Post by KeithL on Sept 26, 2016 15:05:09 GMT -5
It all sort of depends on what level you're looking at.....
I remember BeOS..... as you say, it was quite nice, but never went anywhere.
I would also have said that OS/2 was better than Windows - back when it was current.
Digital's GEM wasn't bad either.... (remember... Ventura Publisher ran on a runtime version of that).
To be totally honest with you, I don't LOVE any operating system, any more than I love my favorite wrench or screwdriver.
I also don't get excited about them.... and I doubt I ever will (there was a time when maybe I did).
I can't even imagine a simple O/S that would do everything I want; just as I don't imagine a graphics app with one button labelled "make picture perfect" that always works.
To me an operating system is what you use to run programs.... and the job of an operating system is simply to not cause problems.
It either does what I want, and everything I want, or it doesn't.
(And, if it doesn't do something I want, then that's a "deal breaker".)
We have a mix of Windows and Apple machines here at Emotiva......
We have our Apple fans and our Windows fans - and virtually nobody likes both (everybody likes the one they're used to).
And, to be honest, we have about the same number of problems with each......
(Also, to be honest, they both run the main apps we use here - Adobe Apps, and Office, and e-mail - just fine.)
However, if I need a program to convert or play some obscure file format, or to do something unusual, it always seems to be a Windows program that does the trick.
In terms of audio, I give points to Apple - because current Apple computers support USB Audio Class 2 internally - while Windows doesn't.
However, neither of them supports bit-perfect playback of high-res files without extra software or drivers (so minus points to both).
And there are far fewer decent player programs for Apple than for Windows (and I don't know of a good free bit-perfect player for Apple; Windows has Foobar2000).
In terns of top-heavy but cool programs, we have jRiver for both; and iTunes sucks the same on both.
At the corporate level.....
I used to be involved in large scale network stuff; I worked for a company named Hydraweb - who supplied load balancing appliances to big companies - especially banks.
And before that I worked for a company who did "technical product analysis" for various big companies.... as in Cisco, and Reuters, and Sun, and Microsoft.
From back then I can tell you that, at the corporate scale of things, lots of end users liked Apple computers, but most IT departments viewed them as an "attractive nuisance"....
Sales people and office personnel liked them, but they were difficult to manage, and lacked most of the networking and security features that corporate IT departments look for.
Also, to put it bluntly, accepting that 85% of the computers in your company would be running Windows....
supporting a whole different operating system just to please the remaining 15% of end users seemed like an awful lot of extra work for no good reason.
Personally, I find Windows to be far more flexible (and it also happens to be the one I'm familiar with).
The big apps, like Photoshop, and Indesign, and Microsoft Word, run just fine on Windows.
And, when I need some obscure utility to play or convert some odd file, I can always find a Windows app that will do it.
I do not find nearly the variety available with Apple (ditto for Linux, incidentally).
I do not find Apple to "play well with others".
To me, if I have the choice between the limited software available for Apple, and the vastly larger amount available for Windows...
well, even if half the Windows software is garbage, that STILL leaves me with five times the number of good choices for Windows.....
I agree that Apple simplifies things - especially if you happen to LIKE the choices they've made for you.
The problem is that I often do not find their choices to fit my needs; and sometimes I just don't like what they've chosen to include.
(But, as I said, that's just my opinion.)
The one point on which I would argue with you is that, yes, Microsoft must be doing something right to own that big a market share.
There was a time when Apple owned more of the market - but Microsoft took most of what they had away from them.
(And, to be honest, I don't see THAT many Windows ads.)
I would have to conclude that there are more "power users" out there recently, who find the extra complexity in Windows to be justified by the extra flexibility you get in return.
I've generally found that the most time I spend on Windows is involved in customizing it to the way I like it (which I can't do nearly as well with Apple).
But then, that's just my opinion.....
Also note that I'm not especially a fan of Windows 10 (I find it generally works; but, then, so did Windows 7 and Windows XP).
Windows is by far the worse OS that I have come across. Just because it owns the larger market share does not make it a good OS. Mac OS X is what I use and prefer among the current crop of available operating systems. I primarily look for ease of use and a good user experience. Regarding cost, I look at the total cost of ownership. Every useless hour I spend in maintaining or giving attention to the OS factors into the cost matrix. From that perspective, I believe that Macs are less expensive to own than a Windows or Linux based machine.
Let me say upfront that I’m not an Apple fan and this post is not with an intent to start a flame war. I’m merely expressing my opinion while acknowledging that others may have a different view point. Whatever warmth I once had for Apple has long since been eroded by their shenanigans and as I learned more about Steve Jobs the person. Apple’s arrogance will be its downfall. No company remains on top for ever. Perhaps RemixOS might be the next OS that will get us excited once matured.
www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc
It has been my experience, over several years, that most people who love Windows have never really used another OS. Windows is all they know and since all PCs come with Windows loaded on them very few have ventured to install another OS on their PCs. It takes some getting used to a new paradigm and that’s true for a new OS too. One needs to take the time to learn the new environment and to understand the nuances of a new OS. Only then can a comparison be made.
As a developer for a number of years, in addition to Windows and Mac OS X, I have had the opportunity to work with several operating systems including Amiga, various flavors of UNIX (HP-UX, SunOS, Solaris, SGI, IBM AIX and others), QNX, Linux, Minix and even BeOS. Of all of these operating systems the best one by far has been my experience with BeOS. Unfortunately, both Microsoft and Apple erected insurmountable barriers in their path and did not allow BeOS to flourish. Sadly, it is no longer being developed. We had an active community of developers who kept working on new software for BeOS even after the company announced that it was closing the project down. But it never found the traction that it deserved and died an unfortunate death.
