Why should Linux be compared as "pre-installed"?
Even a plain user can install OS X himself. And then upgrade it himself.
Also, what happens to the pre-installed Linux after 2 years? When the user needs to do some multimedia work? Does it play Netflix fine? Does Flash works ok in major browsers? What happens when he installs some new gizmo which doesn't have a Linux driver?
Does Flash works ok in major browsers?
Curious argument, given that Apple is trying to kill flash.
What happens when he installs some new gizmo which doesn't have a Linux driver?
The same thing that happens when that new gizmo doesn't have an OSX driver.
Nothing curious about it. I'd like to see Flash killed myself. But when I need it, I need it, and on OS X or Windows I can install and use it in all major browsers, officially supported by Adobe. On Linux they have called it quites.
>The same thing that happens when that new gizmo doesn't have an OSX driver.
Only the second case happens far less often, whereas the first is the norm, especially for any multimedia etc work.
You mustn't have used linux in quite some time. It is not 'the norm' for things to have no linux drivers these days, unless you're using bleeding edge hardware. Yes, you'll run into more driver issues if you're using a philosophically-restricted version of linux like Debian, but for the most part, stuff just works these days.
especially for any multimedia etc work
Tell me, how well does OSX do with the latest nvidia and AMD graphics cards? Linux does a decent job of them, though the bleeding edge ones usually suck (especially on AMD, though there are proprietary drivers). If they're not latest-gen, then they definitely work fine. Linux supports a much wider variety of 'multimedia' gizmos than OSX does.
I mean, nvidia offers drivers for Solaris for download and yet not any for OSX.
Or were you just picking and choosing to make OSX sound better? If we're talking about stuff people like to use, then GPUs are far more popular than ADC cards (of which there's plenty of linux support anyway).
And struggle with drivers, too. I bet, OS X still uses them, not magic pixie dust, to work with hardware. So, if you use hardware except for pre-configured one (i.e. one having drivers pre-bundled with OS), you have to figure out what drivers are and where to get them (if they exist).
It uses a magic pixie dust system called "GUI installer". Click, next, done.
It's not the figuring out "where to get them" that's the hard part -- even my dad knows how to Google for them. It's the installation ease, vs half-finished instructions about "make" and "tar.gz" and configuring.
A popup appears, you click it, a GUI installer lets you install them with a couple of clicks more.
Here's a nice picture for you: https://lh3.ggpht.com/_afk-Egip2qY/TAPrR7PwjKI/AAAAAAAADI8/3...
Flash and Netflix have always worked ok for me, but YMMV I guess.
You will have a smaller selection of software, but that is more a function of marketshare than the OS being open source.
For some weird reason Apple made it utterly difficult to be able to make a clean install.
Huh? I've made several clean installs. What's difficult about them?
The only "difficult" part is to copy the DMG to your USB or DVD media. Even that is like 3 steps you have to follow.
Apart from that it's exactly the same procedure as upgrading. Next, next, some preferences, done.
(and no, the netflix-desktop hack doesn't count, because it plays choppy, and doesn't work in a window)