Windows vs. Mac OS - Stability

[wrldwzrd89]

So far, here are my results:

Days until first crash:
Mac: 0 (this was due to a PMU problem which was fixed at my local Apple Store)
Windows: 7

Longest crash-free period (days):
Mac: 118 (working on 119th)
Windows: 6 (current streak 2, working on 3rd)

Any comments?

[edesignuk]

I can't remember the last time either my Mac (Panther) or my PC (XP Pro) crashed. Both have had application crashes, but neither has had system wide failures.

[virividox]

its been about 4 months since my computer crashed; as in os x just died on me, but hey thats okay :)

[wrldwzrd89]

I can't remember the last time either my Mac (Panther) or my PC (XP Pro) crashed. Both have had application crashes, but neither has had system wide failures.
I get application crashes every day ("The application XYZ has unexpectedly quit" on Mac OS X and "XYZ has encountered a problem and needs to close" on Windows XP). QuickTime Player for Mac OS is my worst application as far as crashing goes (certain MIDIs often cause QuickTime Player to crash - I've attached one of them). On the Windows side, it's a tie between Winamp and iTunes for Windows.

[King Cobra]

I can't recall XP Pro ever having either a system-wide crash, or application crash, when using it (at college). It's much easier to crash certain apps in Panther. With Jaguar, you couldn't say the same, since applications at the time overall ran with a lot more stability.

[JeDiBoYTJ]

i've had a few system wide crashes, and BSoD's on my XP machine. more so than I've had on my mac.

[wrldwzrd89]

I can't recall XP Pro ever having either a system-wide crash, or application crash, when using it (at college). It's much easier to crash certain apps in Panther. With Jaguar, you couldn't say the same, since applications at the time overall ran with a lot more stability.
After XP Pro automatically restarted from the BSOD, I got a message saying a device driver caused the BSOD. I wonder if the unofficial USB driver TiLP for Windows uses caused the problem? TiLP is an unofficial linking program for Texas Instruments (TI) graphing calculators.

[King Cobra]

After XP Pro automatically restarted from the BSOD, I got a message saying a device driver caused the BSOD. I wonder if the unofficial USB driver TiLP for Windows uses caused the problem?
Period, not a question mark...LOL Windows still has hardware issues (http://www.chris.com/nutty/video/windows-98-crash.mov)! :D

[wrldwzrd89]

Period, not a question mark! And, LOL Windows still has hardware (http://www.chris.com/nutty/video/windows-98-crash.mov) issues! :D
That movie explains it all, I guess. I still wonder which of the many device drivers on my Windows system caused the crash. The Windows Crash Analysis site wasn't very helpful in determining the cause. <edit> Did you know that Mozilla 1.7 is out? </edit>

[King Cobra]

Yes, I know Mozilla 1.7 is out. I tried it a week ago. It failed my GUI test because when resizing the browser window smaller so that a horizontal scroll bar becomes visible, the scroll bar appearance didn't refresh. You could see the scroll panel background right through the scroll bar, with and without themes. Also, upon resizing the window larger, the same scroll bar and SE corner of the window had very obvious etches that couldn't be removed unless you opened a new window or did some crazy resizing. So I'll stick with Mozilla 1.6 until something better comes along.

Gee, speaking of on-topic, I just tried to create a new folder and name it, and the Panther Finder restarted on me. Bah! :mad:

[javabear90]

my longest uptime on window 2000 is 37 days. My longest uptime on mac is 196 days. Acuually the power went out because of a storm and both my PC and my mac shut off. :mad: 1 kernel panic on my mac in 10 months
PC dies about once a month

[Maxx Power]

for the OS not actually crashing:

Win XP - doesn't crash unless i try to install drivers that were not mature or overclock
MacOS X - doesn't crash usually, i remember it hardlocked on me a few times in middle of videos.

software within the OS not crashing:

Win XP - don't remember when something died last, but i'd say once a month for a minor program.
MacOS X - Safari crashes repeated daily, Adium crashes daily, says application unexpectedly quit, but no hard lockups.

