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Windows vs Mac OS X
- Thread starter LggN
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-easier
-more secure
-nicer gui
I also feel Apple knows more what they're doing in regards to organization than Microsoft. You never feel "left in the dust", especially if you continue to upgrade to the next Mac OS.
-more secure
-nicer gui
I also feel Apple knows more what they're doing in regards to organization than Microsoft. You never feel "left in the dust", especially if you continue to upgrade to the next Mac OS.
Here are a few reasons that make OS X better than Windows for me:
- Exposé.
- Spotlight (dictionary lookups, starting music, launching apps, searching for documents).
- Spaces.
- Far better handling of multiple windows and multiple programs (because of Exposé and Spaces and the fact that a window is a window and not an application).
- The system remains stable and doesn't slow down even after several weeks of uptime. I'm on 19 days without an issue.
- Being able to run Keynote (and other pieces of amazing software).
- It has Time Machine for automatic backups.
- Comes with CD/DVD burning capabilities built in.
- The structure of the user interface (menus, system preferences and so on) makes a whole lot more sense.
As you begin to use the system more and more you will notice more and more great features!
- Exposé.
- Spotlight (dictionary lookups, starting music, launching apps, searching for documents).
- Spaces.
- Far better handling of multiple windows and multiple programs (because of Exposé and Spaces and the fact that a window is a window and not an application).
- The system remains stable and doesn't slow down even after several weeks of uptime. I'm on 19 days without an issue.
- Being able to run Keynote (and other pieces of amazing software).
- It has Time Machine for automatic backups.
- Comes with CD/DVD burning capabilities built in.
- The structure of the user interface (menus, system preferences and so on) makes a whole lot more sense.
As you begin to use the system more and more you will notice more and more great features!
I'd say given the features and weaknesses of both, its really a personal preference.
For instance, I think windows has some better features with the taskbar, file management, i.e., file explorer and the ability to cut/paste files. Game performance and general UI performance.
I'd like to say the OSX as a more consistent uniform UI but that is not the case. Just look at how apple does not adhere to their own standards, i.e, iTunes and the re-position of the traffic light buttons.
As for OSX advantages, I think memory management, security, built on Unix so its more robust.
Its really comes down to what you like the best.
As for security you cannot get viruses on the Mac but malware does exist and given the mac defender and its variants the golden days of OSX being ignored by these folks is over. MS has a better philosophy in being transparent and handling malware. Apple's denial and silence is not the best approach. Yeah they finally responded but first telling the support folks they're not to help those infected wasn't the best consumer focused decision.
My point is that while Windows is susceptible to malware, OSx is and that is only increasing. The difference is windows can get self-replicating viruses and so far that has not happened to OSX.
Things I like better about OSX:
Time Machine - backups and restores are a no brainer
iLife - Handles most multimedia needs out of the box
Security - Unix Based file permissions
Efficiency - to me OSX just runs smoother and better memory management
Finder - Has better features for searches
What is it that you like better about windows?
My suggestion is that if you haven't bought a book on OSX, you should. Maybe you just don't know how to use it well? Or you may just be someone who doesn't like it...to each his own.
I personally used Windows for probably 10-15 years, got sick of it and switched to Linux for 5 years, then bought a Mac. Each has its advantages/disadvantages, but I personally prefer Mac.
this topic has been beaten to death in numerous threads on numerous forums. "better" is always a subjective term anyway.
These two are incorrect. Windows 7 has both built-in backups and built-in CD/DVD burning capabilities (for data and music CDs at least. Both OS X and Windows need an application to burn DVD video).
I'm of the same opinion as maflynn and iCrizzo. With the release of Windows 7, the feature set of each of the OSs is close enough that it comes down to personal preference. Who knows what will happen in the future, but that's where I see it now.
- Interesting. I didn't know Windows 7 had automatic backup software. I just did some research on it, and it seems to be well-reviewed. I don't know how it compares to Time Machine, though. Is it as unobtrusive as Time Machine (completely invisible)?
Thank you for correcting me on this.
Yes, Windows 7 has some built-in CD/DVD burning capabilities. Mac OS X has more. The built-in feature in Windows only supports ISO image burning, not IMG.
While it is true that both OSs need extra software to burn DVD Video, that software is included on every shipping Mac (iDVD). Windows 7 has something similar to this, but it is only included in Windows 7 Home Premium and above.
Also, on a similar note, Mac OS X supports mounting of various disc images natively. Windows 7 does not.
