In the early naughties I would have said Apple was worth the extra cost. My 2002 laptop still works fine. But now I would suggest Linux for coding and Chromebooks for general use. I had to get a laptop with windows installed about a month ago to run course software. It’s a brand new top of the range machine and it’s running windows 10 and the bugger takes forever to get it’s buggy ass into gear. Modern Apple build quality is terrible and overpriced. A hackintosh solution might work with some people but to be honest Chrome or Linux is the answer for most user types.
Whenever this topic comes up, all the Linux people come out of the woodwork to suggest Linux. But in reality, there’s not that much to suggest it. User interface and compatibly are worse, the
applications aren’t there. So there just isn’t enough to make the switch, which could be pretty costly.I think that the computer that most people will be using in the future will not be one like how we think of computers today. There are three main problems with the GUI paradigm of today:
- Management of files
People don’t know how the filesystem works. And when I say filesystem, I mean the hierarchy of files on a disk. Folders, files, saving, etc. This is why I think auto-save in OS X is a great feature. Managing files in a traditional desktop system is burdensome to most users. This is why something like the Chromebook or iPad is better for people.- Management of windows
Most people just full screen them anyway. A full window management system is not required.- General hard-to-use-ness
The traditional GUI has built up so much UI debt that it’s hard and/or bad to remove it. So, to get rid of all this debt, you need to build a whole new system that doesn’t have all the hang ups of the traditional PC. For example, when people update their PCs/Macs, they are always very cautious when doing so. Updating an iOS device is done so almost carelessly. So, needles UI debt should be no more.This is why I’m betting on the iPad for the future of computing. Capital F, Capital C. It removes all of this UI debt in what I see is the best way possible. It’s finally a computer for the rest of us.
Anything you can do on a PC or Mac you can do just as well on a Linux machine with hardly any worries about viruses or malware and with lightning fast speed. It runs on any kind of machine (cheap second hand laptops go like a bomb) and it’s free and won’t spam you for updates you don’t want.
It comes in loads of different styles and shapes and can be made to look whatever way you please.
It seems that you’re advertising Linux the higher end of the software market. That market includes people like programmers, video and audio editors, photographers, etc. For these types of people, Linux just doesn’t have the applications for that. And even if it did, those people are most likely already know the Mac/Windows programs that they use and it would be a huge burden if they switch. Money and time could be lost.
For your casual net user, office app user etc chromebook is the thing.
Particularly if like my mum your finger tips don’t work so you can’t use a fondle pad.
I do agree that in the future, simpler devices like iPads and Chromebooks will be used more often than traditions PCs as we see them today.