Poll: What Operating System are you Running as your Primary OS? [Archive]

whocares

Nov 5, 2003, 01:37 AM

Would anyone dare to extrapolate the results (even preliminary) of this poll to the entire population of Mac users? I'm quite sure the sample is not representative...
What percentage is really using 10.3? I guess a lot less than the poll shows.

Oh and Panther - $69; viva las education pricing!

MagnusDredd

Nov 5, 2003, 02:51 AM

So far I notice there is 1 Linux and 2 *NIX users who use them as their primary desktop OS. I am interested in what distros/versions of *NIX are being used.

My personal guess would probably be Redhat/Mandrake, or Debian. Guess for the other two would be FreeBSD, or perhaps netBSD. I have an Daystar Genesis MP 800+ running Yellowdog, but I don't generally browse the web on it. However before the advent of OSX I did use FreeBSD as my primary OS.

leet1

Nov 5, 2003, 03:02 AM

Slackware on my desktop:D xp on my laptop

BeigeUser

Nov 5, 2003, 03:09 AM

I use Win 2000! I have no choice. My Powermac G4 has been in repair for about a month already. It broke a few days after I bought it (not DOA) so they are going to repair it instead of replacing it. But everytime they fix something, they break another part of it so it has been going in and out of repair. Has anyone else had this problem with the Apple Store Honolulu?

mac15

Nov 5, 2003, 04:47 AM

Panther on all of my 'one' computers :)

crenz

Nov 5, 2003, 04:49 AM

My copy of Panther was shipped on the 25th, but it's still not here yet. So Jaguar for me :(

punter

Nov 5, 2003, 05:00 AM

panther!

I think the macrumors community would be quicker to adopt panther than the rest of the apple community.

My sister (and her imac400DV) didn't even know what jaguar or panther was. I forced panther upon her yesterday and am curious to see how she reacts.

teabgs

Nov 5, 2003, 07:49 AM

OK, I voted panther because thats what I have now. BUT it's buggy and messsing up apps that I use daily...like FCP :rolleyes:

I'm going back to jaguar this weekend until Apple fixes things...

cb911

Nov 5, 2003, 08:00 AM

Panther. oh yeah!! :D

i love it heaps more than Jag now. :)

SiliconAddict

Nov 5, 2003, 08:31 AM

Currently Windows 2000 pro on everything except my server that is running Windows 2000 Adv Server. I’ve experimented with XP over the last year and initially I dismissed it as being a very large POS. After combing through the various tweak sites and documenting the various “features” in XP. (Even some undocumented ones using an nearly undocumented command line feature in XP/2K called netsh that allows you to tweak out the various protocols bound to your NIC in ways that can’t be done via the GUI.) I have a rough draft white paper on what you need to disable, alter, and change to make is better then 2K. It really is a better OS once you tweak the living crap out of it. There are aprox 36 initial tweaks that you need to do to take back the OS from MS. (e.g. Where MS says the OS must act like X when you want it to act like Y.) In addition there are aprox another 12 performance tweaks that you should do depending on the initial speed of your system Once its all said and done yes you do get a good computing experience out of XP Professional. Don’t even talk about Home Edition that thing is a POS. So over the last month I've migrated my desktop and one of my laptops to XP. So far so good. Everything works find and is snappy.
Whenever Apple decides to release a PowerBook G5 is when I will purchase my first Mac since my ][e days. Until then its windows.

pkkrusty

Nov 5, 2003, 08:41 AM

So, I noticed most people are 10.2 or 10.3 now, as opposed to about a year ago when about half were 9.2 and half were 10.x. Quite a shift...

My question, and I hope it's relevant enough not to get deleted, is why my 10.2.7 computer seems to get slower and slower as time passes. The same thing happened with OS 9, and I attributed it to adding extensions, files, fragmentation of the desktop DB, etc.

While I have done the same with my current computer (added a couple launch-on-startup programs, used up about 50% of the hard drive, added a few thousand files) I thought OS X was not as susceptible to slow downs of this nature. Apparently I was wrong.

