What Makes People Think Mac OSX is Better Than Windows 10

[Oryzaki]

After completing my first ever Hackintosh for one of my closest friends I was still unable to see why so many people would prefer OSX over Windows 10. One thing in particular that I do find annoying is the constant "you don't have to constantly update" argument. This argument is just silly as it means you are left with fewer patches and improvements to the software you get and even when you do get those patches Apple decides whether you can even install the next iteration of OSX or not. This lack or constant driver support at least from what I have seen results in performance up to 20% worse in most games and benchmarks compared to when ran in Windows 10. Essentially what I'm trying to ask is why people prefer Mac OSX over Windows or Linux despite its shortcomings. 

 

P.S don't say malware because 99% of the time it's your fault for getting it in the first place. Also if you don't believe me on the whole performance thing while it might take me a while I can get my friend to send me screenshots on OSX compared to Windows 10.

[AskTJ]

I would personally say that OSX has a more modern, simpler user interface. It's easier to navigate and organize. Also, you can't get malware on it, AFAIK. 

 

OSX is fine for office workers or the average girl wathing Netflix, but for gaming, Windows all the way.

[Oryzaki]

Just now, AskTJ said:

I would personally say that OSX has a more modern, simpler user interface. It's easier to navigate and organize. Also, you can get malware on it, AFAIK. 

 

OSX is fine for office workers or the average girl wathing Netflix, but for gaming, Windows all the way.

I would agree with this but the problem is the fact that even people who game and video edit swear by OSX which is what confuses me. 

[Oryzaki]

1 minute ago, Abyssal Radon said:

OSX is basically the operating system for dummies. It’s really hard for the user to break it. I believe that’s one of the reasons why my parents switched over to Mac computers. 

Kind of sad and funny but also makes a lot of sense. 

[Guest]

Quote

OSX is basically the operating system for dummies. It’s really hard for the user to break it. I believe that’s one of the reasons why my parents switched over to Mac computers. 

I wholeheartedly agree. 

 

Not only that, but I think that apple has set themselves to common users as being "the best", "exquisite" or "luxurious" (I do not agree). However, people are going to want to be better than the person next to them and jump the bandwagon they call "Apple". Just my two cents.

[Guest]

The macOS with the MacBooks is super fluid & responsive. Everything feels really high quality with no hitches. The built in programs are really nice. You have to use a Mac with a purpose for an extended period to really understand. I didn’t get the difference from it & Windows functionally till I had a class that only had Macs where we used the built in programs for creative work. I wayoverpsid for an outdated model because I loved it so much. 

[HarryNyquist]

Unless you really need to play a game or do intensive 3D stuff, a Mac works for much the same stuff a windows 10 PC works for. With that you get the added bonus of less mainstream malware (not immune, mind you), less breaking settings accidentally unless you open up Terminal, and generally things just tend to have an easier setup flow. (E.g.: setting up my printer on my gaming PC took about 15 minutes to get done, but setting it up on my MacBook took about a minute).

 

 

[jde3]

On 6/16/2018 at 10:46 PM, Oryzaki said:

After completing my first ever Hackintosh for one of my closest friends I was still unable to see why so many people would prefer OSX over Windows 10. One thing in particular that I do find annoying is the constant "you don't have to constantly update" argument. This argument is just silly as it means you are left with fewer patches and improvements to the software you get and even when you do get those patches Apple decides whether you can even install the next iteration of OSX or not. This lack or constant driver support at least from what I have seen results in performance up to 20% worse in most games and benchmarks compared to when ran in Windows 10. Essentially what I'm trying to ask is why people prefer Mac OSX over Windows or Linux despite its shortcomings. 

 

P.S don't say malware because 99% of the time it's your fault for getting it in the first place. Also if you don't believe me on the whole performance thing while it might take me a while I can get my friend to send me screenshots on OSX compared to Windows 10.

People say it's better, because it is better. They are right.

 

I don't own any Apple's and I haven't for the past 10 years or so but it's a more capable OS than Windows is. It's a better *design*. After over 40 years of computing what we have learned, what we KNOW for sure, is that Unix is the right way to do things in OS design. There is no arguing this point. The internet and every communication protocol and every file system we use today has Unix roots. The reason for this is because in a lot of ways software is a solvable problem, you can find correct ways to do things and Unix is more right than anything before or after it so that is why it's been the model for 40 years. If something better comes along great.. but so far nothing has. This isn't to say mistakes aren't made and some things don't do something better.. they do.. but there are trade offs too.

