The War Of The Operating System's
Posts like Windows vs Mac vs Linux are quite common now a days especially with the launch of Ubuntu 8.10. People prove how one operating system is better than other through benchmarks, but today we will not compare any benchmarks like other. This post will tell you which Operating system is better than the other on pure usability terms.
Installation
So first lets talk about the Default looks and installation procedure of the 3 OS'es. The OS X Installer looks great and so does that of Vista. Ubuntu's installer is quite dull and not at all pleasing to the eyes. In terms of ease of installation, Vista and OS X are quite close to each other, Ubuntu's installation is also easy but if you select Manual Partitioning then you have to select the “root” and the “swap” partition which the newbie's may not understand. After that installation is fairly quick and simple and Ubuntu even detects your other Windows Partition and imports your documents and files as well.
Ease Of Use
All operating systems are user friendly to use, all of them has some nice features like the expose feature in OS X, the panel in Ubuntu where you can add some useful quick launch buttons. The Spotlight in OS X is present in Ubuntu as well in the form of Deskbar. Vista has the powerful start menu with Search features which is extremely useful as well. Installing Applications in Mac is quite easy and so is it in Ubuntu thanks to the Add/Remove and Synaptic Package Manager but if you get hold of an app which is not there in the Resporiteries then you have to compile the app so that you can install it which is not so easy. Users are quite happy with the way applications are installed in Windows Vista so no complaints regarding that. Installing apps in OS X is also quite easy, just drag n drop the installation file to the applications directory and the application would be installed but one problem with OS X installation file is that they are quite heavy. For Eg if Opera for Windows weighs 6Mb then Opera for Mac OS X weighs around 14Mb. So people with slow internet connections should keep this in mind.
In terms of resource usage Ubuntu wins! Vista needs 2GB Ram to function properly and Mac needs 1Gb RAM to function properly while Ubuntu can function smoothly on a system which has only 512Mb RAM. Aero effect of Vista is also quite resource hungry and the same effect can be applied in both Ubuntu and Mac quite easily! In terms of installation of themes, Ubuntu and Mac are quite user friendly and you can install themes by “drag n drop” while in Vista you have to patch your system files to install themes and they may very well corrupt your system files thus forcing you to reinstall Windows. Hardware compatibility is something which we cannot ignore. Here some people may say Mac OS X wins because everything works out of the box in OS X but we must keep in mind that Mac runs on selective hardware, unlike Windows and Ubuntu. Windows as well all know has the largest user base, and thus the lack of drivers for all kind of hardware's even in the latest version of Vista is something which we must get used to. We cannot blame Microsoft for not developing drivers for various hardware's, its the fault of the Hardware Company. Microsoft unlike Apple does not make drivers for various hardware's so its senseless to blame Microsoft for it, and there are many work arounds if you cannot find the driver for the latest gadget you got and some of these workarounds end up in giving up the dreaded BSOD. Ubuntu's condition is also the same in terms of hardware compatibility. Consider my PC as an example, Ubuntu 8.04 just refused to run on my PC while Ubuntu 8.10 runs flawlessly and it even detected my 22” LCD!
The Final Word !
Ubuntu, OS X and Vista all have been stable for me, but performance of Vista degrades significantly with time while the performance of Ubuntu and OS X more or less remain the same. To keep Vista running at its peak you have to maintain it regularly by defragmenting your partition and for that we need to use 3rd party software since the inbuilt Windows Defragmenter is just useless. Also major thing i would like to point out is that i really did not like the Dock of OS X for multitasking, its a big hindrance. It significantly slowed down the speed of my multitasking, other users may not agree with me here especially the Mac Fanboy's but then again thats my own personal view. OS X is good for developers, its not that useful for normal users. I was completely blown away by the softwares available for development in OSX. But one must keep in mind that nearly 99% of the apps available for Mac is paid and thus owning a Mac can be a costly affair. Windows will and always have the largest user base just because people have got used to it and only a revolution can change this. Ubuntu is one of the best kept secret to the public.
One big reason alone why i would say people to shift to Ubuntu is the lack of virus, now a days everyone's PC's get infected with viruses and even the best of the antivirus is unable to remove it and it creates a lot of trouble for the users.
In the end i would say that there is no clear winner in this war of the Operating System's, and there wont be ever! This war will go on and on, you, your grandchildren and their grandchildren all will witness this never ending war and in the end it will benefit us the users!
This post has been written by Rajesh Pandey who is a "hardware related category " freak , he loves trying different OSs out the moment they come out , A Sony Ericcson Fanboy and a great modder,helps people out in every way possible, a blogger at Life of Rajesh and of course a great friend !
