FreeBSD vs. macOS

FreeBSD is an excellent choice to continue using older hardware and have it perform, it is a great choice for a UNIX based development environment. Although I haven't used it as a server, it is most suited for this - it would make an excellent, secure and robust server for and I would love to start using it for this as well.

Incentivized

Anyone with an iPhone or iPad would benefit from having a macOS-based computer. Additionally, the learning curve for a new user is much less steep than for a Windows computer. Apple has updated its OS for 20+ years, however, still maintains the same basic functionality (turn on/off, open/close apps, etc), the same cannot be said for Windows (Windows Vista, 8, 8.1, 11).

Incentivized

• Performs really well, even on older hardware
• Secure
• Robust
• Package manager (pkg) is excellent
• Large collection of ported software from Linux
• Documentation is excellent (FreeBSD Handbook)

Incentivized

• Integrates with other apple devices seamlessly
• Information passed between those devices is encrypted end to end (understanding that apple has the keys in some cases)
• Compact design
• Aesthetically pleasing

Incentivized

• Installation can be tricky for first timers
• You need to be comfortable using a command line terminal most of the time

Incentivized

• Integration within a windows environment does require more work.
• Does not play well with PCL based network printers that do not also support PS.
• Dongles for everything

Incentivized

FreeBSD was the only operating system out of many I tried to install easily on older hardware and to run in a very performant way. For example, I had a lot of trouble trying to get Ubuntu to install on older hardware and when it did, it was too slow to use. FreeBSD installed quite easily and even after installing a desktop such as XFCE - it still run surprisingly fast. I was very impressed with it's performance, which it seems is a goal of the FreeBSD project.

Incentivized

• As FreeBSD is free - the ROI is at least the cost of some commercial Linux or Windows based OS (which can be very expensive)
• Allowed the re-use of older hardware that would have otherwise been disposed
• No cost development environment
• Opportunity for a no cost server setup also

Incentivized

• Apple supports their hardware longer than most manufacturers, which is good.
• Apple's hardware is more expensive than similar equipment competition, which is bad but offset somewhat by its longevity.
• Apple in an Apple world works great.
• Apple in a Windows world has some work to do to get things talking.

Incentivized