 

For example, every phone you use today is Unix (Linux is a Unix clone) and almost every appliance too.. and almost every other kind of computer.. Linux is on our spacecraft in the outer edges of our solar system. in fact.. the only thing NOT Unix is the Desktop.. because Microsoft has locked in it's users using deceptive practices. Ironically it's the computer people see and think of when they hear the word.

 

Microsoft a lot of times is much more concerned on their advertising, their default desktop wallpaper and dressing up their old settings menus with a frontend. They are a lot like Google too and spend all their time trying to figure out how to make you the product and how to access your data. They don't generally improve the OS in the lower levels very much. ( :cough: NTFS :cough: ) So pretty much the difference between Vista and 10 is a skin. Microsoft is literally holding the world back on computer improvement and has done so for 20 years. improvements happen in spite of them usually, not because of them.

 

Apple's biggest problem is they try to lock you in to all their products.. (Microsoft does too) so you have to use iTunes and iCloud all that garbage. The OS by itself though is very nice, it's the modern interpretation of the Unix workstation. The app ecosystem.. not so much. That isn't the OS's fault though that's the companys fault.

 

 

[jde3]

13 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

For some people.

 

Mac OS, or the XNU/Darwin kernel that it runs, has nothing to do with UNIX. Darwin uses a microkernel architecture based on Mach and has a BSD running concurrently. The only UNIX thing on MacOS is that it is POSIX compatible, and what guarantees that compatibility is the BSD kernel.

 

You can't be serious... HFS is older than NTFS, and still being used by Apple. Apple just announced the APFS, but Microsoft released ReFS years ago.

You don't think BSD is Unix eh?

 

oooh kay dude. Good luck with that one.

 

Edit: also the difference between APFS and <insert windows vaporware here> is that Apple actually has APFS (and ZFS too). Microsoft meanwhile is backing away from ReFS. https://www.guidingtech.com/71672/reasons-why-microsoft-removing-refs-window/ File systems take 10 years to develop. Have fun running NTFS till 2028

[jde3]

1 minute ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

BSD is UNIX-like, not UNIX. XNU literally means "X is Not UNIX". The BSD kernel is not even essential to XNU, it could be replaced with a Linux/Minix kernel, maintaining POSIX compatibility, or could be replaced with something like the Windows NT.

lol

 

Your diggin your own grave man..

[jde3]

2 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

No, I'm not.

The reason they say "not unix" and "unix like" is because they don't want to be sued. it's an inside joke because it totally is Unix. The GNU's "not unix" get it. don't sue us because this name means it's 100% not unix, go away lawyers.

 

It was at the formation of the free software movement and where as the trademark for Unix is an actual owned property. Apple actually paid for that trademark though so they CAN actually call it real honest to god UNIX(tm) if they want to.

 

Unix wouldn't even have been a product without BSD.. AT&T didn't see the power of Unix till after BSD they they went "Hey! We own that!" and BSD said. "Bullshit this is 90% our new shit we wrote." and AT&T started stealing the code BSD was writing. They went to war and the lawsuit is the REASON Linux exists.. to make free Unix in the absence of BSD. BSD surprisingly won the lawsuit tho. (CA judges like CA collages more than AT&T imagine that)

 

Unix-like is a classification of OS that compresses them all. Solaris, AIX, SunOS, Irix, HPUX, everyone had a version even Microsoft had Xenix.. first and foremost of all of them with the most direct roots.. is BSD. It's like trademarking water and having h20 and not being able to call it water. You can think of it as the Grandmother if not the Grandfather, it takes both to make a child but only one gets the name.

 

 

And Hea.. This stuff is ok not to know.. Most people don't and it kind of belies common logic.. usually people call water water.. but when you learn differently the smart thing to do is to acknowledge that.

[jde3]

2 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

They paid for the certification for POSIX compatibility and pay royalties to use the trademark.

The architecture of UNIX and XNU are fundamentally different, but they share concepts/tools/API, that guarantee that POSIX compatibility.

 

Yes. And BSD most direct root is UNICS/X from Bell Labs. BSD is UNIX-like.

They did that too.

 

Apple actually has a paper here, (sorry it's PDF) but it makes it really clear they can call it Unix if they want. https://images.apple.com/media/us/osx/2012/docs/OSX_for_UNIX_Users_TB_July2011.pdf

 

Quote

OS X for UNIX Users

The power of UNIX. The simplicity of Mac.

Technology Brief

July 2011

OS X version 10.7 Lion combines a proven UNIX® foundation with the easy-to-use

Mac interface, bringing multicore technology and 64-bit power to the mass market.

With powerful technologies such as Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), OpenCL, and IPv6,

Lion unleashes the full power of your Mac computer.

