jlg1000 wrote:
Well... MacOS is a dumbed down Linux distro... if you want the real thing, just use Linux.
As Linus Torvalds would tell you, Linux has nothing to do with MacOS... MacOS is based on the Darwin Kernel of BSD UNIX. Linux is a work-alike UNIX knock-off that comes in several very good "flavors."
One does not use MacOS just for the operating system. It is a complete ecosystem that includes Macs, iPads, iPhones, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iTunes, the App Store, iCloud, and so much more. It includes dozens of apps that run on multiple Apple devices, and millions of third party apps, some of which are Mac only, and some of which run on iPads and iPhones. It is a bit of a walled, curated garden, to be sure, but it just works for most of its users, in a way that other operating environments and devices don't. ALL operating systems have their strong points and appropriate uses.
I used both DOS and Windows, then most incarnations of Windows and MacOS, since the mid-1980s, and tried Red Hat Linux in the early 2000s. I prefer the Apple ecosystem that includes iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. It works like I do. I try to choose tools that extend my hands and thoughts, without getting in my way. The Mac and iPhone do that best for me. I had an iPhone ten years ago, but didn't see the point of tablets for what I do. The MacBook Air is close enough.
We are mostly an Apple family. My wife uses an HP laptop at work. She put an Apple logo over the HP logo on it, as a "protest button." She gave up trying to get a Mac at work about ten years ago, but wants to make sure the IT guy knows she resents using a tool that drives her crazy. My twins use both platforms, but the PC is only for gaming. My daughter has an iPhone and an iPad, but she is a bit of a nomad. She used to have a MacBook Pro.