OS Smackdown: Linux vs. Mac OS X vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP

Computerworld ^ | 04/08/2008 | By Michael DeAgonia, Preston Gralla, David Ramel and James Turner

[dan1123]

Can one still shut off xwin and boot directly to a prompt? Are file structures and directory structures what one would expect in *nix?

Apple overhauled the startup and configuration of BSD and added/combined daemons, but the VFS layer, networking stack, POSIX system calls, and high-level process abstraction layer (but not threads) are all based on BSD. X11 and open-source *NIX tools you're used to can be installed easily with Fink.

[roamer_1]

open-source *NIX tools you're used to can be installed easily with Fink.

Thank you.

[dan1123]

If you really want to play Windows games on Linux, you can always get Cedenga ($15). It will play Battlefield 2 for you without any problems.

[Gideon7]

All you need is

C>_

Back then we didn't need any fancy graphical user interfaces. We used EDIT.COM and we liked it.

Yer all a bunch of spoiled wimps.

[antiRepublicrat]

So Apple just basically built a GUI over the top of genuine BSD then?

Sort of. Apple used the Mach kernel and BSD user space but with a lot of its own changes, calling it XNU. While different than the BSD it's based on, it is the first BSD to be certified UNIX.

Can one still shut off xwin and boot directly to a prompt?

Apple doesn't use xwin normally, instead using its own GUI (xwin was too limiting at the time), but you can run it. I know you can boot into single-user mode with a command prompt.

Are file structures and directory structures what one would expect in *nix?

Mainly BSD-style, with a few differences.

[grey_whiskers]

Where are the punchcards?

Cheers!

[ShadowAce]

[Golden Eagle]

You put Linux at the top? Then posted some terrorist picture in the Vista sample. Don’t tell me...they got to you, too?

[Varmint Al]

My Vista weakend!

And I mean weak. Over the weekend, I installed Windows Vista Home Basic (upgrade) on one of my computers with a Mach Speed MSM939 Mother Board and a 250 Gb hard drive and 256Mb ram just to see if it could be done and what kind of trouble it would be. Well, I finally got it going, but it wasn’t easy.

I first had trouble opening the Windows Vista box. It said to pull on the red tab. My room was a little dark and I didn’t see the info on lifting the plastic tape off the edge. Well, with the aid of a screwdriver for a pry-bar, I opened the damn plastic case and parts fell all over the room. I was able to paste together the Key Code sticker to read the Key Code.

It didn’t start off well for sure. I extracted the DVD from the mess and also found the skimpy manual with quick start platitudes. Practically no useable info.

Well, I had the hard drive on the sacrifice computer partitioned with a 40 Gb C: drive and partitions D:, E:, F:, and G:. I thought that I could boot from the Vista DVD and install it and install it on the C: drive. I wanted a clean install. So I formatted the C: drive to remove the Windows XP Pro operating system on it and proceeded to do the install.

The Vista DVD booted up fine and I typed in the
Key Code: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-PQWKW

A screen came up and said that I had to have at least 512Mb ram. Turned off the computer and installed another DDR 256Mb of ram.

Booted up again with the Vista DVD. It now couldn’t see the hard drive. I booted with Windows 98 and used Norton’s GDISK to see the hard drive. It was gone. I had to turn off the computer completely. Power off for about 5 minutes. Booted again with Windows 98 and now I could see the hard drive with GDISK. All of the partitions were gone. So I did a WipeDisk from GDISK. I was then able to create a 40 Gb Primary partition and format it in Fat32.

Booted from the Vista DVD and I typed in the
Key Code: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-PQWKW – again!

The new screen said that I could only install Vista Home from within Windows.

OK. Back to the Ghost restore and I restored a Windows XP Pro operating system on the C: drive.

Inserted the Vista DVD and I typed in the
Key Code: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-PQWKW – again!

Another new screen said that I could only install Vista Home from within Windows XP Home and I needed Windows Vista Ultimate or something like that. I wasn’t seeing to clearly at the new screen.

OK. I installed Windows XP Home on the C: drive which took about an hour. Of course I got all the prompts to Authenticate it but I ignored them. Now I have Windows XP Home running and I think I am home free. No.

Inserted the Vista DVD and I typed in the
Key Code: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-PQWKW – again!

