Ubuntu is more guest-friendly than Mac OS X.

[Starks]

Whenever my housemates use my laptop, they're able to jump right in and do what they need to do. Chrome, Firefox, quick and painless printing, etc. Many are even in awe when I show off my terminal-fu.

I can't say the same for whenever someone uses my housemate's Mac Book Pro; an experience that invites frustration and awkward comments about window maximizing, double-clicking and other Mac idiosyncrasies.

[Skara Brae]

Ubuntu with Gnome?

One reason why I like Ubuntu is Gnome. And one reason why I like Gnome is because it resembles OS X. I still have a "first generation" iMac G5 with "Tiger".

At work we have SLED 10 (rumours have it they are going to get us back on Windows... ). Call me silly, but one reason why I don't like KDE (Kubuntu, SLED, OpenSUSE,...) is because it looks like Windows. You know: taskbar at bottom... start menu at bottom left... icons at bottom right... Another reason why I don't like KDE (SLED has KDE 3.5) is because I search almost as much for settings in SLED (KDE) as in Windows Vista...

Isn't it a bit strange that they like Ubuntu/Gnome more than OS X?

[earthpigg]

I firmly believe that GNOME is the most accessible desktop enviornment in existence.

Bonus points for including software needed by the Blind by default.

It's also nice that you can make the default text size however large you wish, for those that have poor eyesight but aren't blind -- I think I recall someone in another thread saying they had to use some crazy hack-workaround to get OS X text larger than 16 point.

The only real reservation I make is that the choice to make certain items appear in System -> Administration or System -> Preferences seems arbitrary.

[Skara Brae]

After 6 years, I am sometimes still looking for a start menu on my iMac.

Back in november 2004, I was SO sick and tired of Windows that I went and bought an iMac (a PC with Windows 2000: connection time-out during e-mail retrievals; cause was "Panda" anti-virus, I later suspected). I had Mandrake on my PC, but there were some difficulties I was too "dumb" for to solve, so Linux was no option for me back then.
(And then, later, I discovered Ubuntu...)

The lack of a (standard) start menu: that is about the only thing that I find hard getting used to in OS X. OS X beats Windows, when it comes to user-friendliness.

Pity that a Mac is so expensive. When my iMac breaks down (*knock on wood*), I will probably not buy a new one, now that I have Ubuntu.

[Roasted]

I hear that. When my Mac was still alive and kicking and people would get on it they would ask how to open an application. Well, open Finder. Where's Finder? Right there. Oh. Then what?

Don't get me wrong. I find OSX user friendly. I also find W7 user friendly. I just think for somebody who hasn't used a computer at all might have an upper hand on certain Linux distros.

[Dragonbite]

My family move fairly easily into Ubuntu and have been able to navigate around. My wife had the hardest time, but that was because she has spent the most time on Windows, is a very visual person ("this doesn't look the same") and didn't have much time or inclination to sit down a fool around with things (still doesn't).

I think just the three menu options (Applications, Places and System) are great at dividing up where you need to go for doing whatever you want.

[Kalimol]

I have two very intelligent Windows-user friends who manage to accidentally activate the Scale plugin every time they pick up my computer. They stare at it bewildered until I click one of the windows for them. It's very much the silliest thing ever. They generally say things like, "I don't know how to work your computer." One actually once asked me how to get to a web browser. (At the time, I was using Cairo-Dock and had Firefox as my main browser. The friend was a Firefox user. There was a 40px Firefox launcher right there.)

I've actually simplified my plugins and desktop over the weekend for guest situations like these. Scale is hidden in a right click (or rather, two-finger tap) at the upper edge, AWN is the only panel, etc.

Edit: Oh, yes, I also had hover set to select windows. It was kind of bewildering, I guess. So Ubuntu can definitely be less guest-friendly than Mac OSX if you try. = )

[handy]

Ubuntu is more everything than OS X!

[Timmer1240]

When I first started experimenting around trying Linux distros I always went for Kde desktop versions then I tried Ubuntu.I have to admit I didnt like it at first because it didnt look similar to windows.But now I get annoyed when using Windows machines and really miss how simple and intuitive gnome is its my desktop of choice now Im glad I tried it!

[aysiu]

Ubuntu with Gnome?

One reason why I like Ubuntu is Gnome. And one reason why I like Gnome is because it resembles OS X. I still have a "first generation" iMac G5 with "Tiger".

In superficial ways, Ubuntu's Gnome may look like OS X, but it does not act like OS X.

Gnome still very much follows the Windows- and KDE-like taskbar, window list, window, Alt menu items model of managing application windows... along with maximize, minimize, and close buttons.

Mac OS X has a universal toolbar and manages windows as visible instances of background application processes (last window closed does not also quit the application, except with System Preferences) with the dock serving as both the application switcher and launcher. The + button does not maximize windows but merely "zooms" them to some arbitrary and not dynamically resized size... except in iTunes, wherein the + button toggles between a mini player and regular window).