Mac Users Prefer Linux Over Windows

[Ken Hess]

Apple users are the most dedicated and fervent operating system fans with undying loyalty to their operating system, hardware and peripherals. And they're just as loyal now to the new Unix-based OS X as they were to the old proprietary Mac OS. However, when given the option of a Linux-based computer or a Windows-based one, 100% say they would rather use Linux.

Mac users cite stability, ease of use, reliability, lack of viruses and sleek design as their main reasons that they love their Macs.

I've personally never owned a modern Mac or an iAnything so I can only report what I've been told in a recent survey of Mac users. I do understand, however, their reasons for loving the Mac. I've never been able to afford a Mac product but, if what they say is true then the Mac may pay for itself many times over with uptime and fewer problems.

I do find it funny (strange not haha) that Mac users gave the same reasons given by Microsoft, and its fans, as why someone should love Windows. And those same Windows ads and fans say just the opposite about Linux.

How can it be both ways?

Mac users would rather use Linux because it's more like the Mac OS but Windows users say that Linux is too hard. Something there doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not taking sides on this one but rather only reporting what I've been told.

For the sake of you and other DaniWeb readers, I'd like to hear from Mac users who've also used Linux to find out if my other survey was flawed. Write back and let me know what you think about the following question: If your Mac were unavailable to you and you had a choice of a Windows PC or a Linux PC, which would you choose and why?

[JWJones]

I am a Debian and Mac OS X user, so the answer is obvious for me, I guess. I have been using Macs since 1986, and Linux since 2000. If my Mac was unavailable, I'd just be a full-time Linux user, except for the Windows machines that I have to put up with in my work environment.

[crouad01]

I started to really get into Linux last summer, so I'm not an expert by no means. But I think one big thing that I like about both OS X and Linux is that they're a lot less clunky than Windows. My first Linux distro was PuppyLinux, and I was happy to get it going on an older machine with 256MB of RAM that we had stored away and forgotten in the attic. I eventually got Ubuntu Hardy to work on it, too. That was the latest version at the time. There's no way in heck that I'd be able to get the latest version of Windows to work on it.

[scru]

[Citation needed]

[Brian Pattison]

As a Rails developer, I became familiar with Linux before switching from Windows to OS X. OS X is great for running a web development environment that's like Linux in every way. It's a very powerful OS. What's also great is the simplicity. I spend most of my screen time writing code and configuring servers, so I don't want to spend extra time installing or configuring software to do my day-to-day computing tasks.

I'd say Windows is better out of the box for day-to-day tasks, but I'd still pick Linux over Windows because I'm very familiar with the terminal. If the Windows Command Prompt was a bash terminal with all the tools a default Leopard install has (ruby, rails, rubygems, ssh, make, etc.), I'd at least choose Windows over Linux and only use Linux on servers.

I have Windows 7 on my netbook and I really think it's great, but I'm not exactly sure what I'd have to do in order to SSH into a Linux server. Is that possible without installing something? I don't even know...

[khess]

@Bruce
Yes, you can use putty to ssh on Windows. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~s.../download.html
No installation, just download it and run it. Lots of cool options.

[NoCaDrummer]

"However, when given the option of a Linux-based computer or a Windows-based one, 100% say they would rather use Linux."

One-hundred percent? I'm an OpenSuSE 11.1 Linux user at home (with a Mac G3/ OS-9 on the side... for old files, plus my G3s won't run OS-X) and I find THAT statement as difficult to believe as the recent claim that "90% of netbooks are sold with Windows." Do you have an unbiased, statistically-significant basis for this claim, or did you just ask some friends?

Don't get me wrong, I think that a substantial percentage would agree that they would prefer Linux over MS-Windows. But I don't think you could get 100% of a statistically-significant number people to prefer steak over lawn clippings - no matter WHAT their current OS is.

It's true that I switched from Mac OS-9 to Linux myself, but I'm not sure everyone would have done the same. My reasons were both technical (secure OS) and vengeful (my former employer got screwed by Microsoft - and is no longer in business.) Other than needing occasional access to old fines, I hardly ever use my old Mac anymore.

[khess]

@NoCaDrummer

It's from a poll I did of Mac users on another site. Right now, 51 responses. Not a gaggle but certainly a quorum.

[scru]

Oh how you conveniently forgot to cite the source of your data in your blog post.

Of course users on a Mac forum are going to pick Linux! People on Mac forums generally despise Microsoft!

[khess]

@scru
The reason is because there's no public link to the survey. I did the survey on LinkedIn inside a group discussion.