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Comment by param | Hacker News Reader

Way too broad a statement. Linux is clearly a future for a large segment of users, same as OSX.

Actually, let me take that back - with the new 'post PC' world coming where only techies will have laptops, Linux has a greater future. OSX will fade because all hipsters will just have iOS devices

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I don't think Apple will leave the desktop/laptop field any time soon. In fact the statements they have been making with regard to OS X Mountain Lion show that they recognize the importance of desktop/laptop form factor. They just want to provide some of the "hipster" features of iOS on the desktop.

You may be underestimating the number of techies liking OS X.

I think the problem is a lot of techies like OS X now, but not the way it's headed.

Lion is enough to make me switch away, and I've been on OS X for a very long time. What's keeping OS X popular now is not its own merits, but that the alternatives are even worse.

I have to agree because I like Snow Leopard better than Lion and have not made the switch yet because of that. However I don't think this is a sign that OS X is endemic. I still have hope that Lion is just an ill planned stop on the OS X progression.

endemic - I do not think it means what you think it means.

Mind if I ask what you don't like? I upgraded a few months ago, and while I had to turn a few annoying bits off, it's overall much better than Snow Leopard.

It's 99% that I hate (and I don't use that lightly) them screwing up Expose (to me this was the OS X killer feature on laptops) and the changes in scrolling. 1% is the unwelcome increase in skeuomorphism.

Generally I don't get on with iOS either, so iOSification is a trend I'm not into. I accept that may not be a popular opinion, but there we are.

You should check out KDE--I think you'd like some of the standard window manager features there. They have some effects reminiscent of Exposé (as well as a bunch of other options). And the current version of KDE is also, overall, the best environment I've ever used (out of Unity, Gnome 2, Windows 95+ and OS X Leopard and Lion).

> screwing up Expose

"Screwing up"? Works much better for me. Have you actually taken some time to play with it?

> the changes in scrolling

You mean the changes you can turn off?

> 1% is the unwelcome increase in skeuomorphism.

To what are you referring, exactly?

And I think you're overestimating that number. As far as I know, about as many programmers use Linux as OS X, and Windows still dominates even among programmers. For example, the recent StackOverflow survey--probably fairly indicative of programmers in general--found that about 20% of the respondents used Linux and OS X with the rest on various versions of Windows[1]. As far as my own experience goes, about as many of my CS friends use Linux as Windows, with a slightly smaller number using OS X. But here, I suspect, there is some serious selection bias.

[1]: https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=2RYrV_2bFw2aZ2RfedWH...

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