Back in Windows 7, Familiar Territory

I think you have to be relevant in the first place to be overrated.  

Really ID? Really?

Yup, he said it alright!

As to the OP, I tried Mint in both Cinnamon and Mate for a couple of months.  It was a while back now, but I do not recall having too many issues with it.... in fact, it was quite user friendly compared to other distros I'd tried previously.  I did, however, end up uninstalling it, though not because of any problems or difficulties, but because I wanted cease dual booting to take advantage of the ultra fast boots with Windows 8.  However, I just recently downloaded another copy each of Mint Cinnamon and Mate, along with Ubuntu and RoboLinux so that I can run them on a dedicated Linux machine I'm almost done preparing.

From a home end user perspective it isn't relevant at all. As I said in another thread, if you feel it is and want to spout your drivel, then by all means I urge you to put up or shut up. Abandon Windows entirely and rely solely on Linux for all your computing needs.

From a commercial and technical perspective it is essential. Take VMWare VSphere for example. In today's IT world if you aren't using VSphere you are simply not leveraging your infrastructure efficiently at all.

That's only 1 item and it plays a major role. There are numerous others out there.

I believe I.D. was referring to market share among OSs when he wrote that, and he's spot on.

I would like to see that pie chart when we talk about server software.

Who cares about server software? I don't know a single person who uses server software.

Sheepherder,

See my reply #4 above. I use the shit out of server software, even at home.

My file server is on VMWare ESXi and I have Windows Server 2003 R2 as my guest OS and that is my file server. Yes, even if I only have one guest server I try to do it in an esxi environment for a number of reasons.

We're talking about regular desktop OS here.  It's never been relevant to the average user, and never will be.

with about 1.5 billion smartphones (and many more to come) and also plenty of devices running a real-time operating system i wouldn't be surprised if there is more hardware running on a Linux-kernel than running on a Windows-kernel. and if that's not the case already it will be in three years maximum.

but it's not really that important. operating systems will become less and less relevant anyways. a lot of software like Google Mail or Office 365 for example runs in the browser, not the os.

I'm not that technically savvy but can either programs mentioned run without an operating system?

I suppose you will say the same thing about OSX since OSX has almost as small numbers of a desktop share as Linux right?

OSX is another one that isn't used as much in a personal environment. It is more heavily used in commercial. It's too darned expensive for most home users.

of course, but it can be any os, as long as there is a half-decent browser.

Actually the OS itself isn't expensive. It's the price Apple charges for the same hardware that you find in Windows computers.

No, I said relevance to users.  OS X is relevant to desktop users.  

This is why lurkers should always have popcorn and a cold drink on hand.  

but as soon as you include all smart devices, MS's market share drops to 20%. (numbers are for the US, worldwide Apple's and MS's shares are likely smaller)

MS is aware of that. that's one reason why they develop software for other platforms and did choose a new ceo that is experienced in cloud services.

smart devices were not even considered in the OP. I believe it was questioning the relevance of Linux on a PC. While server environments fall a bit off that scope they aren't as far out there as a phone.

So where is the price list for just OS X? How are you making this comparison without that?

As for the "same hardware".. Sorry, not 100% accurate. My Macbook Pro Retina is unlike any hardware I've seen. It is sweet, slick and very appealing in all appearances. The processor may be intel and the memory may not be unique and the SSD hard drive may all be common items I suspect that the uniqueness expands from there.

Apple gives away OSX for free. You get OSX when you purchase an Apple computer, but new versions of OSX are free when upgrading. As for hardware, the motherboard is a common motherboard as well, made by Intel. The only thing really special about your Mac is the display.

You are the exception......Buff.    

No it is NOT "free". It is bundled in to the cost of the system. You just don't see the broken out cost. You can't just go out and buy OS X and expect to install it on any PC either. As much as I love my Mac I'm not going to glorify Apple by misinforming others and telling them that the OS is absolutely FREE.

- we should probably take this whole Mac thing out of this thread too. My apologies to the OP for straying too far...