Anto: Apple is only design and doesn’t deserve all the success? Are you suggesting that companies who provide poorly designed products deserve more success?

Personally, I’ve never used such a simple and easy-to-use computer, and yet it has all the UNIX features I’ve come to love in Linux. I could list all the great features of my iMac, but I’ll spare you the litany.

With linux, typing into the console is half the fun. But I like control and to solve problems that way. I could see how a lay person would be intimidated. But you have to learn an OS sometime in your life, I just think linux is more worth it. Though if people actually took time to learn their OS most of you computer folks would be out of a job.

I respectfully disagree with all your points.

Number 1, my iMac cost as much as a comparable Dell. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples (no pun intended) for similarly specified computers. Apple hardware tends to be higher end. Similarly marketed Dell computers tend to be lower performers.

Number 2, I assume you are talking about the hardware here, because the Darwin kernel is a BSD derivative, and I can install and run all kinds of open source, non-proprietary software. Out of the box, I have a functional terminal and development environment. Can’t say the same for Windows. As for other hardware, it’s true, you can only buy Apple branded computers to run Apple’s OS on (legally anyway). The truth is, though, that part of Windows instability is because of all the crappy third party hardware it has to run on.

I’ve been using Linux for the past 8 years. I have to say. Linux usability stinks. I’ve been wanting to migrate my family and friends to Linux for a long time, and every year I think, “this will finally be the year.” About 2 years ago, I finally gave up. The Linux community can’t seem to really gel around a particular desktop long enough to iron out all the usability quirks. They keep abandoning frameworks instead of polishing the existing stuff to the point that it’s usable by lay people. It seems that every year there’s some new inter-process communication standard that requires a whole slew of software rewriting (dbus, anyone?).

When I install Linux on a new desktop or laptop, I try to see how long I can go without having to type anything on the command line. I’ve never made it a whole day on a new computer without having to break out the terminal. That, for my non-technical family and friends, is unfortunately unacceptable.

Nothing against the command line. I love it, but I wouldn’t make my mom do it. ;)

Bottom line though, if you are just someone who doesn’t know computers very well and money is no object, then by all means buy a Mac. They look cool and are designed to save space. But power users will want something more for cheap and its sad that windows is the only well known OS out there for non Mac systems. What I find most sad, though, is that Ubuntu is much better than vista yet all new PCs come with vista preinstalled. When I picked up my new laptop last summer, after I decided that the macbook was WAAAAY overpriced, I immediately installed Ubuntu and use it 99% of the time. Windows needs to rethink their approach to software and all you windows users out there, learn Linux (Ubuntu preferably) you will thank yourself later.