In initial out of the box usability by people who go in knowing functionally nothing about it, absolutely. The general test used for this stuff these days is connecting to the internet, right out of the box you can get an XP machine on the net in 10 or 15 minutes, Linux isn't there yet (not talking about how long it takes somebody who knows what they're doing before hand, we're talking about the green newbie) by a long shot, Apple's been there for a long time. Apple has been geared towards the complete newbie for a while, they were the first guys to color and shape code plugs (as far back as 93 at least the only way you could plug something into the wrong outlet on a Mac was with a hammer), they were the first guys to pretty much throw the final stage of configuration at the user in easy to understand wizards. Not that I'm a Machead (actually I don't really like them, still scarred from System 7) but really anybody who generally knows their way around computer logic can figure out Macs to the point of being a power user in minutes, they are really easy to learn.
First, My linux distro usually is on the net as I install it--with no input from me.
Second, how do you define "power user?" Someone who can push the right buttons? Or someone who actually knows what's going on and knows why he's doing what he's doing?
I understand why you say what you say--I jsut happen to disagree. I was coming from the point of a user who, once he's learned the ins and outs of his system, can perform necessary tasks far easier than his countepart in Windows.
As a really simple example, take this arbitrary exercise: You want to move five lines (paragraphs) from the middle of a text document to the end.
In MS Word; MS WordPad; or MS Notepad; all "user-friendly" Windows text editors, the quickest way to do this is:
- Ctrl-Shift-Down
- Ctrl-Shift-Down
- Ctrl-Shift-Down
- Ctrl-Shift-Down
- Ctrl-Shift-Down
- Ctrl-X
- Ctrl-End
- Ctrl-V
(That's assuming you use the keyboard. Otherwise, you need some Click-and-Drag mouse operations and a reliable autoscroll.)
In vi, however, it is:
- d5d
- Shift-g
- p
Now, understanding that learning the software (learning curve) is harder, the task itself is easier for someone who has learned the software. With vi it is only 3 steps. Under Windows text editors, it is 8 steps. 3 steps is generally easier than 8 steps.
I recently installed Mandriva 10.2. All I needed to do to get on the net was click on the little globe icon on the bottom of my screen. Firefox came up, ready to go wherever I wanted to.
What are you doing with the other 14 minutes and 50 seconds?