Os X crash Statistics

ZERO

In the 2 months of constant use my 17" powerbook g4 1.5 hasn't crashed at all. On the other hand the 3ghz windows media center that I am typing this on crashes 5 times per day. The falcon nw fragbox 1.5g crashes once per week.

Buy Mac get more done. If you want to play games buy an xbox which crashes every other day.

 

I got my iBook G4 in November of 2003. It has had 1 kernel panic (a crash) about a month back. This happened at the precise moment that I plugged my friends Windows laptop into it via firewire. Coincidence?

To recover all I did was restart it. Nothing broken. No problems.

 

I had 1 kernel panick about 2 months ago, and it was my fault I got it, I put the wrong kind of RAM in my SO-DIMM slot, and when I booted it up I got the kernel pankic, all I did was shut down the computer, remove the RAM, and turn the computer back on. Nothing wrong, nothing broken. I've had my computer since October.

By contrast, my xBox crashes about once every 2 weeks.

And on average, the two Windows XP computers I have crash about once every 2-3 days.

 

I've had OSX on my Pismo for 2+ years. In that time, I I've had three major crashes (code appearing where the desktop used to be), and it has probably hung about 10 times, which seems to be linked to trying to plug something in (camera, swapping the 2nd battery for the DVD drive) when it was waking up from sleep. After any of those events, all I've had to do is restart (although some restarts do take upwards of 5 minutes (as opposed to about 1.5 or 2 minutes if it is properly shut down)). But when I was running OS 9, it would crash at least once a day.

 

my iBook used to crash with a kernal panic about once a month. but i got rid of that in september and since september my new pb has not crashed. in fact the only reason it has ever been restarted is b/c of updates. (my longest consecutive uptime was 47days). the wintel machine i use at works crashes about once a day. . . i never seem to make it more than 4 hours or so without a program messing up or some memory error requiring me to restart the computer. . . . now if i could get autocad for mac i could use a mac at work and be very very happy cause id never have to worry about it crashing

 

Daily? On average it would be a number just over zero--I'm talking a decimal, and about 3 digits, the first two of which would be zero.

We have 4 Macs in the house. Well, actually we have more than that but we use 4. My wife's Sawtooth G4 hasn't crashed in over a year--and then it was crashing because I kept unplugging USB devices while it was sleeping. Our cube has never crashed in the 6 months we've had it. My G3 iBook last crashed when the logic board failed--I think that was in February. I don't recall a crash in the previous year I owned the computer. The crashiest Mac we have is my MDD G4. It just kernel paniced yesterday, as a matter of fact. Before that it was 2-3 months, before that it was also 2-3 months. That computer is on 24/7 and does a hell of a lot of work.

That's not to say that applications don't act up from time to time. I crash Safari every couple weeks and I used to crash MS Word a few times a week. Medal of Honor tends to be a little crashy too--apart from that it's not really an issue.

How long does a crash take to recover? Generally as long as it takes to reboot. 2 minutes?

I doubt you're going to see anything this close on an XP machine. I was a good, careful, and lucky Windows user back in the day. Compared to most other people my system was rock solid. I could never imagine this kind of reliability though.

 

I think your comparison will be invalid based on your metrics. OS X or Windows can stay up and crash free for years if you do nothing or install nothing. Bad applications for both operating systems can effect stability. Hardware problems can also cause a number of problems too, like I initially experienced with my G5.

Personally, and I know a lot of people on here will disagree mostly based on some emotional reason, but I find Windows XP about as stable as OS X. BUT, I prefer to use OS X and like a lot of its interface style. Also, XP while it may not crash as much as previous versions sometimes get's nutty and requires an occasional reboot.

Trying to convince someone that OS X never crashes is futile, in my opinion. Cause even if you do, first crash they will point at you and say Ah-Ha you lied. (This crash will probably happen after they install some junk ware from Microsoft)

 

Kernel panics are rare, but if they are frequent on a Mac, it is sign of something wrong with the computer's hardware, directory, or drivers that are older than the operating system which need an update.

http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html covers them in more detail. Applications may unexpectedly quit, but that's due corrupted plist files or bad font files, and on occasion a bad cache file. .plist is the filename extension given to preference files. Sometimes networking issues can happen because the firmware of a router needs to get upgraded, and that might freeze the networking response time.

People confuse the spinning beachball for a crash because they have to force quit a program with command-option-escape (where command is the Apple logo key). Fortunately that does not affect other applications that are running. Mac OS X on the whole has been quite stable, and I've not seen a panic since when I tried to install a special software to make my Powerbook's trackpad side act like a scrollwheel. Removing it fixed the problem.

 

Kernel panics, one in the six months I've had my dear iBook. Unexpected quits -- get a fair number from Safari (say once a week?) and AdiumX (but wouldn't expect much more from it). Force quits...relatively rarely. Usually only when I'm messing with something trying to make it work. I had to force quit Bochs a lot before I gave up on it.

 

I can't remember the last time my Mac crashed since installing Panther but the one kernel panic I can remember;

I copied a VIDEO_TS folder to my iPod and then tried to open it in DVD Player. Bam, kernel panic.

Admittedly not my best of ideas.

I've had a few applications crash every now and then. Safari used to go down 2 or 3 times a day last year, but I haven't had that problem for a long time. Usually if an apps gonna crash simply starting it up again restores it to how it was.

AppleMatt

 

My Cube has its ports underneath it...and sometimes the sound on it cuts out for whatever reason. In order to get it back, I need to unplug and then replug the USB cable for audio back into the Cube. That requires lifting up the damn thing to get underneath to the cable, risking having the thing shut itself off. (The problem is also averted by a restart.) But the problem is almost unavoidable if I need to plug in something like a Firewire cable into the damn thing, because even if the Cube is off, it starts up by itself, and then more than likely will shut down again in the first 4 seconds of starting up. (That problem is avoided by keeping the computer unplugged during the whole process.) I'm not sure if you want to consider all that as crashing, because this happens with any version of OS X (and OS 9).

