Windows Vs Mac Vs Linux

Nerdzmasterz

I know this may get a bit ugly, let's try to be civil. 🙂 This is a casual chat on devices, not a "Why you should have this device" sort of thing.

I was wondering, what are the pros and cons of the different types of PCs?

Windows, I'd say, is known for ease of use, and Mac is known for graphics- but that's about it. In the opinions of others, what are these devices each good at/ very bad at?

I guess the only other known thing is that Mac is used to build games for the App Store, and Windows builds for games on Android. You could probably use a VM to make games for either one, but in general, this is the setup.

cybereality

I think it's mostly a brand or lifestyle choice. Each platform has strengths, but ultimately it's a personal choice.

Nerdzmasterz

I know, I'm more curious because I've only ever had one brand. I'm thinking of looking at others. 🙂

Megalomaniak

best way to know is to try them. This being largely a subjective thing, I don't think anyone else can really determine what would work best for you.

DaveTheCoder

It's very simple. Linux is good, Windows and Mac are bad.

Nerdzmasterz

How so?

DaveTheCoder

Freeeeeeeedom

Nerdzmasterz

I heard you can do quite a bit with them, but I dunno what all it does.

cybereality

I use Ubuntu, I like it a lot. But I also have Windows 11 and macOS on other PCs, so I can do testing. Linux does most stuff well, but there are sometimes problems. A lot of games work, but a few do not, and sometimes there are things that aren't supported for legal reasons (like playing Blu-Ray discs or certain DRM on streaming websites). Overall it's still nice. You can do lots of customization to the UI and it is pretty fast.

duane

cybereality I use makemkv for blurays. It's technically paid software, but it's been in beta-test for over a decade, so it's free to use. The part that decrypts the disc is distributed in binary form.

duane

Mac OS is a variation of BSD that tends to run best on mac hardware, which tends to be more expensive, so I've never used it. Windows is the standard for operating systems, that supports the most hardware and software and is used by the most people (on desktops). As the saying goes, no one ever got fired for recommending windows. Linux is becoming ubiquitous on servers, but causes the most problems for desktop users. It's arguably cheaper to run, because you don't have the option of buying much software for it.

My personal opinion is that windows is best for game developers. You can run a type of linux on it, if you care about a minuscule market, and you're constantly testing the most common operating system (besides android). Mac is a strong contender for other developers. Linux should be used only by zealots and other madmen (like me). 🙂

Seriously, I recommend linux for old and/or non-technical folks who have a family geek to maintain it. Windows is easier to screw-up, so your geek will be busier cleaning junk off of it. My grandmother nearly fell victim to an anti-virus scam. I happened to visit her while the scammers were "cleaning" her computer, so I immediately unplugged it and called her bank to stop payment. I then installed linux on her system and told her to ignore any warnings of viruses she got or requests for money regarding her computer. She was perfectly happy with linux to the end of her days.

cybereality

duane I use makemkv for blurays.

Yes, I am able to rip Blu-Ray discs, but not just play them. And it takes like an hour or two, by the time it finishes I wasted the window I had to watch the movie. I just play discs on my PS5 as that is easier and it works.

Nerdzmasterz

Windows' ease of use and popularity makes it a nice target for viruses. That's the only real downside I notice, other than that it constantly updates with unnecessary things. A developer would be better off with more space for their games over the extras.

TwistedTwigleg

I have used all three operating systems at one point or another as my daily driver and my opinion is that they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Linux is great for allowing you to customize and tailor things exactly as you want it, and is quite nice for C++ and C development. Biggest downside is that you have to compile almost everything (pro or con) and Linux support is almost always an afterthought in many applications. Generally if there is a Linux version, it has bugs and/or is not as well supported, though there are exceptions.

MacOS is great for mobile development on iOS (though it is the only way to do it, so...) and great for developing C/C++ while also having greater OS support with major applications. It also has a nice flow and generally is very stable. The biggest downside is that you are locked into the MacOS ecosystem and sometimes MacOS has specific oddities due to how their libraries are compared to Linux or Windows, which can be more predictable due to their open nature.

Windows is great for almost everything, but I would argue for statically compiled languages like C and C++, it is much more painful to develop for. What Windows has going for it though is great support for almost all applications, the "it just works" factor is higher than MacOS and WAY higher than Linux. You might find an application that mostly works on MacOS or Linux, but on Windows, it generally works like it is supposed to out of the box. It also has the best support for games and game development, as the majority of game players are on Windows. The biggest downside is Windows is kinda heavy for an OS (though it has gotten better with Windows 10, not sure on 11). I'm not a fan of the Windows specific C/C++ libraries, which can cause some issues if you are doing OS related stuff, but admittedly if you are not programming in C/C++ then you're unlikely to notice.

Of the three, I have consistently returned to Windows. The factor that it just works for the majority of the applications I need to run and use, as well as for games I want to play, are big draws. MacOS and Linux are great too though, especially for non-game development work.

duane

cybereality
I've never done it myself, but I understand that it's fairly easy to set up vlc to use makemkv to decrypt as you watch.

duane

cybereality

Well, at the risk of beating a dead horse, it took me about ten minutes to get a bluray to play on my gentoo system with mpv and makemkv. It would have been a lot quicker, but I decided to run it in firejail, just to make it challenging. It's kind of a sad statement when getting a disc to play on your OS is grounds for excitement. 🙂

The instructions were in the ebuild for makemkv. I knew I'd seen them somewhere.

cybereality

No those tutorials are old. I guess someone got in trouble a few years back so they removed the feature.

Pixophir

Just a few days ago I had an experience with MS Soaftware that reminded me why I switched to GNU/Linux. I tried the Unity Game Engine, which wants Visual Studio as an Editor. Other editors work as well, but then there is no type-ahead or class reference lookup. Both Unity and Visual Studio Code can be installed in user space alone, so that was a good experience, but then I realized that Visual Studio had redirected all editable file types to Visual Studio. Had to skim through them and set them back manually, and there where a lot of them. So I keep tinkering on Linux :-)

All development environments imaginable are available on Linux, many like Python, C, C++, ... come with it actually. With a plethora of software to choose from. For someone who wants to get into coding it should be a no-brainer to opt for Linux these days. It also doesn't get in the way, or distracts with ads or forces updates or virus checkers on us, if that's a criteria.

I have heard that some Blue-Ray decodings doesn't work, out of legal reasons. But that's no problem for me.

My 6700XT runs smoothly with the open source driver RADV and full Vulcan support.

Until last september, I had to keep a Windows PC for drivers to control a telescope mount and connected cameras. There was no native Linux port avaibale when I bought them.

Tomcat

The ideal system for the past and this millennium is NT. The closest thing to ideal is Win 7. All good things are in the past. Win 11 is a step from 10 to 7, in the opposite (right) direction.

Is it possible to make an operating system based on Godot?

Nerdzmasterz

Tomcat If it was, I would buy it.

Tomcat

Nerdzmasterz If it was, I would but it.

I guess it's not a one man job. 🙂