Apples and oranges. Nice try, but this side-by-side comparison just doesn't work because Apple supports only its own hardware. Calling Ubuntu and OSX unix-based is probably a bit of a stretch because Ubuntu is Debian GNU/Linux based and as we all know "GNU's Not Unix", Apple is BSD-based and BSD is Unix-based so you could say (and Apple loves to say it) that OSX is Unix-based, but that's taking it all the way back to the dark ages of 1970. This is why its become more appropriate to call these operating systems "Unix-like". And what's this baloney about glacial performance on ubuntu with 256 MiB of ram? My Ubuntu PC has 128 MiB of ram and it performs just fine, well alright it is a little sluggish but not bad (no compiz obviously). Also, you forgot to mention the single most important aspect of Ubuntu. It's hard to imagine how you could miss it. Of course I'm talking about the community. With an Apple computer you might feel like you part of some elite community, but with GNU/Linux you actually are. I had a problem with my Evolution mail client the other day so I reported the bug, talked with the developer responsible for that section of problem code, followed the progress of the bug on bugzilla, compiled the application from svn and I was back in business. Where else can you find a community like that? Certainly not in the Apple camp. So yes, the choice is not clear and it does depend on what you need out of your OS, but comparing OSX to Ubuntu, especially when you're talking about device drivers is like comparing two homes built by two contractors. One contractor was allowed to see the blueprints and the other was forced to build it blindfolded. Thankfully there's a big community out there to help you when your house isn't absolutely perfect. »