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Apple Mac Leopard or Microsoft Windows Vista? You decide.

Submitted by techronnati on Friday, 6 June 20084 Comments

Yes, we’re almost in the midpart of 2008… and you’ve been delicately considering to migrate and purchase a brand new laptop/notebook with a new Operating System. The big question is … would you upgrade your current Windows XP Professional to Windows Vista, your MAC Tiger to Leopard or would you consider switching now from Windows XP to Leopard as its OS (Operating System)? Dilemma? With so many new personal computers and imacs distributed across the region, one is definitely puzzled. I know there might be not so many mac-fanatics out there who aren’t very much impressed with what has come within Leopards much like Windows fanatics not happy with Vista. But to each and his own, they are entitled with their beliefs and experience. Arguments are boundless and we respect there opinion. But in my case, since i used to be a developer i used to have Windows XP Professional as my development platform for all of my business applications, hereso, i might resort to Windows Vista. After all, Windows XP comes from Microsoft and based from some technical reviews i read before they say Vista is great. But then again, there has been some speculations too and I just dont know if there some truth to that …claiming that Windows Vista isnt secure anymore… then i might switch on to Leopard. Some of my local friends around say they pretty much enjoy their experience in Mac Leopard… sleek design, nice interface, user friendly and secure, definitely good for blogging,multimedia and photoshop experience. Hmmmm, I mumbled thinking most of my digital artist friends are MAC users. But wait a minute… while both camps are trying to pursuade each others’ customers and meeting individual’s taste for OS satisfaction, i have no other choice but to research personally some of its advantages and disadvantages, compare mano-o-mano which I think is the best operating… of course it all boils down to each and personal needs and preferences. As i look and gaze around the pages of the internet, i happen to stumble upon this comparison chart by ITComparison.com which I thought sharing this with you guys especially for those planning migrating their business applications or taking advantage with the new desktop experience.

