4 ms·

Question: for those of you who said Windows, is it by choice? And if so, why?

userbinator 12y ago
For me, yes. I've used Windows, OS X, and Linux, but prefer Windows the most because of the huge amount of software available for it, and it's the most familiar (I've been using Windows since 3.11) - I've done a lot on Win32 API applications. My environment has been setup with everything the way I like. It'd be perfect if the default command line shell was more *nix-like.
- kelnos 12y ago
  Given the time interval you're talking about (man, over 20 years now!), that's more than enough time to get up to expert level on any OS. I started on the Microsoft train back at DOS 5.something, and started using Windows at v3.0 (and wrote my share of shitty VB and MFC apps on 3.11, 95, 98, and 2000), but I left the MS world around '00/'01 and will never go back. (Oh god, remember Win32s?)
- renaudg 12y ago
  Is it about the huge amount of crap shareware options you can download for Windows, or about getting a job done ? It's been years since I've ever been unable to do any task on OS X, and do it with the best tools available. There's so much useful, quality, well picked stuff built into OS X that the "quantity" of software available is irrelevant.
dpcan 12y ago
Yes, by choice. Because I know it well and it just works.
elwell 12y ago
- by choice (win 7) - I simply prefer the experience. I feel like I can navigate around the environment more quickly. Also: not being tied down to mac hardware is freeing. I've found the HP ProBook to be a decent windows laptop. It shamelessly mimics a lot of the MacBook Pro form. In fact, the chiclet keyboard can use MBP silicone keyboard cover.
misingnoglic 12y ago
Macs cost too much and ubuntu just doesn't support enough /stuff/
tnash 12y ago
Windows 7 is a solid OS. Also, built my own rig and own a copy of Windows CS4. If Adobe started making a Linux version I'd switch to Ubuntu.
ladzoppelin 12y ago
By choice. It runs my older hardware better than anything I have found and with 8.1.1 pro I can run Ubuntu Server in Hyper-V which is a Type I Hyper-visor. That combo gives me the best of both worlds. I would also consider purchasing a Mac book pro to run this setup if I could get a guarantee from Apple not to "sabotage" the setup in someway, still honor the warranty for the hardware and let me boot to windows without using Bootcamp. As the the rest of the world catches up to the Mac book pro's screen quality, if Apple officially supported different OS's I think they could steal a huge amount of users from the OEM's.
agersant 12y ago
I choose Windows because it runs the software I value the most (Foobar, Photoshop, FlashDevelop). I prefer the Linux ecosystem (package managers, better terminal, etc.) but the software just isn't as good for my needs.
enthdegree 12y ago
By choice. I was a diehard Linux nazi until I got my first internship where everyone used Windows. Initially I was appalled; I had brainwashed myself with the spirit that `configurability is power' to the point that no one, not even I could get any work done on any system I touched. This philosophy carried over when I started using the work computer, which I plastered with ``productivity software'' on it in an attempt to morph the system into something more like my personal laptop. I became part of the ``Cult Of AutoHotkey.'' In retrospect it is absolutely absurd that there exists a subculture which revolves around changing the settings of computer software. The first week of the job my boss had to do something on my computer, and within thirty seconds told me "What have you done to this poor computer." He was a Smart Guy; he is highly educated, has been working with for longer than I have been alive and adapted to modern standards, (sucessfully) administered company server farms, directed software projects (embedded, web and everything in between) and most importantly had a life outside of science and technology. It was at this point that I woke up. Obviously there was a problem with me. Now I leave every conceivable default untouched unless I absolutely cannot avoid it. I use Windows 8, IE (Firefox with no addons when that breaks), Visual Studio, Windows Photo Gallery, etc. Most of the less common software I must use is run out of a folder in my home directory. Now I and everyone can be productive on my system. The only thing I have lost since switching is the smug self-righteousness of Linux veganism and Lifehacker articles. There is no default on Linux, so there can be no expected behavior. That is why I use Windows.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  Thank you! I also refuse to hobble myself with custom desktop toys. If my machine fails I want to be productive again as soon as I get another machine on my desktop. Forget all the imaginary gains of diddling with exotic editors etc. Truth is, you can get used to anything. So get used to the defaults, and leave the whole discussion behind.
  - kelnos 12y ago
    I find it weird that you don't believe you can have both at the same time. I have my (important) dot-files and etc-files checked into a git repository, critical subdirectories of ~ (Photos and Documents, to name a couple) synced to an online backup service, and I have a cron job that takes a daily snapshot of the list of packages installed on my laptop with "dpkg -l" (which gets dumped in ~/Documents, which is synced to my online backup). If (and when: this has happened) I lose my main machine, I can be up and running, virtually exactly where I left off, in a matter of a few hours. The only stuff that's really missing that I need to get work done is ~/src/, but all of that is on various git servers, and can be re-cloned as needed (it's very rare that I finish some coding and fail to check it in and push it somewhere safer). I just could not live with a stock Mac or Windows setup (or Linux, though, to be fair, there's really no such thing as a "stock" Linux setup) and still feel productive. Then again, regarding Windows specifically, I just cannot feel productive on Windows anymore, period. In the 90s I would have considered myself a Windows power user, but switching to UNIX-y systems blew away anything I could ever do on Windows. Perhaps things have gotten better, but I have zero motivation to go back when I already have the real thing right in front of me. In the end, though, everyone is used to what they're used to, and switching costs can be pretty damn high.
quaffapint 12y ago
I'm running on a 8 year old self built computer with Windows 8.1 and it still works wonderfully even with Photoshop, Visual Studio, and phpStorm. The only slowdown is the hard drive, which could stand an SSD upgrade someday. Macs just seem too low end hardware for the price and an 8 year old mac wouldn't run this well - i also couldn't get over the no right-click on the mouse. Linux is fine for the server side, but after years of MythTV I got tired of getting things to work.
ozcoder 12y ago
By Bread !
dagw 12y ago
Software. At the end of the day Operating Systems exists to run software, and Windows is the only OS that runs all the software I want/need to run.

