The 3 worlds of computers: Linux, Mac and Windows

Hello buddies,

Since monday (6 april 2009) I am doing a course about "How to program for the iPhone" at iAi Brasil it is been so cool and I am loving it. The Mac World is really cool and pretty but it does not mean I will change my linux notebook for a mac notebook, but maybe I will buy a iMac or a Mac Book to start developing for iPhone, but do not worry my linux friends I am still a linux user.
I have to admit that a Mac Desktop or a Mac Notebook are very cool and pretty.

Let me tell about the Environment:
I am using a Mac Desktop that big screen called iMac 24-inch
iPhone SDK
xCode 3.0
Interface Builder

First thing let me tell you guys about my experience with Mac during this days.

So, at the first day I even did not know how to turn on a Mac Desktop, i did not know a lot of shortcuts like control + c, control + v, I did not know how to turn off the iMac and other small things that for us are normal things, I was like my wife when I was teaching her how to use Linux, now she loves it and she uses it without any problem.

That experience helped me think about the 3 worlds of computers:
1 - Linux / Unix
2 - Mac
3 - Windows

I would like to maybe give a description about the users of linux, mac and windows.

Linux / Unix
- Usually people who likes Linux or Unix are the geek people they like to code and get to know how things works, the engineering guys, they are normal people but they like to pay the price to know how computers and programs works, after the Ubuntu appeared in the market a lot of Windows users start to became Ubuntu users and step by step they are starting to notices the difference between these two Worlds(Linux and Windows).

Windows
- At my opinion everybody is a Windows user at some moment of life. It does not mean they like it. I never met a person who never uses a Windows or who does not have a Windows computers, usually linux users have dual boot because they need windows to play games, in my case I have dual boot linux/windows and I uses windows to play games, there are some games that I can play at Linux or even play with my PS3 but I have to admit that the Bill Gates Operating system is part of my life. I will love the day when I will live without touching Windows but they are everywhere and It is impossible to not use it. A lot of companies uses Windows as Desktop and Servers so even If you try you will have to use it, because your clients have a lot, your friends have a lot, your university have it, so let me finish saying that The World is Windows, Bill Gates dominated the PC world.
- So everybody are a Windows Users, they usually are people how does not care about the core of the system, they do not care how things works, they want an easy system to use it, they want to be users.
- Usually they know that they are not using the best operating system of the world, usually they do not like the blue screen that happens a lot and particularly in Brazil they are pirate users that mean they do not have a original microsoft license. I lived in Spain and Canada and they buy license of Windows but in Brazil they do not like and sometimes they do not have money to pay a windows license so they install what is called in portuguese "windows pirata". In Brazil you can buy a copy of "windows pirata" at the center of São Paulo in a street called Rua Santa Ifigenia and even in other cities and places of Brazil, it is not difficult to find a copy of "windows pirata".
- As software developer I like to pay for my Windows, so I have a Windows Vista that costed me some "Reais" but that is the price every windows user shoud pay in may opinion, If you do not want to pay change to Linux and be free.
- I do not like to run unillegal softwares on my computers so that is why I love linux because I can do a lot without paying nothing, but even some open source softwares have a version that you have to pay to use it, called professional or enterprise and the free version called community.

Mac
- So it is hard to me to talk about the Mac users because I do not know a lot about it, so I will say as someone who are out of the box, someone who does not belong to this world, someone who rarelly have contact with this world.
- Usually they like images, design, they like pretty thing, they like to spend money with Mac toys and they love Apple.
- They are not poor people because buying a Mac is more expensive that buy a windows or linux computer
- I remember when I first saw a Mac it was on the second floor of America Online Brasil, at that time I was working there and at the second floor we have 4 web designers and they all have a Mac with a huge screen and they love it, they were different that everybody because everybody was using Windows and maybe 2 or 3 using linux the programmers.
- Then my second contact was at Mackenzie and rarelly I will see some friend using a Mac, but I never used it I just saw it a lot of times.
- Now that I am 25 years old, a married guy, 12 years of work experience I can say that I used a Mac Desktop for more than 1 hour, I can say that now I have 8 hours of Mac experience.

So let me tell about my experience with Mac during theses days. I was cool and I like it. There are a lot of things that we have at windows and linux that were copied from Mac and we use it without knowing it is a Mac feature, when you use a Mac you feel good because everything is pretty, even programming for iPhone is different, but it does not mean it is better, I am old school and I like IDEs like Eclipse, Notepad, etc.

Because that iPhone course I am programming in a Mac Environment so it means:

Mac Desktop called iMac 24-inch
iPhone SDK
xCode 3.0
Interface Builder

The bad thing about programming for iPhone is that you can not develop programs without a Mac Environment you can not use Linux or Windows to develop for iPhone, it is illegal by the laws.

So now that I am enyoing doing programs for iPhone and can not do it, If I would like to go pro and start doing some programs for iPhone I will have to buy a Mac and pay 99 dollars to the iPhone Dev Program and then I will be able to put my programs at Apple Store so iPhone users will be able to donwload it.

The iPhone course is helping me to see another world the mac world and helping me learn how to develop programs for iPhone, in my vision a good thing to do will be buy a mac notebook, buy a iPhone and start doing a iPhone Game and when it is done and good pay 99 dollars and put it on iPhone Apple Store, but all will cost me a lot of money and time, but for sure it will be fun.