Mac - Linux - Windows

So besides the looks, what's the actual differences between them?
Every school I've been to so far (I'll be in sec 5, grade 11 highschool in a week) uses Mac computers which are easy to use but I absolutely hate the programs, also they crash a lot but that could be caused by the school's server or low virtual memory.
And I am using Windows XP for my home computer which I am typing with right now, but I've never used Linux, or know virtually anything about it. The only thing I hear about it is it has better performance somehow, but how?

I have been using linux on my laptop for ahwile. The main difference is this: Free
On linux I have not payed for a single piece of software.

Windows is a proprietary operating system, developed by Microsoft. Pretty much everything it does is hidden from the user. It is currently the most widely-used desktop operating system, and favours user-friendliness over stability or security, the latter of which it is associated with much in the way snails are associated with speed. Most of the user interface is built on everyone's favourite browser, Internet Explorer. It runs only on x86 processors, although there are ports of older versions. It was originally a single-user operating system, and not designed for networked use. With the introduction of Windows NT, it began to struggle to escape from the limits imposed by that, but is still trying.

Linux is a kernel, the very core of an operating system, based on the UNIX kernel. On top of this the GNU project's software is layered, creating a fully-featured operating system (GNU/Linux). A vast number of distributions exist, created and maintained by different groups. It exposes a lot more of the underlying mechanics to the user who looks, and so can be configured infinitely, resulting in superior performance if the user knows what he/she is doing and is willing to take the time to tweak it. However, this has a tendency to scare off less technically-savvy users, despite the existence of purposefully user-friendly distributions such as Ubuntu. It runs on just about every processor out there, due to its open-source nature. It is the most popular server operating system at the moment.

Mac OS (X, at least) is a proprietary operating system built over the free Darwin BSD kernel. Both portions are owned by Apple. It is famed for user-friendliness and eye-candy. It runs on PPC (PowerPC) processors, and now also on the x86 architecture.

I'm also a Linux user, so my viewpoint is probably somewhat biased. :) Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...dows_and_Linux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...s_and_Mac_OS_X
http://www.theregister.co.uk/securit...dows_vs_linux/

Hold up, what do you mean by free? Does it come with a lot of good programs by default, or do they offer free downloads?

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Originally Posted by tacmig99

Does it come with a lot of good programs by default, or do they offer free downloads?

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Both.

Linux is a lot more modular than Windows. On Windows (and Mac, I believe), installing a program means installing that program and all the libraries and files it needs to run. On Linux, we have programs called package managers that do all the slog-work for us, and make sure that the same library only needs to be installed once for all the programs that need it, saving a lot of time and disk space. All that's necessary to install most programs is to pass the name of the program to the package manager and let it do its thing. For example, if I wanted to install Kanjipad, a program that allows one to draw Chinese characters and attempts to select the correct Unicode character based on that drawing, I would simply execute:

Code:

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# emerge kanjipad

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and my package manager would automatically download and install:

Code:

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jdk-1.5.0
jre-1.5.0
db-4.3.29-r2
libperl-5.8.8-r1
perl-5.8.8-r2
automake-1.9.6-r2
Test-Harness-2.62
perl-cleaner-1.04.3
PodParser-1.34
glib-2.10.3
pango-1.12.3
atk-1.12.2
shared-mime-info-0.18-r1
gtk+-2.8.20-r1
kanjipad-2.0.0

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... plus anything else I might need to run Kanjipad, but only if I didn't already have them. In this example, most of the programs it requires are already installed on a base system, so it wouldn't bother installing them, saving a lot of diskspace compared to the Windows "let's install it anyway" approach.

Installing on OS X is easy. Drag and Drop. Basically a program is one file(well, not really, but their good at pretending they are).On OS X it goes like this search for program,download program, drag to Applications Folder(optional).A great way to do things unfortunately you my have to pay for a lot of stuff.
In Ubuntu Linux(6.06) there is an interesting program called Synaptic. You open this program, search for something, then hit the install button. Everything is free! In fact, the only linux programs I can think of that you have to pay for are VMware,and MySQL(and both of those offer free versions).
I'll windows out of thisbecause you probably know that already.

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In Ubuntu Linux(6.06) there is an interesting program called Synaptic. You open this program, search for something, then hit the install button.

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Ah, yes. The up-and-coming new wave of computer users are scared of the command line, so most package managers also have a graphical front-end. :)

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Everything is free! In fact, the only linux programs I can think of that you have to pay for are VMware,and MySQL(and both of those offer free versions).

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I could name quite a lot more. There tends to be a free (and Free) program for everything, though. The only program I've come across that doesn't have a totally free equivalent is Cedega.

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installing a program means installing that program and all the libraries and files it needs to run.

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So then that means you never have the problem of a program only being able to run on older versions of the operating system right? That could really come in handy for me, I have a few things I can't use even when I try using the Windows Program Compatibility Wizard because of missing .dll's
Damn, now I wanna switch my operating system Linux sounds so much better. I'm still and always will be a Mac hater though, in my computer class I do nothing but post on forums and do all my work on my home PC lol.

I think you missed the most important part of that quote:

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On Windows (and Mac, I believe), installing a program means installing that program and all the libraries and files it needs to run.

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:)

Due to its modular nature, a lot of distributions of Linux don't have formal release versions; you simply stay updated via the package manager and your system gets upgraded piecemeal. Failure to run programs due to missing libraries should never happen -- that's what the package manager is for.