Comparison of the three big operating systems.

I am taking a break from philosophy to deal with one of the greatest debates in the field of engineering, technology, science, or pretty much anything that uses a computer, is what OS is the best? The answer, in reality, is none of them. The fact is that there isn't an "ultimate" OS that can be used in every situtation, for if there was, everyone would be using it, and we wouldn't be having this debate.
However, certain OSs are better for different activities, and they all have there strengths and weaknesses. Here is my opinion on what each major OS's strengths and weaknesses are. Just holla back if you think otherwise.

GNU/Linux:

advantage: Power/cost ratio

disadvantage: 3rd party applications

So you want to crunch some numbers huh? Well, then Linux is for you! Linux (including Solaris), in my opinion, is by far the easiest operating system to program and develop software with, and if you have a computer that is processing a large amount of data all the time, then it would be wise to have that computer be a linux box. (There is a reason why almost all supercomputers run on linux.) The other obvious advantage of linux is that you can get it for free, and its really hard to beat free. Some people will say that the time it takes to acquire and install linux is worth just buying another OS straight up, and if spending hundreds of dollars to save a couple of hours is worth it for you,
then by all means, grab that Vista!

GNU/linux does have one major weakness though, and that is the lack of software applications and drivers for the OS. The reason is quite simple. Many software and hardware developers are for-profit companies, and thus have the ulitmate goal of making money. Since many if not most linux distrubtions are free, there is no motivation for the for-profit software developers to make their equipmentand software compatibile with linux because most linux users will try to find an open-source version of that software instead. For-profit hardware developers usually aren't that motivated to have their products compatible with linux since linux still represents a small portion of the total computer market, and will not be willing to pay any of these developers to make their components compatible. This means that if you are wanting to run lots of different applications and external hardware devices, and you want it to all work smoothly, I would probably suggest something other then Linux.

Mac OS X

advantage: Balance

disadvantage: Balance

What if you want something that is unix-based, and thus allows for fairly easy programming and data-processing. However, lets say you also want a whole bunch of applications to work with your system, and wouldn't mind having a company to back your computer up, in case issues occur. Then you were born for Mac OS X. Now, if you can cut through the arrogance that some Mac users seem to have about how superior their system is, and you will see that it really is a well built OS. It does not have the security issues and bugs that modern windows systems seem to have, but still has a ton of nice applications and the technical support that linux sometimes lacks. ultimately, Mac OS X is one if not the most balanced OS on the market, and if you are wanting to just use one OS for everything, then Mac OS X would be your best choice.

There is a problem with an OS that is good at everything, and that is the fact that it is great at nothing. Mac OS X has a lot of 3rd party developers, but it still does not approach the amount that windows has. (It is the reason why no one who plays alot of computer games uses a Mac.) In fact, alot of applications that are developed for a Mac are often times developed after the equivalent for windows is developed, meaning that you will never really be on the cutting edge. The other major problem that Macs have is that they also cannot compete with the power/cost ratio that linux can provide, given the fact that it still costs money to purchase a Mac OS, and can't be stripped down to a bare minimum as well as linux can, especially given the fact that linux is completely open-source, while a Mac still has some closed-source programs and code attached to it. As said before, if you just want one OS to do everything, then the Mac is for you, but if you know you are probably going to specialize in something, then it might be wise to use
a different OS.

Windows XP

advantage: 3rd party applications

disadvantage: Power/cost ratio

Its the most popular OS on the planet, and more likely then not you are on it when reading this blog. Windows XP has one advantage over all the other OSs, and that is the number of programs and applications that work with XP. To make a long story short, basically everything (or a version of everything) works with XP. This is XP's greatest strength. If you are wanting to run some sort of software on your computer, and you want to make sure it works, then XP is your safest bet. Neither Mac OS X or GNU/Linux really comes close.

However, windows XP does have a disadvantage, and that is its power/cost ratio. the Windows OSs are some of the most inefficient OSs avaiable (if you dont believe me, then check out Vista, which is such a terrible OS that I am ignoring it in this comparison, and instead using only XP). They also are not open-source, like linux, and thus have quite a large cost associated with them as well. Another huge disadvantage to windows is that it is not unix-based, and thus does not have the flexibility and usefulness in terms of programming and software development that Linux and Mac OS X have. Ultimately, if you are using your computer for computer games or applications like Microsoft Office, then windows is nice. If not, then it would be wise to stay from it.