So all in all, I would say that the CD/DVD capabilities are better in Mac OS X Snow Leopard than in Windows 7.
I don't have any experience with it, personally. I just know it's there.
I heartily agree that OS X has more features, I was simply contesting the assertion that Windows has none.
It's also almost always provided by the manufacturer, which is also what Apple does 😉
Truth. Though, I might ask, how often do you use them? I know I hardly ever do.
Simpler UI, for me, increased productivity due to things like Spaces, Expose, and the very way programs are built and designed.
I could go on and on but after a while you'll just "get it". I feel like the OS itself feels like there was thought put into it. That it was made for me as a consumer to use. I can be either a mom with a first computer or a college student that like to get **** done (I'm the latter of course 🙂) but yea, all in all it feels like the OS is ... very flexible and very fluid.
I can pretty much do anything. Anything I want to do in under a minute from any screen at any time. I just couldn't do that on a windows machine.
You get out what you put in. I have spent hours from day one looking for the most productive and intriguing applications that would help me do whatever I needed to do. The result? A machine that I feel is made for ME. Not something anyone can just pick up and use.
I could go on and on but after a while you'll just "get it". I feel like the OS itself feels like there was thought put into it. That it was made for me as a consumer to use. I can be either a mom with a first computer or a college student that like to get **** done (I'm the latter of course 🙂) but yea, all in all it feels like the OS is ... very flexible and very fluid.
I can pretty much do anything. Anything I want to do in under a minute from any screen at any time. I just couldn't do that on a windows machine.
You get out what you put in. I have spent hours from day one looking for the most productive and intriguing applications that would help me do whatever I needed to do. The result? A machine that I feel is made for ME. Not something anyone can just pick up and use.
I personally haven't used Windows 7 much, but their backup solutions/migration tools have sucked really bad in the past. For current Windows users, I hope they have put some good backup software in it.
This. Why does something have to be better for anyone to use it? If you like OS-X use it--if you don't, use something else. No one really cares.
I personally like both, but I find myself using my Macs a lot more than my PC's. It's just personal preference.
i can tell you that Windows 7 backup system is a pain in the ass, my girlfriend has a Windows pc that I have to mantain, every time her PC is acting weird, slow, etc. I'm the one that has to fix it( I bought my Mac to leave these things behind, go figure...)
Well, this past week once again the computer was acting funny, sometimes using the USBs hangs the full computer or loses the Internet connection, random stuff. I tried everything I can think of but i couldn't fix the #### Windows, so I prepared myself to restore the backup I made with a fresh install... Inserted win DVD, ok...Repair this PC, select the backup, (the restore options are a bit ambiguous by the way) restore the backup, everything seems fine and then...the HORROR
My girlfriend has(had) 3 HD/partitions
C: Windows and applications
D: Documents
B: Backup
God knows why during the repairing process the installer tough it would be cool to mess with the units and changed the unit names like that:
C: Documents
D: Windows and applications
So, you can guess what happened right? The C unit was wiped out, erasing all the documents ( several years of work lost along with musics, pictures, etc).
Nice right?
- I use the image mounting feature quite often. Once in a while I burn a data DVD or an audio CD. And I just used iDVD for the first time yesterday when I tried it out to make sure I wasn't lying to you when I said it could burn Video DVDs. 🙂
I prefer Mac OSX but I don't hate Windows, I've been using Windows for a long time, and I've yet to experience any issues with regards to viruses/spyware/malware, or even BSOD.. The problem is vast majority of the users do not know how to deal with these issues, I see a lot of people often point the finger at Windows, but really its users mistakes that cause all these problems.. Which is exactly why when you install Windows Fresh you will find that it works perfectly, but within months or years users experience performance degradation, it doesn't happen on its own..
Also as far as backing up goes, on the PC side you can always enable Raid 1, what it does is mirrors the hard drive, so no waiting for back ups or anything along those lines, if one hard drive dies you simply boot to the other one without having lost a single file..
Also as far as backing up goes, on the PC side you can always enable Raid 1, what it does is mirrors the hard drive, so no waiting for back ups or anything along those lines, if one hard drive dies you simply boot to the other one without having lost a single file..
IvE been using Pcs since ms dos days and every windows version. So roughly last 25+ years. Last year switched to Mac and have been happy with it. Few things still working on getting used to but no bloatware virus scanner etc for my Mac. Windows great for gamers. Great for doing most anything. But for stability Mac os hands down. Not one issue with osx in just over a year of use. My windows machines always required some kind of maintenance I.e. Spyware scan. Virus can. Etc etc defrag. To ensure it would run fine but never really any major issue. Except drivers. Drivers. And more drivers.
