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I recommend running Linux (any stable distro) with Xfce. It's worked/looked exactly the same for years[0], and there won't be any sudden/unpleasant changes in t

I recommend running Linux (any stable distro) with Xfce. It's worked/looked exactly the same for years[0], and there won't be any sudden/unpleasant changes in the future either. 0: http://xfce.org/about/screenshots http://xfce.org/about/screenshots

blkhp19 12y ago
While I'm (we're) critical of the regressions when it comes to UI performance, switching to linux means giving up an entire ecosystem of apps, completely changing workflows, and in some cases depending on the kind of development that one does, making our jobs impossible.
- toyg 12y ago
  That's ironic, considering the major wave of OSX adoption was due to linux-oriented developers who found it easier to keep working with their linux ecosystem on OSX than on Windows.
  - pilsetnieks 12y ago
    Not major, just vocal in these circles.
- joelthelion 12y ago
  That's why for me Linux is the only sensible choice of platforms. All the other platforms means giving complete control over my tools to a single company.
  - vivab0rg 12y ago
    So much this. I've settled on elementaryOS 0.2 (based off Ubuntu 12.04 LTS) for all my development, staging, and production environments, being netbook, notebook, All-in-One desktop, Mac mini and all my VPS servers. Software package consistency is a invaluable, and you don't even have to give up on the looks: https://github.com/vivaserver/MoonLion https://github.com/vivaserver/MoonLion
    - hubot 12y ago
      to me, Ubuntu 14.10 is still very rough. there are so many inconsistency everywhere: shortcuts, software's ui, etc... take a simple example: usually Ctrl Q (cmd q on os x) means quit. try doing on os x will quit the app 9 out of 10 times. on ubuntu? not really.
    - lewaldman 12y ago
      Wait... You are not running Elementary on production servers are you???
  - gaius 12y ago
    You're about to give it up to Red Hat, with systemd taking over everything, whether that's your cup of tea or not, that's what's going to happen.
    - tree_of_item 12y ago
      Yeah, soon Vim and Emacs and even GCC will be integrated with systemd!! Resistance is futile.
yourad_io 12y ago
An alternative upgrade path would be (any distro) + Pantheon DE (from Elementary OS). Very Mac-like, it helped me with my imaginary transition pains. Soon thereafter, I did a tour of the usual window manager suspects and ended up with i3 <3
- eyko 12y ago
  Arch Linux + Pantheon DE was very buggy the last I checked. I ended up just installing ElementaryOS and regretting/missing having pacman. After a while I just gave up on eOS Luna and switched back to Arch Linux with a very minimally themed Cinnamon DE. So I agree that any distro + pantheon would be great for those looking for an OSX-like experience in Linux, but it seems the reality is not as straightforward. PantheonDE doesn't seem to be developed like KDE/Gnome/XFCE are -- i.e. with a distro-agnostic approach. Hence you're sort of tied to eOS if you want to keep any level of sanity while getting it to "just work". That was counterproductive in my experience.
rayiner 12y ago
On a laptop, the regression in battery life switching to Linux or Windows is just a no-go. Also, it's not like Linux is famous for "just working" when it comes to suspend/resume.
- keithpeter 12y ago
  Ubuntu 9.04 onwards no big issues with suspend to ram. Hibernate to disk can be problematic if someone uses 'guided partitioning' as the swap space is sometimes a little small. Hardware: Thinkpads (T41, X60, X200) and Dell Latitude (E5420), currently Debian Sid.
  - dllthomas 12y ago
    I've also had no trouble with this, lately, though I have no idea how well that generalizes to others' experiences.
RoseO 12y ago
I second this, I just switched my MBA to Xubuntu and I'm loving it.

blkhp19 12y ago

While I'm (we're) critical of the regressions when it comes to UI performance, switching to linux means giving up an entire ecosystem of apps, completely changing workflows, and in some cases depending on the kind of development that one does, making our jobs impossible.

toyg 12y ago
That's ironic, considering the major wave of OSX adoption was due to linux-oriented developers who found it easier to keep working with their linux ecosystem on OSX than on Windows.
- pilsetnieks 12y ago
  Not major, just vocal in these circles.
joelthelion 12y ago
That's why for me Linux is the only sensible choice of platforms. All the other platforms means giving complete control over my tools to a single company.
- vivab0rg 12y ago
  So much this. I've settled on elementaryOS 0.2 (based off Ubuntu 12.04 LTS) for all my development, staging, and production environments, being netbook, notebook, All-in-One desktop, Mac mini and all my VPS servers. Software package consistency is a invaluable, and you don't even have to give up on the looks: https://github.com/vivaserver/MoonLion https://github.com/vivaserver/MoonLion
  - hubot 12y ago
    to me, Ubuntu 14.10 is still very rough. there are so many inconsistency everywhere: shortcuts, software's ui, etc... take a simple example: usually Ctrl Q (cmd q on os x) means quit. try doing on os x will quit the app 9 out of 10 times. on ubuntu? not really.
  - lewaldman 12y ago
    Wait... You are not running Elementary on production servers are you???
- gaius 12y ago
  You're about to give it up to Red Hat, with systemd taking over everything, whether that's your cup of tea or not, that's what's going to happen.
  - tree_of_item 12y ago
    Yeah, soon Vim and Emacs and even GCC will be integrated with systemd!! Resistance is futile.

yourad_io 12y ago

An alternative upgrade path would be (any distro) + Pantheon DE (from Elementary OS). Very Mac-like, it helped me with my imaginary transition pains. Soon thereafter, I did a tour of the usual window manager suspects and ended up with i3 <3

eyko 12y ago
Arch Linux + Pantheon DE was very buggy the last I checked. I ended up just installing ElementaryOS and regretting/missing having pacman. After a while I just gave up on eOS Luna and switched back to Arch Linux with a very minimally themed Cinnamon DE. So I agree that any distro + pantheon would be great for those looking for an OSX-like experience in Linux, but it seems the reality is not as straightforward. PantheonDE doesn't seem to be developed like KDE/Gnome/XFCE are -- i.e. with a distro-agnostic approach. Hence you're sort of tied to eOS if you want to keep any level of sanity while getting it to "just work". That was counterproductive in my experience.

rayiner 12y ago

On a laptop, the regression in battery life switching to Linux or Windows is just a no-go. Also, it's not like Linux is famous for "just working" when it comes to suspend/resume.

keithpeter 12y ago
Ubuntu 9.04 onwards no big issues with suspend to ram. Hibernate to disk can be problematic if someone uses 'guided partitioning' as the swap space is sometimes a little small. Hardware: Thinkpads (T41, X60, X200) and Dell Latitude (E5420), currently Debian Sid.
- dllthomas 12y ago
  I've also had no trouble with this, lately, though I have no idea how well that generalizes to others' experiences.

RoseO 12y ago

I second this, I just switched my MBA to Xubuntu and I'm loving it.