vista sucks – we all know it.

i recently installed ubuntu on my home computer and am in the process of switching over. ubuntu works relatively well, but not perfect. the gui isn’t that great, and the drivers and restricted drivers are not that easy.

before i did that, though, i got a copy of mac os x and tried to install it, and it didn’t work for me. i got the os installed, but there were problems with drivers and other stuff.

and that is the problem: third-party drivers.

apple keeps things elite. in fact, i think that apple is more abusive of their “monopoly” than microsoft – they lock you in to their software AND their hardware.and the irony is, they could easily win right now if they just opened up driver publishing guides, api’s to plug things into the os, and start doing oem deals. tell me that smaller, efficient hardware manufacturers like averatec couldn’t produce a mac os laptop for cheaper than apple does itself. or tell me that people wouldn’t be willing to pay $50 more for a mac os-based dell laptop.  it can’t be a windows exclusivity thing, since dell is already shipping ubuntu systems.

like i said, i like ubuntu ok so far, but i also consider myself a fairly knowledgeable computer user. and even i find that ubuntu still has a ways to go when it comes to usability. i would have gladly paid $100-$130 for a copy of mac os x that i could install on my hardware. vista just doesn’t work well enough to use.

and ironically, with more and more stuff moving to the cloud, all people really want out of a laptop these days is a stable os and good connectivity options. and vista can’t even deliver that.