Feature	Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard VS MS Windows Vista
Company	Apple	Microsoft
Website	www.apple.com	www.microsoft.com
Platforms	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard	Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium Vista Business Vista Ultimate
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: One package with all the features Vista: Product available in four versions each with its own specific features which can be confusing for a first time user
Virtual Desktops	Yes	No
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: With the help of Virtual Desktops (called Spaces) of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard you can have one desktop open for work and another for gaming and still another one for multimedia, all at the same time, without having to work on one cluttered desktop. To see Mac Virtual Desktops (Spaces) click here Vista: Not applicable
Touch screen	No	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Third party applications needed to enable touch screen. Vista: Navigation Use is integrated
Built-in Security Anti-Virus Encrypted, Signed Email Email Filtering Smart Card Supported Firewall Parental Controls Data Safety Default Security Permanent Deletion	No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes	No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No, require third party
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Firewall: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Firewall not turned on by default, but when its turned on its quite efficient Vista: Firewall turned on by default, but not that sufficient a third party firewall app is highly recommended. Data Safety – Shares: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Shares are password protected by default, which is a great life safer for the beginners. Shares are turned off by default. Vista: Shares require password protection to be enabled (not enabled by default), a great hole most newbie’s fall in and make their data available to every one not just hackers. When a data share is setup then your laptop/PC is hooked up directly to the internet without enabling the password protection (b/c you don’t know or forgot to) your data will be open to the whole world. A small scan on your ISP Range will show you how many of these Vista users are there with the shares open to the public enjoy the surf . Some shares are enabled by default!!! Data Safety – Data Protection: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Automatic encryption of contents of home directory for data safety. A great security major that windows still can’t match. Vista: Allows Password-based protection of data (not enabled by default). No encryption is done. Security Loopholes & Hacking: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Mac is less prone to security loopholes and hacking. Comes with MacScan for internet security. Although MacScan is not totally free its far better than the free Windows Defender the come with Vista. Vista: Vista suffers quite more security loopholes and hacking breach than Mac running out of the box. Comes with Windows Defender for internet security. (Almost useless on its own third party is definitely a must) Permanent Deletion: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Leopard offers Secure Erase Trash which ensure files erased that way can’t be reconstructed and securely erased by writing over it erroneous data several times. Vista: Vista does not offer any similar feature by default, but fee-based third party application are available.
Backup	Time Machine	Backup & Restore Center. Previous Version. Shadow Copy.
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Time machine is quite easy and fast to you. Its quite how backup should be. Vista: Vista with Backup & Restore, Previous Version, and Shadow Copy combined usage can offer an almost similar feature of Mac Time machine, but with the easy and efficiency time machine offer.
Programs Inbuilt	Mail iCal iChat Safari browser iPhoto iMovie iLife Sherlock	Windows Mail Calendar Messenger IE 7 browser Photo Gallery Movie Maker
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: More than 300 inbuilt programs according to Apple. Sherlock allows presentation of useful information without using web browser Safari is a bit faster and quite more secure than IE Vista: Number of applications & features vary depending on the Vista versions.
Command Line	Very powerful shell, almost as complete set of commands as Linux shell.	Dos Command prompt. Not much to offer.
Programs for the disabled	Speech-to-text commands VoiceOver text-to-speech narration Braille support	Speech-to-text commands and dictation typing Narrator text-to-speech narration magnifier onscreen keyboard
ITComparison Team Comments	Both Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard & Vista offers Multiple programs for use with any disability.
Business Tools	Remote Desktop Screen Sharing iChat Theater Apache	Remote Desktop Windows Live Meetings Windows Live Messenger IIS
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Integrated web server is Apache which is the most used web server on the web. Its as well the most secure between the two. Vista: Integrated web server is IIS, which suffers a lot of security & performance wholes. In the other hand, you can still install the lovely Apache if you desire.
Auto Updates	Yes	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Available out of the box. Vista: Registration required. Popup gives options about downloading available updates.
Technical Support	Yes	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Available Vista: Available
Hardware Performance Tools	No	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: No inbuilt assessment tool for optimizing hardware Vista: Inbuilt hardware assessment tool for hardware optimization
Computer Accessories Sharing	Yes	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard & Vista offers Sharing of computer accessories like printer.
Bluetooth Capability	Yes	Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Secure and easy Vista: Sometimes will not configure properly to the bluetooth even when compatible, and less secure.
TV	Apple TV	Windows Media Center Recording feature of TV Shows
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Leopard does not allow recording of TV shows Vista: VISTA Recording feature for TV shows is only available in Premium & Ultimate
Gaming Gaming Network Support	OpenGL supports 32-Bit and 64-Bit No	Direct X10 APIs Supports 32-Bit & 64-Bit, Also support XBox 360 Yes
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Gaming Network Support Not applicable Vista: Xbox Live
Media	QuickTime Player	Windows Media Player
ITComparison Team Comments	Both Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard & Vista offers a descent media player with the first one offering a bit more secure player.
Parallelization	Yes	No
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Boot Camp (included with Intel Macs) allows 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista applications to run. Fusion or Parallel 2.0 can be used to run Windows or Linux OS simultaneously. Windows and Linux applications will run as Mac applications. One of the main reason to consider Mac as you will still have all your Linux, Windows apps running, but in addition you will get Mac apps. Vista: Can be used along side many other OS in dual boot configuration. Leopard will not run on Vista
System Requirements
Processor	Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor	1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
RAM	512MB	Vista Basic – 512MB Home Premium / Business / Ultimate – 1GB
Disk Space	9GB of available disk space	Vista Basic – 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space Home Premium / Business / Ultimate – 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Lower System Resources required compared to most of Vista Versions Vista: Apart from the Vista Basic, the Home Premium / Business / Ultimate require a higher amount of System requirements
Performance On equivalent hardware + Stability	Higher	Lower
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Optimize the usage of resource and perform quite well. Highly Stable Vista: Vista is a resources HOG and will not operate well with less than 2 GB of ram. Can have few crashes every now and then, It got better after few months with many patches being released.
Pricing	Leopard Price starts from US$110 at amazon.com	Vista Price starts from US$150 at amazon.com
ITComparison Team Comments -: Mac OSX Tiger/Leopard vs MS Windows Vista :-	Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Pricing including all features Vista: Price varies depending on the Vista

