my thoughts as a professing
Windows? Macintosh? Linux? Which operating system(s) do you use and prefer?
For most people, the answer is one in the same. The operating system they use is the one they are most familiar with, and seems (logically) to be the best choice for everyone. Fortunately, the diversity of life as well as computer operating systems continue to proliferate quite well despite such limiting perspectives.
Personally, I have rather extensive experiences using both Windows-based and Macintosh-based computer systems. I have dabbled a bit with Linux, trying the SUSE and Ubuntu distributions primarily. I have and continue to use a variety of open source software tools, and blog about these fairly frequently.
In order to reasonably compare computer platforms, their ease of use as well as capabilities, I think someone needs to have a good working knowledge of available systems. I do not "know it all" when it comes to platform differences, but I can speak from my own experiences-- and those have consistently shown me how the Macintosh computer platform is easier to use and more empowering in the creation of creative media products, a personal passion and hobby.
I used to tell parents of primary-age elementary students when I taught in the computer lab not to worry about the operating system their children were using now-- because it would not be the same when they graduate from high school. Change is the only constant in educational technology. It pays to help our students become cross-platform computer users and literate with multiple systems. As digital natives, they move between interfaces much more fluidly than most digital immigrants do or even can. As Don Tapscott observed in "Growing Up Digital," students assimilate digital ways of working, while older folks have to accomodate new ways on top of the old.
I am really neither a true digital native or a complete digital immigrant. I grew up with some of this technology, but I learned how to program with it first-- because that is what you did with computers in the early 1980s: You wrote computer programs in BASIC and later in PASCAL. I do not consider myself a computer programmer or "technican," but rather a teacher and educational leader who seeks to powerfully communicate, collaborate, and learn alongside others in our global, networked context.
Give me a technology tool, and I'll likely be able to use it, regardless of the operating system (OS). But give me a choice, and I'll choose a Macintosh every time. Why? I'm not interested in technical details or troubleshooting, except as those things become necessary to complete the task I'm working on. I want to create and communicate, and I've always found Macintosh computers to be the best to use for those purposes.
Are you "set in your ways" when it comes to the operating system you are most comfortable with? Do you defend your choice against all possible replacements? Get over it. Watch a kid work technology. They have little fear, and use a navigational learning style to accomplish their goals. Ask them for help. Try using Linux (I recommend Ubuntu) and the Macintosh OS, if you are currently Windows-centric. Why? Because the future is ever-evolving. Those who sit still are being left behind.
Create. Collaborate. Share the knowledge.
Yes, you can do those things on virtually any modern computer operating system today. But the ease and power with which you can do those things can vary greatly. I want to share powerful ideas, so I seek the most powerful tools I can find. Can you blame me? I'd say this is as natural to me as breathing.
Last updated 6-20-2006
An older version of this page, last updated in February 2005, is also available.
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