I've two laptops, one with Mac OS X and one with Linux. I use both for development but as a client I prefer Mac OS X that Just Works. It was fun years ago to hack on config files and even to write my own device drivers when it was needed, it was a game with the benefit of learning a lot of stuff, but seriously, I expected Linux to be mature enough after a few years... instead it's the same problems again and again. All my wishes for Linux are instead incarnated by Mac OS X, so after more than 10 years of only linux one year ago I switched to mac os x, and I'm very happy so far.
I use Linux exclusively. I did try OS X before (I have an iBook), but I just couldn't get into it. Linux users trying OS X have already commented on problems with window managers etc, so I won't repeat what they've said.<p>The real thing is that I just can't stand about OS X though isn't about practical like not being able to get a certain application or type of application working or anything like that (I do generally prefer the applications I use on Linux to their OS X counterparts though). It's simply that it's non-free, and the whole ecosystem of software for it is generally non-free. I know lots of Mac users and this doesn't seem to bug them or occur to them at all.<p>When I first turned on my iBook, I have to tell it more than once "no, I don't want a .Mac account". When I start iTunes, and possibly other applications (I just remember iTunes specifically), I have to click "I agree" to a license agreement. There are lots of really trivial bits of software which you'd get with `sudo apt-get install x` in Linux but the OS X equivalent is some sort of shareware crap... I found this to be particularly bad for tools that convert between file formats.<p>Am I just crazy or does this not bother anybody else that uses OS X?
I assume this type of poll is self-selecting and that Windows is greatly underrepresented. In a 2005 article, PG states that the ycombinator visitor OS breakdown is as follows: Windows 66.4%, Macintosh 18.8%, Linux 11.4%, and FreeBSD 1.5%<p>I would love to see the current OS breakdown from ycombinator logs to compare. Anyone?
Question for Mac/Windows users: I develop on Linux, but occasionally on Mac or Windows. To be honest I'm pretty happy with a text editor and a few terminals on any platform, but one thing I miss is fast window management. Specifically:<p>* Focus follows mouse<p>* Alt+LMB drag to move whole window<p>* Alt+MMB drag to move nearest corner (ie resize)<p>The default Mac interface in particular I find difficult, as there's just one tiny resize tab in one corner. Is there anything that can help me here? Or do you do things differently?
Does it not make a bit more sense to indicate why you're conducting the poll? I don't mind polls, but usually they're only interesting if the poster sets it up and comments on his/her own choice and the reason for the poll in the first place. Polls like this seem to serve no more of a purpose than "What's your favorite color?".<p>Could you indicate the reason for the poll? That will get the conversation going in the direction you want it to and will give everybody some context when replying.
Our team develops on two MacBooks and a Linux box. We virtualize Windows via VirtualBox (which is just amazing). Our production server runs Ubuntu on EC2.
I use:<p>1. Mac OS X - for "normal people" stuff. Web browsing, IM, Twitter, music, movies, foo.<p>2. Linux (Ubuntu) - so that I can build (3).<p>3. Haiku (<a href="http://haiku-os.org" rel="nofollow">http://haiku-os.org</a>) - because I can.
My main laptop runs Windows 7 - nearly all development is done on this, compiles using Visual Studio 2008 and Cygwin.
My netbook runs Windows 7 - I do nearly all my social/recreational stuff on that machine. Also it has VGA out and I've come to rely on Win7s projector detection magic for presentations to just work. It's the only machine I travel with.
My top-of-the-range Alum Macbook runs just OSX, got it for xcode, which is gathering dust because most of my dev work is in VS.net and even after months I still can't get into the swing of using OSX.
Machines synced with the amazing DropBox of course.<p>In serverland, 1 dedicated server (France) and 1 slice (USA) running Ubuntu 9.04 server, the other vps running RHEL; Mono 2.4.2.<p>I always have a stack of Putty windows open.
I just recently migrated from a late-2006 MacBook Pro with Leopard to a shiny new ThinkPad T500 with Ubuntu Jaunty. I'm actually impressed with how well Linux on the desktop has matured over the past few years (I experimented with Ubuntu in late 2005 and it was nowhere near as refined as it is today), moreover, how easy it was to get everything working as seamlessly as it did on the Mac.<p>Granted, in terms of user interface (among other things), OS X is far superior to Gnome; however, aside from the gorgeous design of Aqua, in terms of actual day-to-day usability, they are pretty much on par with each other (at least as far as I'm concerned).