For me, yes. I've used Windows, OS X, and Linux, but prefer Windows the most because of the huge amount of software available for it, and it's the most familiar (I've been using Windows since 3.11) - I've done a lot on Win32 API applications. My environment has been setup with everything the way I like. It'd be perfect if the default command line shell was more *nix-like.

kelnos 12y ago
Given the time interval you're talking about (man, over 20 years now!), that's more than enough time to get up to expert level on any OS. I started on the Microsoft train back at DOS 5.something, and started using Windows at v3.0 (and wrote my share of shitty VB and MFC apps on 3.11, 95, 98, and 2000), but I left the MS world around '00/'01 and will never go back. (Oh god, remember Win32s?)
renaudg 12y ago
Is it about the huge amount of crap shareware options you can download for Windows, or about getting a job done ? It's been years since I've ever been unable to do any task on OS X, and do it with the best tools available. There's so much useful, quality, well picked stuff built into OS X that the "quantity" of software available is irrelevant.

dpcan 12y ago

Yes, by choice. Because I know it well and it just works.

elwell 12y ago

- by choice (win 7) - I simply prefer the experience. I feel like I can navigate around the environment more quickly. Also: not being tied down to mac hardware is freeing. I've found the HP ProBook to be a decent windows laptop. It shamelessly mimics a lot of the MacBook Pro form. In fact, the chiclet keyboard can use MBP silicone keyboard cover.

misingnoglic 12y ago

Macs cost too much and ubuntu just doesn't support enough /stuff/

tnash 12y ago

Windows 7 is a solid OS. Also, built my own rig and own a copy of Windows CS4. If Adobe started making a Linux version I'd switch to Ubuntu.