 

First crash yestderday

I had my first crash (kernel panic) under 10.3 yesterday. It was due to having run out of disk space (doh!).

As much as it is fair to say that no system is perfect, and crashes can and do occur under OS X, to say that OS X is more stable than windows is like saying Bill Gates is richer than I am. OS X is not just more stable it's *vastly* more stable. Not to mention more secure, more intuitive, better designed, better looking, cheaper, and not sold by a convicted monopolist. Why anyone who had a choice would choose to work with windows is beyond me.

Cheers

 

-AoWolf

Try this rule of thumb: If your Mac Kernel Panics more than once a year, then either your are doing something funky on purpose like deleting system files in root, forcing programs to run files they weren't meant to, or there is an actual hardware-related issue like bad RAM, out of HD space, or God forbid, a cracked or fried Logic board.

 

don't forget, this time last year, safari was still a public beta.

aethier

 

Am I the only XP user that hasn't had a crash in more than a month? Every now and again a program freezes, but I close it and give it a little while and re open it and all is fine!

I think some people must run some rubbish programs on their Windows PC's if they have crashes as many times as most of you make out! I'm usually running iTunes, Opera, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, sometimes a CAD program such as Rhino..basically loads of different programs in any given session - and the usual array of MSN messenger, Firewall, Virus Protection etc.

Before genuine stability is taken into account, I think most people experience few problems with OS X because Mac users are generally more knowledgeable about computer care than the average XP user!

 

Great points. I agree, but I think also that this forum would have many more crashes then the average consumer would have. The type of people who frequent this forum are installing beta software, home grown software, tweaking their machines with Terminal stuff or whatever else it is everyone does which results in many more crashes than the average consumer would ever expereince. In 9 months of owning an iMac I have had no kernal panics or crashes requiring a reboot!

I have had to force quit a program...mostly safari...probably 10 times at the most and had safari quit itself probably 5 times in the last 9 months.

 

Surprisingly enough, Safari is treating me nicely for a change...it's Mozilla that acted up (mostly due to a screwy .mpg file). Mozilla 1.6 on Panther has gone through 600+ hours of usage on my machine (prob. more like 700+) before its first "official crash" today. That's a seriously tough browser, but unfortunately, today, I found out that just like any browser, it's not indestructible.

The last time OS X gave me a K.P. (kernel panic) had to be months ago.

 

Just to give you a comparison:

OS X - Been using my Mac for about 7 months now. In that time period, i've yet to have a kernal panic (unrecoverable OS crash). Apps however, are a different story. Safari seems to be the main suspect, crashing once every few days, which is more than i'd like it to. Also, iChat can act a bit funky at times. Although it doesn't crash, after a few days of being open, it suddenly decides to take up 100% of my CPU time. I have to restart iChat to bring it back to normal. Also, back when Panther was first released, I had horrible issues with Finder crashing, and icons getting corrupted.

Windows XP - been using it since it was released back in 2001. In that time, i've yet to have a hard OS crash (blue screen of death). However, apps do occasionally crash, although no where with the frequency that i've seen in OS X. I honestly can't remember the last time something crashed. Maybe it was Firefox, but then again, its beta software so its to be expected.

Now, I take care of my Windows system. I've been a windows user for a *long* time, and I know the inns and outs, and what not to do. This is probably why i've been trouble free with my computers. The same can't be said with my friends. They constantly come running to be with the strangest problems - although its usually in the form of Spyware/adware taking over their computer. This isn't a problem with Windows stability however, its a problem with windows security, and user idiocy. If you're running "screensaver.exe" files that you're getting from unknown emails, you deserve to get that virus, IMO.

Windows also tends to "slow down" after a while. But again, this isn't a problem with windows directly, its an issue with users installing a ton of garbage that forces itself to load on bootup and sit in the system tray.

 

I have had zero crashes (kernal panics) with my PowerBook G4 12" in the 8 months I've owned it. My iMac G3 has probably had 4 crashes in the 3 years I've had OSX on it. Not bad, eh?

 

Panther stalled on me yesterday for the first time since whenever it first came out. Using Expose I tried to drag text from one window to another one of 20 and the machine locked up. Otherwise, only a camera has induced a kernal panic. As some one pointed out abot people posting here, I am one of those who is installing beta software and all sorts of wierd utilities, and although wierdnesses occur, force quits and some background maintenance has kept this PB totally reliable and productive

 

Check out this thread I made on a similar subject - is it helpful to you at all?

 

I've had my powerbook for 2 weeks and I had a kernel panic yesterday

I don't know what you guys did to your XP installs, but this install hasn't crashed once since I loaded it in October of last year. And the install I had on that (different machine) probably crashed a handful of times in the 2.5 years i was running it.

Also, I've had my xbox for a year, fully modded, and it's crashed one time.

 

I tend not to get kernel panics often, rather I get a screen freeze. Sometimes happens in Halo (game just stops on a frame) and sometimes in FCE. Then there are sometimes I get it when I put it to sleep (screen goes off but the book doesn't sleep). I believe it's a memory issue, though not bad memory because then I'd get kernel panics. I probably just get a corrupted cache now and then.

That reminds me, OSX tends to get corrupted files moreso than WinXP. If Tiger fixes this at all I'll buy it.

 

Crash Statistics

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but wasn't the original poster looking for some statistics; some hard core comparative evidence? I'm not sure AoWolf asked for the individual experiences of the users here.


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