4 ms·

hey guess what. Microsoft sucked. If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a Microsoft laptop, there would be a howl of pain from all

hey guess what. Microsoft sucked. If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a Microsoft laptop, there would be a howl of pain from all corners of the world. If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a MacBook, everyone would smile quietly and start configuring it.

quanticle 15y ago
If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a MacBook, everyone would smile quietly and start configuring it. Lies. If my Linux laptop turned into a Macbook Pro, I'd reformat it and turn it back into a Linux laptop. I used to think that Apple maintained a dichotomy between their iOS arena and their OSX arena. iOS was locked down and OSX was more open. But the introduction of the app. store for OSX, and the pressure placed upon software developers to sell through that app. store shows me that Apple does not draw a distinction between iOS and OSX. It appears that the openness of OSX is a historical artifact, and that if they could get away with locking down OSX as much as they lock down iOS, they would.
- its_so_on 15y ago
  "If my Linux laptop turned into a Macbook Pro, I'd reformat it and turn it back into a Linux laptop" -- in other words, exactly what I said. And then you would end up with a rocking Linux macbook. There are bussinesspeople that run windows on their macbooks, just because it's such great hardware.
- gte910h 15y ago
  >pressure placed upon software developers to sell through that app To be fair, I haven't heard of any pressure at all. It's just a very nice platform to ALSO distribute through, as it handles updates far better than many other platforms. You certainly can distribute outside of that.
mvgoogler 15y ago
"If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a MacBook, everyone would smile quietly and start configuring it" I have call BS on this. As someone who uses all three - and made the switch from Windows to Mac - the whole meme of "it just works" or "is simply superior" is a load of crap. Mac are fine products. The physical design is nice. The trackpad is definitely top-notch. The keyboard? meh. The display? meh. The OS? least impressive of all. It's fine once you get used to it but I have had as many problems getting the Mac OSX to work with stuff as I ever did with Windows or Linux. Sure - it's a different set of problems, but Mac OSX most definitely doesn't "just work". All OSes are good at some things, great at some things and are complete and utter junk in other ways. You just pick you poison learn to live with it.
- its_so_on 15y ago
  you and your sibling post reply as though I said "turned into OS X." BUt I didn't. I said "turned into a macbook". which is the difference between microsoft and apple.
  - mvgoogler 15y ago
    Maybe I'm being dense :-) but I must be missing your point.. How would a macbook not imply OSX? Have you tried to buy a macbook without also buying OSX at the same time? Not seeing distinction you are making between MS and Apple..
    - mvgoogler 15y ago
      I guess if you're including "installing a new OS" within the scope of "configuring" then maybe I get it. Even for the tech-savvy among us I think referring to installing a new OS as "configuring" is a bit of a stretch :-) But I won't argue that the macbook hardware is solid.
      - its_so_on 15y ago
        right, the point is that the macbook hardware is really OK. Microsoft Windows in the workplace is NOT really OK. That's the big difference between Apple creating a walled-off Eden and Microsoft creating a walled-off Hell in the 90's. They get treated differently (by us etc) not because the walled-off monopolistic behavior is different, but because one is solid, and one is hell...

quanticle 15y ago

If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a MacBook, everyone would smile quietly and start configuring it. Lies. If my Linux laptop turned into a Macbook Pro, I'd reformat it and turn it back into a Linux laptop. I used to think that Apple maintained a dichotomy between their iOS arena and their OSX arena. iOS was locked down and OSX was more open. But the introduction of the app. store for OSX, and the pressure placed upon software developers to sell through that app. store shows me that Apple does not draw a distinction between iOS and OSX. It appears that the openness of OSX is a historical artifact, and that if they could get away with locking down OSX as much as they lock down iOS, they would.

its_so_on 15y ago
"If my Linux laptop turned into a Macbook Pro, I'd reformat it and turn it back into a Linux laptop" -- in other words, exactly what I said. And then you would end up with a rocking Linux macbook. There are bussinesspeople that run windows on their macbooks, just because it's such great hardware.
gte910h 15y ago
>pressure placed upon software developers to sell through that app To be fair, I haven't heard of any pressure at all. It's just a very nice platform to ALSO distribute through, as it handles updates far better than many other platforms. You certainly can distribute outside of that.

mvgoogler 15y ago

"If suddenly every Linux laptop anywhere in the world turned into a MacBook, everyone would smile quietly and start configuring it" I have call BS on this. As someone who uses all three - and made the switch from Windows to Mac - the whole meme of "it just works" or "is simply superior" is a load of crap. Mac are fine products. The physical design is nice. The trackpad is definitely top-notch. The keyboard? meh. The display? meh. The OS? least impressive of all. It's fine once you get used to it but I have had as many problems getting the Mac OSX to work with stuff as I ever did with Windows or Linux. Sure - it's a different set of problems, but Mac OSX most definitely doesn't "just work". All OSes are good at some things, great at some things and are complete and utter junk in other ways. You just pick you poison learn to live with it.

its_so_on 15y ago
you and your sibling post reply as though I said "turned into OS X." BUt I didn't. I said "turned into a macbook". which is the difference between microsoft and apple.
- mvgoogler 15y ago
  Maybe I'm being dense :-) but I must be missing your point.. How would a macbook not imply OSX? Have you tried to buy a macbook without also buying OSX at the same time? Not seeing distinction you are making between MS and Apple..
  - mvgoogler 15y ago
    I guess if you're including "installing a new OS" within the scope of "configuring" then maybe I get it. Even for the tech-savvy among us I think referring to installing a new OS as "configuring" is a bit of a stretch :-) But I won't argue that the macbook hardware is solid.
    - its_so_on 15y ago
      right, the point is that the macbook hardware is really OK. Microsoft Windows in the workplace is NOT really OK. That's the big difference between Apple creating a walled-off Eden and Microsoft creating a walled-off Hell in the 90's. They get treated differently (by us etc) not because the walled-off monopolistic behavior is different, but because one is solid, and one is hell...