I work with my Windows laptop and my Linux workstation side-by-side. I use my laptop for Outlook, company IM, Office documents, and web surfing. I use my workstation for everything else. That gives me a strict division between productivity sucks on the Windows laptop and productive work on the Linux box. When I want to focus, I can sit with the laptop outside my field of view, so I don't see new emails and IMs. If I need to consult html docs while I'm coding, I use Conkeror on my Linux box so I'm not tempted into random surfing. Using Conkeror and Awesome WM on my Linux box makes it very no-nonsense and very conducive to concentration.<p>Ummm, so, I already voted for Linux since that's where all the work gets done. Should I vote for Windows, too?
I have a Macbook that runs Leopard and my desktop runs WinXP Pro. I prefer the Mac OS to Windows, but the Windows PC has more powerful hardware for running the graphics apps and my little white Macbook just can't keep up.It also has a 24in display and a full-size keyboard, which makes it a little more practicle to use for long periods of time. Some day, when I can justify the expense of a 24in iMac, I'll switch entirely to Mac. In the mean time, I use them both about equally. The Mac is far superior as a dev environment.
I use Fedora Core on my laptop and desktop pcs, and use a windows box with terminals to Fedora Core servers at work.<p>I've been thinking of getting a macbook lately - I've never used OSX and have heard good things (I also love the look of them).<p>I'm torn between my tried and true Fedora/ Thinkpad (I'll upgrade my existing one) combo and a shiny new macbook.<p>Are there any converts here? Did you miss the package manager? Do you find the paid upgrades not worth it compared to the 6 monthly Linux distro revisions?<p>I have a bad feeling I'll miss the convenience of yum install [package].
Mac OS X is what I use at home on my iMac and MacBook. At work I use Linux on compute servers for development and data analysis, and connect to the machines via (<i>cough</i>) Windows.
All of the above. I use a Windows Vista laptop for most work, A Mac Mini hooked up to the TV for Movies, Music, Photos and syncing my iPhone, a Windows XP VM with Adobe Lightroom for touching up photos, a Linux box upstairs for Music, file serving and number crunching, various Linux VMWare images for development in Django, Perl, Ruby etc., an OpenBSD PC as a Firewall and IDS and an Amiga 1200T for Email (YAM) and Usenet (NewsCoaster).
Mac was recommended by many of my friends, so I'll say it's good. However I tried linux (mandriva) one time and I'll never get BACK to any linux version (although I like the servers os), wonder how you work with them. Linux is fast, but not comfortable to work with
I find the comments in this thread really show the potential in virtual machines.<p>Personally, I develop on a macbook and virtualize Windows XP and Linux (Arch Linux). I tend to just use which ever is the native environment for what I'm working with (eg: C on linux, ruby on mac).
I use:<p>Windows/Windows/Windows/Windows/OSX side-by-side, shared keyboard through Synergy (w/ synergy server as a Vista+Vaio).<p>With 4 perpetual ssh connections to different flavors of Linuxy servers (CentOS/CentOS/Fedora/SuSE). With 2 perpetual RDP sessions open to 2 more Windows boxen.
Linux at home for seven hours a day and Windows at work off and off for 9 hours per day mostly just office stuff.<p>I prefer Linux for its freedom, I'll put up with the lack of a polished OS and inconveniences for the freedom it provides.
All my contact management, todos, calendar, etc are on the web on a Linux platform, SO, you could technically say I'm on Linux all day, however, I access everything from Windows and code in Windows so...
I've been using Mac OS on and off for the last six years, but in the last year it has replaced Linux as my dominant workstation OS. I still have a few Linux and Windows build machines around the office.
All of the above: at work I have a Windows desktop and several servers running Linux and Solaris, at home I use a Mac OSX laptop along with a colocated FreeBSD server.
Linux, but one annoyance is about 10% of the time I have to manually enable the LAN connection to my ADSL modem. I never had to do that with Windows.<p>For developing it's great though.
I use Linux (major parts of the workhorses) open BSD (routers) Mac (for video conferences and development support). There is a freebsd there for good measure.
I have a few Mac's and I run VM's on them with Ubuntu and OpenSolaris, I also have Windows XP available on a VM, but I have less and less need to use it.
I have 2 desktops and 2 laptops, all running Windows. FWIW, I still like being able to open the hood and tweak.<p>But not enough to change my OS completely (a la Linux)
Plan 9 from Bell Labs ( <a href="http://plan9.cat-v.org" rel="nofollow">http://plan9.cat-v.org</a> ) and
Inferno ( <a href="http://code.google.com/p/inferno-os/" rel="nofollow">http://code.google.com/p/inferno-os/</a> )