ladzoppelin 12y ago

By choice. It runs my older hardware better than anything I have found and with 8.1.1 pro I can run Ubuntu Server in Hyper-V which is a Type I Hyper-visor. That combo gives me the best of both worlds. I would also consider purchasing a Mac book pro to run this setup if I could get a guarantee from Apple not to "sabotage" the setup in someway, still honor the warranty for the hardware and let me boot to windows without using Bootcamp. As the the rest of the world catches up to the Mac book pro's screen quality, if Apple officially supported different OS's I think they could steal a huge amount of users from the OEM's.

agersant 12y ago

I choose Windows because it runs the software I value the most (Foobar, Photoshop, FlashDevelop). I prefer the Linux ecosystem (package managers, better terminal, etc.) but the software just isn't as good for my needs.

enthdegree 12y ago

By choice. I was a diehard Linux nazi until I got my first internship where everyone used Windows. Initially I was appalled; I had brainwashed myself with the spirit that `configurability is power' to the point that no one, not even I could get any work done on any system I touched. This philosophy carried over when I started using the work computer, which I plastered with ``productivity software'' on it in an attempt to morph the system into something more like my personal laptop. I became part of the ``Cult Of AutoHotkey.'' In retrospect it is absolutely absurd that there exists a subculture which revolves around changing the settings of computer software. The first week of the job my boss had to do something on my computer, and within thirty seconds told me "What have you done to this poor computer." He was a Smart Guy; he is highly educated, has been working with for longer than I have been alive and adapted to modern standards, (sucessfully) administered company server farms, directed software projects (embedded, web and everything in between) and most importantly had a life outside of science and technology. It was at this point that I woke up. Obviously there was a problem with me. Now I leave every conceivable default untouched unless I absolutely cannot avoid it. I use Windows 8, IE (Firefox with no addons when that breaks), Visual Studio, Windows Photo Gallery, etc. Most of the less common software I must use is run out of a folder in my home directory. Now I and everyone can be productive on my system. The only thing I have lost since switching is the smug self-righteousness of Linux veganism and Lifehacker articles. There is no default on Linux, so there can be no expected behavior. That is why I use Windows.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
Thank you! I also refuse to hobble myself with custom desktop toys. If my machine fails I want to be productive again as soon as I get another machine on my desktop. Forget all the imaginary gains of diddling with exotic editors etc. Truth is, you can get used to anything. So get used to the defaults, and leave the whole discussion behind.
- kelnos 12y ago
  I find it weird that you don't believe you can have both at the same time. I have my (important) dot-files and etc-files checked into a git repository, critical subdirectories of ~ (Photos and Documents, to name a couple) synced to an online backup service, and I have a cron job that takes a daily snapshot of the list of packages installed on my laptop with "dpkg -l" (which gets dumped in ~/Documents, which is synced to my online backup). If (and when: this has happened) I lose my main machine, I can be up and running, virtually exactly where I left off, in a matter of a few hours. The only stuff that's really missing that I need to get work done is ~/src/, but all of that is on various git servers, and can be re-cloned as needed (it's very rare that I finish some coding and fail to check it in and push it somewhere safer). I just could not live with a stock Mac or Windows setup (or Linux, though, to be fair, there's really no such thing as a "stock" Linux setup) and still feel productive. Then again, regarding Windows specifically, I just cannot feel productive on Windows anymore, period. In the 90s I would have considered myself a Windows power user, but switching to UNIX-y systems blew away anything I could ever do on Windows. Perhaps things have gotten better, but I have zero motivation to go back when I already have the real thing right in front of me. In the end, though, everyone is used to what they're used to, and switching costs can be pretty damn high.

quaffapint 12y ago

I'm running on a 8 year old self built computer with Windows 8.1 and it still works wonderfully even with Photoshop, Visual Studio, and phpStorm. The only slowdown is the hard drive, which could stand an SSD upgrade someday. Macs just seem too low end hardware for the price and an 8 year old mac wouldn't run this well - i also couldn't get over the no right-click on the mouse. Linux is fine for the server side, but after years of MythTV I got tired of getting things to work.

ozcoder 12y ago

By Bread !

dagw 12y ago

Software. At the end of the day Operating Systems exists to run software, and Windows is the only OS that runs all the software I want/need to run.