Leopard vs. Vista: feature chart showdown

There's no doubt, Vista and Leopard are both extremely advanced, feature rich consumer operating systems. But way back in January when Vista launched knew we had little choice but pit the two in a head to head chartngraph Thunderdome competition. We know we're not even going to be able to stop the epic fanboy arguments about break out over this one, so we just ask that you try to keep it fair. Leopard vs. Vista: it's on.

NOTE: This chart is only for out of box features, and does not take into account 3rd party software. We realize that with a few choice apps this chart would look completely different -- but that's not what we're after here.

• Green indicates a category with more and/or better features, and generally a better user experience.
  
• Red indicates that a category not quite up to snuff. Either it doesn't yet exist in the OS or it just sucks more than the alternative.
  
• † (dagger) indicates a category we think are too subjective or not similar enough to judge. These do not have any clear winner.
• ‡ (double dagger) indicates a category that is in many ways subjective, but that we feel one category is still ahead. Your own tastes may vary.
  
• Notes help out with a little background, where appropriate.

	Leopard	Vista	Comments / notes
UI
Accessibility	Integrated Braille input / output, voice synthesis, high contrast interface, etc.	Voice synthesis, high contrast interface, etc.
Fancy file browsing	Cover Flow, Quick Look	Preview pane, extra large icon view
Find windows	Exposé	Flip 3D
Indexed search †	Spotlight	Instant Search, Search Folders
Shell / window environment †	Aqua ("Illuminous" / unified)	Aero ("Glass")
Tablet and touchscreen	Nope	Yep	We know Apple has Ink, but that doesn't exactly make your Mac a tablet computer
Virtual desktops	Spaces	Nope
Software
Backup	Time Machine	Backup and Restore Center, ShadowCopy, Previous Versions	Whereas Time Machine may be easier to use than Windows Backup and Restore Center, Vista does feature all the same (if not more) backup features
Browser †	Safari 3	Internet Explorer 7	What can we say, we like Opera!
Calendar	iCal	Windows Calendar
Collaboration	Screen sharing from Finder or iChat	Windows Meeting Space	This one's hard to call; Apple has better ease of use, but Windows Meeting Space is more powerful -- so both win
Contacts	Address Book	Windows Contacts
Email ‡	Mail.app	Windows Mail
File manager	Upgraded Finder	Upgraded Explorer	The new finder is great, no doubt, but it lacks the raw power of Explorer
Faxing and scanning	CUPS + location aware printing	Windows Fax and Scan	It's arguable that Windows may have more powerful printing capabilities, but OS X is far better at printer plug-and-play
Legacy app support †	Rosetta	WOW64 (32-bit emulation in 64-bit Windows)	More info on WOW64 here
IM	iChat	Windows Live Messenger	Whether or not you like iChat, you can't deny it supports more protocols.
Preview files	Quick Look	Preview pane
RSS / feed reader	In Safari and Mail.app	In IE7
Speech recognition	Yep	Yep
Text editing	TextEdit	WordPad	Apple included Word 2007 and OpenDocument support in the new TextEdit -- WordPad still doesn't support Word 2007
Transfer	Mac Migration assistant, Back to My Mac (with .Mac)	Windows Easy Transfer	We might have tied this one despite Back to My Mac, but WET just doesn't work very well.
Video calling	Yep	Yep
Widgets †	Dashboard*	Windows Sidebar	*Now with .Mac sync and Dashcode
Media
Media interface	Front Row	Media Center (only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition)
Media hardware support	Apple TV	Media Center Extenders, Xbox 360	Yeah, the Apple TV's good and all, but MCEs and Xbox 360 have a lot of features that ATV just doesn't have (HDTV streaming, video downloads, etc.)
Record TV	Nope	Yep
NTSC and ATSC tuners	Nope	Yep
CableCARD / DCT tuners	Nope	Yep (x4)
DVD authoring †	iDVD	DVD Maker
DVD playback (out of the box)	Yep (DVD Player)	Some versions of Vista (but not all)	More info on Vista DVD playback.
HD disc playback (out of the box)	Nope	Nope	Macs can play DVD Studio Pro authored HD DVDs, but we're not really counting that
Media player †	iTunes, Quicktime	Windows Media Player 11
Photos ‡	iPhoto	Windows Photo Gallery
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)	Yep	Nope*	*Vista CAN support A2DP, but only via 3rd party drivers
Video editing	iMovie	Windows Movie Maker (with HD)
System tools
Activation	Nope	Windows Activation
Automation (user)	Automator (with UI recording), AppleScript	Nope
Data detection	Address, phone number, etc.	Nope
Remote desktop (host)	Yep (VNC and X)	Available only in Business and Ultimate
Screen capture	Integrated	Snipping Tool application
System registry	Nope	Unfortunately
To-dos (tasks)	Yep (from Mail, iCal, etc.)	Yep (From Windows Calendar)
Networking and connectivity
IPv6	Yep	Yep
Networking tools	Network Setup Assistant, Finder with AutoFS, Bonjour	Network Center (Network Explorer, Map, Setup, Awareness, Projector), DLNA	Both provide tools for different networking needs, and we feel both are strong for different uses
Self-tuning TCP	Yep	Yep
Wireless	WiFi with WPA 2 support	WiFi with WPA 2 support	Vista shows signal strength indicators for its available network list, why the hell can't Leopard? (OS X does organize available networks by signal strength, though.)
Security
Antivirus	Nope	Nope
Encrypted, signed email	Yep	Yep
Email filtering	Spam filter for Mail.app	Junk and phishing filters in Windows Mail
Parental controls	Time quotas, usage schedules, granular application permissions, log viewer, remote access	Windows Family Safety Settings: time quotas, usage schedules, log viewer, some app permissions, and ESRB game support
Library randomization	Yep	Yep
Malware	Downloaded app tagging, signed applications, sandboxed apps	Windows Defender and Malicious Software Removal Tool, signed applications,
Smart Card support	Yep	Yep
VPN	PPTP and L2TP over IPSec	PPTP and L2TP over IPSec
Gaming
Graphics core	OpenGL, Core Animation	DirectX 10
Game network	None	Xbox Live Anywhere
Performance and hardware
Architecture	32 and 64-bit support	32 and 64-bit support*	Windows in 64-bit may require different drivers to function properly, many of which haven't yet been ported; Leopard supports 64-bit transparently with no differences in drivers or software
Auto-defrag	Yep	Yep
Auxiliary display	Nope	SideShow
Drive encryption	FileVault with AES256 support	EFS and Vista BitLocker	While we're sure neither will be easily cracked, Apple gets extra points for using AES256
Drive partitioning	BootCamp	Disk Management	Both work well, but Apple supports moving files between partitions
Multiple OS support	Yep	Yep
Network projector	Nope	Yep
Network storage	AirPort disk	Windows Home Server
Optimization	The usual multitasking	Windows SuperFetch and Windows ReadyDrive
Sync (device)	iSync	Windows Mobile Device Center
Sync (network)	Nope*	Windows Sync Center	*We're not counting .Mac sync, this is more about machine to machine
Usage profiling	Location awareness (network, power, printing)	Mobility Center (network profiles, sync, battery / power, etc.)
USB caching	Nope	Windows ReadyBoost
Business
Domain support	Active Domain, Workgroup Manager, External Accounts*	Active Domain (Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate only)	*New feature that allows your system account / home directory to be stored on an encrypted USB drive
Integrated web server †	Apache	IIS (Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate)
Presentation mode	Nope	Yep (Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate)
Other
Upgradeable to different version †	N/A	Windows Upgrade Anytime

