Defection to Linux

It's official. I have changed my home computer's operating system over to Linux. I have had an iMac for the last 6 years. 

It has been a great piece of kit, and has delivered stable performance throughout that time. There is no doubt that when I bought my iMac, it delivered the very best computing experience that was available at that time.

But things change.

The new version of OSX - mountain lion is prohibited from my machine, due to it having too low specification. This was to be expected, as my iMac only just runs Lion well, and has become extremely slow  and more than a little buggy. I decided to check out the new range of Apple computers. Frankly, I was disappointed.

All of their machines in the new range do not have drives on them any more. For machines over a thousand pounds, you should expect them to be bristling with features.

I have watched over the years as OS-X features have become increasingly restrictive. The way iTunes' digital rights management locks you into the apple revenue stream is the clearest example of this. With the advent of the software centre and the removal of the optical CD/DVD drive, they are moving ever closer to dictating to the users what they can and cannot do with their own computers. 

For me, removing the CD/DVD drive from all of their new range of home computers was the last straw. I decided that I wasn't going to cave in to Apple's plan for the designed obsolescence of my machine and the locking of me into their revenue stream.

I first experimented with linux operating systems running on virtual machines (mint, ubuntu, crunchbang, mageia, debian, fedora to name a few). When I found the one I liked, I partitioned my iMac and dual booted into it. The performance is outstanding compared to Lion, and it is rock-stable. I have TOTAL control over my computer, and if I don't like what is on it, I can make any changes I want.

Linux has breathed new life into a computer that I thought I would need to trade in for a newer model. I am back to being happy with my iMac, and I predict that I have extended the useful life of my computer by another 3-5 years.