Apple OS X 10.10 vs. Ubuntu 14.10 Performance

[Guest]

If it wasn't better than Linux on the desktop for my needs, trust me, I'd switch. Now that I thinking about it, I am not ever going to install Linux on my new server, I am going FreeBSD. Linux is becoming a jack of all trades, master of none. Sorry if that offends someone. There is more to a good desktop experience than just great gaming performance.

Facst, please. You're very mistaken, because Linux owns most of the markets, so it's not a jack of all trades, but a real master.

[JohnLee]

• Better battery life
• Better multitouch integration
• Better clang support
• Better software: Native MS Office for business, Photoshop, INDesign, etc.
• Better HiDPI support
• No strange driver incompatibility issues, due to their control over the HW
• In my opinion, a better, consistent, UI experience

Look, for me, OSX is better. If Linux works for you, go for it. You can argue against all of my points above, but I have used Linux extensively for 15 years off and on on the desktop and know that I wont go back anytime in the foreseeable future (We'll, maybe in a VM). Maybe I stomached Desktop Linux through too many bad years. It has gotten better, but why bother when I could simply go Mac.

You and I are in the same boat.

I use Linux daily on a large company managed server farm. It works great and it's the right tool for the job. But there is no way I'd go back to Linux for my MacBook.

OpenOffice is useless in a corporate environment that depends on PowerPoint. I use Pixelmator and iPhoto all the time. Forget about decent retina support. Ubuntu has come a long way in terms of software installation, but the default expectation for anything that's just a little off the beaten path is that you will run into some kind of hassle. (Case in point: TeamViewer just didn't want to install when I needed it.)

If I really need to, I run a virtual Linux machine, but that happens rarely.

There is no doubt that people can make Linux work very well for them, but let's not pretend that it's a one-size fits all.

And those complaining about price: yes, it's a little more expensive. But who cares about a couple of $100 more for a tool that you'll use every single day for 3 years? It's a trivial professional expense.

FWIW: it's impressive to see that Ubuntu is faster than OSX by this amount. Didn't expect that.

[jimbohale]

With all the bilions they are pouring over OSX, is this all they can do? Poor iZombies.

It's ok we have software that objectively looks nice (alignment, good color choice, etc) and functions well. I don't really care that Linux outperforms OS X, I already know that. OS X has a very nice UI that being that I use the UI 12+ hours a day is quite a big factor. GNOME is either really usable or really good looking to me (and clearly millions others), not both unfortunately. Unity is ok but I don't like it, it doesn't seem that clean to me and Pantheon (Elementary) has the most promise IMO. Now, some people like the Linux UI's, and good for them . I'm more of a live and let live kinda guy. Being that I've made quite a lot more than a few thousand dollars from my computer I don't mind spending a few thousand dollars for something that I like using more, but again that's just me. Everyone is entitled to their own choices .

Different strokes for different folks. Not everyone is willing to undertake using Linux. It's annoying, it's frustrating, it's tedious. I should never have to edit a text configuration file as an end-user on a desktop. Obviously servers are fine but desktops... nope. I should be able to download some application from the internet, and the OS should ensure it's signed by the authority for security (or source is provided and I can read it), and it should be literally a drop and drag installation. It's just easier for end-users that way. Quit being so elitist.

I happen to be quite technical and more than capable of dealing with Linux every day, but after using it as my daily driver for however many years, I finally switched to OS X and have no desire to switch back. Pretty much everything is supported, documentation is plenty, and all of the development tools are quite nice to use. If I want to use Linux for something I just boot up a VM with whichever distro I feel like and work from there.

You and I are in the same boat.

I use Linux daily on a large company managed server farm. It works great and it's the right tool for the job. But there is no way I'd go back to Linux for my MacBook.

OpenOffice is useless in a corporate environment that depends on PowerPoint. I use Pixelmator and iPhoto all the time. Forget about decent retina support. Ubuntu has come a long way in terms of software installation, but the default expectation for anything that's just a little off the beaten path is that you will run into some kind of hassle. (Case in point: TeamViewer just didn't want to install when I needed it.)