[JFreak]

i have had an uptime of a whole year for a windows nt4 workstation that was used as a server - and it would have been more, but i had to install a new scsi card into the machine so that required a shutdown.

i have not yet had a mac server, so these laptops will not get there. not even close.

but the xp thing at my work is crashing constantly. damnit compaqs, that feels cheap.

anyway... maybe it's not the software that windows gets most of the blame stability-wise, but the fact that windows can be run on almost all hardware out there. microsoft just cannot be blamed for cheapo maufacturers that make either crappy hardware or crappy drivers for its products.

bottom line: mac rocks, because apple can select the best from both worlds. nothing wrong in using windows with quality hardware, either.

[Maxx Power]

i have had an uptime of a whole year for a windows nt4 workstation that was used as a server - and it would have been more, but i had to install a new scsi card into the machine so that required a shutdown.

i have not yet had a mac server, so these laptops will not get there. not even close.

but the xp thing at my work is crashing constantly. damnit compaqs, that feels cheap.

anyway... maybe it's not the software that windows gets most of the blame stability-wise, but the fact that windows can be run on almost all hardware out there. microsoft just cannot be blamed for cheapo maufacturers that make either crappy hardware or crappy drivers for its products.

bottom line: mac rocks, because apple can select the best from both worlds. nothing wrong in using windows with quality hardware, either.

I hear ya... Microsoft's Hardware/Driver certification program isn't making too much progress either... WHQL certified Nvidia drivers that allows application specific optimizations ?

[Powerbook G5]

The only two programs that I have had crash on me on Panther have been Adium (almost all the time between updated versions) and Word has given me some error about the Framework X and then won't load for me at all until I finally wipe it from my hard drive and reinstalled the whole office suite.

[wrldwzrd89]

The only two programs that I have had crash on me on Panther have been Adium (almost all the time between updated versions) and Word has given me some error about the Framework X and then won't load for me at all until I finally wipe it from my hard drive and reinstalled the whole office suite.
Hello Powerbook G5 -

Those are application-level crashes. I'm referring to system-level crashes (the Mac OS X kernel panic screen and Windows' Blue Screen of Death). BTW, Word X is buggy. Do you have the latest Office X update installed (V10.1.5)? You can get it at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/.

[Powerbook G5]

I haven't seen a kernal panic yet. How would one go about getting the system to do one?

[wrldwzrd89]

I haven't seen a kernal panic yet. How would one go about getting the system to do one?
I wouldn't if I were you - you DON'T want one of those. If Mac OS X experiences a kernel panic, all you can do is hard restart the Mac (hold down the power button until the Mac turns off, then reboot it), losing all your unsaved work in the process. BTW, a kernel panic screen is gray, with the text "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for 5 seconds" (or something similar) in 4 languages. One other possible KP screen includes a translucent Terminal window in the upper-left hand corner with the text "waiting for remote debugger connection".

[Rabidjade]

In my 2 years of using XP, I never had a BSoD. 90% is about the user and how stable the design of the system it. XP isn't perfect but people slam it more than they should, mostly info gathered from "hearsay" and the rumor mill. I have a high use server sitting in the other room with XP and its been running solid for 2 months and the last reboot was from a multi-hour power outage where I had to shut it down. I won't comment on OSX, in the time I seen it used, its crashed and froze a few times so I don't see how it can be a godsend over XP. But as I said before, it depends on the user, the hardware and how much they know about using it.

EDIT: Also forgot to mention 80% of the MS boxes out there are underpowered, as meaning the powersupply powering the computer isn't supporting all of the hardware installed. When you run into lower voltages than needed, then you will generate errors like crazy. A IC7 board, Radeon X800, Audigy 2 ZS, 3 hard drives's and 2 optical drives, all on a 300watt power supply, YOU WILL have problems. Most of your brand name systems come from the factory right at the threashold of what they can do and adding a few devices can put you over your limit.

