I haven't had all that much contact with MACs, but I consider myself fairly proficient in both linux and windows systems.

Linux
Pros:

• Free, Open source
• LOTS of choice in distrobutions!
• Highly portable - you can install it on pretty much anything
• Runs of all kinds of hardware, from the lates AMD (and MACs) to the old pile of metal in the cellar.
• Systematic, organised
• Customisable
• Has a great community - where you are known as a USER rather than a CLIENT
• Has a LOT of software available! It is a myth that there is little software available for Linux systems. There is little commercial software available. (I have 19,000 pakages available in the repos, and have not enabled even half of them)
• Software managers (synaptic,apt-get,alien,etc...)
• Very stable
• Doesn't WASTE resources on graphics (see 'Windows Vista')
• Good for servers - efficient data management.

Cons:

• Most distros are fairly hard to get to know
• Not as much commecial software is available for Linux as Windows and MAC (see 'Macromedia, Adobe...'), Java apps being the exeption.
• Not for those intimidated by the command line (see 'Old Gran')
• Drivers are not always available (see 'Broadcom chipsets')
• Doesn't work the same way as Windows, so many people think it is worse. (though these people would most likely not be welcomed into the linux community anyways, thinking like that.
• Hardware like mice (see 'Logitech wireless','Microsoft products'), keyboard shortcuts (like the keyboards that have buttons to open a web browser, etc) and combinations (I have Fn - PU/D for volume, for example) do not neccessarily work (Ubuntu being a great example of things working CORRECTLY)
• Wireless networking is one of the most common problems, and with more and more things going wireless these days...

Windows XP and Vista
Pros:

• Popular (see 'inexplicable')
• Good support for games, tons of programs available
• "Ease" of use <- so long as you don't try to do anything too complicated, you don't need a university degree in computer science to keep it from crashing.
• Hardware is made for it.
• Drivers are made for Windows before anything else.
• Commercial software is always released for Windows first. (see 'Flash Player')
• A lot of manufacturers sell their computers with Windows preinstalled (see 'retards').

Cons:

• The next downgrade is vista! (see English-Latvian dictionary under 'chicken')
• Hogs memory (Vista even more than XP
• Windows networking is really really really slow. And stops working at random times.
• By buying windows, you support a capitalist company in monopolising the market.
• Windows comes with enough software preinstalled to... almost equal the time it takes to boot it in milliseconds.
• Has horrible colour schemes by defult, and you can't get out of them for free legally (at least, I didn't find out how untill I got Linux... ).
• Registry. Say no more...
• Illogical menus and folder structure. (like being able to access "my documents" from at least three different places in the tree.

I'll leave it at that.

elrohir i think you said it best for Linux and Windows. Thank you. I have to admit i am somewhat lazy, and did not have much experience with Linux. I have been trying to install Ubuntu for months and there is always ONE problem at 95%!!!

heheh, ubuntu ftw. What goes wrong? Have you tried posting about it in Ubuntuforums?

I like windows, I am kind of anti-apple (dont want to offend anyone). I would like to run a server with linux, because windows servers are way to easy to hack.

That's a pretty cool list. It sux that I just got a new PC but realize a MAC is what I'll need to get further in my career. I got a PC that has tons of space and RAM and really am liking it......but now I have the choice of updating to VISTA and i'm not sure if i want to. It didn't sound too exciting and i'm afraid i'll lose some of the programs that I have.

I would like to have a Mac so i can do some video editing and other types of production. I work on them all the time at school here. We have a few different Mac Labs that have a bunch of em that have tons of programs like macromedia flash, aobde photoshop, final cut pro, motion, adobe after effects....etc. I'm just getting a lil nervous that once i'm done with school (one more year) i won't have access to all of those things for a while. I'll have to save up and buy my own Mac.

I like them but haven't really been amazed about the difference until recently. Sure it looks pretty nice but I just like how it is easy to navigate and the animation is slick. I just wish I had the money to get one. My friend back home got his own MacBook a hwile ago cuz he's into painting and photoshop and stuff like that so he uses it to do graphic design. I'm really into photoshop and have been getting more into flash and other programs so I now see why the Macs are favored.

My roomate here at school also just got one of his own......lucky S.O.B.. His was like 3 grand but it's pretty sweet. How he can afford it i'm not sure but i've been able to tinker around with it a bit. Garageband is pretty awesome and i can record guitar stuff and other music effects on it and mess around with their sounds. While I love my PC and windows has been good to me.....I may be a mac user sometime soon.


Thanks for the list.

Also, Windows has amazing driver support, especially with wireless adapters, unlike Mac or Linux.

Nice comparison but I think it can be expanded a lot, I wont try and bite in because I know that it will provoke an apple vs pc war.

Many new games are also released for Linux. Also there are cool games for linux. The gaming industry is beginning to take notice of the linux market and realised that we geeks too like to frag monsters.
One advantage that I have in using linux is that I dont have to worry about viruses. In my college, every system is infected with viruses and if you just plugged in your pen drive, you are sure to be infected. Whenever I use my pen drive in college, I can easily come home, put it in linux, clean the files, and be happy.

When I compare the prices I don't think its that much more money. When I compare the specs with computers of the same the difference is only a hundred or so dollars. Sometimes I find the Macs cheaper.