No. It is a UNIX-like operating system. OS X is certified UNIX and actually has a code pedigree to early UNIX.
Why did Mac move to the X86 platform?
PowerPC manufacturers were unable and/or unwilling to provide performance in their chips with low power consumption. Jobs saw the future was in low-power, and saw that Intel's upcoming roadmap ditching the Pentium 4 architecture was low-power.
The highest rated Mac I find is a 2 cpu 6 core each @2.93 ghtz. PC can do better.
One of the problems with Apple is that their updates are further apart, so that near the end of a product cycle it may be lower-performance than the competition. Right now we are at the very end of a Mac Pro product cycle, everyone recommends not to buy. They tend to use the latest processors at the beginning of a new cycle, which will be Jul/Aug.
However, Intel is known to give Apple special consideration on the newest chips, so a newly-released Mac Pro may be be matched by no PC product. The Mac Pro had exclusivity for the newest Xeons a while back. And remember the MacBook Air's processor with the ultra-thin packaging? It was at least six months before any other OEM got one.
the pc I’m on right now started life with an amd athlon 2.o ghtz single core and without anything changed in the os or mobo is a dual core 3.0 ghtz.
I started with a 486/66 and frankenputered it through several processors all the way up to an Athlon 1000. The only original thing left was the case, and I eventually dumped that, leaving the PS/2 keyboard. Then I got an Athlon 1333 for my wife, eventually upgraded it through an X64 with a new mobo and GPU. Then I decided my time was better spent doing other things.
Horses for courses.
“No. It is a UNIX-like operating system.”
Unix based, immeasurably more “open source” and just as secure as Mac OSX.
“One of the problems with Apple is that their updates are further apart,” ... “everyone recommends not to buy.”
Thanks for agreeing with one of my points.
“However, Intel is known to give Apple special consideration on the newest chips,”
Another can of worms I’m sure but I prefer AMD for the same reasons I don’t prefer Macs.
“I started with a 486/66 and frankenputered it through several processors all the way up to an Athlon 1000.”
I only changed the cpu and fan. If we start looking at case, mobo, etc. it went from a celeron 1.5 I think. I used an old Compaq case and put the kids PC in a new fancy one to confuse a theif. (Really.)
I do respect anyone that prefers a Mac for a real reason. You appear to be one. To be honest our conversation has left me thinking I should be a little more tactful in my posting. I also have found some new info on osx by your comments and researching them. You have made me a better person in a small way and thanks. The day Apple says its ok for PC users to put it on the PC I’ll try it for sure. Its like green eggs and ham I suppose.