mac or pc?

AMD drivers are not poor.
It was only around the time Gtx Titan was released when nvidia drivers were bricking cards, including Titan.
Never heard of amd drivers bricking cards....

Verrak would have to provide a more technical explanation, but as I understand it, one of the limits on any Mac right now is we're limited to the 2.1 Open GL context. Requesting a specific OGL context on OS/X is non-trivial. This I believe more than anything is responsible for a lot of performance issues across the board on Mac, which we could solve by simply saying "You must be able to run OGL 3.x or newer" but that would cut out even more Mac users. We have a number of changes coming (unrelated) and requesting newer OGL versions for Mac's that can run it is on the list, but it's going to take a while to get there.

Immediate term, Windows is still easier to customize and tune. Long term, I fully expect our overall Mac perf to at least be at relative parity (when comparing identical machines).

My guess you talking about lack of GL_ARB_compatibility and it's same problem for Linux open source drivers. E.g you can't create context that support deprecated features from OpenGL 2.1 with newer extensions from 3.X as well.

I understand why you can't do that, but it's technically possible to have two versions of code: for newer and and older hardware. But yeah it's will be horribly to support.

Sadly, he is right. Generally, Windows has hard built in caps to their things stemming from its structure of how it uses hardware and what the OS can do taskwise. It builds off of its flawed base, but that only multiplies what it can do, not opens it up. The root of Windows code itself is limited in tasking.

Technically, Unix source has completely opened up what processing can do back in it's source in 1970.

Mac sucked. Mac OS sucked. Most hardware they make suck, especially scaled by cost, except for some really neat conceptual stuff they are making with this trash can shaped system. OS X however, the newest Mac OS, is yet based off BSD and is certified Unix, which is a OS that is a lot more capable of uncapped tasking, and with a giant Apple corporation behind it to develop and support programs and drivers and hardware and such. Unfortunately, this makes it quite valuable. I say unfortunately, I just generally dislike Apple sometimes. They do make good things sometimes though.

Linux is based off Minix which is based off Unix, and only structurally while it actually has many great strives in it's actual design. It's only flaw is it's lack of user friendliness due to no "customer support from a big company" and lack of polishing generally and lack of available software support as well. However, suprisingly, usually the community of Linux that develops Linux drivers as an open source sort of development actually has newer and better drivers for most common hardware, and almost always has the best drivers for the oldest hardware as official support stopped for them 5+ years ago while the Linux community updates them just because they exist.

So thats the hard truth. Windows is fueled by user friendliness and commonness and the corporation that keeps it fueled with the software and support it has, Mac is a more limitless operating system built off an old time-proven and limitless operating system and is funded by a corporation for user friendliness and support as well but is not world popular like windows is and is so different that things that run on windows don't run on mac at all without complete rewrite and vice versa, and Linux is also based off that time proven limitless operating system and is fully customizable as it is open source and people make some things readily available for it that the corporations stopped supporting but there are many things it doesn't have that would require a corporation to support it like technical troubleshooting and all kinds of software capatability. Interesting fact from all this, because OS X and Linux are both ultimately based from the same source although not directly at the same exact points, they are very similar in structure enough so that Linux and Mac things are more capatable than either are with Windows.

So yeah, he is technically right I guess. A la this: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1110329.html

Unfortunately I use AMD GPUs for long time and saying that from my experience.

Might be you can answer on those questions:

1. Why AMD legacy drivers is bugged like hell and they do not fix it?
2. Why their Windows Vista driver have bugs like legacy driver while it's not stated as legacy?
3. Why AMD legacy drivers that built-in in Windows 8/8.1 do not support OpenGL?
   Their "great" installer can't replace them!
4. Why legacy driver installer don't even always work?
   It's usually fail to update old drivers from 2010.
5. Why the there is laptops with hybrid GPUs that remain between legacy and latest mobile driver which only work with some external hacked driver?
   Talking about 41XX+5XXX hybrid.
6. Why "driver verification tool" only work for 1% of laptops?
7. Why there is no WHQL releases of mobile drivers available on their site?
8. Why newer mobile drivers break blacklight on some laptops?
   Laptop manufacturer says "get our latest (from 2009) drivers" and AMD say "sorry go for drivers to laptop manufacturer". Just great!
9. Why CrossFireX / Pro not work for windowed applications?

And this all about their Windows drivers while Linux it's just total peace of .....

I can always replace bricked GPU in customer service while bugged driver are just bugged and AMD don't want to do anything about that.

No one cares about legacy drivers or any thing you mentioned.
Everything for 5000 series and up works fine.
Of course it's all fine when nvidia core drivers don't work.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the bigger and more professional and high end the company, the more likely bad luck seems to occur. AMD aren't up to par powerwise to NVidia, yet Nvidia has the poor luck of releasing a driver that by fluke happens to completely brick cards, and bricking cards via just software is rather difficult to do even intentionally.

