I use mostly Windows 10 and iOS 9; and from time to time MacOS Sierra (depending on the job I'm doing).

I use Windows 10 and 8.1 (the latter on my old backup computer). The note-taking apps I turn to most frequently are OneNote, Evernote, and MyInfo -- and occasionally CintaNotes.

Linux, Linux & more Linux...
one Windows laptop, but it will revert back to Linux when I tire of FO4.

For Outlining I'm in a love/hate relationship with Emacs+Org-Mode now.
Was previously with Brilliant Database on Windows, but that ass Win10 kept cockblocking me. Linix very polite in comparison.

Thanks for the stats, Chris - sorry, I don't know why I called you "Steve" earlier, many apologies!

Very interesting cross-section of OSes here. What a lot of Linux users! I haven't played with Linux for some years - it's high time I set up a virtual machine.

My need to do work stuff, which is Microsoft-centric, has kept me focused mostly on Windows. I used to run Linux on my home laptop, too, but I got weary of having to constantly update TWO operating systems. I have a work laptop, a Mac, that I use for travel, and I usually enjoy it. I also have an older iPad that I sometimes use for mindmaps and presentations. But I find myself eyeing the Chromebook as a lighter, cheaper, alternative to both laptop and tablet.

Meanwhile, like a lot of us, I seem to spend more and more time on my Android phone.

So far, a combination of Simplenote and Dynalist mostly does the trick, which are reasonably cross-platform. But I retain a fascination with emacs org-mode.

Windows and Android. Play with Linux sometimes, but it seems there's always some Windows program I always want to be able to run. Have never used an Apple hardware product.

I use

1. Windows -- mostly 10, but also 7 and 8.1 on certain machines, at home and work. It is mostly my work and network that have determined my choice for software (primarily Microsoft Office) and, by extension, OS. That said, we use quite a few online services.

2. Windows Phone 10; I've dumped my Android one and never looked back.

3. Linux Peppermint, a light variation of Mint, on a couple of notebooks; I'd like to use Linux much more, if I could solve point 1.

I've been trying out Macs since the original Macintosh and have always appreciated their classy approach, but if I were to leave Windows it would be for open source solutions, not for another proprietary system.

jaslar wrote:

I also have an older iPad that I sometimes use for mindmaps and
presentations. But I find myself eyeing the Chromebook as a lighter,
cheaper, alternative to both laptop and tablet.

I have an older iPad2 (circa 2011) and picked up a Chromebook in 2014. I find that the CB has replaced using the iPad on many an occasion, and has allowed me to put off buying a replacement iPad. I will eventually buy a new tablet, probably another iPad, but I like having a CB for casual browsing or light use that requires only web-based programs. It has held up quite well, and was dirt cheap.

--Ken

I dip into this forum now and again. I am actually quite astounded there are so many windows users..

I don’t know anybody that uses windows. I thought that went out years ago. Isn’t it all virus infested ransomware.

{snigger}

apb123 wrote:

(...) I am actually quite astounded there are so many windows users..
(...) I thought that went out years ago. Isn't it all virus infested ransomware.

Very funny apb123

apb123 wrote:

I dip into this forum now and again. I am actually quite astounded there
are so many windows users..

I don't know anybody that uses windows. I thought that went out
years ago. Isn't it all virus infested ransomware.

Windows still has nearly 85 per cent desktop market share globally, with OS X under 12 per cent. https://www.statista.com/statistics/218089/global-market-share-of-windows-7/

OS X is pretty good for personal use, but for business use not so much. The problem with OS X is lack of application support in distinct niche markets. E.g., in the law office market, many profession-specific applications are only available on Windows.

On virus infestation, I've been using Windows since Windows 95 and have never had a virus infection. It takes some skill and appropriate utilities for safe computing to avoid malware, but it can be done. But much more secure using a good Linux distro. Since I retired, I've worked nearly exclusively with Linux Mint plus Android.

I've studiously avoided using OS X because I have issues with Apple's proprietary walled garden business model. That and their products are way over-priced; most of what you pay for is the brand name, IMHO.

Best regards,

Paul

I would gently disagree on your view of macOS as better for personal than business use, Paul, given that I run our business on Macs, but entirely agree that there are a whole bunch of niche markets that still rely 100% on Windows. In my own industry, in fact, there are very few Translation Memory Systems (TMS) that run on Mac (although there are a couple); most of the development effort still goes into Windows.

But winds of change are blowing - the most dramatic being the development of seriously impressive (albeit Mac-based) alternatives for Adobe's expensive graphics offerings by independent developers. I think of Affinity (formerly Serif) in particular (their apps are available on Mac and Windows), but also of River and their amazing Sparkle web editor. There has also been an explosion of very nicely designed personal finance managers (although not so much for business finance).