[virividox]

i havent had a kernel panick on any of my machines, but iv have seen them on friends, im just very fortunate

[7on]

EDIT: Also forgot to mention 80% of the MS boxes out there are underpowered, as meaning the powersupply powering the computer isn't supporting all of the hardware installed. When you run into lower voltages than needed, then you will generate errors like crazy. A IC7 board, Radeon X800, Audigy 2 ZS, 3 hard drives's and 2 optical drives, all on a 300watt power supply, YOU WILL have problems. Most of your brand name systems come from the factory right at the threashold of what they can do and adding a few devices can put you over your limit.[/QUOTE]

lol, I guess that's why Apple puts ridiculous 700w PSUs in their systems. Unless you own an Apple Display of course (monitor is powered through computer).

Lately my Mac has been "hard-locking" (known on the Apple Discussions as a Powerbook coma) by not waking from sleep. I suspect it's the BT dongle. It's always the source of my problems. I plan on getting an official Apple recommended one when McD's finally gives me a schedule to come it (2 weeks since orientation, methinks they be stalling).

[Indiana Mac]

Jaguar was rock solid in my experience, rarely ever had a system crash or a application crash.

Panther is less stable over all, had a few more system crashes(and a heck of a lot more finder restarts), and alot more application crashes.

XP Pro is in my opinion a little less stable than Panther. I've only had my system at work crash once I think and not that many application crashes.

My old Win98SE machine was fairly rock solid, more so than Panther is today.

For me:
Jag
Win98SE
Panther
XP Pro

Still, both Win machines suffer from what I think is a problem in how Windows manages memory, which though as stable, are alot less responsive.

[hobbyiest o/a]

6blue
hello well let me tell you the truth about mac and windows i'm a telecommunications consulatant and apple mac osx is more stability than windows some of you may or maynot have peroblems with mac or windows
but thier is less virus for mac than thier is for pc windows pc has hundereds
or more viruses than mac has and more security risk than mac as well but that does say that mac should not have an anti -virus or a security protocall installed and just to let you know that mozzila 1.6 will not run as good on the panther system it is not wrtten for panther you should use mozzila 1.7 whice is wrrtten in . check my website at http://www.freewebs.com/troy01
thanks,.

[King Cobra]

but that does say that mac should not have an anti -virus or a security protocall installed
There is one installed on your computer if you use Panther. Luckily I read these forums enough to know how to activate the Firewall... System Preferences > Sharing > Click the Start button. You can configure your Firewall using the Services tab to allow certain activites to go through. And considering that I'm also using a non-static IP and dial-up, no one will get through to my system. :D


and just to let you know that mozzila 1.6 will not run as good on the panther system it is not wrtten for panther you should use mozzila 1.7 whice is wrrtten in
First, it's "Mozilla." Second, in contrast to about 100% of the posts you've made so far, Mozilla 1.6 has no issues with Panther (as opposed to what other system?), as the browser itself has issues that are supposedly being worked on. Mozilla 1.6 on my Panther system has only crashed two or three times in the 700 hours that I've used it. I can't say that about any other browser at all without lying. Not to mention, it has an adjustable Cache size (unlike Safari), a ridiculous amount of preferences, and the Google search engine is built right into the one and only URL entry bar at the top of the Mozilla window. Third, I've tried Mozilla 1.7 on my system. It has serious GUI redrawing issues. If you resize the damn thing to allow a left/right scroll bar, and then resize the browser large again, you'll see obvious rectangular outlines, and you can see right through the left/right scroll bar upon resizing back.


check my website at http://www.freewebs.com/troy01
thanks,.
Fourth, your website seems to be about promotions or offerings for your telecommunications business. Do not promote/advertise such services on MacRumors. That is against forum rules.

[hobbyiest o/a]

Yes, I know Mozilla 1.7 is out. I tried it a week ago. It failed my GUI test because when resizing the browser window smaller so that a horizontal scroll bar becomes visible, the scroll bar appearance didn't refresh. You could see the scroll panel background right through the scroll bar, with and without themes. Also, upon resizing the window larger, the same scroll bar and SE corner of the window had very obvious etches that couldn't be removed unless you opened a new window or did some crazy resizing. So I'll stick with Mozilla 1.6 until something better comes along.