The new screen said that I could only install Vista Home with a partition that was formatted with NTFS. I am thinking that maybe they could have told me all of these restriction in the first place.

I reformatted the C: drive and again installed Windows XP Home but this time I opted to convert the C: drive to the NTFS format.

I booted up Windows XP Home and started the install from there:
Inserted the Vista DVD and I typed in the
Key Code: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-PQWKW – again!

It let me do a “Clean” install without any of the programs running on Windows XP Home. Finally I get the install to take. I now practically know the Key Code by heart.

This took 2 days. That was my weakend. Not weekend. Monday I wanted to try a connect to the Internet from my wireless system. I have the Airlink USB wireless adapter and installed the software from the CD that came with it. It looked OK, but it didn’t work. I finally went on the Internet with a GOOD computer and downloaded the Vista drivers for the USB adapter. Somewhere in here a screen came up and said the driver wouldn’t work until Service Pack 1 was installed. I already had SP1 and yes, it did take more than an hour to install and it did restart the computer numerous time. At least I got a successful installation of SP1.

Now the Airlink USB wireless adapter was installed and working. I got on the internet and was able to view my web page. There was quite a bit of activity on the flashing lights on the wireless adapter. Heaven only knows what kind of info was being transmitted to Microsoft while that was going on.

All this time there was an error message that there was “no sound device installed”. The sound hardware is on the motherboard so I thought I would install the motherboard drivers. Bad move. I put in the CD and did the install. Agreed to reboot after the installation and the computer hung. When Vista hangs – that’s it. Control-Alt-Delete does nothing. The only thing that works if the Reset button. It still wouldn’t boot up “normally” so I booted up in Safe Mode and uninstalled the motherboard drivers.

Now I could boot up again. So I went on the internet and looked for the Mach Speed Vista drivers for the motherboard. I attempted to download them. About half way through the 15Mb file, the computer hangs. Mouse arrow doesn’t move. No hard drive activity. The computer just sits there. I hit to power off switch.

Back to a GOOD computer and I downloaded the motherboard drivers and the audio drivers and put them on a Secure Digital card. I booted up the Vista computer is Save Mode and was able to copy the driver files over from the SD card. I did the install and finally I was able to boot “normally”. I had to reinstall the drivers from the “normal” mode and now the computer seems to work. It still tells me that my USB port could be faster if I install 2.0 but it doesn’t tell me where I can get it. Later.

Windows Vista Home (upgrade) is pretty but if you don’t have a few days to spend trying to do the install, I would suggest if you want Vista, just buying a computer with it already installed.

Hunting coyotes or groundsquirrels would have been a lot more fun.

As long as I have a couple of GOOD computers running I was able to get the drivers for the motherboard, the USB Wireless adapter, the 5 button IntellMouse, and audio system off the Internet. I have played around with it more and it is essentially Windows XP Pro with a face lift and a lot of pretty makeup. The sound from my speakers is very good. Setting up the Virtual memory location, Paths and how it displays a folder view is the same as XP put it takes a different route getting to where the settings can be made. It took quite a while to find out how to display the full path and the file name extensions when viewing a folder, but I finally found out how. I still haven't cracked how to display the status bar at the bottom of a folder view. I was able to use Ghost 2003 to write the complete image of the C: drive of Vista off to the E: partition. My old Ghost 2002 would not find a NTFS partition. I might just like Vista yet.... Maybe.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

My Computer Page: http://www.varmintal.com/acomp.htm

 

[Golden Eagle]

A screen came up and said that I had to have at least 512Mb ram. Turned off the computer and installed another DDR 256Mb of ram.

If you're only running 512 Mb RAM, I'd suggest you just stick with XP. The Vista minimum is 512, and I'd recommend a fresh clean install if you even try it.

[Swordmaker]

Gideon, I think you were making a black rectangle with a C>_ prompt... but in Safari on a Mac I get a large black square that is way too large for the screen... both vertically and horizontally... and now characters at all unless they are lost somewhere in the humungous black square. It appears that the < pre > command does something entirely unexpected with FR and Safari on a Mac.

If I cut and paste your table, I also get the huge black square.

Remove the < pre > and everything is OK... just no black table and no C prompts.

On Firefox, I get what you intended.

John, you need to look at this...

