who you gonna choose?  

Linux and Mac are very similar in their infrastructure- seeing as that one is linix and the other is unix. You have to decide between two things: elegance or freedom. Linux is more of a development kernel while Macintosh carries a more consumer-orientated kernel.

Windows is kind of your middle man, but with a very different infrastructure. While unix and linux build attached drives to a /media/x directory, Windows 'spoofs' it to appear as its own drive, or at least mounts it and doesn't show the mount source. Windows isn't exactly as open as, say an OpenBSD linux distribution would be, but it definitely appears more open than say OS X Lion, a Macintosh OS.

I haven't messed around with installers too much, but here's where linux definitely gets the downside. While in a unix environment you're forced to compile most require assets with your build, modern Windows installers will check for your preconsistencies then echo back what you need and ask if you would like to install. The .deb form of installers on Linux (particularly Ubuntu and other spin offs of Ubuntu) are coming close to the elegance and ease of Windows installers- they check for dependencies then echo them back off to you, without having to initiate a terminal command, or so. Mac, hands down, receives the award for easiest install system. It practically forges a mount of a disk to your computer so that you can just drag 'n drop the application files over to your Applications folder.

For general application development, I'd lean toward Windows. While Linux is more open, high end engines/IDEs that are easy for the user to get comfortable with and comprehend are not available to it. General libraries that Windows developers have grown to know and love are not available, and have to be emulated by another library. The same problem can be found with Macintosh. The time is slowly approaching where most development programs for applications will be available on all platforms, but that day is still quite a bit away.

Now, let's talk security. Most viruses now-a-days are targeted at Windows users. Why? Their infrastructure is common and easy to target, so it takes little prior knowledge of computing and programming in general to create malicious havoc. Macintosh and Linux have been known for their excellent grades of security to the consumer base, but that is simply because most hackers will target the Windows platform if they want to carry out a malicious deed. Especially since most business with servers will run on a barebones Linux server or a fully deployed Windows Server.


I could sit here and go over countless aspects for hours, but it honestly depends on who you are: Developer or Consumer?  

vtech for life!  

hate both companies.  

Microsoft went on my **** list since Windows 8 and I hate Apple products overall. Even my iPod Touch 4G. Linux I've never used I believe.  

I can't really vote on here if I don't know what I am voting for. Is it the companies in general or specific products they have?  

I like Windows 7, I like Microsoft Office, and I like Skype.

That's all that Microsoft offers me. I don't use Apple computers, but I do have an iPhone and an iPad that I'm extremely pleased with. Since Apple offers software and actual hardware (unlike Microsoft) superior to what I currently have, I'm going to have to go with Apple.  

Why are people hating Microsoft because of Windows 8? XP is still a huge portion of the PC base and was still the most popular until W7 came around... and that was what, like 10 years later? While everyone bitches and moans about W8 I will still be sitting here comfortably with my W7, which will still be supported by Microsoft and devs. You don't have to use W8, and in fact Microsoft always ****s up every other OS.  

i just voted for they all suck cause my mac won't run ****, i have no clue how to use a PC, and **** linux.  

**** them all CHROME OS FTW  

I like my Win7 PC. Ubuntu is nice, but there's much more program distribution on Windows. Macs feel too basic and awkward, not to mention their limited gaming capabilties. Windows (7/XP) all the way.  

im with you talon.  

Posted by Dusty

Why are people hating Microsoft because of Windows 8? XP is still a huge portion of the PC base and was still the most popular until W7 came around... and that was what, like 10 years later? While everyone bitches and moans about W8 I will still be sitting here comfortably with my W7, which will still be supported by Microsoft and devs. You don't have to use W8, and in fact Microsoft always ****s up every other OS.

What some people don't know, is that Windows 8 has Windows 7 OS' built in z.z  

Hard choice but Cadbury wins it  

windows 7 all the way