Final score
Leopard: 46
Vista: 41

So, did we forget anything? Let us know, this chart ain't static, and we'll be updating as necessary. (And don't say Ubuntu / Linux / BSD -- we'll save that for another time.)

Updated: Yeah, we've been reading the comments and have made some updates to the chart (as we said we would!). Vista's search and preview panes definitely deserve more recognition, which is now reflected. A2DP in Vista, however, is only via 3rd party drivers, so we're not counting that as an out of box thing. And yes, we know, iLife isn't included in Leopard, but it IS bundled with all Macs, so it's fair game.

[Jay B Sauceda @ Oct 27th 2007 4:44PM]

Let the warring of fanboys begin...

[Trogdor @ Oct 27th 2007 6:38PM]

yeah lets preview what topics the fanboys will shout about
1-Gaming
2-iPod vs Zune
3-Useless nuh-uh-ing

am I forgetting anything?

[LegendZ28 @ Oct 27th 2007 6:14PM]

Don't vote his comment down. That's all this article is. It's meant to get on sites like Digg and drive traffic. Let's face it, the chart isn't exactly unbiased, comprehensive or even well constructed. It's just meant to get people arguing.

[Mr. Gray @ Oct 27th 2007 8:57PM]

Let the rants from those who spend their time reading fan-boy wars begin.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 27th 2007 8:45PM]

Well observed.

