I'm not trying to start an OS war here, but it seems that some Operating Systems are losing steam, even with the most devout of followers. And no, I'm not talking about someone making the 'switch' from Windows to Mac. Recently, two of the biggest Apple advocates out there have officially announced their abandonment of the popular Apple OS.

The first is Cory Doctorow, sci-fi writer and co-editor for Boing Boing, an apparent Mac addict. The other is Mark Pilgrim, a software developer and writer. Both have made the 'switch' from Mac OSX to, not Windows, but Ubuntu. This Linux distribution has been growing in popularity over past years, as has Linux in general. There are some reasons for their change of digital heart. Pilgrim has said that Apples DRM (Digital Rights Management) and proprietary file format have started to become an ever increasing problem for him. Apparently, Apple has been turning into 'Big Brother' ever since the release of the iPod.

As for Doctorow, he has said that there is no real hardware difference between a Mac Book and say perhaps, a Leveno Thinkpad. The greatest difference is the price. In comparison, there is no real performance difference between Apple and PC hardware. Doctorow had added the Apple software is typically inferior to GPL (GNU Public License) software. And if your wondering what GNU stands for, it means 'GNU's not Unix'. Also, Ubuntu running the GNOME desktop has the flow and feel of the classic Mac OS.

Yes, it seems that no OS is safe from competition. Windows may hold the greatest market share, but Apple is slowly whittling that away. And now, Linux is taking a bite out of Apple. I wonder what Mr. Doctorow will be doing with that Apple tattoo on his arm? Maybe he could add a Penguin to it somewhere.