OS X will win as *nix on the desktop
Posted on September 3, 2004
Filed Under Computing, FLOSS |
With Solaris boxen heading for pasture in record numbers, the fragmentation of the Linux desktop options (and other legal issues) has slowed the progress of Linux on the desktop, there is one bright light for making inrods into the MS Windows… Mac OS X.
Since making the Linux to OS X switch 4 weeks ago I’ve been more productive, a happy compuser, and it just works. After applying a AirPort update the other day my 19 day uptime was reset. 22 days with the iBook, 19 days up. I hear software suspend is working better in Linux now, but still not perfect… I close the iBook, it sleeps… I see a little heart beat light to indicate that restoring to my previous working state is just seconds away. Did I mention it just works. I loved using Linux because it was much more powerful, virii/worm/spyware/adware free, compared to MS Windows.
BUT, open source software is a double edged sword, it is good that it is in a constant state of development and improvment, but that means there is frequently unaddressed rough edges that affect a small number of users. When it does though, it causes a large amount of grief.. and I always seem to be in that small number.
This is where Apple steps in. There are no incompatible hardware issues because Apple makes all the hardware, OS X is *nix and open at its core. The UI is the best I’ve used: consistent, intuitive, eye candy, and Expose!
It has everything a *nix user could want. It has everything a MS Windows user could want, and doesn’t have anything they don’t!
If people want to defeat the MS desktop monopoly, then the efforts need to unite. LAMP is well on its way to server dominance, and will continue that way. But the desktop will not go that way. OS X is the best tool for the task. It is limited by its dependence on Apple hardware. But when Apple finally ports OS X to x86 hardware, running on top of either the Linux or Darwin kernel, the desktop world will be a happy one!
An Apple employee hinted to me that this might be in the works, but even if it is, it is still a long way off. I would love to run Tiger (OS X 10.4) on the iBook and my Compaq Presario… I guy can dream.
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Amen… my Apple rocks… now I want one of those new iMac G5s :-)