justice. It's a softball article at best.