Gee, speaking of on-topic, I just tried to create a new folder and name it, and the Panther Finder restarted on me. Bah! :mad:
[COLOR=Blue]blue[/COLOR
hello yes i know your that mozilla failed in your gui test but mozzila 1.6 is not written in for panther where is mozilla 1.7 is and when you install it you also have to install applaction regerestry and place both in your applacation
folder then drag duplaced to your doc then set all up when your done .when you are finshed installing it place it in applacation folder then click on
it to unpakg the applacation regerstery and place in your applaction folder as well, then under keys program added file as the name as mozzila
1.7 in name filed then in next feild or box add mozzilla1.7.org than save it now you should be able to use it correctly. but if your not haveing any peroblems with mozzila 1.6 great but again it is not wriitten in for panther. i had nothing but crasheses and lockup's and very slow and could'net understand websites when i used moziila 1.6 on panther.now i use mozzila 1.7 it's not bad but could be better but it is written in for panther. but before you intsall it you must not remove your mozzila 1.6 untill you have installed all of the programming for mozzilla 1.7 then you can remove all of the programming for mozziila 1.6 not 1.7. how do i know well i'm an telecommunications /computer consultant if you like check out my site whice is http://www.freewebs.com/troy01 good luck. hobbyiest o/a and you other peroblem well you could try this go to your
diskcopy program and click on what you would liked checked then get program to check permisstions and wait to see and if no peroblems then you still might want to repair your disk persisstions or permisstions this should correct everthing and you could check that satus of you system by going to apple system profiler and check everything thier as well after that restart your computer.

[3-22]

So far, here are my results:

Days until first crash:
Mac: 0 (this was due to a PMU problem which was fixed at my local Apple Store)
Windows: 7

Longest crash-free period (days):
Mac: 118 (working on 119th)
Windows: 6 (current streak 2, working on 3rd)

Any comments?

Man, if you are only getting 2 days out of your PC before a reboot you have one screwed up PC.

While PCs and XP does sometimes crash, I can go atleast a month before a reboot causing crash. This is on a box running SQL server, .NET developer studio, and taking some serious resource thrashing.

My PC and G5 crash about the same freq. which is maybe (big maybe) once a month.

I'd say your PC sucks or you have some sucky software, before jumping to the incorrect conclusion OS X is more stable.

[King Cobra]

hobbyiest o/a, about repairing permissions: Repairing permissions should have nothing to do with the previously mentioned GUI problems of version 1.7 of the browser. In fact, I refreshed my entire Hard Drive not even 20 days ago and reupdated to 10.3.4, so I seriously doubt that repairing permissions would be of any help. Also, I used Mozilla 1.6 rigorously under Jaguar - Mac OS X 10.2 - and it performed pretty much the same as in Panther. Now it's very difficult for me to read this part of your post:


where is mozilla 1.7 is and when you install it you also have to install applaction regerestry and place both in your applacation
folder then drag duplaced to your doc then set all up when your done .when you are finshed installing it place it in applacation folder then click on
it to unpakg the applacation regerstery and place in your applaction folder as well, then under keys program added file as the name as mozzila
1.7 in name filed then in next feild or box add mozzilla1.7.org than save it now you should be able to use it correctly.
but it sounds like I need to install something else to make Mozilla 1.7 work correctly. I found nothing posted on the Mozilla site regarding add-ons to the Mozilla browser for GUI fixes. Mozilla has problems as it is, because the developers didn't properly debug it and, I guess, probably won't. Maybe there's still a bug fix for Panther that you're explaining to me and I'm not catching...but explain that above quote more clearly and IF I found out that I need to download an add-on, link me over, and I'll give 1.7 yet another try.

[CaptainHaddock]

I've always taken it for granted (as a Windows user) that Macs crashed less - it's their reputation - but it's interesting to see empirical (if anecdotal) data.

My parents' Dell/XP machine, obviously preconfigured with well-tested drivers, gives the blue screen or otherwise freezes every 2-3 weeks. It has other problems as well, but it's only used for the Internet and word processing.

When I used Win2K on my own PC, I had to restart every 2 days or so to keep the system running acceptably fast. About 4 days with my Win2K machine at work. Since switching to Mandrake Linux in February, I've had just one system lockup.