[Swordmaker]

Are any other Mac users getting something weird with Gideon’s post?

[Swordmaker]

You put Linux at the top? Then posted some terrorist picture in the Vista sample. Don’t tell me...they got to you, too?

Posted as published...

[Swordmaker]

Looks like its alphabetical... Linux is first ... comes before OSX, the Windows Vista, then Windows XP

[aruanan]

Yet it’s Mac OS that can run them all.

[aruanan]

I do know there are very few games that natively run on a Mac. Using a Mac to run Windows software like games sounds foolish to me.

Here are some of the "few" games:

3D Hearts/Spades Deluxe
4x4 EVO 2
A Tale in the Desert III
Active Lancer
Activision Anthology
Age of Empires II: Gold
Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Age of Mythology
AGON
AirBurst Extreme
Airline Tycoon Deluxe
Alias Underground
Aliens vs. Predator 2
American McGee’s Alice
America’s Army
Ankh
Another War
Armado
Atari Arcade Classics
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Battlefield 1942 Deluxe Edition
Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
Battlefield 2142
Bejeweled & Alchemy
Big Bang Board Games
Big Bang Brain Games
Billy Frontier
Bionicle
Birdie Shoot
Black & White
Black & White: Creature Isle
BloodRayne
Board Game Trio
Bugdom 2
Burning Monkey Casino
Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire 2
Burning Monkey Solitaire 4
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Disney/Pixar Cars: Mater-National [NEW]
Disney/Pixar Cars: Radiator Springs
Disney/Pixar Cars: The Video Game
Championship Manager 01-02
Championship Manager 4
Chessmaster 9000
Civilization III: Complete
Civilization IV
Civilization IV: Warlords
Clive Barker’s Undying
Close Combat: First to Fight
Cold War
Colin McRae Rally Mac
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
Command & Conquer Generals
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
Commander: Europe at War
Commandos Battle Pack
Cosmic Encounter Online
Cro-Mag Rally
Crusader Kings
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion
Darwinia
Deimos Rising
DEFCON
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Diablo II*
Disney’s Toontown Online
Dominions II: The Ascension Wars
Dominions 3: The Awakening
Doom 3
Doulber Gold
Dragon’s Lair 3D
Drop Point Alaska
DropTeam
Dungeon Siege
Enemy Engaged
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [NEW]
Enigmo 2
Europa Universalis II
EVE Online
EverQuest
F/A-18: OIF
F1 Championship Edition
Fable: The Lost Chapters [NEW]
Fallout 2
The Feeble Files
Finding Nemo Games
Fly! II**
FlyBoys Squardron
Ford Racing 2
Freedom Force
Ghost Master
Ghost Recon: Game of the Year Edition
Giants: Citizen Kabuto**
GooBall
Gorky 17
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Halo: Combat Evolved
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron 2
Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday
Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday: Armageddon
Heroes of Might and Magic IV
Heroes of Might and Magic V
Homeworld 2
Hordes of Orcs
Icewind Dale**
The Incredibles
Imperial Glory
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
The Incredibles: When Danger Calls
Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
Islands Mini-Golf
James Bond 007: Nightfire
The Journey to Wild Divine
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer
Kick Off 2002
Law & Order: Dead on the Money
Legion Arena
Legion Arena: Cult of Mithras
LEGO Star Wars
LEGO Star Wars II
Lineage
Links Championship Edition
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Madden NFL 08
Marble Blast Gold
Massive Assault
Master of Orion III
Max Payne
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Breakthrough
Medal of Honor: Spearhead
Mind Rover
Monster’s Inc. Games
The Movies
TheMovies: Stunts & Effects
MTX: Mototrax
Myst III: Exile*
Myst IV: Revelation
Myst V: End of Ages
Myth III: The Wolf Age
Nanosaur II: Hatchling
NASCAR 2003
Need For Speed: Carbon
Neon Tango
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide
Neverwinter Nights 2
NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007
No One Lives Forever 2
Oni*
Orbz
Otto Matic
Out of the Park Baseball 8
Pangea Arcade
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online
pop-pop
Prey
Project Nomads
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords[NEW]
Quake III: Gold
Quake 4
Railroad Tycoon 3
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
Ratatouille: The Video Game
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
realMYST
Red Faction*
Redline
Reel Deal Casino: High Roller
Reel Deal Slots: Mystic Forest
Republic: The Revolution
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
RHEM 2: The Cave
Riddle of the Sphinx II: The Omega Stone
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
Robin Hood
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked!
Sacrifice
Savage: The Battle for Newerth
Second Life
Shadowbane
Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos
Sheep*
Shrek 2
Sim Theme Park*
SimCity 4
SimCity 4: Rush Hour
The Sims Castaway Stories
The Sims Life Stories
The Sims Pet Stories
The Sims 2
The Sims 2: Bon Voyage
The Sims 2: Nightlife
The Sims 2: Open for Business
The Sims 2: Pets
The Sims 2: Seasons
The Sims 2: University
The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff
The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff
The Sims 2 Happy Holiday Stuff
The Sims
The Sims: Hot Date
The Sims: House Party
The Sims: Livin’ Large
The Sims: Makin’ Magic
The Sims: Superstar
The Sims: Unleashed
The Sims: Vacation
SketchFighter 4000 Alpha
Slots from Bally Gaming
Solace
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
Space Colony
Spider-Man 2
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
SpyHunter
Star Trek: Elite Force II
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
StarCraft*
Starcraft: Brood War*
Stubbs the Zombie
Stronghold
Survivor
Sveerz Deluxe
ThinkTanks
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Tomb Raider: Chronicles
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
Total Immersion Racing
ToySight Gold
Tranquility
Tron 2.0
Tropico: Mucho Macho
Tropico 2: Pirate Cove
True Crime: Streets of LA
Unreal Tournament 2004
Vendetta Online
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
Victoria: Revolutions
Virtual Grand Prix 2
XIII
Wakeboarding Unleashed
WarBirds 2007
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warrior Kings
WingNuts 2: Raina’s Revenge
Wipeout 2097**
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
World War II Online: Battleground Europe
Worms 3D
Worms Blast
X-Plane
X2: The Threat
X2: Wolverine’s Revenge
X3: Reunion
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates
Zoo Tycoon
Zoo Tycoon 2

