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Linux or Mac: Which is the better alternative to Windows?

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Darwin:
nontroppo - can you transfer data between a native OSX app and a native Windows app (running in Parallels) in "realtime"?

Gothi[c]:
I think it's strange that none of you think freedom is important.

MacOSX is still a proprietary closed system, while there are (a few) truely Free GNU/Linux distributions out there that do not ship with DRM, closed source drivers, and free software that you can share and edit without worrying about lawyers, or backdoors in mysterious binaries.

That freedom is worth more than me than any feature or ease of use or application/driver availability.

jgpaiva:
Gothic: my reason for not even considering going Mac is just that. Not with closed-source OS/ free software, but with the way they handle hardware. I don't like the idea of having to use only apple's hardware/software.
Also, the lack of choice is a problem. ("you get what we give you and there's nothing else")

For me, the perfect world would be windows + linux in something like parallels, so that i could take the best of both worlds.

Darwin:
Yeah, I'm with João on this one... I object to being tied to Apple hardware and am not even considering a new Mac (my sister gave me my current iBook when she wanted to upgrade to a newer system - she bought a PC), just curious about the state of things.

nontroppo:
Darwin: yes, I can drag-n-drop between desktops, or copy-n-paste text etc. One can set up shared directories or share the entire drive via each OS during VM use transparently. Parallels even allows you to set up universal default apps, so you can get Mac Photoshop to open .psd files but Win IrfanView to open .TIF files for example! Some Mac users have actually complained at how unified the two OSes have become, mostly due to security fears of Windows.

There is little data that is really locked to any OS, i interoperate with my Windows using colleagues without issue. And some applications are just stunning on OS X (I'm looking at you Scrivener), that my work routine has been radically improved.

Gothi[c]: Indeed I partly raised that above. To be honest though, my Macbook is the most beautiful laptop I've owned. I love little details about its design, and given a choice I would aim to buy Mac hardware again. As I said above, for workstation-class machines, Apple have better deals than Dell who we have to buy through at my University, so for us, the benefits far outweigh the negatives (and Mac Pros have a fantastic chassis).

However what exactly do you mean by "freedom"? OS X supports a majority of open-source software, so data is not locked in any way into OS X unless you choose to e.g. buy iTunes songs. The kernel of the OS is open-source, and currently there is none of the horrible DRM system that Vista is built on. So freedom means what in practical terms?

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