philcrissman.com

This response to a friend’s blog post went longer than planned, and I thought it might be worth reposting (and expanding, since I’m apparently incapable of leaving well enough alone), just for the heck of it.

Andy had asked:

So, Phil, what do you think makes Linux (or Mac OS) the superior OS compared to XP or Vista? I am curious, and slightly interested in tinkering again with Linux myself. Here’s your chance to convince me! ;)

I responded:
While part of me would like to say unequivocally that “Linux is the better OS”, that’s not actually what I’m saying. The answer to “which OS is better” is always going to be dependent on the answers to
- Who needs to use it?
and
- What will they need to do with it?

In other words, if Photoshop and Quickbooks are apps that the user MUST have, well, you can’t really advise Linux. Mac OS, sure, but Linux wouldn’t work. If you just want to web-surf, work, program, enjoy media/music/video, chat, and even do some gaming: Linux is certainly an option.

My preference for Linux and/or Mac OS over XP or Vista is partly aesthetic and partly functional.

For the functional aspect, I’d summarize it by saying that almost anything I’d want to do on a computer, I can do on Mac OS, on Linux, or on XP; all three. The few major software pieces I might need that do not run on Linux (think Adobe software, QuickBooks, etc) do run on Mac OS. I’m not a hardcore gamer, but even if I were Transgaming makes it possible to play most major Windows games on Linux.

So if I’m satisfied that whatever I want to do, I could do on either Windows, Linux, or Mac OS, then what it comes down to is: which one do I like to use the most? To put it another way, which one do I like to use, to look at? Which one looks nicer, and has a UI that makes the most sense? For me, Linux and Mac OS win, hands down; I like the UI better, I like the command line better. Windows XP’s GUI tends to feel clunky to me.

(I will say the Royale theme that came with Media Center (I think) was a bit of an improvement, and I will not deny that Vista looks pretty nice.)

Some decisions don’t make much sense from a security standpoint: for example, making the main user an administrator. However, even if you decided to run as a normal user, and just use “Run As” when you needed to do administrative tasks… you find yourself jumping through all sorts of hoops. Some programs display “Run as” when you right-click; some don’t. Why? What’s the difference? Shortcuts don’t display it at all, which means that if you want to run, say, Computer Management as admin while logged in as a user you actually have to find the target of the short-cut, go there, and then get to “Run as” and use the administrator account. What would be so hard about just letting me double-click the icon, and if it requires special priviliges, popping up a dialog box so I can enter the administrator password? (I’m hoping that Vista has actually fixed this sort of thing).

I haven’t used Vista yet, but I have to say, if the look and feel of IE7 and Windows Media Player 11 are indicative of MS’s “new look” — I still don’t really care for it. Take WMP 11, for example — there is such a thing as making something look *too* shiny. ;-)

Bottom line, if I can get everything done on either of these 3 platforms, then the main driver of my decision will be:

• which is most intuitive?
• which looks the best?
• which annoys me the least?

These are all subjective questions, so there’s not going to be a “right” answer. It depends on the user. For me, Windows loses, and depending what I need to do, either Mac OS or Linux will win.

I don’t know if any of that was “convincing” per se, but that’s what I’ve got for you. ;-) Have fun.