If I really need to, I run a virtual Linux machine, but that happens rarely.

There is no doubt that people can make Linux work very well for them, but let's not pretend that it's a one-size fits all.

And those complaining about price: yes, it's a little more expensive. But who cares about a couple of $100 more for a tool that you'll use every single day for 3 years? It's a trivial professional expense.

FWIW: it's impressive to see that Ubuntu is faster than OSX by this amount. Didn't expect that.

same thing here too

[wizard69]

Performance is not the biggest problem for OS X. Bugs on the Intel driver are. Game breaking, not patched for years... A game works often flawlessy on Windows or Linux and it is completely broken on OS X.

I guess that depends upon how you look at it, bugs are as much a performance issues as anything else. As far as Apple goes I'd be the first to call them out for poor GPU performance, it is like they don't care. Or maybe they don't want their machines to be seen as gaming platforms. If so that sucks for people that have other uses for the GPUs.

There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel though as Apples drivers are getting work done to them. More importantly Intels latest hardware makes the little Mac Book Air viable as general purpose machines. Limitations in hardware have had a serious negative effect on some of Apples designs and frankly I can hardly wait for Broadwell.

[wizard69]

Like?

The ability to update to the next OS release without having to rebuild the whole damn machine is a big one. I went from 2008 until just a week ago with no need to do a clean install and last week was a hardware failure of the machine. That is huge in my mind.

Commercial software support. Sadly there are just to many cases where commercial software support doesn't exist on Linux. Even on OS/X it can be a problem but at least with OS /X I have far fewer apps that need to run in a virtual machine.

App Store. While Linux doesn't do bad with their repositories, there is little support for commercial software. Frankly commercial software support is sometimes a better approach than open source. The flip side here is that OS/X is UNIX which means that many open source projects are supported on the platform or can be easily ported. It is sort of the best of both worlds.

Apple is heavily involved in LLVM/Clang so by extension my support of Apple goes a long way to supporting LLVM/Clang. This is something the open source world has needed for a long time, real competition for GCC. Apples focus on LLVM/Clang has had a direct impact and a very positive impact I might add on GCC. Frankly I think is positive is completely discounted in the Linux community, but I've been around long enough to see how slowly GCC has developed in the past.

Integration with iPhone/iPad is good. I use the word good here because even though it is better than any other solution out there it still has a long ways to go. The funny thing here is that iPhone is what pulled me back onto the Mac as my primary platform, I'd probably be running Linux still if it wasn't for that and UNIX firming up on the Mac platform.

[wizard69]

Maybe one of the advantages he enjoys is the ability to offer an opinion about what kind of software he prefers for his own personal use without immediately being jumped by multiple linux users with insinuations (or in your case spoken out right) that they are an uninformed zealot.

What is more interesting is the fact that they discount that I do use Linux on other hardware and even have (had) Linux running in a VM on my machine. I very familiar with both platforms and as such I believe I have a balanced opinion and my belief that Mac OS is a better OS for a primary computer workstation.

Seriously, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves and if you love linux so much you should probably try to avoid making linux users look like a bunch of petulant children who cannot abide a different opinion.

Differing opinions are fine, blindness to facts are not. I suspect that these people would have a huge problem working in a job like mine (automation) where you are exposed to all sorts of hardware and software systems. In some cases I have to say what the hell myself as I've seen projects that would be far easier done in either C++ or Python, instead they implemented on a PLC. Sometimes you just need to go with the flow, roll up your nose and fix the problem.

[wizard69]

I wouldn't say it is the only thing. I have an 11 inch 2013 MB Air and have loved it. Battery life is a big deal for me.
I did not get the laptop to game on. There is a point where there are diminishing returns when it comes to GPU performance.
If it is good enough to do what I need it to do, I don't care how great it could be.

