What is your OS -- windows, mac, linux?

[Jeff]

Curious what OS our forum members are running (if multiple, please choose the OS that you use most.)

[SmithCraft64]

Windows XPprofessional with sp2 upgrade Your welcome Jeff. No problem. SmithCraft64

[boogie]

Windows XP because i have to, not because i want to....
with Rhino and Solidworks being the main tools there has not been much of an option to get away from it for now.

i would love to see more commercial software on Linux..., but my next computer will be a Mac with windows [and the two or three programs i can't get for Mac OSX] running as a virtual machine on something like Paralells Desktop.
i tried this combination recently on a dual core Intel Mac and i am positively surprised how good the performance of the virtual XP is. no comparison to older Virtual PC stuff on PowerMacs.
Macs still don't have one single virus out in the wild on OSX.


boogie

[Jeff]

Yes, I realize this is a bit of a loaded question. Also posted If your cad software were ported to run native on any OS, would you: (and made that a single choice poll to make it easy to answer )

Also very interested in Parallels. Saw it run this summer and was impressed. Dual booting seems pointless to me - tried that for driver issues back in the 98/NT days and it was horrible in terms of lost time. Much more impressed with a VM concept (and would gladly put in an extra couple sticks of ram to have both running all the time.) Honestly I like the freedom and flexibility and $$$ of pc hardware; I'm waiting until apple has the courage to put OSX up against windows on any intel hardware.

Macs still don't have one single virus out in the wild on OSX.

I hope OSX really is coded that well. I have no reason to believe it's not true. But I will be interested to see if things change once 25% of the world is on a mac os. It might just be that virus writers like software developers figure why program for 2% when they can target the majority just as easily.

[boogie]

hi jeff,

if you want the freedom of hardware you can run Linux instead of OSX as your main system and Paralells on it. they do a dedicated Linux version of it too.
i have spent quite a bit of time with Linux [Ubuntu, one of the most polished and easy to set up distro's], but i prefer the "just works" with minimal set up of OSX.

the hardware used on macs these days is not really that different from PC's and contrary to you i like the idea of having the whole system from one supplier. i'm pretty sure this is one of the main reasons why they work as well as they do. they just don't have to support all the odd combinations of hardware out there. if they have to control it so they can make it work better, it's fine with me.
Apple doesn't do the bottom end of the price range of hardware, but i'm not interested in that segment either. if you compare their hardware feature for feature they are actually quite resonably priced.

in regards to viruses on the mac, i think this just shows how powerful the Unix underpinnings of OSX are. it was built with security in mind. same for Linux.
it's only a matter of time until someone cracks it, but i doubt it's ever going to be anywhere near as bad as Windows.

there are millions of Macs in use and not a single virus. shouldn't they have at least a few? imagine the fame for the first hacker to crack OSX.
windows has 115000 viruses. the new Windows Vista had its first viruses already early in the beta stage when it was only released to 10000 developers.... so much for the security via obscurity myth.

here is an interesting article i found:
Macs and viruses1

Macs and viruses2

whatever tickles your fancy... there are plenty of options for everyone.


boogie

[Jeff]

I honestly don't know what to think about exploit issues - the difference is quite incredible.

I have enjoyed running a linux box beside my windows box here for a while now but all my main software is still on windows so I just use the linux box for browsing and email so far (and testing web apps locally). I haven't given it the time it deserves to more fully utilize it for GUI apps.

I wish parallels would allow me to run osx on a non-mac machine -- now that would be really neat!

i like the idea of having the whole system from one supplier. i'm pretty sure this is one of the main reasons why they work as well as they do.

I still prefer custom-built over one-size-fits all. I like the ability to build at the component level for specific needs and not have vendor-monopoly. But I can see your point too -- software that only has to perfectly support 100 hardware configurations is probably a lot easier to perfect without bloat or glitches than software that has to perfectly support 10,000 hardware configurations.

Maybe I just need to save up and invest in some mac gear to get my feet wet and be won over (but then again, I'm not in a hurry as windows is ok too.) And I hate to buy a mac that's slower than my 3-year old PC, so it would cost some $$,$$$.

[Tim B]

I voted Linux, but in truth, I use Linux, Windows XP (only for Rhino 3), and RISC-OS (for graphical research problems).