So now I ask, what can I do to clean up the system folder and return my 800mhz G4 eMac to its original fast-as-h--- state? I am scared of the Windows-like proliferation of unidentifiable files that populate the System and Library folders. With OS 9 and below, applications were packaged as a unit, allowing one to find all the components and delete them.

Now though, an application might install a file like pclnklog.rfg and it'll use up some minute amount of system resources and even though I long since deleted the program, I'll never know. Is there a way to take care of this problem?

pkkrusty

Nov 5, 2003, 08:47 AM

I apologize if this isn't Mac related either, but Siliconaddict, do you mind posting or further discussing the XP tweaks? I'd be interested in doing that to my sister's computer, since my dad decided to send her to the Dark Side and not buy her a Mac for college.

The funny part is he thought he was getting a good deal by buying a 1.whatever Ghz eMachines for $500, and ended up spending as much as a 800mhz eMac with all the OS upgrades, warranty, programs, etc. The good part about that story is I think he realized it and will never buy a PC again.

1macker1

Nov 5, 2003, 09:21 AM

Yeah, it's Jaguar for me till all these darn bugs are stomped out.

Lord Bodak

Nov 5, 2003, 09:41 AM

Slackware Linux on my desktop, Jaguar on my PowerBook. Panther is sitting on the desk waiting for me to install it but I haven't had time yet.

SiliconAddict

Nov 5, 2003, 09:45 AM

Originally posted by pkkrusty
I apologize if this isn't Mac related either, but Siliconaddict, do you mind posting or further discussing the XP tweaks? I'd be interested in doing that to my sister's computer, since my dad decided to send her to the Dark Side and not buy her a Mac for college.

The funny part is he thought he was getting a good deal by buying a 1.whatever Ghz eMachines for $500, and ended up spending as much as a 800mhz eMac with all the OS upgrades, warranty, programs, etc. The good part about that story is I think he realized it and will never buy a PC again.

I'll whip something up by friday and IM it to you. Question. IS your sister running XP home or Pro? I’m guessing home. EVIL! http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/images/smiles/new_2gunsfiring_v1.gif

Riko19

Nov 5, 2003, 10:03 AM

Yeah well im running Jaguar at the mo looks proffesional and isnt as comical as Panther, why the heck they got it alllike u go over the icon and it highlights in big blu borders round it, too cartoony unless u can change it, may get it for christmans though :)

never know may grow on me like facial hair. :(

Wonder Boy

Nov 5, 2003, 10:22 AM

panther on my main computer, but its too buggy, so i took it of my secondary machine. good ol' jaguar

lufwa

Nov 5, 2003, 10:47 AM

10.1 and struggling to upgrade to 10.1.5. (it was 9.2 last week)

pkkrusty

Nov 5, 2003, 10:59 AM

Yeah, it's XP home...I assume at least some of the hacks will work though? IM is 'pkkrusty'

One more question for anyone who knows the answer. What are the # of posts needed to change from Macrumors newbie to the next step up?

iShater

Nov 5, 2003, 12:46 PM

I am still on Jaguar. I don't feel like shelling out $130 to upgrade a 5 month old computer yet. I still use Windows 98 and 2000 on my PC systems at home, and I am fine with that.

When Panther has a few updated released 10.3.3 or so I will look seriously to move to it, that would probably be the point where I would appreciate a nice performance boost in the system.

Right now Jaguar is working out great for me and as long as Apple keeps supporting it with updates to address issues/bugs/etc. I will be a happy Mac user :D

mrsebastian

Nov 5, 2003, 01:04 PM

panther and it was $20 since i just got my pb17 :D

MagnusDredd

Nov 5, 2003, 01:47 PM

I am quite surprised to see other Slackware users here. I am more surprised that the only replies were Slackware. Slack is my distro of choice, I run it on my gateway server and have been using it since Slackware 96 (version 3.1). It's fast and clean and runs tirelessly on a P233 with 64M Ram, not running X11 of course. I have SMB, netatalk, VPN (vtun), and crapload more running on it. Most of this is firewalled off to the outside world, but... I generally run YellowDog on my PPC machines. I do have to admit though, that I preferred FreeBSD as a kick around desktop OS. Now I kinda collect old *NIX machines as a hobby.

