Selecting the best platform for most people comes down to a couple of very important factors: Will it work out of the box (peripherals) and does the software offered meet with your needs? More often than not, this has been what makes people so reluctant to change, or even upgrade to an new release of a specific OS for that matter.

So as I read this article on comparing the typical Windows PC with an Apple machine running OS X, I have to question the qualifications of many of the talking heads we see out there spouting off their thoughts regarding one platform versus another. It’s simply so entertaining how we still are living in a two platform world. I suppose much of this mentality stems from the aftermath of of Microsoft’s long since forgotten OS/2 developed by Microsoft and IBM, later on supported largely by IBM and BeOS, created for the BeBox hardware.

Because of the disappearance of the previously mentioned two operating systems, Windows and Apple’s OS’ (OS X, 9, etc), Microsoft and Apple have long since been branded into our minds as the “only options available”. And frankly, this is utter nonsense. I cannot take it any more.

While I am the first to admit that the various Linux distros are not right for everyone, I think it is absurd, moronic and self-induced hogwash to believe that today’s modern Linux disros are not perfectly suited to today’s technology power user as something worth a real evaluation. Now to be grounded here, there are a number of things about all three operating systems that bug me to no end. Vista’s amazing amazing bloat, OS X’s need to use their own hardware and Linux distros’ that are still struggling with consistent wireless chipset support.

And while I am a total Linux nut, I do not share my excitement for it for the same reasons as the zealots do. i love it for the the included software, lack of any sort of defragmenting (in the background or otherwise) and of course, the cost – free. But there is one other reason that it has proven to be a good match for me and not others. It is the sheer amount of time I have invested in learning about it before passing blind, half-hearted judgments.

So you have tried the top newbie friendly Linux distros and they are not for you, fantastic, I am thrilled you tried them before passing wild assumptions. But to see publications such as like Computer World continue to pretend like we are still living in a dual platform world is as stupid as the marketing hype that pushes the same point of view. I don’t care if someone uses a specific OS or not, but for cripes sakes, do not pretend like something doesn’t exist because it is not for you. This is small minded and frankly, proving the continued bias with so many of the “tech” publications out there. Love it or hate it, but for goodness sakes, at least acknowledge it.

[tags]software, computer world, mac, linux, windows[/tags]