[Hollywood Ron @ Oct 28th 2007 4:29AM]

Legend: Because Engadget needs Digg traffic.

[Blaine Oliver @ Oct 28th 2007 6:40AM]

Wouldnt gaming be worth more than 1 point? It is worth more so 20 points to many and DX10 wheres that? Either way, the majority of people use microsoft, and there are more vista than leopard users, doesnt this signify that maybe even though its been out longer, that vista is better?

[Blaine Oliver @ Oct 29th 2007 5:19PM]

So the jist of what people vote on here is if they like the os someone uses? So i get marked down because i prefer vista? Thats not a clustering for the fuckwit fanboys is it?

[rationality @ Jan 19th 2008 7:51AM]

-Blaine Oliver

More people buying Vista is not a sign of more people liking Vista. It's a sign of more people buying Vista.
e.g. Someone has 50 Windows apps. They need to upgrade to make sure they don't get left behind. Why would they buy Leopard when they'd have to spend hundreds on new apps?

[Eric @ Oct 27th 2007 4:43PM]

first?

[The Grand Master @ Oct 27th 2007 5:35PM]

Typing upside down is cool, but is seriously pointless, when its really hard to turn your screen upside down! Only laptop users are gonna be able to read what you say!

[Jeff @ Oct 27th 2007 9:00PM]

Well, unless your like me and can read upside down. Belive me, it is a handy skill to have. :)

[LegendZ28 @ Oct 27th 2007 6:07PM]

Why would you have to turn your screen upside down to read it? I could read it fine. It's just dumb is all.

[lolec @ Oct 27th 2007 6:38PM]

Turn your screen upside down? wow i dont need to do that but ill give you and advice. turn your computer just 90 degre to the left, and your head 90 degre to the right! i know this is kinda revolutionary, you should try!

i just notice it also works if you turn the computer to the right and your head to the left awsome!

[GBot @ Oct 27th 2007 9:13PM]

Wow, as much as I'd like to [generic fanboy response to anything about computers on the web] this is a rather fair comparison.

To take this chart to the next level, how about including a link to 3rd party (preferably open-source) apps that help compensate for each of the OS' weak points?

For example, iTheater (on sourceforge) almost makes up for the fact that frontrow is a joke compared to Windows Media Center.

Or; Windows Photo Gallery isn't as good as iPhoto, but Picasa from Google is pretty dang good, not to mention free 2GB for online photo galleries.

[MatthewJ @ Oct 28th 2007 9:11AM]

Hmmm. I'm fairly dubious about this comparison because there are still a few basic errors. For instance, why does it list that there are NO automation features in Vista? Yeah, I must have been imagining Windows Scheduler for a long time now, since XP in fact.

More than anything, a load of the red and green assignments are totally based on opinion, and I'd be concerned that this is presented here (and will be accepted by some) as fact.

[wes @ Oct 30th 2007 12:06PM]

leopard is much better, this chart is a disgrace. Vista should not recieve any type of credit for that POS.

[Matthew C @ Jan 1st 2008 4:05AM]

@ all that upside down talk:

i'm confused.

[chris @ Oct 27th 2007 4:44PM]

haha....cool comparison. i like it.

[DaMan09 @ Oct 27th 2007 5:31PM]

Your missing legacy support.

[JohnTitor @ Oct 27th 2007 5:33PM]

Missing the most important;
Price!
and it should be the price of Ultimate because that's really the only one that support all the compared items

[DaMan09 @ Oct 27th 2007 5:36PM]

If price was to be added, couldn't choice be a section as well?

[Jon @ Oct 27th 2007 6:09PM]

Price is important, but MS doesn't charge for Service Packs.

[Enils @ Oct 27th 2007 6:57PM]

@Jon: Just because Apple puts out new versions every other year or so doesn't mean that they are "service packs". Windows 2000 is NT 5.0, XP is NT 5.1. MS charged for the .1 upgrade just like apple does.

It's just that MS are better at hiding their version numbers.

[JD @ Oct 27th 2007 7:08PM]

It's certainly a comparison, that's for sure. But I'm not sure it's totally fair. They do include iLife apps in this comparison, which doesn't come in the box with Leopard. They overlooked this important fact. Sure, Leopard comes preinstalled on new macs that will also have ilife installed- but you don't get ilife apps when upgrading an old mac to leopard. Thus, they aren't out of the box with Leopard.

