The Cellar - View Single Post

10-06-2002, 12:55 PM

1) Mac OS X is probably the best operating system you'll ever run, but none of your current software will work. You'll have to find replacements, which is generally really easy for the big stuff (Office, IRC apps, etc), but little things may be more different.

2) Solaris is god-awful. It sucks on anything less than 32 processors. It isn't called "Slowaris" for nothing. If you want to run it in x86... HAHAHAHAHAHA. And if you want to run it on UltraSPARC, well, you need to buy new hardware anyway, which is good and expensive (and relatively slow, too). Solaris is great for development, but not as a personal computer. Don't even consider this option.

3) Linux is good fun, but it will keep you from doing some things you want to do, and it will always be a pain in the ass. There will almost always be something that isn't working quite right (if you try to push your system, anyway). Otherwise, it's great. I used it exclusively for nearly three years. I just switched to...

4) Windows XP Pro, which is the best consumer operating system for x86 hardware. I don't consider anything before Windows 2000 "usable", and XP improves on 2000 in a number of ways. This is probably the way to go, because all of your software will run and you'll get the benefits of improved speed and stability.

Incidentally, really fast computers can be built for relatively cheap now. Consider upgrading your hardware; a 1.4GHz Athlon with 512MB of RAM and a very decent video card (along with a 40GB hard drive) can be had for under $500.

As far as browsers, here's my breakdown:

Windows/Linux:

Speed and overall goodness: Mozilla's Phoenix
Everything but the kitchen sink: Mozilla
For those pages that just won't render in Mozilla: Internet Explorer 6 (Windows only, obviously)

Mac OS X:

Speed and overall goodness: Chimera
Everything but the kitchen sink: Mozilla
For pages that won't render in Mozilla: Internet Explorer 5.2.2

Solaris: Don't even bother.

10-06-2002, 12:55 PM	#6
dave Guest Posts: n/a	1) Mac OS X is probably the best operating system you'll ever run, but none of your current software will work. You'll have to find replacements, which is generally really easy for the big stuff (Office, IRC apps, etc), but little things may be more different. 2) Solaris is god-awful. It sucks on anything less than 32 processors. It isn't called "Slowaris" for nothing. If you want to run it in x86... HAHAHAHAHAHA. And if you want to run it on UltraSPARC, well, you need to buy new hardware anyway, which is good and expensive (and relatively slow, too). Solaris is great for development, but not as a personal computer. Don't even consider this option. 3) Linux is good fun, but it will keep you from doing some things you want to do, and it will always be a pain in the ass. There will almost always be something that isn't working quite right (if you try to push your system, anyway). Otherwise, it's great. I used it exclusively for nearly three years. I just switched to... 4) Windows XP Pro, which is the best consumer operating system for x86 hardware. I don't consider anything before Windows 2000 "usable", and XP improves on 2000 in a number of ways. This is probably the way to go, because all of your software will run and you'll get the benefits of improved speed and stability. Incidentally, really fast computers can be built for relatively cheap now. Consider upgrading your hardware; a 1.4GHz Athlon with 512MB of RAM and a very decent video card (along with a 40GB hard drive) can be had for under $500. As far as browsers, here's my breakdown: Windows/Linux: Speed and overall goodness: Mozilla's Phoenix Everything but the kitchen sink: Mozilla For those pages that just won't render in Mozilla: Internet Explorer 6 (Windows only, obviously) Mac OS X: Speed and overall goodness: Chimera Everything but the kitchen sink: Mozilla For pages that won't render in Mozilla: Internet Explorer 5.2.2 Solaris: Don't even bother.