I really cannot grasp what you're talking about. I power up my Ubuntu PC at work (I don't know about your Mac, but mine takes like 3-5 seconds to boot, it is 3 years-old and costed less than 1000$) and start working. Right now I have 2 browsers open with ~10 tabs, 3 IntelliJ IDEA instances running, Thunderbird, Skype, 2-3 console instances, at least one VMWare machine running some Windows version, a PostgreSQL GUI client, a couple of SQLite GUI clients, distributed in 4 virtual desktops and using 2 monitors. Everything is running fine and smoothly. And last but not least, I can fine tune everything and anything to my liking. I don't like menus on the top taskbar? Gone. I don't like the desktop manager? Gone. I don't have to abide to whatever someone thought was better for me, because everyone has unique tastes and preferences. But I'm probably missing your point.

>And last but not least, I can fine tune everything and anything to my liking. I don't like menus on the top taskbar? Gone. I don't like the desktop manager? Gone.

This is what you don't get. Apple users don't want to have to do this, so they buy something that fits their desires right off the bat with OS X or iOS.

Read again: "if I don't like it I can change it". Note: "if" and "can". I highly doubt millions of people using OSX have the exact same opinions and desires and tastes. This is just like Iranian president saying there ain't no gays in Iran, or Kim Jung-Whatever saying all men should cut their hair like his because that's how hair is supposed to be cut. I've tried OSX and there are a lot of things I don't like, but guess what? I can't change it. I have forced myself too many years into submission on Windows but I'm not going to be forced to use something I don't like or doesn't suit my working habits anymore just because some overrated guru said so. I surely can try it for a while to see if it is really better that way but if I still don't like it, I want to be able to change it. And this is what I'm talking about: freedom. Freedom to choose to change it or not. This is what you don't get.

Most of the Ubuntu users I know use the default settings and like them, including me.

For me, Ubuntu just works. Even installing apps is a breeze. And I can keep updating the system (I have done it since 2012) and my stuff still works, so even updating the system is easier.

I do prefer it over the Windows desktop for just about everything.

Does it hold good while updating to new OS on an old Mac book pro. The last 2 OS updates made my mac book very slow. I had to tinker some setting to bring it up some respectable performance. I used to do those on Ubuntu. Now Ubuntu is just install and use mostly. But i couldn't get the touch working properly on Ubuntu else it would have been default OS on mac book pro.

> For me it's cheaper to buy Apple and get the free time.

That is a fallacy - the availability of choice does not imply the need to choose. If you're happy with the defaults on Ubuntu/Debian/Arch/Fedora/RH/etc you can just refrain from customising anything, just like you would on OSX or Windows. If, on the other hand, you feel the need - for whatever reason - to change something you're likely to have an easier time on those Linux distributions that you'd have on OSX or Windows. In the former case the choice is rarely more than an apt-get (or other package manager) invocation away. On OSX and Windows you're likely to have to resort to external suppliers - adding expense, hassle and yet-another-license-to-keep-track-of.