I must say, I have been VERY impressed by the recent Linux distros from Mandriva. The hardware support is (in areas) better than XP. It's a shame that the available 3D CAD software is not as good as Rhino. However, I have recently been using QCAD for 2D work and I have to say that it's pretty good. We're getting there. KDE 3.5 gives us a GUI that is far superior to XP and it's not an environment that a MAC user would have trouble with (except that our mice have more buttons)!!

Tim B.

[boogie]

hi jeff,

what components exactly are you talking about?
not all apple system are integrated monitors with computers on the inside [iMac] or kind of little sealed boxes [like the mini].
they have "classic" style workstations too. i have to admit the MacPro are pretty high end [dual processor with double core each], but you can configure them to your needs.
you can't choose your mothe board or case, but you can pick the RAM, they have 4 bays for hard drives, they have PCI express slots and you can chooose your own graphic card, monitor, keyboard, mouse....none of which need to be or are apple proprietary in the first place.

gosh, i really sound like an apple shill now... i don't even have one.

hey, this guy is doing really cool reviews. you might want to have a look:
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2816&p=1

boogie

[Jeff]

they have 4 bays for hard drives

My PC has 13, 10 hot swap. If I went all-mac, it looks like I'd have to add a sas controller in one of the slots to support booting and running from 15k sas drives, so the entry level price looks to be about $4500. Then if I really wanted to switch to all-mac I'd have to add one of the 3k to 5k apple raid appliances just to hold the drives for my archive array since there isn't room in the macpro itself to hold more than 4 drives (I'm hooked on the performance of 15k drives, but for archive data, the economy of the inexpensive 7200 rpm sata drives is the only way to go for me, so I need room for two arrays of drives.)

[westlawn5554X]

Windows... XP professional... later new AMD64 would install windowXP 64.

Mac have less hardware option than other window based hardware making Mac a solid yet nothing to really upgrade box...(lesser stuff to upgrade).

We have over here under-bone competition to juice up your std PC to their limit... overclocking. Fun and learn a lot.

Virus factor is a reality... I think somewhere there is a virus maker also the programmer for the cure. You cant sell virus killer if there arent any virus... make sense? Once Mac is widely popular... virus would be in the menu as usual.

having converting program between IBM and APPLE in school days was nothing new... around 1982-1983, first program promise interchangable software... Then my favourite computer was OSBORNE, NEC, APPLE IIC and Modified 386 Turbo... all found in my dad's firm.

LISA was the grandmother of MAC and Apple is a juicy fruit. Love the CP/M days and everything need to be type and batch file programming kills.

[boogie]

Riiiiight......

and i thought all along that we were talking about CAD workstations for design and normal office stuff here.
i thought i'm on a boat design forum, not a webhosting forum...

sure if you are going to run a webserver with terabytes worth of archiving storage and hot swapable 15kRPM hard drives, then a custom built Windows server, Linux or even BSD system makes much more sense.

i have no idea what custom configurations Apple can supply for those sort of requirements. they do big supercomputer stuff though....

you're certainly doing a great job with this site. keep up the good work.

boogie

Originally Posted by Jeff

My PC has 13, 10 hot swap. If I went all-mac, it looks like I'd have to add a sas controller in one of the slots to support booting and running from 15k sas drives, so the entry level price looks to be about $4500. Then if I really wanted to switch to all-mac I'd have to add one of the 3k to 5k apple raid appliances just to hold the drives for my archive array since there isn't room in the macpro itself to hold more than 4 drives (I'm hooked on the performance of 15k drives, but for archive data, the economy of the inexpensive 7200 rpm sata drives is the only way to go for me, so I need room for two arrays of drives.)

[SteamFreak]

What about Dual boot systems (WINXP PRO and Linux)?

[Tim B]

Then it's a question of which you use most, Steamfreak.

Personally, I keep getting surprised by Windows and it's proprietry software. Just when you think it can't possibly screw it up any worse, it does. And every time Linux has been there, quietly waiting for a chance to put a smile on the face of it's user when they can say "Linux will do that".

While I'm ranting, does anyone else find it somewhat hypocritical that Gates gives huge amounts of money to starving kids when Microsoft has been extracting moeny from the populous by less than ethical means? How will we remember Bill Gates when he finally retires?

Just ranting again, but maybe something to think about,

Tim B.

[l_boyle]

Why the poll?
I thought that Windows OS are only thing that survived in computer world

[Tim B]

Why on earth did you think that?

Evidently you subscribe to the idiom that anything from outside the US must be evil. There's a whole world out there, but you can't be afraid to learn.

Tim B.