Why I prefer programming on Linux

[m0skit0]

Why its is hard to develop Applications for Mac than on Windows?

For a Windows programmer, Mac is harder. For a Mac programmer, Windows is harder... and so on. Anyway, usually Windows developers find it hard to develop on anything else that's not Windows. This is not due to the fact that programming for Mac/Linux is hard. It is due to the fact that Microsoft likes to do things in a non-standard way, while other OSs do it in a (somehow) standard way. This is why I don't recommend learning programming on Windows. This said, I know a lot of people (myself included) that learned on Windows but can also develop for other OS. I think this is due to learning how a computer generally speaking works, and being able to apply this knowledge to a specific system with its own standards (tl;dr: knowing what's universal and what's particular).

Android is Linux based right? Looking at the growth, do u think Android OS can replace Windows?

Android is an OS for mobile devices. I have an HTC Android-based phone, and I definitely would not like to use Android instead of any decent Linux distro, and even Windows.

But programming on a Mac and for a Mac is a nightmare for VS users.

As I said above: that's because you're a VS user. It's not easy for anyone to learn new developing tools. I personally try not to use platform-specific applications so the passage from one system to another won't be a pain in the ass (eg I use Eclipse, GCC and other free multiplatform tools).

[nisarg_kolhe]

I agree that over all Linux is faster and a better OS, but donno why most of the distros on my Desktop lags as hell, so I have to use Windows there, and my laptop is blessed with Ubuntu!

[waratte]

You probably have an old desktop then...

[m0skit0]

Stick to the topic, thank you

[Xian Nox]

*adds reason* Code that compiles and runs perfectly on Linux compiles and doesn't work on Windows, and there's no apparent reason for that on top. *goes bug hunting* Even slow, I'd prefer it working.

[Howto]

so what you guys saying is that linux can compile code faster than windows? why do you think of that?
lets say i have an alienware desktop with windows 7 and a laptop with ubuntu installed. which one will compile the code first and why?

[Xian Nox]

so what you guys saying is that linux can compile code faster than windows? why do you think of that?
lets say i have an alienware desktop with windows 7 and a laptop with ubuntu installed. which one will compile the code first and why?

If you install both operating systems on the same desktop, it won't matter if it's Alienware or not. Afaik, only the CPU is used during compiling, so no need to get something like that.
Here's a quote on why:

Linux is indeed very fast with file I/O compared to Windows. Also gcc for Windows is noticably slower when compiling than the Linux version. Visual Studio is in the middle speedwise.

Also, I have compiled exactly the same code on Linux (openSuSE 11.4 64-bit) and on Windows (7 64-bit), both installed on the same computer (dualboot), and Windows needed considerably more time.