Random question for Asher

[Boris Godunov]

I routinely feel sorry for Mac people.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

no need, the jokes on windows guys.

[Az]

I routinely feel sorry for Mac people.

oooh, that's cold.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Is this a thread for any random questions for Asher?

I've no wish to threadjack, but then again these are a bit dull.

Hit me with your best shot.

[Ted Striker]

I have an IBM related question in your private message area!

[Drake Tungsten]

It was not a mere ratting out. It was a masterful set-up.

It was indeed.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Atahualpa
I'd like to see some professional usability comparisons. Not that I think their summary would be different, but you know... their way of presenting is... more professional and more fact-based.

I'm sure there's some pseudo-professional ones around the web. I remember OSNews had one, with Gnome/KDE both ending dead last.

Last year when I was taking a high-level HCI class, the prof looked at four interfaces over the week's 3 lectures -- Windows XP, MacOS X, and KDE / Gnome.

He had lots of criticisms for each OS, but when he was on KDE/Gnome, I can't even recall him saying anything good about it. He was exasperated by the end.

Hmm...maybe he has some articles published.

[Asher]

Here's the site I was thinking of: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3064&page=1

There are a lot of things we did not discuss in this article, but it would not be practical to write a real paper on these DEs. It would take me a month each and many-many pages. But I think this article summarizes well my view on how well these DEs they function and deliver what they are supposed to deliver to the user.

I acknowledge that there are good reasons for dealing with the negatives of Gnome and KDE, since there are other reasons for using Linux, and many people weigh the options and make that choice. However, today we live on times where everyone is pushing Linux on the desktop (or the corporate desktop by the mighty Red Hat) so including the main X11 offerings in this comparison article was appropriate.

Personally I much prefer overall the Windows XP experience with a close second the ones of MacOSX and BeOS. In fact, a DE that could have the best values found on these three operating systems, plus the power of Unix underneath, would make my utopian desktop environment. But there isn't such a DE (in fact, there is no such thing as "the perfect desktop", this is just a myth), so I usually reboot to them to enjoy their capabilities.

Here is the final rating, summed up from all the ratings above:

Final Rating:
Windows XP 8.55
MacOSX 8.33
BeOS 8.22
KDE 6.72
Gnome 6.61

[Max Webster]

I think most computer geeks fail to understand that majority of computer users out there don't care how or why their computer works. They just want it work, to function without loads of options or input from themselves. The average user is interested in the applications and applying them to either leisure or work. They don't care about the interaction between the applications and OS.

MS doesn't cater to the elitist minority geeky element and thats why they are laughing all the way to the bank.

[Nostromo]

Someone I know bought a Mac and he doesn't like OS X at all. He prefers good old OS 9. I don't know what version of OS X he has, though.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Max Webster
I think most computer geeks fail to understand that majority of computer users out there don't care how or why their computer works. They just want it work, to function without loads of options or input from themselves. The average user is interested in the applications and applying them to either leisure or work. They don't care about the interaction between the applications and OS.

MS doesn't cater to the elitist minority geeky element and thats why they are laughing all the way to the bank.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Just was reading that Ming thread on Mac-Civ forum. Pure gold.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Max Webster
I think most computer geeks fail to understand that majority of computer users out there don't care how or why their computer works. They just want it work, to function without loads of options or input from themselves.

The average computer user doesn't install Windows, either. If Linux comes pre-installed, it's just as easy to use.

Originally posted by Max Webster
The average user is interested in the applications and applying them to either leisure or work. They don't care about the interaction between the applications and OS.

That's why the average user getting their Wintel boxed owned and got tons of malware.

Originally posted by Max Webster
MS doesn't cater to the elitist minority geeky element and thats why they are laughing all the way to the bank.

That's so wrong I don't even know where to begin. For starters, read up on the DoJ vs MSFT anti-trust case.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
Here's the site I was thinking of: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3064&page=1

You quoted Eugenia to back yourself up? Maybe you would quote John Dvorak next.

[Imran Siddiqui]

If Linux comes pre-installed, it's just as easy to use.

Can they install a majority of the software out there? Would they know to look for a "Linux" shelf (and it'd be only ONE shelf 99% of the time) for their software purchases?