I'm looking forward to my new iMac (currently in the mail somewhere). Now that I've read this thread, I'm gonna keep track of my uptime!

[garybUK]

For a unix system, MAC OS X does tend to crash more than it should.

I dont think you can compare Windows to MAC OS because if you configure the systems right and take all the necessary steps to make your system run right, then both systems can be as stable as each other.

I have seen Windows NT 4.0 boxes up for 500days + with no problems and XP machines up for 100+ days.

If you have stable memory, good power sources, good drivers, take care in what you install/remove then you should be fine.

I'd also like to know where these points came from????? trouble with threads like this, its 'user oppinion' unfortunately there isn't a test where we can compare the os's directly using controlled environments.

Why did i move to mac?? because i love the ui and the unix (bsd) underpinnings, why do i keep windows? because its the largest user base and my job demands i code using microsoft tools...

As i speak, im writing this on a PIII 450, 256mb running NT 4.0 Workstation been up for 213.3 days

My two pence

[JFreak]

For a unix system, MAC OS X does tend to crash more than it should.

in my experience, osx is stable. i use osx systems a lot and see on average one kernel panic per year - granted, for a unix SERVER it would be unacceptable, but hardware is what makes server a server, and most macs are not server hardware. unix workstations and unix desktops crash just as often.

most osx "crashes" are individual apps that quit without user asking them to. sometimes finder crashes, too, and the windowmanager relaunches itself, but let's be fair: that is not the unix part (operating system) that crashes but some of the gui processes - and in fact the unix part (operating system) automatically recovers such a crash by relaunching finder or windowmanager whenever such a process is missing from user session. i call that "fault tolerance" as far as operating system is concerned; and to compare, such a crash on windows would force me to reboot the whole operating system - and in osx i don't even need to reboot the current user session (meaning a logout and instant login right after that).

the actual operating system crashes are rare. those are the kernel panics i see once a year. not bad come to think of it, because that is a sum of multiple computers.

[garybUK]

Sorry yeah, i have to agree, as a server system, the standard desktop wouldn't be acceptable.. but thats why they have a server version :)

im not used to using unix as a desktop (Apart from Solaris) as there arn't really any good ones yet, apart from OSX and maybe Solaris? or IRIX?

[FelixDerKater]

After two years of using my TiBook, I found out that the pre-installed RAM was bad and had been from the beginning. Once I replaced that, I have not had a single crash. When I called Apple to ask about it, they told me the RAM model number did not match their records of RAM chips used in this computer model and that the dealer must have replaced it withthis chip. On the other hand, Win98 SE crashes all the time on our old PC, and I have had XP crash on me a few times.

[jemeinc]

But as I said before, it depends on the user, the hardware and how much they know about using it.
.


I don't know about that... On the surface that statement makes perfect sense, imho.. But most theories always work out on paper... All I know is that in real life experiences I've had 4 different Windows boxes, with 3 different versions of Windows, & everyone of them locked up on a regular basis...

I've also had 3 different Macs, with 3 different versions of operating systems, & have never experienced a lock up...

IMHO, all things being equal- meaning the user(me) & the apps- Mac is far more stable than Windows...

[1macker1]

Windows XP - no system crashes in about a year (600Mhz Celeron 512M RAM)

OS X(Panther) - no system crashes since 10.2.8, but that was due to 3rd party software(tranparent dock). (800MHz iMac G4 512M of RAM)

Redhat 9.0 - Loading it on a 700Mhz PIII 512M of Ram.

So, from my experience, if you keep your machine updated, and avoid the bad 3rd party software, you shouldn't have any problems. Some 3rd party software can be very very bad.

[Rabidjade]

Considering we are in a Mac forum there is no way XP will be seen in a positive manner. I run 3 XP boxes in my house and only had blue screens when my box had a piece of ram go bad and only had a few lockups since then, mostly from 3rd party apps.

