I simply did not know most of the applications you listed, but I assumed that the true Apple feeling comes from software provided by Apple itself.
I don't deny that they do some things right, or at least set interesting trends. I am still amazed at how bad other companies are at copying apple's style (it does not seem that hard, but the clones are always horrible).
Anyway, I can only speak for Ubuntu, and I think they are really making giant steps towards usability. I am very happy with what is available on Ubuntu - it beats the usability of Windows in many ways, and personally I prefer Windows usability over OS X... One major gripe I have with OS X style is that it requires you to know so many things (like keyboard combinations). Windows and Ubuntu almost always let you find a way with the right mouse button. With OS X I often had to google to find out how to do trivial things (like cut+paste, file renaming, etc).
The latest Mac Book Air is a good example: the gestures on the mousepad might be a nifty feature, but they are something you have to learn somehow. There is nothing about the mousepad that suggests those features to you. Chances are, I personally would never learn them, just as I never learned to write the special letters on my Palm Pilot back in the day. But an OS X super-geek will be able to do wonders with them, perhaps, at least impress some girls at Starbucks.
You could be right that the true secret of Apple is the willingness of users to pay for stuff, hence more pretty shareware for Macs. Interesting!
I don't deny that they do some things right, or at least set interesting trends. I am still amazed at how bad other companies are at copying apple's style (it does not seem that hard, but the clones are always horrible).
Anyway, I can only speak for Ubuntu, and I think they are really making giant steps towards usability. I am very happy with what is available on Ubuntu - it beats the usability of Windows in many ways, and personally I prefer Windows usability over OS X... One major gripe I have with OS X style is that it requires you to know so many things (like keyboard combinations). Windows and Ubuntu almost always let you find a way with the right mouse button. With OS X I often had to google to find out how to do trivial things (like cut+paste, file renaming, etc).
The latest Mac Book Air is a good example: the gestures on the mousepad might be a nifty feature, but they are something you have to learn somehow. There is nothing about the mousepad that suggests those features to you. Chances are, I personally would never learn them, just as I never learned to write the special letters on my Palm Pilot back in the day. But an OS X super-geek will be able to do wonders with them, perhaps, at least impress some girls at Starbucks.
You could be right that the true secret of Apple is the willingness of users to pay for stuff, hence more pretty shareware for Macs. Interesting!