Posts like Windows vs Mac vs Linux are quite common now a days especially with the launch of Ubuntu 8.10. People prove how one operating system is better than other through benchmarks, but today we will not compare any benchmarks like other. This post will tell you which Operating system is better than the other on pure usability terms.
Installation
So first lets talk about the Default looks and installation procedure of the 3 OS'es. The OS X Installer looks great and so does that of Vista. Ubuntu's installer is quite dull and not at all pleasing to the eyes. In terms of ease of installation, Vista and OS X are quite close to each other, Ubuntu's installation is also easy but if you select Manual Partitioning then you have to select the “root” and the “swap” partition which the newbie's may not understand. After that installation is fairly quick and simple and Ubuntu even detects your other Windows Partition and imports your documents and files as well.
Ease Of Use
All operating systems are user friendly to use, all of them has some nice features like the expose feature in OS X, the panel in Ubuntu where you can add some useful quick launch buttons. The Spotlight in OS X is present in Ubuntu as well in the form of Deskbar. Vista has the powerful start menu with Search features which is extremely useful as well. Installing Applications in Mac is quite easy and so is it in Ubuntu thanks to the Add/Remove and Synaptic Package Manager but if you get hold of an app which is not there in the Resporiteries then you have to compile the app so that you can install it which is not so easy. Users are quite happy with the way applications are installed in Windows Vista so no complaints regarding that. Installing apps in OS X is also quite easy, just drag n drop the installation file to the applications directory and the application would be installed but one problem with OS X installation file is that they are quite heavy. For Eg if Opera for Windows weighs 6Mb then Opera for Mac OS X weighs around 14Mb. So people with slow internet connections should keep this in mind.
In terms of resource usage Ubuntu wins! Vista needs 2GB Ram to function properly and Mac needs 1Gb RAM to function properly while Ubuntu can function smoothly on a system which has only 512Mb RAM. Aero effect of Vista is also quite resource hungry and the same effect can be applied in both Ubuntu and Mac quite easily! In terms of installation of themes, Ubuntu and Mac are quite user friendly and you can install themes by “drag n drop” while in Vista you have to patch your system files to install themes and they may very well corrupt your system files thus forcing you to reinstall Windows. Hardware compatibility is something which we cannot ignore. Here some people may say Mac OS X wins because everything works out of the box in OS X but we must keep in mind that Mac runs on selective hardware, unlike Windows and Ubuntu. Windows as well all know has the largest user base, and thus the lack of drivers for all kind of hardware's even in the latest version of Vista is something which we must get used to. We cannot blame Microsoft for not developing drivers for various hardware's, its the fault of the Hardware Company. Microsoft unlike Apple does not make drivers for various hardware's so its senseless to blame Microsoft for it, and there are many work arounds if you cannot find the driver for the latest gadget you got and some of these workarounds end up in giving up the dreaded BSOD. Ubuntu's condition is also the same in terms of hardware compatibility. Consider my PC as an example, Ubuntu 8.04 just refused to run on my PC while Ubuntu 8.10 runs flawlessly and it even detected my 22” LCD!
The Final Word !
Ubuntu, OS X and Vista all have been stable for me, but performance of Vista degrades significantly with time while the performance of Ubuntu and OS X more or less remain the same. To keep Vista running at its peak you have to maintain it regularly by defragmenting your partition and for that we need to use 3rd party software since the inbuilt Windows Defragmenter is just useless. Also major thing i would like to point out is that i really did not like the Dock of OS X for multitasking, its a big hindrance. It significantly slowed down the speed of my multitasking, other users may not agree with me here especially the Mac Fanboy's but then again thats my own personal view. OS X is good for developers, its not that useful for normal users. I was completely blown away by the softwares available for development in OSX. But one must keep in mind that nearly 99% of the apps available for Mac is paid and thus owning a Mac can be a costly affair. Windows will and always have the largest user base just because people have got used to it and only a revolution can change this. Ubuntu is one of the best kept secret to the public.
One big reason alone why i would say people to shift to Ubuntu is the lack of virus, now a days everyone's PC's get infected with viruses and even the best of the antivirus is unable to remove it and it creates a lot of trouble for the users.
In the end i would say that there is no clear winner in this war of the Operating System's, and there wont be ever! This war will go on and on, you, your grandchildren and their grandchildren all will witness this never ending war and in the end it will benefit us the users!
This post has been written by Rajesh Pandey who is a "hardware related category " freak , he loves trying different OSs out the moment they come out , A Sony Ericcson Fanboy and a great modder,helps people out in every way possible, a blogger at Life of Rajesh and of course a great friend !
About the Author
