Comments on: A quick review of Operating Systems http://commadot.com/a-quick-review-of-operating-systems/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-quick-review-of-operating-systems UX = User Experience by Glen Lipka Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:42:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Robert Schultz http://commadot.com/a-quick-review-of-operating-systems/#comment-2541 Robert Schultz Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:43:23 +0000 http://commadot.com/a-quick-review-of-operating-systems/#comment-2541 I have somewhat of a similar story. I started on a Commodore 64 and then moved to a Macintosh in 1994. I used it until around 2000 or so when I got totally fed up with developing applications under MacOS 8/9. It froze/crashed often, the MacOS toolbox was no picnic, and I had been using Windows more and more at work (including development within using the Win32 API). So one day I made the switch to Windows. I too loved Windows 2000, and was resistant to Windows XP until I realized that I could turn off all the doodad stuff and then Windows XP looked just like Windows 2000 and was stable and fast as hell. Over the past year though I've switched my primary workstations both at home and at work to Linux. I'm running Gentoo with the IceWM window manager. It's skinned to look, behave and feel exactly like Windows 2000, but it gives me the power of running Linux. I'm really quite happy. I still run Windows on my work laptop and I dual-boot Windows at home, but that's only for games. I tried switching to MacOS X at work after my old workstation died and got a Mac Pro to replace it. After using it for several hours, I just couldn't get used to the differences. Apple keys and a whole list of other annoying little things. Especially font smoothing. I HATE anti-aliased fonts. With Linux I could turn off all font-smoothing and all my fonts look super crisp and clean. I did extensive research on the MacOS X side, and although I found that I could turn off anti-aliased fonts for a lot of things, not everything. That was the final straw for me. Sad, though. I would like to become a Mac user again, but not at the cost of headaches because the fonts are blurry. I have somewhat of a similar story.
I started on a Commodore 64 and then moved to a Macintosh in 1994.
I used it until around 2000 or so when I got totally fed up with developing applications under MacOS 8/9. It froze/crashed often, the MacOS toolbox was no picnic, and I had been using Windows more and more at work (including development within using the Win32 API). So one day I made the switch to Windows.

I too loved Windows 2000, and was resistant to Windows XP until I realized that I could turn off all the doodad stuff and then Windows XP looked just like Windows 2000 and was stable and fast as hell.

Over the past year though I’ve switched my primary workstations both at home and at work to Linux. I’m running Gentoo with the IceWM window manager. It’s skinned to look, behave and feel exactly like Windows 2000, but it gives me the power of running Linux. I’m really quite happy.

I still run Windows on my work laptop and I dual-boot Windows at home, but that’s only for games.

I tried switching to MacOS X at work after my old workstation died and got a Mac Pro to replace it. After using it for several hours, I just couldn’t get used to the differences. Apple keys and a whole list of other annoying little things. Especially font smoothing. I HATE anti-aliased fonts. With Linux I could turn off all font-smoothing and all my fonts look super crisp and clean. I did extensive research on the MacOS X side, and although I found that I could turn off anti-aliased fonts for a lot of things, not everything. That was the final straw for me.

Sad, though. I would like to become a Mac user again, but not at the cost of headaches because the fonts are blurry.

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