Funny thing that hasn't been mentioned is XP was designed to run on about anything that met the specs and considering the hardware out there people; those are big shoes to fill. You have several different types of CPU's, thousands of drivers for add-on cards ranging from SCSI controllers to 9600 baud modems. I can load XP onto my 333 MHz P2 from 8 years ago and not have a problem, it might be slow but it would work. Now OSX is touchy, it has a limited window of hardware it will install onto, no concern for backwards compatibility leaving a lot of Mac users high and dry. When an OS is designed for certain hardware specifications rather than for a wide array, then you will have differences no matter what.

One thing people tend to overlook is most systems shipped from the factory with an OS on it is going to be faulty. No it isn't MS's fault but the installers. Most OS's on factory systems are loaded by images from central servers and these images can be corrupt and they might make it onto a thousand systems before detected. The image might be for the same model but the system might have revised hardware in it. This could create crashes later on and the unknowing user might not see the mistakes until they show their ugly head.

Now OSX doesn't have these big shoes to fill since apple limited its hardware to anything older than 3 years and only a limited amount of processor types. XP needs to be maintained by the user, it’s not a "forget and go" type of operating system. The large amount of "system" programs can create instabilities too, such as anti-virus software, firewalls, pop-up blockers, and so forth.

I always thought comparing the 2 were like comparing apples and oranges. XP was designed for such a broad range of chips and hardware and stability took a few point loss and OSX was designed to be used on such a narrow range of hardware (i.e. anything newer than 2000 and is apple) that stability was there however this also left millions of customers forced to buy new systems to take advantage of the new OS and its features. A point lost in marketing and ignorance is Mac and PC's are not going to replace each other. Some might think so but they both have their ups and downs and both will always be better than the other somewhere.

Bottom line? If XP crashes for you too much, quit complaining and learn Linux. If OSX has too many kernel panics, quit complaining and learn Linux. (I hate Linux :p ) Sorry for the partial off-topic ramble but I needed to say it.

P.S. If you hate something enough, you will do things to cause it to error. One thing I noticed with local Mac users that also have MS boxes. They would neglect their XP box and then talk about how bad of an OS it is. All OS's need to be tweaked and refined to get it to run smooth. You can't just install XP and expect it to be error free, same with OSX. Is this the case on this forum?

[wrldwzrd89]

Considering we are in a Mac forum there is no way XP will be seen in a positive manner. I run 3 XP boxes in my house and only had blue screens when my box had a piece of ram go bad and only had a few lockups since then, mostly from 3rd party apps.

Funny thing that hasn't been mentioned is XP was designed to run on about anything that met the specs and considering the hardware out there people; those are big shoes to fill. You have several different types of CPU's, thousands of drivers for add-on cards ranging from SCSI controllers to 9600 baud modems. I can load XP onto my 333 MHz P2 from 8 years ago and not have a problem, it might be slow but it would work. Now OSX is touchy, it has a limited window of hardware it will install onto, no concern for backwards compatibility leaving a lot of Mac users high and dry. When an OS is designed for certain hardware specifications rather than for a wide array, then you will have differences no matter what.

One thing people tend to overlook is most systems shipped from the factory with an OS on it is going to be faulty. No it isn't MS's fault but the installers. Most OS's on factory systems are loaded by images from central servers and these images can be corrupt and they might make it onto a thousand systems before detected. The image might be for the same model but the system might have revised hardware in it. This could create crashes later on and the unknowing user might not see the mistakes until they show their ugly head.

Now OSX doesn't have these big shoes to fill since apple limited its hardware to anything older than 3 years and only a limited amount of processor types. XP needs to be maintained by the user, it’s not a "forget and go" type of operating system. The large amount of "system" programs can create instabilities too, such as anti-virus software, firewalls, pop-up blockers, and so forth.

I always thought comparing the 2 were like comparing apples and oranges. XP was designed for such a broad range of chips and hardware and stability took a few point loss and OSX was designed to be used on such a narrow range of hardware (i.e. anything newer than 2000 and is apple) that stability was there however this also left millions of customers forced to buy new systems to take advantage of the new OS and its features. A point lost in marketing and ignorance is Mac and PC's are not going to replace each other. Some might think so but they both have their ups and downs and both will always be better than the other somewhere.