Even though they are entirely willing to accept the fluke and apologize for it and offer to replace many many dollars worth of customer cards returned through customer service, it still is used as ammo against them like they are a cruddy company selling overpriced underpowered merchendise.

Let's face it, sometimes even high end companies can accidentally the whole national insurance website. Fluke, but happens. That's just funny luck is all.

Obviously you don't care because you don't have such hardware. There is pretty high chances that AMD drop support of 5XXX and 6XXX in next few years because for them it's fine to drop 4 years old hardware as "legacy".

I'm helping players of PA since June and for Nvidia every graphics card 8XXX or newer work perfectly. And it's doesn't mater if OS Vista or Windows 8 and only real problem was found it's one specific Toshiba laptop that wasn't supported by their driver so player have to install "hacked one".

In same time AMD have tons of small annoying issues that can be easily fixed, but they completely don't care about them.

AMD don't need tons of money to fix most of annoying bugs their driver/installers have. Most of bugs can be fixed by one programmer working for food, but they just don't care.

Nvidia graphics cards obviously overpriced, but in same way as Intel high end hexacore CPUs overpriced. There is no competitors and obviously Intel/Nvidia charge a lot.

I use Linux for everything but gaming or as"target computers" for pen-testing. There are fine image editing programs like gimp or just google to find one that suites you. There is plenty of software for "normal" users like libre office, gwenview, VLC, amarok, xmms, xmms2(if you like terminal like me), all types of Internet browsers etc... Not to mention its networking capability I cant to 1/2 the stuff I do on linux on windows. Maybe on mac because it is unix based. You just have to know the install commands or how to use the graphical front ends. you know (sudo apt-get install whatever) or (sudo yum install whatever) or just rpm or source install (./configure, make, sudo make install).
The only thing I have come across that it can't do for me is 3d modeling programs. You could just use a VM or windows dual boot for that though.

PS: ↓ was made in gimp

I am well aware of Gimp and Gimp sucks. That is why I said there is no "valid" image editing software on linux. As a full time web designer and developer I cannot afford to rely on such weak software.

It's possible to make some stuff in Gimp, but it does not have the power or the poweruser shortcuts that I need.

as a fervent Photoshopper I find your critic harsh, I tried gimp a bunch of times. apart from the supported importing and exporting I didn't find myself that limited, except, of course that the GUI is in so many ways poorer, I did find that Gimp didn't have the problem Photoshop has with locking opened files.
I'll always prefer Photoshop but Gimp isn't bad at all.

but the original point being Linux is under furbished in software I completely agree. PA is the flagship Linux need to turn the tide. People will follow the example and perhaps we can even hope for a Linux Adobe suite, I'd be willing to pay in full for this!

All this talk of versions made me curious. I found "OpenGL Extensions Viewer" free in the app store if anybody else is curious what versions and features you support. (I have 4.1 and GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility but no GL_ARB_compatibility)

It is indeed harsh. Since it's easy for me to spend an entire business week in an image editor, I cannot have anything that is any way lacking. Gimp's poor UI is one of my biggest gripes. Accomplishing tasks with Gimp takes a lot longer and that simply does not do.

Oy. I keep on getting drug back into this OS debate that I've been trying to avoid. lol

OS WARRRS! : D

PA, the game that united them all under one banner! ...more or less.

Gimp for web design? Uhh...

INKSCAPE!!!

What antiglow said.

I don't have too much to add, other than Mint has made linux very accessible to the quasi-average user. It's not a complete windows replacement, but it's CLOSE (for those coming off of XP). Of course it's much more than just a windows replacement, and there's a lot better reasons to switch than desperation, but let's be honest, people don't switch until they have to.

If you're just a little tech-savvy, you'll get along with Mint just fine. Pretty soon you'll be frolicking in the meadow that is linux, and be wondering why you ever paid for windoze.

edit: of course, i'm obviously talking to the average home user. those with professional requirements are obviously in deep enough that they should know what they need and shouldn't be looking for recommendations for OS's on the PA forums.

And keep on getting drug back you will

That is why I said just Google, there is bound to be another image editing software out there that fits your needs like @cdrkf said inkscape. I am a web designer too but I am more on the code and back end of things, I have no need for shiny images or graphics for what I do so I don't know what is needed or not needed in a "valid" image editing software.

I am slowly switching from Ubuntu & Fedora based stuff to CentOS with no GUI for my servers and Slackware for my normal computer, not recommended for "normal" users. lol I used to use #! it was nice but not usable on a day to day basis. I can honestly say I have never used mint. I have heard about it a lot but never had a reason to try, maybe I will get around to it one day...

I do really like the look of the Cinnamon GUI though.

cinnamon is nice, but it's for my mom's computer (literally). KDE is where it's at!

I prefer xfe to be honest... Xububtu ftw! (All the benefits of having conical curate and maintain the repositories without the drawbacks of unity!)