There are already tens of millions of OS X users—consumers, scientists, animators,

developers, system administrators, and more—making OS X the most widely used

UNIX desktop operating system. In addition, OS X is the only UNIX environment that

natively runs Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, and thousands of other consumer

applications—all side by side with traditional command-line, X11, and Java applications.

Tight integration with hardware—from the sleek MacBook to the eight-core Mac Pro

computer—is making OS X the platform of choice for an emerging generation of

UNIX users.

 

"..making OS X the most widely used UNIX desktop operating system" ... Where does it say "unix-like"?

 

Anyhow back on topic.... Law doesn't dictate reality.. But it can make terms confusing. We aren't discussing english here though and you know exactly what I mean so.. Is OS X like VMS? is it like P/OS? is it like GS/OS? it is like DOS?

 

No. It's "like" Unix and Unix is the right way to make OS's as shown by longevity and popularity.

[DeLorian]

I'm used to Windows since 95 version. Recently got a MacBook Air and OSX is kinda nifty, has its quirks and for everyday editing docs/posting online/watching youtube or Netflix is fine, but that's about it. Maybe it shines in audio, video and image production, I don't know. But Windows 10 seems more versatile, to me at least.

[jde3]

On 6/25/2018 at 5:51 AM, DeLorian said:

I'm used to Windows since 95 version. Recently got a MacBook Air and OSX is kinda nifty, has its quirks and for everyday editing docs/posting online/watching youtube or Netflix is fine, but that's about it. Maybe it shines in audio, video and image production, I don't know. But Windows 10 seems more versatile, to me at least.

Ya the apps aren't so hot. Learn to use the terminal. There is also a large amount of free software from Mac Ports, it can pretty much run anything Linux can.

[londen]

On 6/17/2018 at 1:00 AM, AskTJ said:

I would personally say that OSX has a more modern, simpler user interface. It's easier to navigate and organize. Also, you can't get malware on it, AFAIK. 

 

OSX is fine for office workers or the average girl wathing Netflix, but for gaming, Windows all the way.

You CAN get malware on a mac, it's just that more people make malware for windows because it's the most popular OS.

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, londen said:

You CAN get malware on a mac, it's just that more people make malware for windows because it's the most popular OS.

Popularity has very little to do with it. Unix and Linux are inherently far more secure than Windows because of the way they work. Linux is actually the most popular OS. Almost everything (from your phone to your router) runs Linux. Almost all of the Web is hosted on Linux.

[londen]

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Popularity has very little to do with it. Unix and Linux are inherently far more secure than Windows because of the way they work. Linux is actually the most popular OS. Almost everything (from your phone to your router) runs Linux. Almost all of the Web is hosted on Linux.

Yes, I meant for home PC usage windows is the most popular, should have specified. Doesn't change the fact though that Linux and Mac can get malware, even if they are more secure.

[GAClive]

Based on my OWN experience on a Macbook air 2013, What I DO Like about the OSX is (compared to my windows based laptop and desktop) are the feel that it doesn't have a very noticeable performance degradation over time.

[homeap5]

8 hours ago, GAClive said:

Based on my OWN experience on a Macbook air 2013, What I DO Like about the OSX is (compared to my windows based laptop and desktop) are the feel that it doesn't have a very noticeable performance degradation over time.

Yes, I remember that windows98 have that problem. We're still comparing ancient Windows versions to modern OSX?

Over 5 years of using win7 I didn't notice any performance degradation. Now I'm using win10 but not because win7 slows down.

 

I think most important is fact, that Windows has users, who like or not some functions and can be honest if they talk about them, while MacOS has worshipers that just loves that OS, no matter how many bugs it has and how many bad ideas Apple put into it.

[nanaki]

On 6/17/2018 at 3:00 AM, AskTJ said:

I would personally say that OSX has a more modern, simpler user interface. It's easier to navigate and organize. Also, you can't get malware on it, AFAIK. 

 

OSX is fine for office workers or the average girl wathing Netflix, but for gaming, Windows all the way.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/cybercrime/2017/10/mac-malware-osx-proton-strikes-again/

 

So yes at least 1 example of malware on mac osx does exist. I know from seeing it the old fbi warning virus can high jack web browsers on mac. I google mac osx malware 

 

Here's a list of some more be warned lots of adverts splattered all over the site including the ever so fun auto playing videos. 

