Mine is Better Than Yours…
Chapter: The Comic
Oh the games we play. All this huff over which is better: Windows, Mac or Linux. What do you think about ‘platform wars’? Has it gotten old? Will it ever end? Why do people push their choice on everyone else? Sound off in the comments below.
-Krishna
P.S. I posted a new UNcubed comic yesterday. Check it!
These beautiful and intelligent people wrote
Tell me what you think!
Sonny
July 2, 2009 at 12:43 amEh, I never really push a platform onto someone else, it’s really an individual choice. Actually, there was this one time in college where a roommate of mine needed to borrow a computer of mine for a while and it had Linux on it and I made him use that… but since it was my computer i figured it was ok :-)
qka
July 2, 2009 at 12:56 amIt’s those individuals that have only used one system, yet think it is the end-all and be-all, that annoy me.
Those who can intelligently compare and contrast three or more systems are worthy of attention; those who cannot deserve disdain.
Sonny – as far as your loaning your computer, i had similar experiences with calculators in high school and college. (OK, so it was many years ago) I always used RPN calculators. A classmate would ask to borrow mine, and I would mentally start counting …1…2…3… before the inevitable question “Where’s the ‘equals’ key?” I’d say that there wasn’t one, and they would hand it right back. Needless to say I never lost a calculator to a borrower.
timelawd
July 2, 2009 at 1:56 amOperating systems don’t matter. But Apple has the best computers.
;-)
Manuel
July 2, 2009 at 3:53 amApple builds the best PC hardware, even Windows runs fine on them.
Windows is great for Office and Games. Period.
Linux is great vor Development, Science and Servers.
Mac is the best for Desktops, but switching to it is not easy for elder people.
oranges
July 2, 2009 at 6:17 amYou are the perfect example of the stereotype depicted in this comic ;)
qka
July 4, 2009 at 12:14 amI have a lot of “elderly” clients who support the case that Windows is not easy for old people.
Michael Kinyon
July 2, 2009 at 4:51 amFreeBSD forever! :-)
oranges
July 2, 2009 at 6:18 amNote that this isn’t specific to operating systems. It pretty much exists anywhere nerds congregate (aka the internet).
Be it spock vs picard.
Marvel vs DC.
Nintendo vs Sony.
etc etc
Fanboys are fanboys.
oranges
July 2, 2009 at 6:21 amoh, also I second the “FreeBSD forever” comment :)
timelawd
July 2, 2009 at 7:19 am“You are the perfect example of the stereotype depicted in this comic” (oranges)
Isn’t it great ? :-)
oranges
July 2, 2009 at 7:58 pmIt is great that people quote me using the inccorrect context ;)
krishna
July 2, 2009 at 7:01 amWow! 8 comments already posted before I woke up! Clearly, there are some strong opinions on the subject…
Stoney
July 2, 2009 at 7:29 amActually Krishna I havent gone to bed yet. There are pros and cons about every OS. Linux in general has the history of being non user friendly, Mac is stable, reliable, but has limited software choice, Windows will crash at the slightest hint of trouble but you can have so much software its unreal. I personally use Win XP, I used to use Ubuntu, I keep several live OSes around, and my roommate uses a Mac, I personally stay away from Max’s because of how used to the mouse and keyboard setup from Win/ Linux. Thats just my two cents.
Richard Walsh
July 2, 2009 at 12:06 pmStoney, the commands are relatively simply. There are right click mouses for the mac, any mouse I have bought from the Windows/Linux world works on my macs. The only difference is really instead of control you hit the command button. I use both Windows and Mac on a daily basis, jumping from one to the other over a KVM. Using a windows keyboard, I just hit the windows button on the mac or the control button on the PC. Its the same thing.
Overall, as a person who has used Windows all the way back to Win3.5, FreeBSD, Linux and its derivative Ubuntu, as well as MacOS from 3-X, I have to say the best experience I have had was on MacOS. Now as for Stoney’s first part of his comment, I have to agree, each one offered its pros, but it also offered its cons. But imo those pros and cons varied depending on the user. where as I find windows limiting in music production quality that I get from MacOS or Ubuntu. Windows availability is better for any games. Although this is no longer so mainstream, since the inclusion of intel processors I’m seeing more and more coming to the MacOS. Ubuntu, well I couldn’t do much except music work, as we go back to availability, there isn’t just that much.