I also run WinXP corporate which is a modified version of pro. So thanks for the post concerning the hacks. You probably have found some that I have missed. The one thing I have to say that i like about XP more than 2k is how much better the DOS emu environment has become. When you only use Windows for games and some testing, like myself, it is a rather important feature. I must admit that my Athlon is probably the most expensive toy I have ever owned (I bought it after I bought my G4 tower, so all it has ever been is a toy).

Some day I will get off of my lazy butt and create a website detailing my network, and the varying chip architectures and OSes that I tinker with, but until then....

mc68k

Nov 5, 2003, 01:57 PM

for my main 3 machines

10.2.8 home
10.3 work
W2K work

rueyeet

Nov 5, 2003, 02:26 PM

I just installed Panther last night on my secondary, don't-care-if-it-explodes indigo iBook, overwriting the Linux install. After Linux giving me a bug report when I tried to run the network configuration, it was nice when Panther automatically hooked up to the AirPort and Safari loaded pages as fast as the TiBook. S'neat. I'm going to make the iBook my play computer and install all the little hacks and utilities I've wanted to futz around with.

I'm NOT putting Panther on my primary machine until a couple more point releases with minimal bug reports.

Curious thing, though: On the iBook, there's a line across the entire screen towards the bottom, almost like it would be a border for the dock. It's not a hardware problem, but a graphical thing, because the mouse pointer crosses under it. Weird. Re-start didn't help. Pity I'm at work or I'd post a screenshot.

MacFan25

Nov 5, 2003, 03:32 PM

Panther for me. So far I really haven't had any problems, but I do think Safari is sometimes a little slower when switching tabs.

Centris 650

Nov 5, 2003, 04:05 PM

Panther!
I was late adopting OS X. I upgraded last Christmas to 10.2 (from 9.2) only because I got a deal for $50. I bought a "refreshed" dual 1ghz G4 the day after Panther was announced so I got it for $20! I must say that I think Panther is the best upgrade since 7. I'm very pleased. (Font book rules!)

f-matic

Nov 5, 2003, 04:05 PM

debian on my athlon box... debian powerpc on my lombard and 2400.. and good old 9.2.2 on my pismo.

yes, i have a thing for black apple laptops...

best,
np

Nermal

Nov 5, 2003, 04:33 PM

Originally posted by pkkrusty
Yeah, it's XP home...I assume at least some of the hacks will work though? IM is 'pkkrusty'

One more question for anyone who knows the answer. What are the # of posts needed to change from Macrumors newbie to the next step up?

Wow, you've been here for almost a year and you've only done 7 posts :eek:

I think it's 30 posts to go from "newbie" to "member". Then I think 100 gets you to "regular".

Unclej78

Nov 5, 2003, 06:11 PM

Work #1 - 8.1 on G3 266
Work #2 - Windoze 98
(Newspapers don't upgrade often)

Home #1 - 9.04 on 8500
Side Business/Office #1 - 9.2 on iMac DV
Side Business/Office #2 - 10.3/9.2 on B&W G3 400
(Mainly OS9.2, just learning OSX)

evil_santa

Nov 5, 2003, 06:37 PM

@home
G4 & ibook 10.3 (with file vault off)
5300 powerbook 8.1
@work
G3 400 9.2

pimentoLoaf

Nov 5, 2003, 06:45 PM

Jaguar will stay on my ol' dual-USB iceBook, but Panther will eventually grace my pb17. The iBook is just too primitive to handle what Panther offers, plus I have a few things (including Marathon Trilogy + Rubicon) that just don't run properly under Classic.

