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Switching from macOS: The Basics

blog.elementary.io

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Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#501

Post by vamur »

kybernetyk wrote: post #33

So I went to their main page to download an ISO to give it a try in a VM. They hid the download button really well: You have to type in "0" into the "how much you'd like to pay" field for the "Purchase" button to change to "Download". I mean I understand that open source projects need funding. But if you want people to try your niche OS at least make it obvious how to download it. Ask for money later after people had…

I don't think this is a trick - especially as it states "Pay What You Want". They need money to develop the OS and apps. And asking later will result in more hate.

They should include more videos and screenshots so people have a better idea of what they are buying.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#502

Post by cooper12 »

javajosh wrote: post #432
falcolas wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, that functionality has a tendency to break after being used a few times in OSX. Specifically, dragging images from your browser to the finder works the first few times, providing an overlay image which becomes a file icon as you hover over the finder window. A few transfers later, the file icon stops appearing. Then the semi-transparent image stops appearing; though the files are still being copied. Then, silentl…

I've gotten in the habit of screenshotting. With one hot key (cmd shift 4) I pick a region and a file is placed on my desktop. This turns out to be far more useful in more circumstances for me. (The only image dragging I do is within chrome to send someone an image through hangouts.)

Just FYI, screenshotting is taking a limited-resolution, imperfectly cropped PNG from what is usually a compressed JPG. You just need to get into the habit of right clicking and "save as" and the resulting image with have perfect fidelity with the original.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#503

Post by chadgeidel »

amirmansour wrote: post #491
tomtheelder wrote: post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get laptops with extremely good hardware at a better price than the MBP. For example, Dell's XPS series is the best example. Fantastic screen, fantastic trackpad, good build quality, and equivalent specs despite being a model year behind. In terms of hardware, the MBP is pretty bad value. The OSes are miles behind though.

I feel the need to respond here because in every thread about MBPs people mention the Dell XPS line as an alternative, and after buying one I can NOT recommend it as a good buy. The Dell XPS laptops have got one thing going for them: relatively good build quality. They don't feel or look cheap, which already puts it ahead of most PCs in the market. Just walk into your local Best Buy and see the junk they are selling…

It boggles the mind that no "PC" manufacturer has done what Apple has done with hardware design and integration. Apple has been hitting it out of the park for at least 4-6 years, plenty of time for some other company to do it themselves. Even Microsoft is struggling (although the "Surface" products are really good)

The only thing I can think is that it's really difficult and expensive to iron out all those little hardware bugs.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#504

Post by snowwindwaves »

mirkules wrote: post #485
claudius wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a generic feature of X available in all desktop environments (essentially there’s two copy-paste mechanism which you can use independently). Much easier to use than manual C-c C-v, especially if you have a third mouse button also on your laptop.

And this is the problem. There is zero thought being given to different usage scenarios, and when it is, it's a chaotic solution that works some of the time. How do you middle-click-paste if you are on a trackpad with only two buttons, for example? I'm only picking on this to illustrate the point: things are hacked together at almost every level for a workstation. This is why "The Year of the Linux Desktop" never hap…

I know for sure that in CDE with SunOS and HP-UX middle click was for paste. I think also on SGI with Irix, but that is going back to 1994 when I was a young teen so I don't remember exactly. Middle click to paste also worked on some linuxes, which is why it was important to get a 3 button mouse even though the middle button did nothing on windows. I want to say that "middle click to paste" is and old unix convention, but I only have the 2.5 examples.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#505

Post by Grishnakh »

equalarrow wrote: post #339
Grishnakh wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'd happily pay $100/y (year being, new versions/etc) for a stable and awesome UI/UX. Good luck with that. The problem is that no one will make a UI/UX that's both awesome and stable. It's not like the resources aren't there: there's a ton of DEs for Linux, and they've been working on them for 20 years now. But the problem is they can't ever agree on anything, and they can't ever just leave well enough alone: every…

Totally agree with this. Except, I've never liked the KDE look and feel. It's like the worst glossy cartoon ui ever. Yuk. To be fair, I haven't looked at it recently, so the gloss might have been toned down or removed. But to your point of bug fixing, I absolutely agree. macOS is plagued by this as well, but mot to the degree Linux DE's are. I've used multiple desktops since the 90's and loved it. macOS has had suppo…

KDE's changed its look, but more importantly, it's not set in stone: it's entirely possible to change its settings and theme. It's the most configurable DE out there.

I really wonder sometimes why distros don't use it more, and make their own custom themes for it, instead of just leaving it at the default. It wouldn't take that much work to make themes to make it look almost like anything you want. Or you could even make a different version of Plasma which emulates some other OS/DE if you needed to, leaving all the underpinnings intact.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#506

Post by santaclaus »

marrs wrote: post #206
coldtea wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> value functionality over aesthetics. Not much in that department, either. Nothing that beats the proprietary software staples, especially for creatives, that I happen to use: no Cubase, Pro Tools, Photoshop, Premiere, etc. Lots of apps ranging from "close but no cigar" to "why even try?".

If you're a developer, almost all the killer apps support Linux first. But you're right that this is the deal breaker

LLVM and vim work amazingly well on OS X.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#507

Post by matzipan »

philbot1008 wrote: post #483
matzipan wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

elementary should automatically handle your hidpi quite well.

source?

I'm part of the community. I have seen alot of work being put into making hidpi work properly. I can't find any changelog mentions though :(

Here's a community post: https://www.reddit.com/r/elementaryos/comments/53gkr1/elemen...

And some hidpi icon work: http://blog.elementary.io/post/124193007916/whats-up-with-hi...

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#508

Post by cooper12 »

buckbova wrote: post #382

I currently use xfce[1] with docky[2] and it feels pretty good. Probably not as polished but I know it's stable. There were other distros in the past trying to copy macOS, pear os[3] was one of them. I remember Lindows[4] trying to market itself as a windows replacement. I can't believe they got sued and actually lost[5]! Xandros[6] was also in this space. They probably went BK. Every year is the year of Linux for th…

Wait from the article on Windows, it actually claims the opposite, saying that the court rejected Microsoft's claims and that it later settled with Lindows, paying for their trademark.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#509

Post by santaclaus »

hayleox wrote: post #309
Void_ wrote: post #39

I'm really hoping this is just a phase. Hoping that Apple will reduce prices of new laptops and we'll be back to normal. Right now everybody is using Macs. Walk into the Bay Area coffee shop, you see Macs everywhere. I love that. I build desktop software for Macs (focuslist.co). My apps are prettier than any others. They are easier and faster to use. This is the reason why people pay me $5 while they can get the job…

I don't really see any issue with Electron apps -- Slack and Atom, both Electron-based, are some really good looking apps that really get the job done. For me, even as a Mac user, I avoid Mac-only apps as much as I possibly can because I want the freedom to switch platforms in the future. I will happily have all my apps be slightly less pretty if it means they work on any OS.

I wish Electron apps would load faster. Pulling up a new window in VS Code is a 10 second endevour.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#510

Post by santaclaus »

kalleboo wrote: post #343
muyuu wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the USA it's 13.5%, and I'm willing to bet that in urban US areas it's even much higher. Here in London (UK) it has to be at least 20%-30%. But yeah, not everyone's using Macs. It's the biggest vendor, but there are more non-Macs than Macs.

Another distinction to make is business vs private users. Unless something has changed recently, Macs are basically unheard of in offices (aside from maybe the receptionist), so if 50% of the market is businesses where there's 0% market share, "how many people use a Mac at the coffee shop" will overstate their overall market share by 50%.

Everyone at our company who isn't a developer is on a Mac...
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