The Air line up has been a considerable success for Apple especially now that Intels Integrated GPUs are less of an embarrassment. Im not sure why people knock them so much as you really would have a hard time finding a better solution for that niche.

If it wasn't better than Linux on the desktop for my needs, trust me, I'd switch. Now that I thinking about it, I am not ever going to install Linux on my new server, I am going FreeBSD. Linux is becoming a jack of all trades, master of none. Sorry if that offends someone. There is more to a good desktop experience than just great gaming performance.

Even I suspect that you went a little far calling Linux a jack of all trades and master of none. It is a good solution for many needs. However I completely agree with the idea that Mac OS is the best desktop experience out there right now.

[wizard69]

I was deadly serious about that: people really have killed themselves over Foxconn's working conditions they are so bad.
Thus, real people have died for the Cult of the Bitten Apple.

That is complete garbage. People don't kill themselves over working conditions, it is usually linked to depression. Oh by the way at the place I work I know personally of at least two people that tried to kill themselves, one a woman (successful) via a gun and a male attempt by hanging. Since I worked in the same location I can say with confidence that working conditions did not come into play.

If I wanted to track what has happened in the community over my lifetime I'd have to say that several hundred have killed themselves. Mental illness sucks as these people are a danger to themselves, families and co workers. If you count the deaths that included murder the number is likely higher by a significant amount. It is sadly even worst for the community when somebody looses it and slices up his family yet survives. Not only do you have the murders but you then have an individual that is eventually out on the street never to be trusted again.

By the way I'm talking about a community in scenic update New York here. This attempt by leftist to link these deaths at Foxconn to working conditions is just pathetic.

Now don't read into the above that I'm against decent working conditions. What I'm saying is that killing yourself is not a result of working conditions. Heathy people simply don't do that.

[andyprough]

All you people claiming you use Macs for the commercial software are just hilarious. We all know you are firing up your Windows PC or your Boot Camp or Parrallels when you need to get work done on a real commercial offering. Macs are good for Garage Band and some light video editing as far as I can tell. Or watching something on Netflix. Personally I can't think of much else, although I'm sure there's something. Macs are multiple iterations behind on MS Office apps usually, web browsing is downright hostile on Safari compared to most modern browsers. Games - forget about it. iTunes is one of the biggest abominations I've ever run into, although you're entitled to your opinion on that one.

And the warranty thing - Apple care? Most computer retailers sell the same or better for less money - try the BestBuy warranty sometime - no questions asked returns. Or Amazon.

Face it - the reason you use Macs is because you like them (or they make you feel superior, which is a bit odd). Why try to tell us all about the "amazing advantages" - we've all tried them, and we all know many instances where they fall far short. If you like it - use it. Enjoy. No need to exaggerate the benefits.

[Luke]

Than why was Foxconn and not Gigabyte Asus, etc in the news for this?

That is complete garbage. People don't kill themselves over working conditions, it is usually linked to depression. Oh by the way at the place I work I know personally of at least two people that tried to kill themselves, one a woman (successful) via a gun and a male attempt by hanging. Since I worked in the same location I can say with confidence that working conditions did not come into play.

If I wanted to track what has happened in the community over my lifetime I'd have to say that several hundred have killed themselves. Mental illness sucks as these people are a danger to themselves, families and co workers. If you count the deaths that included murder the number is likely higher by a significant amount. It is sadly even worst for the community when somebody looses it and slices up his family yet survives. Not only do you have the murders but you then have an individual that is eventually out on the street never to be trusted again.

By the way I'm talking about a community in scenic update New York here. This attempt by leftist to link these deaths at Foxconn to working conditions is just pathetic.

Now don't read into the above that I'm against decent working conditions. What I'm saying is that killing yourself is not a result of working conditions. Heathy people simply don't do that.

If workplace conditions cannot substantially increase suicide rates, why were all the other motherboard makers-the ones who still have their plants in Taiwan and not mainland China-not also getting hammered about workplace suicides? Could it have to do with better working conditions not triggering depression perhaps?