Mac/Windows look alikes why?

[Yaffle]

Why do some many people try to make there Linux look like windows/mac ?
I do believe that Linux was created to what you want with it, maybe most of them are new and just miss there old gui?

[tgalati4]

Because you can?

[aysiu]

I do believe that Linux was created to what you want with it Then what's the problem?

I'd give any number of reasons why there are Mac/Windows look-alikes:

1. Some people think that'll make the transition easier for Windows or Mac users (say, if you set it up for your non-tech-savvy relative)... I happen to disagree, but it's a legitimate reason if you buy that kind of logic.

2. Some people do, as you say, miss the look of their old system. Nothing wrong with that. Linux has a lot of appeal over Mac and Windows, and not all of that appeal has to do with the difference in appearance. I, for example, happen to love the Mac Aqua look, but I don't like the Mac OS X interface behavior. Operating systems are much more than looks--they're cost, community, freedom, behavior, flexibility, etc. You can like the look of one operating system but the behavior of another operating system. Why not mix and match?

3. Some people just think it's fun! It's a challenge to see if it's possible to get a perfect Windows Vista clone in Linux or a perfect Mac clone in Linux... just to see if you can do it... or just to see if you can fool people.

Take your pick. Or pick all three.

[Tundro Walker]

Why do some many people try to make there Linux look like windows/mac ?

Because the irony that you can do such on a different OS is like comedic gold to some folks.

[sloggerkhan]

My brother has a mac that he likes to make look like windows so he can laugh at people... I think the same mechanic might be at work here.

[Tundro Walker]

1. Some people think that'll make the transition easier for Windows or Mac users (say, if you set it up for your non-tech-savvy relative)... I happen to disagree, but it's a legitimate reason if you buy that kind of logic.

I disagree, too. I feel it falls into the "give them a fish; teach them to fish" category. Giving them a desktop that looks exactly like what they used before may be comforting, but it's like isolating them from a whole realm of possibility. Instead, teaching them about the desktop, its flexibility, and how to alter it, while trepidatious at first, opens up all new worlds for those users. They start altering their desktop, and get it the way they want, they'll start to realize they're more productive (because it's actually is more productive, or because they like working on their computer now and thus want to work on it longer). Plus, this is spring-board learning; it teaches them to be curious and click on stuff, modify things, etc to get it the way they like it, which a lot of computer use comes down to.

[a12ctic]

Because the mac desktop looks incredibly smooth and polished, and with the added effects of compiz and beryl it just looks gorgous. On top of that, I-Products arent in all of our price ranges.

[starcraft.man]

Hmmm, you know I gotta admit I'm mildly guilty of this (not completely). I installed beryl and the found a nice black theme and tweaked it quite a bit... though I must admit it seems I just have stuck with the vista buttons in top right corner just cuz I haven't found something that looks as nice >.>. I will likely try to just make my own, I find I'm more partial to light/dark blue.

Honestly though, I don't think its a big problem, a GUI/theme/color scheme should be whatever makes you feel comfortable using your OS. Thats the bottom line. :)

[prizrak]

Some just like the look. I have a Vista-ish theme (not the actual name of it) that I think looks nice.

[jcconnor]

I was / am an XP user at work and have a dual boot system at home. I had a buddy that kept crying about "I wanna Mac, I wanna Mac". I got sick of hearing him moan about it and have been telling him to switch to Ubuntu cause it has everything that he could get in a Mac (except for good video editing, let's get real here) and it would cost him exactly zero dollars since he already has a Pentium box. I did it to show him that you can get a machine to look like a Mac without the costs.

John

P.S. It worked too, I'm taking him a Feisty disk tomorrow and we are setting up his Ubuntu system in the afternoon!!!

[Sunflower1970]

I admit to liking the look of a Mac. When I first started out, I decided not to go with KDE because my first impression was it looked too much like Windows. (This was also before I knew how much tweaking and configuring one could do to make a desktop look anyway one wants. I thought, like Windows, I was stuck with whatever configuration I was given) I chose Gnome, because it was different, and had more of a Mac feel. I have most of my computers set up with Mac-like icons, and I like the Mac-windows borders as well. I did install the AWN dock, which I really find handy. But, I'm finding I go through phases. Right now, it may be a Mac-like feel, but later on I may change things around and choose something quite different.

There are so many choices, that at times it feels a bit overwhelming because I want to use each one :)

[goumples]

When I first switch to Ubuntu Linux I went out of my way to make my desktop look unique from anything I'd ever seen before ;-)

[Tundro Walker]

Because the mac desktop looks incredibly smooth and polished, and with the added effects of compiz and beryl it just looks gorgous. On top of that, I-Products arent in all of our price ranges.

