A Linux User Writes About Embracing the Mac

by , 4:00 PM EST, January 27th, 2005

ExtremeTech has published the aptly named "A Linux Geek Embraces Mac OS X," a 13 page article by a Linux and Windows user's first dive into the Mac world. The Switcher in question, Jim Lynch, dove in head first with a dual 1.85GHz Power Mac G5, and the story he tells offers a nice glimpse at how a tech-savvy Switcher utterly new to the platform experiences the Mac.

"Bear in mind that I've never really used a Mac," Mr. Lynch said in his article. "Oh I've played with one for a few minutes at an Apple store but that's about it. Other than that, I'm pretty much a blank slate as far as Macs go. So what you will read in this column are the impressions of a guy very much used to Linux and Windows."

Mr. Lynch found the plug-n-play aspects of Mac OS X to be a dream, and the ability to run X11 application natively to be very convenient for someone coming over from the Linux world. In addition, he praised the power of his dual G5 system when it came to playing games, praise one doesn't hear very often.

On the downside, he found some of the slightly different paradigms of the Mac GUI to be frustrating. Issues like one universal menu bar, the lack of a "Start" button, and the lack of a thumbnail browser in the Finder were all things that he expected an OS to have. Reading his thoughts on this offers a lot of insight on what it's like to learn an OS that is new to you.

Despite his initial quibbles, however, Mr. Lynch firmly embraced Mac OS X, and his story is a very interesting read.