Chadius: Linux vs Windows

Crossroads

Well, this is it: Which Operating System (OS) will you put on your next computer? Linux or Windows? Both?

You've been blissfully unaware of any operating system besides Windows. And hey, it works right? Most of the time, anyway. But your friends keep talking about how awesome Linux is. It'll do your dishes, clean up your house, walk your dog and make computing easy. But it never seems that way from your perspective.

That was me waaaay back in 2001 then I went to MIT. Computer Scientists everywhere use Linux. The campus public computers run Unix (close enough to Linux, don't think about it too much.) And well if I'm going to major in Computer Science, I'd better learn.

But I like games, and only Windows gets the big-budget stuff. A conundrum!

I've been installing and reinstalling these OSes since then. So I hope I'm able to tell you as much as I can about these OSes as possible. They both rule and they both suck in their special little ways.

First: Apple?

I know nothing about Apple products. It sounds like they are almost the best of both worlds. Kinda.

You need to pay to play. More than you would for a hardware-exact Windows or Linux copy. But apparently the UI kicks ash and the warranty is SO GOOD. You'll need to keep paying to play, but that's the trick to it.

Why Linux Rules

Anything you want. For Free.

There are a million things in Linux that I can't do in Windows. To be more precise, if it's on Windows, I need to buy it then I need to deal with its implementation/bugs/whatever and if there's a problem with it, the response is "wait 6 months and buy the new version." Linux will have an equivalent tool, for free, that has more features (usually with a worse UI) and is better supported.

There are also deep, specific tools you'll want that only Linux provides. But those tools are very specific and very deep.