Bottom line? If XP crashes for you too much, quit complaining and learn Linux. If OSX has too many kernel panics, quit complaining and learn Linux. (I hate Linux :p ) Sorry for the partial off-topic ramble but I needed to say it.

P.S. If you hate something enough, you will do things to cause it to error. One thing I noticed with local Mac users that also have MS boxes. They would neglect their XP box and then talk about how bad of an OS it is. All OS's need to be tweaked and refined to get it to run smooth. You can't just install XP and expect it to be error free, same with OSX. Is this the case on this forum?

The only XP maintenance I do regularly is disk defragmenter, disk cleanup, file system check, and anti-virus updates. Is there anything else I've missed?

You're absolutely correct regarding how much hardware XP needs to support out of the box. However, that situation will change (becoming more Mac-like) when Longhorn is released (if the system requirements go up dramatically, like they are expected to do).

I haven't had to do anything special to maintain Mac OS X (other than repairing permissions, which CCC takes care of for me whenever I back up).

[Baston]

My winblows laptop frequently crashes on me... soon to be the owner of a nice new PB 15" :D

[iPC]

OS stability has been good for me on both Windows XP Pro (at work - Dell 2.4GHz Celeron) and on OS X 10.3.x (at home - iBook G3 800). Both machines have 512MB of RAM minimum.

App wise... Outlook 2003 for Windows still sucks (using IMAP) and crashes 1 or 2 times a week (runs 24/7). Mail.app sucks for OS X too IMO, crashing at least 1 time a week (only gets used 1 or 2 times a day max). Any other application problems I have had for either platform have been from 3rd party.

[Mord]

my ibook has been running 24/7 for the last 2 years and has only crashed once when i was overclocking and only restarted because of updates.

even 10.4 is stable for me

[Nermal]

i havent had a kernel panick on any of my machines, but iv have seen them on friends, im just very fortunate

I had them a lot on my iBook with cheap third-party memory. I learnt from my mistakes and upgraded my G4 tower with real Apple memory. It panics a lot less than the iBook did :)

[dieselg4]

My PC at work sometimes crashes several times a day, but sometimes goes day without. I have this pinned down to times when I am:
Running Autocad, Plotting to PDF, opening those for proofing in Reader, and importing those into Photoshop.

Most of the time it runs fine. I'm guessing its more a problem with the programs I'm running than with XP.

[Mord]

I had them a lot on my iBook with cheap third-party memory. I learnt from my mistakes and upgraded my G4 tower with real Apple memory. It panics a lot less than the iBook did :)

crucial memory, cheap and good.

never had a problem with them.

[MisterMe]

My PC at work sometimes crashes several times a day, but sometimes goes day without. I have this pinned down to times when I am:
Running Autocad, Plotting to PDF, opening those for proofing in Reader, and importing those into Photoshop.

Most of the time it runs fine. I'm guessing its more a problem with the programs I'm running than with XP.Amateur hacks like AutoCAD, Acrobat, and Photoshop--what computer wouldn't crash?

[ewinemiller]

I had them a lot on my iBook with cheap third-party memory. I learnt from my mistakes and upgraded my G4 tower with real Apple memory. It panics a lot less than the iBook did :)

Try just putting a fresh install of OSX on the iBook. I bought an iBook G4 back around the beginning of the year. It was totally squirelly, locked up constantly. I did a fresh install and it's been fine since outside a few appliation crashes. I think the image that Apple puts down on them in the factory isn't quite what it should be.

Back to the original topic, I've seen one BSOD on XP in the last 3 years, bad network driver. I went to an older version of the driver and no problems. I have had a few kernal panics under OSX when waking from sleep. Overall XP and OSX seem about the same these days for Stability. Occasionally I have to kill a process and restart explorer/finder, but overall very stable.

[MrSugar]

My Current Uptimes. (http://uptimes.hostingwired.com/stats.php?op=all&user=MrSugar)

Just so you guys know if you are interested in tracking your uptime you should check out the uptimes project website I have linked to above. It's quite nice, keeps track of your restarts and reasons for them. Also calculates your total uptime as well as your current uptime and CPU load. Good stuff.