---

Curious: what is the "other" operating systems that a few people are using? Apple SOS on an ancient Apple ///, perhaps?

evil_santa

Nov 5, 2003, 06:58 PM

Originally posted by pimentoLoaf
Jaguar will stay on my ol' dual-USB iceBook, but Panther will eventually grace my pb17. The iBook is just too primitive to handle what Panther offers

Panther runs fine on my ibook 300mhz/ 3gigHD. other than having to re install it without all the additional fonts & stuff to make it fit onto the HD. Its has had no major problems. My G4 sufferd from the 10.2.8 lock out & all the 10.3 file vault problems.

eric_n_dfw

Nov 5, 2003, 06:58 PM

Fast user switching is so worth it if you have 2 active users in your house.

The only bad thing about 10.3 so far for me is some issues with HP's OfficeJet All-In-On drivers: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45073

MrMacMan

Nov 5, 2003, 07:27 PM

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Who the heck is running on OS 8 or lower?! :eek:

Oh HELL YES, just for you Rower, I am writing this on System 7.6!

Hell yes!

:D

mms

Nov 5, 2003, 07:50 PM

9.0 on my Lombard, my primary computer... heard Jaguar would be slow on this machine so I never went to OS X. But since Panther is supposed to work better on old systems, I'm going to give it a try.

Jaguar on Cube. Waiting for most bugs and problems to be fixed on Panther before upgrading.

rickvanr

Nov 5, 2003, 08:36 PM

panther on my tibook, my mom is still using jag upstairs... havent had time to install panther on it yet...

Nermal

Nov 5, 2003, 08:41 PM

Originally posted by MrMacman
Oh HELL YES, just for you Rower, I am writing this on System 7.6!

Hell yes!

:D

No Ethernet on my 7.6 computer, otherwise I'd join in and do the same :)

wdlove

Nov 5, 2003, 08:44 PM

I'm in the minority, still running Mac OS 9.2.2. Feel very comfortable with it's operation.

peejay

Nov 5, 2003, 08:56 PM

I have to say I just don't understand any of your reasons for not going OSX, but can distill them to this: "I am afraid of change and want to stay with what I know."

People quibble about how the finder is so strange, and that OSX left out this or that little feature from 9. But what about the hundreds - no, thousands - of things on OSX that you cannot dream of doing on 9?

Yes, it'll be different for a while. Heck, when I first tried 10.0, I gave up and went back to 9 until 10.1 came out. But I stuck with it the next time, and worked through the stuff I was unfamiliar with. I even picked up a book on OSX and RTFMed it.

Are you upset that you won't be an expert user right away? Well, you are an expert the way morse code operators are: really good at something obsolete.

Give it up! Come to X! Come all the way to Panther! Join the 21st century!

FelixDerKater

Nov 5, 2003, 09:14 PM

I bought Panther today, but can't install it. Bad Install CD 1. I will have to exchange it tomorrow and then my vote will change...

Dippo

Nov 5, 2003, 09:35 PM

Windows XP Pro and Mandrake Linux 9.1 on the same machine.

One day I will own a mac

Stinkysteve

Nov 5, 2003, 10:22 PM

As of right now:
8.6 on an old performa 6250
9.2 on my Pismo

Hopefully by this time next week I will have:
Panther on a G4 i-Book

I will keep 9.2 on the Pismo to run the old programs that I can't afford to update just yet.
8.6 is just fine for playing solitare on the Performa...

mms

Nov 5, 2003, 11:32 PM

Originally posted by peejay:
"I have to say I just don't understand any of your reasons for not going OSX, but can distill them to this: "I am afraid of change and want to stay with what I know."

You're right, there are a lot of things that you can do on OS X that can't be done in OS 9, and many improvements. However, you have to realize that there are people here running older machines that either can't run OS X or is too slow. On my Lombard I held back from installing X because 10.0 and 10.1 weren't worth it, and although Jaguar was nice, it was still much slower in terms of the Finder than OS 9. Having used Jaguar on my other computer (a Cube) I know how good it is, but I didn't want it to be slow and troublesome. Now that Panther has come out, I'm hearing people say that it is as fast as or even faster than OS 9. I'm planning to wait and hear more opinions before I make the decision.