I've personally never used anti-virus/spyware/malware software when using Windows, all I did was take the necessary precautions and never really had any issues..
It's still nice to see that with using Mac OSX I don't have worry where I download from, although thats just the case today, I think its clear that if more and more people use Mac OS that we should expect some serious viruses/malware & spyware to come up.. It'll be interesting to see how Apple deals with it..
It's still nice to see that with using Mac OSX I don't have worry where I download from, although thats just the case today, I think its clear that if more and more people use Mac OS that we should expect some serious viruses/malware & spyware to come up.. It'll be interesting to see how Apple deals with it..
Snipped story to make it shorter, but leave a trace back for reference.
I can tell you that, while I don't have a lot of experience with Windows 7 backup, that's definitely not normal Windows behavior. Why were there separate partitions for Documents/Settings and the OS? I think Windows 7 is capable of automatically creating a partition for a backup (and it's not a backup if it's on the same disk), but TimeMachine is capable of the same thing if you manually create the partition, I bet. I've never tried it, so I don't really know.
Not true. Several different pirated versions of Mac software come with Trojans. A new MACDefender variant doesn't require a password to install. Basically, while there are still exponentially greater amounts of malware for Windows vs OS X, you can't just go around downloading things willy-nilly on OS X either.
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I don't think getting into discussions about whether one is better then the other are constructive, its been pointed out several times that its a personal preference. Having been a windows user since the days of 3.1, I recently switched over to using a Mac full time and let me tell you its a breath of fresh air. The design of the Mac UI is definitely far more intuitive then Windows as far as I am concerned. You never have to go digging very far to find something unlike Windows which is great. Stability, well to be fair, Windows runs on a whole host of different hardware, Apple has it easy, it only runs on their hardware, so that, in my opinion, is an unfair comparison. Windows can be extremely stable, especially the 64 bit versions and I have run Vista and 7 for weeks without issues. Every OS will have its bits here and there that bother people, nothing is remotely close to perfect, and at the end of the day its all about what works best for you.
Not trying to feed the fire, but here is my 2cents.
A lot of people are pointing out features that they like in OSX, but IMO its not
about features. Yes OSX has some great ones, but features come and go. Your not going to change platforms every time a new feature that you like comes out on a different OS? The real reason is how the system works and behaves.
A prime example of this is the file system on OSX. Not only is it easy to find stuff it is in a way kinda modular.
examples,
1. you are finishing up a project on a different machine that what you started with. You can just drop the plist files for the apps you were using in the preferences folder of the new machine and BAM. All your settings are the same.
2. You can drag and drop install programs. (try that on windows, will not work and if it did it would mess up the registry.)
3. you can just drop you old user folder on a new machine and all your app settings, keychain, calendar and contacts data are now on your new computer.
Other things such an UNIX base, quality software, integration make me choose mac.
That being said, PC user don't have to deal with permissions problems 😉
A lot of people are pointing out features that they like in OSX, but IMO its not
about features. Yes OSX has some great ones, but features come and go. Your not going to change platforms every time a new feature that you like comes out on a different OS? The real reason is how the system works and behaves.
A prime example of this is the file system on OSX. Not only is it easy to find stuff it is in a way kinda modular.
examples,
1. you are finishing up a project on a different machine that what you started with. You can just drop the plist files for the apps you were using in the preferences folder of the new machine and BAM. All your settings are the same.
2. You can drag and drop install programs. (try that on windows, will not work and if it did it would mess up the registry.)
3. you can just drop you old user folder on a new machine and all your app settings, keychain, calendar and contacts data are now on your new computer.
Other things such an UNIX base, quality software, integration make me choose mac.
That being said, PC user don't have to deal with permissions problems 😉
You can do that with many windows programs. Just copy the config file or export the registry
Not all apps are installed by dragging or dropping on OSX. iLife, iWork, Aperture, Office, Photoshop, Lightroom etc.
You can do that with windows as well. Admitedly that will only handle some not all settings.
My point here is not to sound like a troll but rather point out what you say is advantages of OSX also work in windows by and large.
Other things such an UNIX base, quality software, integration make me choose mac.
That being said, PC user don't have to deal with permissions problems 😉[/QUOTE]