MAC OS X VS Windows VISTA: Which one shines more?

It's Vista vs. Mac or Mac vs Vista

Windows Vista is facing the challenges from other operating systems, like MAC OS X, Linux. Certainly, no much doubt about that, there is a heated discussion among MAC users and Windows Vista in the battle of supremacy between these two. Some section of users says that MAC shines more than Vista. But, some say that, due to the popularity of its predecessors, Windows Vista will remain as still most wanted operating system of user choice. It thrilled me, to study and write about pros and cons of both operating systems. So, I went ahead & wrote this article about pros and cons. Let us see, what makes big difference between the two operating systems, and which shines more.

4 Updates in Mac OS 10.1 to 10.4

First, let us see the upgrade point of view. Windows Vista is coming as a major update to Windows family of operating systems after a quite long time. The last major update to Windows was Windows XP in 2001. Since then, Microsoft has released only interim update to Windows XP with Service Pack 2. It was the last upgrade to non-server operating systems among Windows.

But, in the same time, Apple has released steady updates to its MAC. MAC OS X has released several upgrades varying from 10.1 to 10.4 and working on 10.5 update. While Apple worked well in bringing these updates, Microsoft just kept working on Longhorn OS. But, Microsoft some how took a super duper decision which chopped off cream from an ice cake, i.e. suspended the development of Windows Longhorn temporarily. The story not ended just there, as it took the years old code base of Windows 2003 Server and used the same for the development of Windows Vista.

It reminds me of old wine in new bottle! This chopping features story further deepened with chopping off the major features, which Microsoft now says inevitable! The removal of new object-based file system called WinFS caused the operating system to go at-par with its predecessors. Still, there are some confusions existing with Microsoft for WinFS. While some say that WinFS will not any more developed, some predict that WinFS will be the optional component in future Service Pack releases for Windows Vista.

Error messages

In terms with displaying error messages, MAC surges well ahead of Windows Vista. MAC displays messages only whenever error occurs in the system. Whereas, Windows, displays some message whenever something occurs in the system. For example, MAC does not display any message, whenever one plugs in or removes simple things like the mouse. Where as, in case of windows, the system gives out a message whenever plugging in something. This sometimes may irritate the user, who expects a fairly good system. However, there will be some section of users, who can argue that it is nice to have messages, which helps us to know whether the attached device gets proper recognition in the system or not.

The discussion continues to User Interface. In any operating system, the user interface forms a bridge between the computer and the users. It is a set of rules and designs, which tells the user, how to make use of the system. In Windows Vista, the User Interface appearance is not consistent, from application to application. The User Interface appears differently in programs like word, IE 7.0, from the default Windows user interface. Where as, in MAC, the User Interface remains the same in different applications.

My computer to computer – But where is My computer?

One can note that, in Vista, the “My Computer” item has been changed to just “Computer”. Many see this change as a non significant change. Moreover, the Window controls in Windows Vista have changed to be smaller and flatter than the Windows controls in Windows XP. They do not reach on the top of window anymore. Some experts are of opinion that the Window control in Windows Vista has got the same appearance which is similar to that of Apple’s MAC. Some even criticize Microsoft for that. But, MAC on the other hand, had an interface change during 2001 and has maintained the same window controls, its behavior, and its appearance till now, though there were many releases for MAC OS X till to date. It is sometimes, difficult to get the user adjusted to the new user interface although it appears nice to see, particularly when one works in Windows Vista at office and Windows XP at home that is, at two different places with two different similar operating systems. Some feel that the User Interface changes to Windows Vista were not needed at this point of time.

“Add or remove Programs” to “Programs and Features”

The following thing is something which may make user to get confused. In Windows XP, there was an item called “Add or remove Programs” in the control panel. But, in Windows Vista, Microsoft simply renamed the item to have it named as “Programs and Features”. What is this mean? There are may be so many such meaningless renaming has taken place. Microsoft have to take a serious note of it and correct it before it releases its so called patches, updates, etc. known as service packs. Microsoft has moved some useful items in the control panel. They have introduced a new item called “Personalization”. According to Microsoft, one can change display settings, mouse settings and keyboard settings individually. So, they claim that it is a rightful move. But, for Windows XP user, it difficult to find these items which were once accessed directly in the control panel itself. MAC on the other hand made changes to these things during the release of version 10.3, and have not gone further to make any such changes.

Confusion between authentication & approval

Windows Vista confuses the meaning of authentication with approval. It is one and the same in case of Windows Vista. The User Account Control will not prompt for any password. Instead, it just display the program name, owner of the program etc. and ask your permission to continue, displays two buttons, “Continue” and “Cancel”. Read the bottom line of the dialog, which says “User Account Control helps stop unauthorized changes to your computer”. It would have served the purpose, if there is a prompt for administrator password got appeared in the dialog. Microsoft may say that, users were authenticated before entering desktop itself. But, that is not fair, especially when some other person other than the authorized make use of the system, after authenticated by the authorized person once. On the other hand, MAC prompts for password before continuing accessing system preferences or allowing installation program to continue etc.

Two useless dialogs

Windows Vista displays two useless dialogs before continuing installation of programs. The first dialog will be the Security Warning dialog. This dialog is associated with launching the setup file of the program. The second dialog which will get displayed immediately after clicking the run button is a User Account Control dialog. The program continues to the next level, only if “Continue” button is clicked. The two dialogs are designed in such way that, the first time users may get fear, confusions to continue on seeing such dialogs.

Better networking in Mac OS X

In networking too MAC OS X surges ahead than Windows Vista, particularly, in knowing your systems IP address. In case of MAC, one needs just three clicks to get the IP address. First click on the Apple Menu. Next click on "System Preferences," click on "Network" and you get all the information you needed including the all important IP address, in one single dialog. Whereas, Windows Vista, needs at least 6 clicks for knowing IP address. Of, course one can go to Network and Sharing Center in just three clicks. But, from there on, one may have to climb a hill to get the IP address. It is simply annoying the users as there are no meaningful words that would have got the required information easily.

One can see icons for Computer, Network and the internet. But, on clicking them, one gets particular window opened. One needs to click on View Status in the Connection window. This of course, shows what kind of IPv4/IPv6 connectivity I have, the media state, how long I stayed on the network, my network speed and how many bytes used during the connect (both in and out bytes separately). To get the IP address, which I need, just click on the “Details”. The IP address gets displayed. Vista process of getting the IP address details is a more time consuming task, when compared to MAC OS X.

Now, one can weigh both the operating systems. Though it appears as Windows Vista is better off compared to MAC OS X, it is the MAC which surges ahead in terms of its ability, reducing number of clicks to get particular information such as IP address etc. MAC is also more secured than Windows Vista when it comes to the User Account Control prompts, while installing programs. Windows Vista makes silly changes to My Computer, My Network Places, by just renaming them to just Computer, Network Places.

Although Windows Vista stays popular based on the popularity of its predecessors, MAC offers a stiff challenge, by making best use of the drawbacks of Windows Vista, which are not yet corrected or which are not properly attended.