“Even if Longhorn ships in mid-2006, it will be mid-2007 before we see it in real quantity, late-2008 before it has a significant installed base, and perhaps 2011 before XP finally fades away. That’s if Microsoft hits its marks from here on and customers actually want what Longhorn manages to deliver. Now factor in time for WinFS and the confusion when XP starts getting some Longhorn features, and it looks like the fun just won’t be stopping,” David Coursey writes for eWeek.
“Longhorn’s woes may open a door for Linux, a very tiny door, but Linux just isn’t a good choice for desktops. Instead, desktop Linux proponents should wake up and switch to the Mac OS,” Coursey writes. “People who use Mac OS X and think about such things consider it to be ‘Linux done right.’ Of course, it’s Unix, not Linux, but that’s a minor point. As Linux fragments, as it must, the distinction will become even more academic that it is already.”
Coursey writes, “Mac OS X has a better user interface than Windows, better security and is more stable. It’s all the operating system most users need. It doesn’t have the application support Windows enjoys, but there are many more excellent commercial OS X apps than there are Linux apps. If the desktop Linux people really cared about using a great operating system, they would stop trying to reinvent the wheel and rally around Mac OS X. It would be great if the contest were between two worthy operating systems, like Mac and XP/Longhorn. But Linux vs. Longhorn? You’ve got to be kidding.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Mac OS X vs. Windows XP is not much of a contest today, as users of both understand. Mac OS X vs. ‘Longhorn’ is not a contest at all since Mac OS X is the only contender that actually exists, it wins by default. Even if the stripped-down, feature-shedding ‘Shorthorn’ debuted today, Mac OS X ‘Panther’ would wipe the floor with it. Microsoft has always followed Apple’s Mac with their me-too Windows OS and they’re falling behind more and more with their never-ending Longhorn fiasco. It is time for our Linux cousins to join forces with us and adopt quality hardware complete with advanced 64-bit G5s and Mac OS X. Mac OS X is everything (except totally free) that Linux wants to be, but will never achieve. With Mac OS X powered by passionate Mac users and former Linux users, Microsoft would feel some serious pressure. You have to wonder if the bloated Microsoft behemoth would even be able to make a timely and coherent move to defend its ill-gotten, monopoly-abused Windows turf.