Other Os (Operating Systems)

[LogoImpressive]

Right now majority of computers in the world are pc (running on windows) a significant quantity are MAC and Linux. but still windows rules the world of OS. My Question is Can Linux or MAC take over Windows as the leading operating system using in the world for computer - desktops - laptops.

 

In a nutshell does anybody see such thing happening where windows wont be the leader in OS.

 

Thanks

[Shinryuu]

In a nutshell, Linux could, Mac's can't.

 

Apple restricts their machines heavily, just popping the case open voids any warranty attached to the machine and it takes a lot of hoops to be allowed to work on them including NDAs. Windows works because each OEM can create their unique design for a machine but pieces from one can be used in another. Also IT departments exist because of this, they can order various machines fully made without any software from various vendors, or buy parts piecemeal to make one in-house, and install a copy of Windows with an enterprise license. Then if a computer breaks they can be fixed in-house instead of being sent off to the nearest Apple store.

 

Several OEMs sell Linux pre-installs but they don't market them as strongly, so unless you're really digging through their sites you probably won't notice them, if that were to change they'd easily close the marketshare gap with Windows once people learned that most Windows-specific software often has a FOSS counterpart.

[achardwicke]

I think that the poor reliability of Windows operating systems will lead to more people abandoning this operating system. I have recently erased my Windows XP OS on several of my home computers, and replaced them with various kinds of Linux systems. I am writing this reply on a Fedora 17 Linux OS. I can browse the internet well, get email, do word procressing, and even run some Windows software under the Wine program. The OS automatically loaded my printer. I like it better than the Windows OS. (I did this because I was about ready to have to reload the Windows OS as my computer would not shut down, and froze at times in Windows.) I have another computer that ran terribly under Windows (unusable). It is quite usable with OpenSuse Linux, though I still do not have some bugs worked out of browsing on this computer (I can't view video files yet). I can use it for a remote destop connection (using KRDC) to my office Windows computer (as my business only uses Windows XP). It works quite well for this using Juniper Connect. (I chose OpenSuse for this computer as I knew that Juniper Connect would work with it.) I have another computer using Tiny Core Linux, a fast booting Linux system. You can even boot this off the CD, install Firefox, and do some safe web browsing. (You could do this on a computer without a hard drive, but with a CD drive.) No need to worry about a virus, as my CD with the linux operating system on it is safe from attack.

[Shinryuu]

Windows XP? A computer that is unusable with that is made with 13 megabytes of RAM and a cardboard CPU o_O. My first laptop in 2006 was a simple little thing with ~248/256 Megs of usable RAM and I think 1 Ghz processor and ran XP like a beast, even when running programs it wasn't recommended for. currently my Windows 7 tablet with 4 gigs constantly gripes that i'm running stuff with <1 gig RAM remaining but it outperforms every other tablet on the market.

[achardwicke]

The computer that became unusable with XP had 16mB video RAM, 512 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM memory, and used an Athlon XP2000+ processor (speed 1666 MHz, bus speed 266 MHz, and CPU cache 256K). It used to work acceptably, but over time got to where it did not. I tried to disable extra toolbars, etc. that tend to get downloaded over time, and eventually disabled the antivirus. I am not sure why it did not work, as the memory checked ok. Maybe it needed a defrag. Anyway, rather than troubleshoot it further, I chose to install Linux, and it is now useable. Probably if I had reformated the hard drive and reinstalled XP it would have been useable again, too. Admittedly, I have not had the Linux long, so it might bog down over time. I have had other XP computers, and their performance always seems to get worse over time. Part of this is that newer programs are designed to use more memory, so the operating system used to work well with older programs, but not as well with newer programs.

[milomird]

if apple was to release their macosx to be run on pc hardware then i bet windows would be forgotten soon, but i don't see that happening anytime soon lol

my fav os is bsd, freebsd to be precise but it lacks drivers, linux is better with drivers but still not where windows is, i like playing games so i dual boot debian/win7..

 

imo windows 7 is best windows so far, i used windows xp since 2003 to 2007 i think, it worked well on my old pc but since i bought new one it didn't work as expected.. no problems with win7, had maybe 3 bsod's since i started using it, 2-3 years ago

 

macosx has usability of windows and security of unix, it is certified UNIX os

[Shinryuu]

macosx has usability of windows and security of unix, it is certified UNIX os

 

No, just, no.

[LogoImpressive]

Linux is the only OS i see that can give windows a run for its money, I think its a good time to debate on this just as the new Windows 8 OS has been released by microsoft, As a designer I found the interface quite simple and uninteresting - The standard set by apple OSX for Graphical User Interface is much superior.

 

Another thing having said about Linux and Windows, wondering if google would ever venture into this arena they are the leaders in Mobile OS but what will happen if there is an Android OS for computers, according to me it will spread like a wild fire and there is strong chance that it would emerge supreme, but it don't see google doing that in near future.........strange but what is it thats making google reluctant to Join the OS league for computers.

[Shinryuu]

Google has Chrome OS for the desktop/laptop form factors, however it's a hardened OS meant for safe web interactions.

[LogoImpressive]

Google has Chrome OS for the desktop/laptop form factors, however it's a hardened OS meant for safe web interactions.

 

Thanks for the info I wasn't fully aware of chrome OS had heard about it somewhere being used with nexus chromebook but never heard more about it. I hope it turns out to be a better alternative for Windows.

[Shinryuu]

better alternative for Windows.

It won't be, it's meant for web surfing, eCommerce, Social Networking and such, without an internet connection these devices are little more than paperweights. You could argue the same about Android tablets but at least there you can install games that may or may not require web access. Also if by some weird reason they do beat marketshare out of Windows, Chrome OS runs on a Linux kernel.

 

had heard about it somewhere being used with nexus chromebook but never heard more about it

 

A bit of irony that a company that makes billions on marketing can't be bothered marketing their own products o_O. Originally I'd heard about it while it was in development and figured I'd eventually try it out when it was released, that was the last I ever heard.

[i7Grendel]

I have completely switched over to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is faster, safer and less restrictive than Windows. I got sick of the fact that Windows required you to download an executable from some shady website to do some basic tasks, while you could just use sudo commands to do the same in Linux-based operating systems (safe and easy).

[ReN07]

Firefox Gecko. For mobile.

 

but currently I'm on a windows 8.

[LogoImpressive]

Firefox Gecko. :D/&--#62; For mobile.

 

but currently I'm on a windows 8.

 

I'm not sure about Windows 8 because as a designer I would say the Interface isn't appealing. Apple is the trendsetter as far as design is concerned, with Win 8 windows looks far away. I really see linux growing as an OS and it is very much in demand ( I mean Linux professionals).

[sq10prog]

I'll say Linux will dominate the market at some point.

Now, the only problem with it is that Linux, at many points, isn't exactly very user-friendly, per se, but OSes like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and so forth are what will be there to take care of that.

 

The only problem I have with Linux is that it does not support a lot of Windows apps, but WINE and other companies that are making the switch to Linux (Valve, for example) are changing all that, and very quickly.

 

Anyways, if Windows and Macintosh don't get their act together and create more decent operating systems, then Linux will dominate the market. All Linux will need is time.