That would be another reason...the sheer shock factor when they see you have the "same OS" they have, then suddenly you pan out to the Compiz cube.

"Hey, Bob. I see you're using that new Vista everyone's talking about."

"Yeah. Hang, on, gotta update this..." (Compiz cube's desktop to change screen)

"Holy...! How the...!? What the..?!"

"What?"

"How did you do that?! I've never seen THAT feature!"

"Man, really!? That's an OLD feature. You must not be very good with Windows if you've never used THAT feature before..."

[SunnyRabbiera]

People like familiarization.
Now this really isnt a bad thing, dressing up linux to look a bit like windows is really a matter of choice.
Of course you are going to get those people who say "making linux look like windows is stupid" but for the most part I disagree with this.
There are ways to make linux look to be the best of all worlds, take Linspire (http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=293&slide=38) for example.
Now many dont really like the linspire/ freespire look, I am neutral as I like how it mixes the nice crystaline looks of a mac, but overall it has the toolbar layout of windows.
Of course I personally would not reccomend linspire to anyone, sure its good for beginners but there are some things I dont like about it.
of course then again I will gladly take the looks of linspire as a in between windows and linux anyday as opposed to the utterly horriffic LinuxXP (http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=743&slide=2)

[juxtaposed]

1. Some people think that'll make the transition easier for Windows or Mac users (say, if you set it up for your non-tech-savvy relative)...

It's weird how people think that because it's not the fact that you click on the top left of your screen for programs instead of the lower left that confuses people with linux.

[reclusivemonkey]

I disagree, too. I feel it falls into the "give them a fish; teach them to fish" category. Giving them a desktop that looks exactly like what they used before may be comforting, but it's like isolating them from a whole realm of possibility. Instead, teaching them about the desktop, its flexibility, and how to alter it, while trepidatious at first, opens up all new worlds for those users. They start altering their desktop, and get it the way they want, they'll start to realize they're more productive (because it's actually is more productive, or because they like working on their computer now and thus want to work on it longer). Plus, this is spring-board learning; it teaches them to be curious and click on stuff, modify things, etc to get it the way they like it, which a lot of computer use comes down to.

Erm I'm not sure what you are on about here. The default Ubuntu Desktop looks nothing like Mac or Windows; its completely different; anyone who has changed their desktop to look like MacOS or Windows has already learnt about the flexibility of the desktop and how to alter it.

[schmidtbag]

Erm I'm not sure what you are on about here. The default Ubuntu Desktop looks nothing like Mac or Windows; its completely different; anyone who has changed their desktop to look like MacOS or Windows has already learnt about the flexibility of the desktop and how to alter it.

Actually, I don't use Mac almost ever but I remember the older Mac OSes looked much like how Ubuntu does when you first install it. Of course there are some differences seeing as how there are different features.

In my opinion, the distributors make Linux look similar Windows or Mac so your first thought isn't "oh great what now..." but theres enough differences so you'll be like "hmm what does this do?" or "oh cool I wish I was able to do that before"

[EdThaSlayer]

Maybe people like to do Mac or Vista look a likes because they like to have a GUI like that and probably want to fit in with the rest of the people(especially when you have a laptop, and don't want people to notice you use Linux, havinga Vista or Mac theme works).

[Extreme Coder]

Because I'm bad at creativity/ no COMPLETE theme found yet that I iike(I'm a fan of Plastik/Polyester and Nuvola/NuoveXT looks, they're there on KDE, but not on GNOME :( )

[ticopelp]

I do it just for fun -- almost like an art project, in a way, to see how close I can really come to emulating the experience of another OS.

Also, I find the Mac desktop is just very easy on the eyes and fun to work with, personally. It's an enviroment I enjoy working in.

I did temporarily create a Vista-like desktop, but I found I couldn't live with it for very long. ;)

[twistedbydesign]

I , like many other people, do enjoy how Vista looks. But because of all the BS involved with Vista (i wont go into detail because it's been beaten into the ground) I am very skiddish to actually USE It. That said, if i want that cool look and don't want to deal with the nonsense, I can make my Linux system look like Vista. That way I'd have the Vista Look, and the Linux Freedom. Same goes for Mac or anything else.
That's just my two cents...There are many reasons people would do it.
For the record i don't have a Vista theme...i just meant hypothetically. I am perfectly happy with how Ubuntu looks as it is.

[ZeroXR]

Aysiu's point about making the desktop "familiar" to the non-techie folks is a good point. I helped my friend salvage his family's machine to install Ubuntu on it. His mother was the primary user of the machine, but she didn't like the default Gnome interface. When we loaded up GnomeLook.org and let her pick through designs and she like the Linsta Metacity theme in combination with the NuovoXT. After that, she was a little more comfortable with using Ubuntu.