 

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/mac-viruses-malware-security-3668354/

 

Malware does exist for mac and has for quite some time. Simpler interface and use could be a bonus but also a serious draw back. I have used osx on hackintosh set ups it is not bad honestly it looks nice and is quite snappy. How ever that said look at the video with linux on a mac os and doing various tasks in a competition. Mac os do to no real right click functionality and other things that would be odd to a pc life long user will make the os feel very very obtuse and clunky even though for a mac user or one who has little experience or uses mac at work windows at home or the like it wont feel that way.  Easier to navigate etc ehh osx and finder (if i recall) yeh built in search just destroys earlier pre windows 10 built in c search. Lets remember what is going on under the hood with finder. It is actually using grep to do the searches under the hood a linux bsd etc search system along with other bsd linux style search commands. This is going to make it extremely versatile. Because yoru not needing to type out the command and osx is sending it and the options to the os it is easy to use. 

 

On mac hardware mac os should perform allot better because every tiny little bit of code is optimized for that hardware. So you can not get a 100% accurate representation of what mac osx is really like on a hackintosh least not with regards to performance. 

 

I  am no fan of mac os or apple lets get that strait in fact i hate it. Looking good is ok but i can clone that look on windows linux etc all if i want the candied gui it is easy to get. $ fr $ pc based computers are cheaper even when upping every spec if you are careful and smart most or all of the spyware viruses etc out there will never get ya. Linux can be configured modded customized tweaked etc to no end. Windows has the highest number of serious games that are mass market (maybe not for long? here's hoping). In the end it will come down to one thing and one thing only user preference. 

[duncannah]

Having used all three main operating systems, I want to throw my opinion out there.

 

I turned my Windows laptop into a hackintosh eight months ago, and I'm quite happy. The interface is much nicer, and it's not getting dumbed down for touch screens like Windows is right now (have you seen the UWP file manager???). The text rendering is also, in my opinion, the best between all three platforms (at least for a non-high-DPI screen).

 

It's also UNIX-based (or POSIX-compliant, whatever you wanna call it), so the terminal is really great -- I use it daily for tasks ranging from simple stuff like downloading videos, moving files around, to more advanced stuff, like development, much easier to work with than Windows (and no, Linux Subsystem for Windows is not really a viable option).

 

Another thing: consistency. Anywhere I go, everything feels like it's part of the OS. It doesn't feel like it's a frankenstein product. I can't say the same about Linux (desktop) though. A lot of the components are from different developers, so not everything works the same. One thing that works in one thing doesn't mean it will in some other thing.

 

I updated this a few times -- never had any problems at all. Updating Windows broke the Wi-Fi several times, updating linux is a pain in the ass, and it broke a few things too.

 

The only area Windows shines is in games, but dualbooting is a thing, so I can still keep macOS if I want to play.

 

I am quite satisfied with macOS, and I'm not thinking of switching away anytime soon. I never used an Apple product up until this point; I never liked how their products were always expensive, so hackintoshing allowed me to experience and appreciate macOS without paying the "Apple tax"

[Stefan Payne]

On 17.6.2018 at 8:46 AM, Oryzaki said:

After completing my first ever Hackintosh for one of my closest friends I was still unable to see why so many people would prefer OSX over Windows 10.

Oh wait until you open a folder with dozens of folders and files. And be happy about it.

 

But yeah, OSX is just fundamentally different, not better. IMO its OK for Single Screen usage, if you have multiple, not so much...

[LaFemmeEnVert]

2 minutes ago, meme smurf said:

i just saw linuses latest video on the macbook pro 2018 and i was looking at the comments. saw a lot of windows users talking about how our hardware is superior while i also saw some apple users talking about how macOS is better then windows. this got me thinking in what ways is macOS superior or infirior to windows? is macOS more lightweight? more secure? what are the reasons for choosing macOS over windows?

1. is based on unix
2. is inherently more safe/secure than windows to a small degree but the biggest weakness is always human error
3. finder is better than windows
4. installing/uninstalling apps i find is better experience in osx than windows
5. osx tend to be a bit more stable but this because apple specifically designs osx to run well on their hardware while windows has to work with any number of generic specifications

i don't like file viewing options in osx, i think windows' my computer way of having different ways to view info about files and folders and see details in multiple columns and sort files and folders is better.

[t4ils]

More optimized towards Apple's hardware, Mac-exclusive apps/features, ability to develop on every platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS), or simply used to using macOS.

[PlayStation 2]

macOS does have the benefit of being built around specific hardware, so unlike Windows, it doesn't have to accommodate for the fact that there are just about an infinite amount of combinations of what hardware it can be ran on. It can mean that older hardware will still feel pretty damn snappy, and it also means Apple can build around hardware advantages and even hardware quirks.

However, macOS isn't all that customizable as a result of that. Oh, also the fact that Apple is really building their OS around the Metal graphics API rather than old versions of OpenGL means that game support is fairly limited. I'd heavily argue that going for Windows or macOS will depend entirely on preference and usage.