[antiRepublicrat]

Upgrades are generally not for maintenance.

How many people had to upgrade 2 year-old PCs in order to run Vista? Contrast: an OS X upgrade generally makes your same Mac run faster.

Consoles are good but a year after you buy them, they are overtaken by the top graphics engines on a PC.

Graphics engines aren't everything. A few things are an advantage for the consoles. One, a console is a complete static system, and all games can be optimized for that specific hardware instead of having to work with various video cards, sound cards and CPUs. Imagine a PC game that will only work with a 512 MB nVidia 8800GTS and a 3 GHz Core 2 Duo with a 1333 MHz bus, and you're out of luck with any other configuration.

Second, in many cases the console is so advanced that in the beginning games can't take complete advantage of it. Games can actually get better over the years on the same hardware. Estimates right now are that no game uses 50% of the power of the PS3. The Nintendo 64 had the same situation.

Third, consoles except the original xBox aren't saddled with the x86 architecture. They have processors specifically designed or customized for gaming. Take the PS3 again, a 3.2 GHz custom PowerPC core plus seven SIMD units and bandwidths of 200 GB/s internal, 64 GB/s bus and 26 GB/s memory. You need dual channel DDR3-1600 to get that memory bandwidth on a PC right now, almost a year and a half after the PS3 was introduced. No reasonably-priced home PC is going to get that much gaming power for a while, although the graphics cards have surpassed what's in the PS3.

[antiRepublicrat]

Thanks for everything. Nice video. Different from what I’m used to, but easily understandable.

[TiberiusClaudius]

About two weeks ago I upgraded to Vista on my main development box and I really like it.

I'm a pretty devoted *nix guy and C/C++ programmer. And to be fair, I haven't messed around w/ OS X much recentely, and run pretty scaled-back versions of Linux for server-side stuff.

I really like Vista.

I might spin up a virtual machine and try Ubuntu...

[roamer_1]

Mainly BSD-style, with a few differences.

Thanks for the info, antiRepublicrat. I guess I will be getting a mac to play with sometime toward late spring / early summer. I am loathe to learn yet another OS, but if it is *nix enough to be familiar, then it is not too bad.

Still, it will continue to be Linux for me. Why pay for the milk when you can get the cow for free (play on words intended)?