I used x86 Linux full time as my desktop OS for nearly five years (Jan '97 - Dec. '01). Then I got a TiBook. I run OS X exclusively now. Both my TiBook and my PC have 550MHz processors and 256MB of PC100 RAM. My PC's relevant specs:
550MHz AMD K6-2
256MB PC100
Two ultra-wide 7200rpm SCSI drives
Matrox G400 video card
24x6x4 SCSI CD-RW drive
Now, first off, I really pride myself on being as objective as I can be. I'm not a Mac-head, or a Linux-head, or a Windows-head or whatever. I try to rate things as I see them and not let any biases get in my way. In that regard I'm probably the only one like that posting to this forum.
So... I'm not really sure what kind of responses you were looking for in your post, but here are some things I've observed:
General: My PC, running Linux and WindowMaker, seems to be a vastly superior multitasking OS. There have been times where I've run two heavy compiles at once, with 4 Mozilla windows, StarOffice, about a half dozen xterms, and my MP3s didn't skip at all. At the same time, the rest of the system was completely responsive, even while the disks were grinding away. Perhaps this isn't a completely fair comparison, but even if my PC's dual SCSI disks didn't completely blow away the TiBook's IDE disk, I'm certain the Linux box still would have been much better off than the TiBook under the same load.
Graphics: Well, the TiBook wins here. The RAMDAC is just as sharp on an external monitor as the Matrox's (which surprised me greatly), and 3D performance is better.
Perceived desktop speed: There is really not much faster than WindowMaker for a desktop environment. Aqua is a *LOT* slower, probably in part because it's doing a lot more, like alpha blending, drop shadowing, pretty animations etc. that WindowMaker doesn't do. Not really a surprise to anyone here, I don't think. However - WindowMaker offers in my opinion a more versatile UI. It's based on NextStep, and there are a lot of little contextual menu niceties like being able to right-click anywhere on a titlebar to open up a menu that lets you close/hide/minimize/shade/whatever, right-click on the desktop to open a menu to launch apps, middle-click on the desktop to quickly switch between windows, etc.
On the other hand, Aqua definitely looks better. Fonts in XFree86 are a complete joke. X11 has no support for transparency, and applications are generally ugly and inconsistent. No surprises here, either.
Printing in Linux is a complete joke. I was running CUPS, which actually makes me administer my desktop computer's print spooler from within a web browser. It only took about 24 total hours for me to get a working print subsystem.
Both machines are extremely stable. I've had 90 day uptimes with my PC before, only turning it off to change hardware. I just shut off my TiBook yesterday after an 11-day uptime, and I'm sure it could have gone much longer.
So, let's see, what else is there. I guess to summarize, my Linux PC is a lot more like a server. It handles heavy load much better, it uses less memory, it's much snappier, but at the same time, it's also got five fans and two 7200rpm drives spinning and annoying the hell out of me. The TiBook is obviously a lot sleeker physically, and OS X provides a much more cohesive, consistent, enjoyable, more hassle-free user experience for non-geeks. If you're a Linux user contemplating a switch to OS X, it can certainly be done, but you'll probably want to do some research first.
Let me just add that playing an MP3 on my Linux PC consumes 0.5% (yes, zero point five percent) of my CPU using xmms, while playing the same MP3 on my TiBook using iTunes consumes about 20% of what is supposed to be a superior CPU. I know that, all software being equal, the G4 is superior to the K6, but the heavy, heavy weight of OS X makes the K6 seem to me to be much faster. For further perspective, playing the same MP3 on my 150MHz R4400SC SGI Indigo2 running IRIX 6.2 consumes only 30% of the CPU - 10% more than iTunes on a chip that, SPEC-wise, I'd guess is about 5 times faster than the R4400.
Sorry this is so long. I'm sure I could go on and on, but... if anyone would like to know more, just ask.
Alex