By reading and analyzing the chart above, i hope it gave some clearer view and some points to ponder whether to switch or not to switch OS… Now you decide!!! But if you’re rich enough, why not buy 2 notebook PCs with different OS? Isn’t that cool? It’s just simply saying you’re taking advantages the Best of Both Worlds… hehehe. =P

Update: For more discussions on this pls visit. http://www.techronnati.com/forum/software-comparison/what-s-the-difference-between-vista-and-mac-os-x-t90.html

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4 Comments »

Jaffer Haider said:

Nice roundup. I’m having to decide between Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Home Premium these days (as my laptop came with XP Home, and I’m a web dev, so Home won’t work for me).

After researching a lot online, I think I’m going to stick with Windows XP. Even though my laptop’s hardware is 100% compatible with Vista, I still don’t want to risk application compatibility, and Vista is a resource hog when compared to XP. I really wish Vista had been slightly better, because I’m not too happy about buying XP, since it’s not going to be supported by Microsoft in the near future.

What would you recommend?

- 7 June 2008 at 2:16 am

talksmart said:

Hi. This blog is nominated for the Filipino Blog of the Week awards (week 112). Please visit the site and vote

- 7 June 2008 at 12:33 pm

techronnati said:

Hi Jaffer Haider,
Thanks for dropping by. Hmm, having said that all i think you stay put with windows xp professional…. primarily because, its safe, stable and most of all secure plus the fact that most of the gadgets and peripherals around are still working around with compatibility issues with their product against vista. Even here in the office where i use to work, Windows Vista is still not the word of mouth…. and i think this would probably take a little while for them to decide because as you say… compatibility issues.

Well actually i am working with 2 different OS. One is Windows XP Professional SP2 at the office, another one is windows Vista Ultimate. Yep i have the ultimate package… just got it at the discounted price. What i did was… i migrated my Toshiba laptop.. from XP-> to Vista Ultimate. (i got my laptop with installed xp professional – then its vista compatible as well so i thought upgrading it). i tell you! It was horrible! I thought meeting the minimum requirements would be enough for the upgrade but it was NOT! i used to start from 512 MB RAM then i purchased another 2GB RAM. The performance improved dramatically. But as i evaluate it having 2.5 GB RAM (total RAM i got in my laptop), still windows vista ultimate is slow especially the copy and paste utility function. It’s really memory eater + compatibility issues sucks all the time! Probably around 3GB RAM or 4GB RAM would add up speed performance. But i’ll probably stay with this resource (2.5GB) or probably use my windows XP Prof at the office to work on my other projects or uninstall some programs that i dont use anymore- i have almost all the needed programs for web and database developer. But to conclude it, vista ultimate is just ok for me… – nothing much impressive… maybe the windows aero thing (?) or some cool cosmetic effects (?),layout + some new features like windows ready (using USB to add more memory) + Reliability and Performance check feature but if you are not really into those then stay put with windows XP Prof. Besides if your just after the effects,layout cosmetics and side bars then there’s the WIndows transformation program for XP. You can actually download that for free. You see comparing it with windows xp prof, windows vista is not yet stable pls see this article: http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Windows-Vista-Not-as-Stable-as-Windows-XP-54357.shtml … so maybe when the market is saturated already thats the perfect time to migrate for windows Vista… but only time can tell this…let us do digging, researching, knowing the trend and seeing the progress on this matter. I’m also monitoring this little by little as am testing my applications side by side with windows XP and Vista simultaneously (only if i have time to test them separately hehe.. its quite tedious you know =P. But this is the sacrifice i have to make having Vista =C )

I havent tried the Ultimate SP1 update yet but i wonder if that would have an effect or not.

Oh by the way, there’s windows XP Prof sp 3 available.. maybe you can try that for now =)

- 7 June 2008 at 4:36 pm

techronnati said:

Wow Thanks talksmart!!!!… Hope everyone would vote for me =))

- 7 June 2008 at 4:37 pm

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