Windows7How

Microsoft Windows7 vs. Apple Snow Leopard

September 16, 2009

Two of the biggest operating system developers (at least, the commercial ones), Microsoft and Apple are about to release almost at the same time the newest versions of their operating systems – Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. Even now, a lot of people have started debating which one will attract more customers and be able to deal with the increasing and more specific demands of the users.

But the important question is whether one can make a comparison. Which segments should be compared, what kind of tests should be run and for what group of users? Should one pay special attention on the rough power of the OS, or should one take into the consideration the accessibility and the usage of the system as well. The questions may be many, but the answers are quite few.

One thing is certain, though. All of the operating systems look alike. So from the appearance of the GUI (graphical user interface), the only changes that are being made are on the form and style of the GUI and the way data and applications are accessed. In addition, the core is being optimized so that it can utilize all of the potentials of the ever powerful hardware. Microsoft has been known to “barrow” an idea or two from the Linux operating systems. On the other hand, Apple has also been known to get their hands on some of the other technologies and integrate them in their own operating systems. Linux developers do not stay put either. Wanting to offer the users a more simplified and appealing operating system, Linux is looking more and more as the Windows and the Apple operating systems.

Nevertheless, it is how it is. The two giants are releasing their newest versions and soon enough we will witness one more epic battle for more customers. This battle will be fought all around the world and will most likely resemble the Goliath versus Goliath battle (Not David vs. Goliath; that would be far too easy). We will set aside our personal preferences and try to compare and contrast the basic elements that are important for each operating system. Ultimately, we will let you decide which will prove to be better and more worthy of your time.

We will start with the most basic and important thing – the core of the system. We wrote about the numerous differences in the core of Windows 7. Basically, though it looks like the one in Vista, the differences are in the way the system is dealing with the tasks and resources. Also, some of the applications are now visually more appealing and with improved functionality. It seems that there will not be many visual differences in Snow Leopard X10.6. Some of the changes will be evident in the other aspects of the core itself.

One of the most important characteristics that each operating system should possess is the boot and shut down time. As much as this may seem irrelevant, it actually shows how many processes are initialized (and subsequently terminated). This is a good indicator of how much memory the system consumes while working and how fast it will respond to the issued commands. Unlike its predecessor, we can notice a huge progress in the boot/shut down time in Windows 7. Before, we were able to boot the Vista OS in 40 seconds. Now, we have been informed that users can do the same thing in Windows 7 for 11 seconds, which is a great news. The Snow Leopard developers did not pay much attention on this aspect, claiming that that has not been an issue in their operating systems. Still, they do mention that the new leopard will boot 1.75 times faster than its predecessor, which also proves that progress has been made in this section as well.

When discussing the system in this stage of development, we should also mention the so called footprint that is left by the operating system, that is, the notification of how much space is needed for successful installation of the system. Snow leopard is making great progress, since according to Apple, for the installation of their OS you will need 5GB of free space, whereas for the installation of Windows 7, Microsoft warns that you will need 16GB of space for the 32 bit version or 20GB of space for the 64 bit version of the OS. But in the installation of Windows 7, all of the applications, games and codex are included (whereas in Snow Leopard, parts of them are excluded).

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Tags: apple, boot, boot time, gui, linux, microsoft, snow leopard, vista, windows 7