XPost: comp.sys.mac.advocacy, alt.os.linux.mandrake, comp.os.linux.advocacy   
   XPost: alt.os.linux.redhat   
   From: lloydparsons@spamac.com   
      
   In article , Liam   
   Slider wrote:   
      
   > On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:17:34 +0000, Lloyd Parsons wrote:   
   >   
   > > In article , Liam   
   > > Slider wrote:   
   > >   
   > >> On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 15:51:06 +0000, Lloyd Parsons wrote:   
   > >>   
   > >> >   
   > >> > I have some experience with Linux, mostly from old distos going back to   
   > >> > the Slackware and creative labs cd days. But the last distro that I   
   > >> > loaded on my pc was Mandrake 9.   
   > >>   
   > >> Geeze, I *used* to run Mandrake 9. Before I ran SuSE 8.2 for the longest   
   > >> time... Mandrake 9 was...well, a little broken in areas. To be expected   
   > >> really on a .0 release I've found. Hardware detection was nice though. But   
   > >> still, Mandrake 9 is seriously outdated to complain about. There have been   
   > >> some *major* improvements since then.   
   > >>   
   > > I'm likely to never find that out as my pc is relegated to the back of   
   > > a closet... ;-)   
   >   
   > Ah, too bad.   
   >   
   > >   
   > >> > I will admit that it was a nice   
   > >> > improvement over the years, but still not up to OSX in many ways. Mostly   
   > >> > ease of use and availability of commercial software.   
   > >>   
   > >> That's changed now, for the most part. More commercial software avaliable   
   > >> if you actually look for it. And ease of use has gone up dramatically.   
   > >>   
   > > For my use, OSX and almost just the apps that came with my G5, is   
   > > plenty enough.   
   >   
   > Same with me and the apps that come with Mandrake 10.1. I don't need much   
   > to add on, and adding new software is pretty damn easy. Just a click away.   
   >   
   > >   
   > > I've added Office 2004 'cause I like Entourage for its handling of   
   > > projects and tasks. I'd use it for email, but that fragile, monolithic   
   > > db that it uses just doesn't cut it. And searches in it are horribly   
   > > slow.   
   >   
   > Yeah, I added abiword too, it was pretty simple to do though, just went to   
   > "install software" and selected abiword and the plugins and everything   
   > was installed automatically for me. It's fast, sleek, build in integration   
   > of a bunch of useful services (like google, wikipedia, online   
   > dictionaries, etc...).   
   >   
   For Office, I just copied it to the application folder and ran it. No   
   real install procedure. That is the way of much of OSX software.   
   There are some that are in .pkg format and those have to be installed.   
   Most of them are doing something with a driver or some other lo-level   
   stuff.   
      
   > I also added Totem (a movie player for GNOME) that's quite nice, works   
   > great with my DVDs. And Rhythmbox (think iTunes for Linux).   
   >   
   > >   
   > > I've also updated my iLife to '05 and got iWork because Pages is very   
   > > nice for my sales flyers and such and Keynote is just a snap to use for   
   > > presentations.   
   >   
   >   
   > I'm sure. If I wanted to do flyers and such I'd probably use Scribus...but   
   > it's not a GNOME/GTK app. It is included with Mandrake though, and is very   
   > highly recommended.   
   >   
   For us SSST (scum sucking sales types), flyers and such are money in   
   the bank. The quicker I can make 'em, the grabbier (?) they look, the   
   better the response....   
      
   > >   
   > >   
   > >> > I don't think that Linux will ever snag many mac users simply because   
   > >> > it isn't as good on the mac as OSX is.   
   > >>   
   > >> I disagree.   
   > >>   
   > > I'm sure! ;-)   
   > >   
   > >> > Nor do I think that current   
   > >> > distros on pc are nearly as good as OSX for most things.   
   > >>   
   > >> You don't *know* current distros, last you knew was Mandrake 9. A whole   
   > >> *version* ago. I may as well be complaining about Mac OS 9, and saying   
   > >> that the Mac isn't ready.   
   > >>   
   > > Not a fair comparison. OS9 and OSX only have one commonality and that   
   > > is they were made by Apple. Other than that, there is no similarity.   
   >   
   > Let me run through the differences between Mandrake 9 and Mandrake 10.   
   > mandrake 9 used an entirely different kernel, the 2.4 kernel, while   
   > Mandrake 10 uses 2.6 instead. The difference is actually pretty damn   
   > significant, there was a lot that was completely rewritten for that kernel   
   > change. The new kernel has many advanced features, and is much *faster*   
   > than the old one too, leading to a faster, more advanced OS. Essentially,   
   > a whole different Linux.   
   >   
   > Next, we have the display system. Mandrake 9 used Xfree86, while Mandrake   
   > 10 uses X.org. This is again, a significant change to the very core of   
   > GNU/Linux. This is no mere fork, X.org adds quite a few new features to   
   > the display system, including support for a lot of OSX-style eye candy   
   > that just wasn't supported before. And it's a bit faster in my opinion.   
   >   
   > There have been *very* huge changes to the very *core* of Linux in the   
   > time between Mandrake 9, and Mandrake 10. On top of that GNOME has gone   
   > from a rather unstable 2.0, to a 2.9 release (although   
   > Mandrake 10.1 uses 2.6) and is not too far off from 3.0, which will be   
   > another *major* improvement in the DE. The distro makers have pushed   
   > *hard* in this time to improve, take advantage of new features, increase   
   > useability, and so forth. Development and improvement in Linux has   
   > *vastly* outstripped development times with regards to other operating   
   > systems. Being *that* far behind, you are *seriously* behind the times.   
   >   
   Sounds nice!   
      
   But I'm not taking that old box out of the closet.... ;-)   
      
   OSX is surely not behind the times, and Tiger looks to be something   
   worth having. Spotlight alone would be enough for me to buy.   
      
   I managed to snag a fairly early beta of Tiger and it is very nice and   
   quicker, debug code and all, than Panther. The only gotcha in it at   
   the beta level I got is in Safari, it just won't do https for some   
   strange reason.....   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   
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