So there are certain niches where Mac development is taking off in a big way; at some point, no doubt somebody will focus on law firms' needs. Of course you could argue that powerful apps like DEVONthink Office already cater very nicely for lawyers' needs, and that firms who want special systems could always build their own with FileMaker (also Mac/Windows) or Ninox (Mac, but runs on Windows via a browser). In practice, many niche industries are moving over to OS-agnostic Cloud solutions in any case. Not a direction I or many other SMEs wish to take, but definitely a focus of serious development effort!

However, I respect your wish to avoid being tied into behemoth-owned platforms, especially in light of recent (and not-so-recent, as it turns out) behaviour by Google...

I’ve studiously avoided using OS X because I have issues with Apple’s proprietary walled garden business model.

I think Microsoft would love to emulate that. Thankfully (for me as an independent software vendor) their latest attempt at creating a Windows app store is so spectacularly inept that it is unlikely to happen any time soon, if ever.

--

Andy Brice
http://www.hyperplan.com

3x Windows 10 (1x Desktop, 1x Notebook, 1x Windows 10 Mobile + 1x Windows Phone 8)

I agree to previous posts about the dominance of MacOS/iOS threads here in OutlinerSoftware. But good to read, that there are still a lot of Windows user here.
Anyway, without the tips in this forum I never would have found some of the information management jewels.

On Windows I use mainly

ConnectedText
Zootsoftware
MindManager
Smartdown II
VUE
Citavi
Word (MS Office in General)
rather OneNote than Evernote (latter for a specific project),
(Occasionally I use additional outliners/information tools)


Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

2. Windows Phone 10; I've dumped my Android one and never looked back.

Wow, I'm impressed. Now I'm feeling no longer alone with my Windows 10 Mobile device :-)

Regards
Armin

Perhaps the forum needs to be split in two so macOS topics would be posted in a section for that, and the Windows folk would have a section limited to Windows topics? The problem for Mac users, IMO, is that there is no forum on the topic of this forum for Mac users -- at least not one I've ever found. I only use Windows for client work (their standard), and Mac otherwise -- and I can understand the apparent frustration with the "dominance" of Mac topics. We do chatter too much :-))

Armin wrote:

I agree to previous posts about the dominance of MacOS/iOS threads here
in OutlinerSoftware.

A Windows v Mac thread - I love it! Feels like 1995 :)

I have 3 Windows laptops. One owned by my employer, the other 2 by me. Every time I consider getting a Mac I just can't believe the ridiculous price difference. I basically do everything either on the web or MS Office so OS really doesn't matter much to me. I refuse to buy single-platform software and the non-web software I do have is all cross-platform.

I'm using a Dell laptop right now that I bought new 8 months ago for $210. It has an SSD which is one key requirement for me since I've had many hard drives fail - probably because I travel constantly and treat laptops pretty roughly. It runs Windows 10 flawlessly. My other key requirement - also because of travel - is light weight. This machine weighs less than 3 lbs. I store everything in the cloud (Tresorit for secure stuff, Dropbox and Gmail for everything else) - another lesson learned after many failed hard drives.

A Mac that weighs this little and has an SSD would have cost me five times as much! I see Macs as luxury items. It's like buying a top of the line Tesla. Sure it's neat and it's got some great features. But only rich people can afford them and even if you're rich it's just vanity to own one if all you do is drive to the supermarket a couple times a week. However, if you commute 60 miles a day *and* you have the money, then a Tesla makes sense. Personally, I can't see spending $1,000 on a laptop. And when I think about what software will be around for a long time and be successful, I also have to imagine that the vast majority of people and businesses will always choose laptops based primarily on price, so if I stick with the economy choice, I will be using the OS that is most likely to capture most of the market.

My other 2 laptops are both Lenovo. Both a little heavier but both have SSDs too. I also have an iPad, 3 Android tablets, and an iPhone. Yeah, a little hypocritical to have an iphone and ipad after what I wrote above. But Android just really cannot compete with iOS yet on so many levels. As soon as it can, I'm getting a $50 LG phone and ditching my $600 luxury phone.

Main software tools:
- Focuster (web-based todo list)
- Scrivener
- Evernote
- Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- Opera/Chrome/Firefox
- Gmail / Google Calendar
- Foxit PDF editor

Oh and I've also been using iCloud notes a lot lately. The security is great and iphone access is superb. Browser interface is so-so. I would use StandardNotes if I could trust the security more (if it was independently verified etc). I'd also use turtl.it if they'd ever finish their iphone client.

dan7000 wrote:

And when I think about what software will be around for a long time and
be successful, I also have to imagine that the vast majority of people
and businesses will always choose laptops based primarily on price, so
if I stick with the economy choice, I will be using the OS that is most
likely to capture most of the market.

Interesting thread and interesting post. Regarding the above, I would just point out that people and businesses will choose laptops not only on a price basis, but also, of course, on a functionality basis. For instance, when choosing between Linux and Windows, functionality and software availability clearly comes into the picture. So I think the question of the computer market is a lot more complex (as is the question of the software market -- there are good reasons that lots of exciting software development is happening for Macs, for instance).

