What to you think about Linux, BSD, Solaris, OSX and Vista?

Question

4 years have past since i used for the first time a Linux distribution, and i can say that Linux has advanced very much, just take a look at Ubuntu Ultimate or OpenSuse 11.
I rarely used BSD, but litle time i've spent on BSD i found that is very good at security, even better than Linux.
And about the rest of the bunch: Solaris, OSX and Vista i don't have anything to say about them , because i never used them.
From what i have heard Solaris is just another Unix-like operating system, OSX has the coolest desktop, and Vista is crap.
I just want to konw your opninion about these 5 operating systems.

Answer 1

XP - Still good but fast becoming outdated.



Vista - Now a fine operating system since the release of service pack one.



MAC OS X - Unable to make a comment as I have only used it briefly.



Solaris - Disappointingly slow and buggy.



Linux - Easy to use, superb and versatile. Some notable distro's are



Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/

Linux Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/

Simply Mepis http://www.mepis.org/

Mandriva http://www.mandriva.com/



The coolest desktop most certainly goes to Linux with Compiz Fusion http://www.compiz-fusion.org/



LUg.

Answer 2

I first tried linux several years ago. OpenSuse is is by far my favorite Linux distribution. Most Suse/OpenSuse distributions have worked great immediately following the install, with little or no extra configuration. I agree with you completely, when you say that Linux has advanced a great deal. While various distros are still buggy at times, they are much better than they used to be.



Vista can be ok, if you turn off the extra "features" that they built into it to annoy anybody with a bit of knowledge or experience in computers. It is extremely bloated and takes huge amounts of system resources. However, when using certain Linux distros, I get that same feeling. Vista is going to become more common place in a few years as new technologies are developed for it and MS drops support for XP.



I have no experience with BSD and OSX.



I have some experience with Solaris. My old university used it on many of their servers. I found that it is a great and extremely stable system. However, it is not the most user friendly. Also I hate the CDE desktop. But one can use other desktops, such as gnome, in Solaris. I installed a version of solaris on one of my own systems and found it much harder to configure than Linux or Windows. I suspect that Solaris requires a knowledgeable system administrator.

Answer 3

I use Vista on my laptop (dual boot with Ubuntu 8.04) and it works GREAT! I have tweaked it to my liking and have absolutely no problems.



I also have numerous desktops, all dual booting Microsoft and Linux or Linux and Linux.



I haven't used Solaris yet (burned the .iso but have yet to install) or BSD. I have read and listened to much about BSD and it sounds very good for a geek to use.



I would like to try OSX but am not enthusiastic as I like freedom and Apple hates it.



I have a box which dual boots Linux Mint and Open SuSE 10.3 and I must say that the Linux Mint works better. Perhaps I just need to spend more time making SuSE work properly.



I would say that the Ubuntu based distros and Windows Vista are the most polished and user friendly and have the best hardware support.

Answer 4

My thoughts on Linux, is that it tries very hard. I've worked on a 1/2 dozen distros, and found something to like and dislike in all of em. Linux needs to focus on being a reasonable desktop alternative, and give up the pipe dream of being a Vista replacement. Sniff. But the other opprtunites out there....

BSD- no interest

Sol - no interest

Vista? - Use it if ya got it! Its 'OK' and thats all I'll give it. Not impressed. Drm issue withstanding.

OSX? - Stable. Friendly. May actually be responsible for more attention on Apple, than their vaunted geek commericals.

Answer 5

Hi, I don't really care at all about ubuntu, no innovation at all im my opinion.



FreeBSD is a descendant of Unix and is really good for a few desktops and mostly servers.



Mac OS X is the best commercial OS out there, I agree, if u want something easy and well supported then its Mac OS X.

Don't forget Mac OS X is based on freeBSD and uses the Darwin kernel.



Vista is crap. Solaris is not Unix like, Solaris IS UNIX. Its a direct descendant of Unix similar to freeBSD but Solaris is more closer.



OpenSUSE 11.0 in my opinion is the BEST, only 17 days left, can't wait :)

Answer 6

currently the operating systems i have used are windows 98, 2000, xp and vista and ubuntu Linux.



i have to say that if i could chose 2 i would go for xp and ubuntu

Answer 7

I like it very much, I like Vista the best