All in all, it is the user in the end, and whatever they choose, thats what they use. I always recommend a unix based OS, so MacOS or Linux, and in most cases my friends will listen. However, the mac is costly, can only be used on their hardware, the pc is cheap, you can build it from scraps, but not many ppl know Linux/Ubuntu so they go the Windows route. In the end the option is theirs.
MarcM
July 2, 2009 at 7:41 amYou can tell this one is a popular topic simply based on number of responses :-)
May as well throw in my 2 cents. Linux is almost always my first choice for the average home user, since they don’t need the super power functions of MS Office (Google docs, or OpenOffice.org work fine), and Ubuntu is inexpensive and easy to setup and maintain without being as easily susceptible as Win. On the other hand, since most pcs still come with Win preinstalled many of my clients want it reinstalled after crashes, even if it costs them…
gonzalexx
July 2, 2009 at 1:53 pmACK>.. shows you how much PC Weenies I’ve been reading (what a shame) … I didn’t know Bob was a linux guy… always thought he was an Apple person.
Excellent strip!!!!
trinalin
July 2, 2009 at 3:34 pmThe state technology list (for schools) always has flareups of Winders vs Mac every couple of months or so. Gets tired fast. OSes are a matter of preference, all have positives & negatives.
I’m now using 4 different OSes on all my laptops & PC: Winders XP Home, Ubuntu 8.04, Ubuntu 9.04, and Winders 7 RC1. I’ll probably buy Winders 7 when it comes out (unless they screw it up between now and then).
madbard
July 2, 2009 at 7:50 pmtastes great vs less filling.
mary ann vs ginger.
and JoT told us is it now “kirk vs picard vs kirk 2.0”. http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1242.html
Theala Sildorian
July 3, 2009 at 8:59 amPretty much the biggest issue for me is stability and plug n play. I use a Mac at home, and Win XP at work. There are some work specific applications I have to use for my job that are Windows only (horribly written software, but that’s not Microsoft’s fault). My issue with my Windows machine is it locks up and crashes on me at least once a day. Yesterday I came close to losing a chapter I was writing for a textbook–I’d saved moments before the crash.
My Mac never crashes on me. Ever.
My other issue is plug and play. I plug a peripheral to my Mac, and it works. Period. No fussing, no sweating. It just works. Not so with our Windows machines at work. It’s a toss up from day to day as to whether it will work when all the stuff is turned on. If I bring my Mac laptop in and plug the projector into that, it works fine. If I use the school’s computer (Win) with the same projector it will work one day and not the next. Or I might get video but no sound. It’ll take me a good 15-30 minutes of fussing with it before I can start class (good thing for me I get to work at 7am).
It gets old quick.
Charismatic Enigma
January 14, 2010 at 8:56 pmA note about computer crashes, perhaps the most irritating issue I’ve come across regarding Windows users:
Theoretically, Windows should never crash on you, provided you have enough hardware to support what you’re trying to accomplish. (You can’t make a respectable video editing workstation out of an older machine with 128 Mb of RAM.) For the record, my WinXP machine never crashes on me.
A big problem is that, in my experience, people who routinely crash their Windows machines seem to be incapable of taking the hint that they are DOING IT WRONG. If you have seventeen different programs running all at once, you are basically begging your CPU to have a stroke.
Patience is, now more than ever, a virtue. “Come on! Load, you b******!” is something I’ve uttered more than once myself, but if your machine is consistently and reliably slower than molasses in an igloo… you have two options. 1) Get a new machine. 2) Put on your big boy/girl panties and get used to it.
I was indoctrinated into Windows as a teenager because we used a network of iMacs at my elementary and middle schools, which had roughly the computing power of an abacus. I wouldn’t object to learning how use an Mac machine, but I have long since become comfortable with working around Windows’ flaws (which includes ignoring the fact that Vista ever existed). I would probably not switch over even if I thought Mac was a far more efficient system.
Zorklat DeOrc
August 1, 2010 at 8:55 pmI like Linux, with Mint being my favorite distro. But one of the first things I said in Signs You Should Not Use Linux is that it’s not for everyone.