I know that a lot of people are using Windows because it comes with the computers they buy. They like the “look and feel” of it. However, when it fails, it’s up to us, the geeks, to figure out the reason their Windows machine is messing up. However, I got asked by a friend earlier, what else could I run to replace Windows.
Well, for PC based computers, besides Windows I only know of some of the Linux flavors. I am currently running Ubuntu 7.10 on my old 1GHZ Celeron board. I mean, it runs decently, and is really easy to use for those coming from Windows. Ubuntu used Gnome, a GUI that works a lot like Windows. The thing is, there is no START button and such, but there are menus from the “panels” that allow you to access your programs. However much it looks like Windows, Linux flavors will never be a viable replacement for Windows. As in, there is not much software support for it. Some of the basic programs you need are there, like the ability to surf the Web, get email, do office documents, and image edit. However, the biggest thing for people: not many games. Windows is still the gamer’s choice.
I know some of you are thinking Windows will never be replaced. That might be true on the PC based end, but get a Mac and you will be in a place where you can have a great and secure operating system. Now the gamers out there are no doubt crying that you cant play many games on a Mac. This may be true… To an extent. You can get a Virtual Machine program like VMWare and run a different OS from a small Windows in Mac. You can choose from a plethora of OSes to run there, including but not limited to Windows (95 – Vista), and flavors of Linux. With the Windows VM up, you can install a program and open it, just like it is running in a native Windows box. Yes, with Mac you can have a Windows experience that is actually somewhat stable. I know, saying Windows and stable in the same sentence without a not in there is a weird notion. Now, can Mac take market shares from Windows? Give it a few years, and possibly. As it stands right now, not really, but it’s just as popular as Vista.
[Source: W3Schools]
| 2007 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | Vista | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| September | 74.3% | 5.4% | 0.9% | 4.5% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| August | 74.4% | 5.7% | 0.9% | 4.0% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| July | 74.6% | 6.0% | 0.9% | 3.6% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 4.0% |
| June | 74.6% | 6.2% | 0.9% | 3.2% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 4.0% |
| May | 75.0% | 6.5% | 0.9% | 2.8% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| April | 75.8% | 6.8% | 0.9% | 2.6% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| March | 76.0% | 7.2% | 0.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| February | 76.1% | 7.4% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 3.8% |
| January | 76.1% | 7.7% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
[tags]windows, operating systems, mac, os x, linux, ubuntu[/tags]