Here’s a short overview of BeOS if you're interested:
birdhouse.org/beos/byte/29-10000ft/
I remember BeOS..... as you say, it was quite nice, but never went anywhere.
I would also have said that OS/2 was better than Windows - back when it was current.
Digital's GEM wasn't bad either.... (remember... Ventura Publisher ran on a runtime version of that).
To be totally honest with you, I don't LOVE any operating system, any more than I love my favorite wrench or screwdriver.
I also don't get excited about them.... and I doubt I ever will (there was a time when maybe I did).
I can't even imagine a simple O/S that would do everything I want; just as I don't imagine a graphics app with one button labelled "make picture perfect" that always works.
To me an operating system is what you use to run programs.... and the job of an operating system is simply to not cause problems.
It either does what I want, and everything I want, or it doesn't.
(And, if it doesn't do something I want, then that's a "deal breaker".)
We have a mix of Windows and Apple machines here at Emotiva......
We have our Apple fans and our Windows fans - and virtually nobody likes both (everybody likes the one they're used to).
And, to be honest, we have about the same number of problems with each......
(Also, to be honest, they both run the main apps we use here - Adobe Apps, and Office, and e-mail - just fine.)
However, if I need a program to convert or play some obscure file format, or to do something unusual, it always seems to be a Windows program that does the trick.
In terms of audio, I give points to Apple - because current Apple computers support USB Audio Class 2 internally - while Windows doesn't.
However, neither of them supports bit-perfect playback of high-res files without extra software or drivers (so minus points to both).
And there are far fewer decent player programs for Apple than for Windows (and I don't know of a good free bit-perfect player for Apple; Windows has Foobar2000).
In terns of top-heavy but cool programs, we have jRiver for both; and iTunes sucks the same on both.
At the corporate level.....
I used to be involved in large scale network stuff; I worked for a company named Hydraweb - who supplied load balancing appliances to big companies - especially banks.
And before that I worked for a company who did "technical product analysis" for various big companies.... as in Cisco, and Reuters, and Sun, and Microsoft.
From back then I can tell you that, at the corporate scale of things, lots of end users liked Apple computers, but most IT departments viewed them as an "attractive nuisance"....
Sales people and office personnel liked them, but they were difficult to manage, and lacked most of the networking and security features that corporate IT departments look for.
Also, to put it bluntly, accepting that 85% of the computers in your company would be running Windows....
supporting a whole different operating system just to please the remaining 15% of end users seemed like an awful lot of extra work for no good reason.
Personally, I find Windows to be far more flexible (and it also happens to be the one I'm familiar with).
The big apps, like Photoshop, and Indesign, and Microsoft Word, run just fine on Windows.
And, when I need some obscure utility to play or convert some odd file, I can always find a Windows app that will do it.
I do not find nearly the variety available with Apple (ditto for Linux, incidentally).
I do not find Apple to "play well with others".
To me, if I have the choice between the limited software available for Apple, and the vastly larger amount available for Windows...
well, even if half the Windows software is garbage, that STILL leaves me with five times the number of good choices for Windows.....
I agree that Apple simplifies things - especially if you happen to LIKE the choices they've made for you.
The problem is that I often do not find their choices to fit my needs; and sometimes I just don't like what they've chosen to include.
(But, as I said, that's just my opinion.)
The one point on which I would argue with you is that, yes, Microsoft must be doing something right to own that big a market share.
There was a time when Apple owned more of the market - but Microsoft took most of what they had away from them.
(And, to be honest, I don't see THAT many Windows ads.)
I would have to conclude that there are more "power users" out there recently, who find the extra complexity in Windows to be justified by the extra flexibility you get in return.
I've generally found that the most time I spend on Windows is involved in customizing it to the way I like it (which I can't do nearly as well with Apple).
But then, that's just my opinion.....
Also note that I'm not especially a fan of Windows 10 (I find it generally works; but, then, so did Windows 7 and Windows XP).
Let me say upfront that I’m not an Apple fan and this post is not with an intent to start a flame war. I’m merely expressing my opinion while acknowledging that others may have a different view point. Whatever warmth I once had for Apple has long since been eroded by their shenanigans and as I learned more about Steve Jobs the person. Apple’s arrogance will be its downfall. No company remains on top for ever. Perhaps RemixOS might be the next OS that will get us excited once matured.
www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc
It has been my experience, over several years, that most people who love Windows have never really used another OS. Windows is all they know and since all PCs come with Windows loaded on them very few have ventured to install another OS on their PCs. It takes some getting used to a new paradigm and that’s true for a new OS too. One needs to take the time to learn the new environment and to understand the nuances of a new OS. Only then can a comparison be made.
As a developer for a number of years, in addition to Windows and Mac OS X, I have had the opportunity to work with several operating systems including Amiga, various flavors of UNIX (HP-UX, SunOS, Solaris, SGI, IBM AIX and others), QNX, Linux, Minix and even BeOS. Of all of these operating systems the best one by far has been my experience with BeOS. Unfortunately, both Microsoft and Apple erected insurmountable barriers in their path and did not allow BeOS to flourish. Sadly, it is no longer being developed. We had an active community of developers who kept working on new software for BeOS even after the company announced that it was closing the project down. But it never found the traction that it deserved and died an unfortunate death.
Here’s a short overview of BeOS if you're interested:
birdhouse.org/beos/byte/29-10000ft/
