VS.
Posted on 09/15/2005 7:04:44 PM PDT by Swordmaker
VS.
This site attempts to bring some objectivity to the OS wars by comparing over 100 topics relating to Mac OS X (10.4) and Windows XP (Home and Pro).
. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at xvsxp.com ...
0 - not natively supported, solutions may be purchasable
1 - not natively supported, but freeware/open source solutions are available
2 - exceptionally poor support
3 - poor support
4 - below average support
5 - average/acceptable support
6 - slightly above average support
7 - good support
8 - very good support
9 - exceptionally good support
10 - Perfection - improvement is not possible
This scoring method sucks!
You're right, it does suck. The scores aren't weighted (web server vulnerabilities have the same weight as icons), and the scores don't take into account the fact that different people with different computing objectives will care more about different topics (One ambitious reader has created a weighted scores calculator). So unweighted scores is by no means meant as a definitive conclusion, but rather as a starting point for thoughtful discussion. So on to the final scores...
Unweighted Totals:
(out of a possible 1140 points, with 1 topic w/unfinished scores)
OS X: 800
Windows XP Pro: 691
Window XP Home: 665
Well, here is one person's evaluation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of Apple Macintosh OSX and Windows XP Pro. I have some disagreements with some of his assessments (some of them, like the lack of a slide show display from Fnder in OSX are factually wrong) but he does explain his reasons for his determiniations quite well, comparing and contrasting over 100 features of both Operating Systems.
Note: This comparison ignores the relative speed, price, and quality of the hardware, focusing entirely on the Operating System and user Interface not involving hardware.
I am absolutly certain that everyone will agree with this assessment and award OSX the kudos it certainly deserves...
Barring that fantasy, let the competing sides enter the ring and have at it!
Is there any rational reason I should want to own an Apple computer?
Perhaps, perhaps not...
I suggest you read the website and the comparisons...
Linux: 902
OS X: 800
Windows XP Pro: 691
Window XP Home: 665
Hey Im an OSS kinda guy. I am RHCE, and MCSE certified and I can tell you the best desktop OS bar none is OSX. Linux on my servers, OSX on my desktop..
Some of those are just weird - "handling the capslock key"? And some of them have virtually nothing to do with the OS, like the dialog box score - I can create a dialog box, even in OS X, that has sixty buttons, three paragraphs of text, and forty checkboxes, half of which are labeled in Chinese. Is that Apple's fault? Is the OS really to blame for that? Of course not - that's poor UI design on the part of some third-party developer, and no OS has a monopoly on crappy programmers.
OS wars are pathetic...it's already been won by market share. If you want to talk hardware performance, I'm in. But hardware performance is not something you seem to want to talk about. You guys end up switching to talking about OS's, or politics, or about anything but hardware performance. I'll say it again... computing performance starts with hardware, not your OS. If Jobs would come out with a version of OSX that anyone could buy without having to buy his premade box, I'd check it out. I have plenty of drives around. I'm not that militant about which OS I use, I just appreciate using the best hardware that I can get my hands on to build my boxes. Thanks for the friendly ping.
Linux 902...
You makin' that up?
Depends. The Mac mini can be a nice tiny Linux machine, for example. But yeah, if you enjoy building your own boxes and being able to completely customize them, then you're not really the target audience for a Mac.
Very true, but Apple has had pretty strict UI development guidelines for a long time, and most Mac apps follow them -- it's expected. A crazy dialog like you said might be accepted in the Windows world, but not in the Mac world.
Admit it - you were nervous the first time you dragged a floppy to the trash, weren't you? That was a wonderfully intuitive UI touch, wasn't it? ;)
OK... Now tell us what areas you feel Linux excelled in.
So can I... but both have built in dialog boxes and that is what is being discussed if you read the explanations.
Address OS X taking better advantage of the existing power of the video card.
I just appreciate using the best hardware that I can get my hands on to build my boxes.
Hmmm, best hardware or just the fastest? First, if you currently use Intel chips, you can stop the "fastest" thing, because AMD rules. The PPC970 is extremely fast, but only in certain applications.
As for the rest of the hardware, the case is truly the most impressive. No other OEM makes them like that. Liquid cooled processors, four discrete thermal zones, 21 sensors, several variable speed fans. The thing runs extremely quiet for the amount of power that's in it.
And then go the other direction for people who don't want speed, and get an energy-sipping, ultra-quiet Mac mini.
I'm afraid that that kind of interface escapes my intuition, even after I've been told what it does.
In particular, I would not ever erase a floppy disk. I find the the head alignment varies so much from one drive to another that floppies are unreliable if they are re-written to by any machine other than the original. I wouldn't trust a reused floppy with anyhing important.
In general, I find that attempts to hide the hardware just make it difficult to figure out where problems and performance issues arise.
Seriously, UI is generally more consistent with Macs than in Windowsland. Partly that's a function of the fact that there are a lot more Windows programmers than Mac programmers, but partly it's a result of Apple's HCI guidelines. Which Apple itself doesn't necessarily feel compelled to follow - the Quicktime player interface is a mess, albeit a cross-platform mess nowadays ;)
BBEdit is a part of the OS now? Don't think so ;)
Completely agree... there should have been an eject icon on the desktop or space on the menu bar. They did have the Command - E keyboard combination as well as a menu choice.
Of course the same could be said about the feeling one got when one ejected a floppy on a PC with unclosed files... simply by pressing a mechanical button.
It also should be noted that Mac users who have only had experience with OSX don't know what you are talking about. The trashcan icon converts to an Eject Icon when you start moving an unmountable disk icon.
I run an AMD FX-55 under freon at -61 c.(that's what my evaporator says right now) with the memory highly overclocked. I am in effect running an FX-61. I stay a year ahead of the processor market in this way (minus some core revisions along the way). I hardly need someone to tell me AMD rules. Vista will take better advantage of my 6800 Ultra on the desktop.
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