9 hours ago, mSparks said:

I few weeks ago I discovered mac also has hot corners, and tbh, with that, I'd probably rate it overall higher than linux. 

He's not fully on board with Mac.  But according to him, it's nowhere near as bad as Windows.  Linux is "home" to him, though.

While I am not surprised that this thread devolved into an OS vs OS debate (an outcome only slightly less likely than going the "my sim" vs "your sim" way...😄), I would say that when looking at the issue of OS from a pure user perspective, it can safely be said that:

Looking at he average user with average computer knowledge (no X-Plane developing) perspective, the Windows ecosystem is preferable. It requires no advanced tech knowledge to make X-Plane work well (unlike Linux) and it will provide the best performance per dollar (unlike Mac).

There are a myriad of reasons why to prefer either of the other two OS instead, and both can be validly used with X-Plane (and there are no plans to ever drop either of them, partly due to the fact that no one listens to me within LR 😅), but for the standard user with a standard usage pattern, I firmly believe that a Windows based PC will be the best choice.

Edited March 15, 20251 yr by Litjan

2 hours ago, Litjan said:

devolved

Hmmm. How magnanimously noble of you to descend into a "devolved" thread. The apple didn't fall very far from the tree with a new account.

There are plenty of examples of linux systems being installed for grandparents to use without any issues. In fact, it can often be much more easily locked down to prevent the effects of accidental clicking which is a common byproduct of old fingers/hands and minimal technical knowledge. 

I also recall seeing some time ago a statement that a significant number of 3rd party addon devs use linux. Or in other words, the creative minds behind the single best advertising campaign LR has access to, demand it. There are a few other reasons too but we won't dare devolve that far. On this particular topic at least, LR is better off ignoring you.

 

10 hours ago, GoranM said:

He's not fully on board with Mac.  But according to him, it's nowhere near as bad as Windows.  Linux is "home" to him, though.

I went macos VM just for compiling xplane plugins. liked it, got a low end mac mini as a second machine, liked it, "accidentally" bought a macbook air, loved it.

I would highly, highly recommend a macbook for a linux junkies mobile device. hardware is unmatched (weight, battery life, performance), and macos is basically the same posix software as linux under the shiney easy to use UI. Its keyboard/mouse shortcuts for working on a single display are also second to none - I dont actually need multiple screens on the macbook when I can just hit the mouse into the top left corner and zoom out to an unlimited number of virtual ones, but I do have a large display in the office I can plug it into when I'm there.

Also, found out yesterday WiVRn has mac support (wifi quest3 openXR drivers...), although no idea what state its in (I need the wifi6 router for stable video, and the entire city is closed for a protest party atm) and the mac build of xplane would need VR support compiling to use it.

8 hours ago, blingthinger said:

Hmmm. How magnanimously noble of you to descend into a "devolved" thread. The apple didn't fall very far from the tree with a new account.

There are plenty of examples of linux systems being installed for grandparents to use without any issues. In fact, it can often be much more easily locked down to prevent the effects of accidental clicking which is a common byproduct of old fingers/hands and minimal technical knowledge. 

I also recall seeing some time ago a statement that a significant number of 3rd party addon devs use linux. Or in other words, the creative minds behind the single best advertising campaign LR has access to, demand it. There are a few other reasons too but we won't dare devolve that far. On this particular topic at least, LR is better off ignoring you.

 

Once I got my parents on Chromebooks I never had to do a single (computer) thing for them again.

All these OS vs OS comparisons just highlight the fact that you're all working with VERY small and highly skewed sample sizes.

Over the years, I've run several networks with over a thousand end users computers.

Sometimes with more Macs than PCs, a few with a bunch of developers in the mix, and quite a few with high end engineering & creative production stacks.

The absolute number one determinant of "best Operating System" is the person operating it. Or "PEBKAC", as we say from time to time.

I've seen people bring high powered Mac towers to their knees, and other people never have a single issue with their Windows laptops.

So many examples, but the only truly predictable thing I've seen is that using low end hardware will definitely have a negative effect.

The rest is just people and training.

Edited March 15, 20251 yr by UrgentSiesta

8 hours ago, mSparks said:

posix software as linux under the shiney easy to use UI. Its keyboard/mouse shortcuts for working on a single

A little known fact is that MacOS is one of the very few UNIX Certified operating systems.

I've seen a lot of hard core devs drop Linux like a hot rock once they tried MacOS and discovered how interoperable and less complicated it is.

On 3/15/2025 at 12:59 PM, UrgentSiesta said:

Sometimes with more Macs than PCs, a few with a bunch of developers in the mix, and quite a few with high end engineering & creative production stacks.

While I do get your overall point here, this isn't a situation of many apps. This is 1 app.

Disk partition types, thread scheduling, interrupt handling, available compiler optimizations, etc. all add up. Many folks claim better XP performance in linux on the same hardware than windows. I'd love to know which piece makes that so.

Flip side is that linux is often more of a pain and the missing piece to setting the parents up with a linux distro is that they will always need a sysadmin to at least install and start it up the first time. That's less of a requirement for windows users.

 

 

On 3/15/2025 at 3:51 AM, blingthinger said:

won't dare devolve that far

I lied.

8 hours ago, blingthinger said:

Flip side is that linux is often more of a pain and the missing piece to setting the parents up with a linux distro is that they will always need a sysadmin to at least install and start it up the first time. That's less of a requirement for windows users.

Is that so? (I am the family sysadmin for over 25 years now, and I can tell you that I encountered countless problems on my father’s Windows computer )

I'm sorry but VAX VMS was the best operating system ever created...

On 3/15/2025 at 8:59 PM, UrgentSiesta said:

 

The absolute number one determinant of "best Operating System" is the person operating it. Or "PEBKAC", as we say from time to time.

Well. That settles it then, we have a very clear winner🏆 🤣

from the previous page:

On 3/14/2025 at 9:57 AM, GoranM said:

Toto (Saso) who codes the add ons we make, puts Linux at the top, with MacOS a distant 2nd, and Windows...he simply refuses to work on, unless he absolutely has to.

 

1 hour ago, soaring_penguin said:

Is that so?

I've never tried to set up a chromebook. Maybe that one wouldn't need your expertise at the start? Maybe just less? I certainly wouldn't trust granny with a usb installer of even ubuntu. 

Even Windows requires a proper setup, and that one comes preinstalled. Fact is that most people can’t even remember their email password. 

2 hours ago, soaring_penguin said:

Even Windows requires a proper setup, and that one comes preinstalled. Fact is that most people can’t even remember their email password. 

My email has a password?? 🫢

14 hours ago, blingthinger said:

claim better XP performance in linux on the same hardware than windows. I'd love to know which piece makes that so.

While Windows virtualization is very stable and reliable, it still has a lot of overhead in default configs.

Linux is well known for its efficient use of hardware resources, and especially so when it's running as a lean and mean hypervisor hosting a guest OS. 👍