“InfoWorld’s ‘Save XP’ petition asking Microsoft to keep Windows XP available indefinitely, not end most sales on June 30 as currently planned, has prompted many readers to suggest that maybe the best answer for those who don’t like Vista is to switch to another operating system completely,” Galen Gruman reports for InfoWorld.
“‘Windows Vista was the reason I bought a Mac mini. I didn’t want my only choices to be an operating system that would soon be obsolete (XP) or one that was buggy and would break much existing hardware (Vista), and I’m not enough of a geek to use Linux (do things from the command line? Puhleeze…),’ wrote ‘Jack,'” Gruman reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Linux on the desktop is a fantasy; simply a non-starter. In January 2008, Net Applications’ measure of operating system usage share online put Linux at 0.67%. Apple’s Mac OS X was 7.57%. In fact, Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch already hold 0.17%. Apple’s Wi-Fi mobile devices will likely surpass Linux on the desktop this year. After years and years of availability, Linux has no significant, meaningful user base. And, it has nothing to do with being geeky or using the command line. It has everything to do with a mature user interface and access to the world’s best applications. Only Apple Macintosh can run all the world’s applications. Most Linux on the desktop “geeks” we know switched to Mac OS X long ago. You want Unix on the desktop, you want Mac OS X. That said, Linux is a perfectly acceptable (and maybe even the best) choice for the server room.
Gruman reports, “Of the plausible alternatives to Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X has the largest market share and history. InfoWorld chief technologist Tom Yager has written that the latest version of the Mac OS, Leopard (10.5), is simply the best operating system available. And Macs are indeed popping up more frequently even within IT circles — I’ve seen more MacBook Pros in the hands of CTOs and IT execs at conferences in the past year more than I’ve seen Mac notebooks in such venues ever. Although there are no real numbers on just the business adoption of Macs, it’s clear that Apple is in growth mode, gaining an increasing proportion of all new computer sales for more than a year now.
“InfoWorld’s Yager has chronicled the adventures of one PC user who switched to the Mac OS, showing that for an individual, the conversion was ultimately a rewarding one. The TechWeb site has also provided a good guide on how to make the switch to Mac OS X,” Gruman reports. “A key tool for any Mac OS X switcher is a virtual machine to run Windows for those apps and Web sites that require it. Both Parallels Desktop 3.0 and EMC VMware’s Fusion software will do the trick, as InfoWorld’s comparative review has shown.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Shawn” for the heads up.]
