same here. I have always made PCs and it goes like this
Macs- you have almost no control over a Mac, files are hiden and without downloading a program and going through a whole buch of configuring you can not see those hiden files, any advanced use in the GUI is pretty much impossible. you can only do advanced things through the terminal which requires you to be really good with BASH
Microsoft Windows- this is pretty much halfway. you have alot of advanced user features in the GUI you have a registry editor, a services editor, an ODBC Data source administrator, local security settings editor, and many more settings that you can access. all those advanced features also have safety nets to make it harder for the user to fuck things up on their own. the problem with this is that programs have access to these tools too and an active X program that wants to fuck up your registry (a virus) will be able to do it without your permission. Vista changes this by leaving the advanced goodies that I love playing around with and implements a better permissions system like Unix which makes a program reveived in an email or hidden on a web page unable to access the more advanced goodies.
Linux: Linux is the simplest and hardest OS. you tell it to do something and it will do it. no safety net. just straight forward. you no warnings, no are you sure you want to do this. it just works.
user: computer make your hd spin faster and faster until it explodes
computer: ok
its also very secure because only the user can do anything they want. a file you downloaded wont autorun you have to run it yourself, a file in your web browser wont have access to any of your machine until you allow it to have access to your machine.
all 3 of these OSes have their advantages and disadvantages.
Macs are for those who want no BS. a background change and a screensaver change is all the customization they need in a computer. things just run the same way games just run on consoles, you have a closed platform an input device and an output device. the company made all the hardware choices for you and you will never need to open the box until you give it to your little brother, cousin or just throw it away.
they are a minority
Windows is for everyone: maybe your the same as the mac user. you get a dell run word,excel, powerpoint, email, web and some games turn on automatic updates in windows and in your spyware, anitvirus and your good to go.
maybe your an average user, you do the basic stuff but you also like to play around with a computer play with the tools, explore, its your computer have fun.
add little programs, to give more functionality, play games, make scripts, edit windows files to change the way it looks, works, and feels. just be careful with more power comes more responsibility (yeah Spiderman)
and finally Linux- this is for the advanced user. google linux desktop and click on images (go ahead ill wait) how many differnt types did you see? I bet you didnt see two identical ones in the first 5 pages. In Linux you can change everything so much so that Linux isnt one OS its a couple hundred OS anyone can make linux (well anyone with programming experience. you can make it look anyway you want, you can do anything you want with it. it can be as small or as big as you want. you make it what you want. how do you connect to the internet? through a router? through a DSL modem? chances are that modem is running linux. your cable box or satellite box on the TV might be running it too. the software inside your printer might be linux too, have a nokia cell phones will soon all be linux based, some motorolla phones are linux based, theirs a version of linux for your ipod, Microwaves, your schools phone system, your dads office phone sytem, credit card machines, your DVD player,The Playstation 3,Soda/candy vending machines, that electronic toy you got all run it. what you can do with Linux is endless but the tough learning curve make it a minority