Personally, as a CRIMP-er, I prefer to have access to both Mac and Windows. I like to be able to use Tinderbox and other great Mac software, and I like to be able to use InfoQube and other great Windows software. Plus, as others have pointed out, Microsoft Office is still superior on Windows.

(At one point I also tried to set up a virtual Linux OS just to try some intriguing information management software that was only available for Linux.)

But despite my preference to have access to as much good software as possible, and hence my preference to have access to both Mac and Windows, I would not call myself platform-agnostic. On the contrary, I have a strong preference for Mac OS X. I used to like Windows, but I have never recovered from my irritation with the way Windows decided to force users to interact with system settings via an insultingly dumbed-down, mobile-like interface. Trying to make Windows more mobile-like just made it worse, from my perspective. The "System Preferences" interface on the Mac, on the contary, is a heck of a lot better (as are some other Mac features which I won't go into here).

Right now I only have a Mac machine, so I use Windows only via a virtual OS (using Veertu). This works well enough but slows my system down a bit too much, so I don't use Windows as much as I would otherwise. I've actually been thinking recently of investing in a Windows laptop to have easier access to Windows.

Lucas wrote:

I like to be able to use InfoQube and other great Windows software

:-) :-)

I used to like Windows, but I have never recovered from my irritation with the way Windows decided to force users to interact with system settings via an insultingly dumbed-down, mobile-like interface.

True, but the good-old Control Panel has always been just a Win+X key away... And while I never liked the Windows 8 start screen, it is simple enough to install Classic Shell and get an "improved" Windows 7 machine.
The Windows store is a non-issue as I use only classic desktop apps. I find the stuff in the "store" to be OK for my 14 year old daughter, but for the rest of us...

For me, these two new key features are essential and non-existant on MacOS:

1- Touch screen: Allows for a tablet form-factor (or Surface Pro like). Also allows for running Android on a PC. I love being to use Android apps on a 12in big touch screen, side by side with Windows native ones

2- Active pen: Handwritten input is essential at times. No wonder Apple is going that direction with the iPad Pro tablets
For example, a real gem is Stylus Labs Write, avail on Windows and Android: http://www.styluslabs.com/ nothing less than a handwriting word processor !
I even integrated it within InfoQube, allowing for collaborative ink documents: http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/3457

Just my 2 cents !

Pierre Paul Landry
IQ Designer
http://www.infoqube.biz

MadaboutDana wrote:

I would gently disagree on your view of macOS as better for personal
than business use, Paul, given that I run our business on Macs ...

I agree that OS X can be used for some businesses and apologize for what was a generalization that swept too broadly.

Also, I shouldn't be misunderstood as liking Windows; in my opinion it's a sorry excuse for an operating system. But we've known at least since U.S. v. Microsoft that there's a supporting application barrier to adoption for other operating systems.

I've developed a real affection for programs that run on multiple operating systems, hence one major reason I prefer NoteCase Pro as an outliner. I've begun to extend that logic to multiple-OS programs that embed Lua as their scripting language, since it's feasible in most cases to write Lua scripts such that they will run on any supported OS. E.g., I've written more than 600 scripts that extend NoteCase Pro and all of those scripts will run in NC Pro regardless of the platform NC Pro is running on. So for example, I use Geany as my text editor because it runs on all operating systems NoteCase Pro supports and has a plugin to add Lua support. https://plugins.geany.org/geanylua/geanylua-index.html

I also maintain a web page cataloging programs that embed or are written in Lua, https://sites.google.com/site/marbux/home/where-lua-is-used (it's overdue for updating).

Best regards,

Paul

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

For me, these two new key features are essential and non-existant on
MacOS:

1- Touch screen: Allows for a tablet form-factor (or Surface Pro like).

Indeed, I forgot to mention that I always carry around an 8.9" Windows tablet from Archos along with a foldable keyboard. If I need a Windows PC to get some urgent work done, with most of my regular software, there it is.

It goes without saying that I use it in normal desktop mode, rather than with the 'modern' tile interface.

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

True, but the good-old Control Panel has always been just a Win+X key
away...

Yes, but it's a reduced version of the original Control Panel. Some settings are now only accessible via the mobile-like Settings app.

For me, these two new key features are essential and non-existant on
MacOS:

Good points. Indeed, this discussion is giving me CRIMP cravings... I would really like to have a Surface Pro type device with a touchscreen and stylus... :-)

I use Windows 7 mostly, at work and at home. Looking to get a used Surface and clean install a custom slim Windows 7 on it. Until then I have an ipad which I'm sick of, and a few cheap android tablets which work fine for simple things. I play around in Ubuntu sometimes.

I like Windows apps.

I won't be doing Windows 8 or 10. I'm still running XP on one machine and it still works great; I'm sure I'll be fine with Win 7 for many years to come.