[Leon @ Oct 28th 2007 12:06PM]

"Price is important, but MS doesn't charge for Service Packs."

I think it's more of a disappointment that they can't just get it right the first time instead of having to release service packs :|

[Ryan Block @ Oct 27th 2007 7:44PM]

DaMan09, good call, added that in.

[TopCat @ Oct 27th 2007 8:43PM]

I agree with keeping iLife in as part of the operating system's features- you can't get a Mac without it as far as I know. And it really isn't fair to compare price of the two operating systems. Leopard may be "only" $130, but a lot of the features that compare Vista to OS X were added in Tiger. So really, Mac users have spent $260 on operating systems to get the same feature upgrade from XP that Vista does, which- fancy that- is the same price you'd pay for a retail copy of Vista Ultimate.
Also: OS X's price is set by Apple. You can shop around and find OEM dealers willing to sell Vista for a lot cheaper than retail.

[JD @ Oct 27th 2007 9:51PM]

But isn't included- IN THE BOX- which they explicitly pointed out as part of this- with Leopard. If you were to upgrade to Leopard, say, with a Macbook purchased earlier in the summer (like my friend) you would have to buy iLife '08 on its own. It is not in the box with Leopard. Sorry, but it just doesn't make sense according to their rules. Oh, and Vista also creates a log for parents- so you can put that under "Parental Controls" or whatever.

[Cleverboy @ Oct 28th 2007 5:38AM]

+ Speech Recognition - I'm kind of thinking however commendable Leopard is with VoiceOVer, I don't Apple gives you Vista's grid controls.
+ Frontrow (Note: only on Macs with infrared)
+ Speech Synthesis (New Alex voice in Leopard is extremely good, with breathing and natural pacing)
+ Preview Files - Leopard Preview 4.0 is so goddamn good, it deserves a leg up. While Adobe is squawking at Microsoft for incorporating PDF controls in Office, apparently they have few problems with letting Apple built-in a fantastic PDF viewer/editor. See AppleInsider "Road to Preview 4.0" feature.
+ Preview Files - More points, Quicklook has the potential to put ANYTHING in the "thumbnail" view as applications add the featture. Does Vista thumbnail PDFs? Quicklook let's you "preview" multiple pages in a PDF without "opening" it. Leopard also lets you create an on the fly list of selected thumbnails over a black background like Expose (quickly comparing different images).

[JD @ Oct 28th 2007 5:46AM]

Ryan Block-

iLife IS NOT IN THE BOX with Leopard. Therefore, iDVD, iMovie, and iPhoto should be excluded from this chart, like it or not, according to your own rules. My friends macbook, which he just upgraded to Leopard, doesn't have any of the iLife 08 features you include in this comparison. He still needs to buy iLife '08, so in the interest of your own criteria, please take these off of your comparison charts. I'm only saying you should follow the rules you have set for yourself. Follow Logic, man. I do use Vista, and love it, but I agree, Each OS has their own strengths and weaknesses. Just follow your own rules, man. Or at least respond to this in some way that isn't, "Well, it may not be in the box with the OS, as we specified, but it's on new macs, so we're including it." Come on, man. You at least have my Email. Please, justify this properly, or remove any iLife '08 programs from the list. They're your own criteria.

[Nathan @ Oct 28th 2007 10:34AM]

Cleverboy
Yes, Vista thumbnails PDFs. Also, any application can install itself as the "Preview/Thumbnail Generator" by adding themselves and the file extension into the registry. here's how:
http://www.danielmoth.com/Blog/2006/12/managed-preview-handlers-for-vista-and.html

[JD @ Oct 28th 2007 1:50PM]

Ok, since you don't seem to want to follow your own rules and remove iLife, can you at least do me one thing? Tell me why Vista doesn't get "Integrated" for the Screen Capture category. If you look on a keyboard, there's a button that says "Prt Scrn" (that's short for Print Screen), and if you hit it, you just took a picture of your screen. Then, hit start, type "Paint" and then do this: Ctrl+V. There's your screenshot! If you want an example, here's one:
http://i20.tinypic.com/2nsqrcw.jpg

And yeah, I'll say it again- iLife is not in the box. Sorry, had to.

[John @ Oct 28th 2007 2:59PM]

how is screen capture not given to windows in this?? On a mac, it's like some 4 key combination you have to press; on windows, the "print screen" key puts it into the clipboard so you can paste it anywhere that can accept the information.

[JD @ Oct 28th 2007 9:50PM]

I hate to harp on it, but I'm sorta surprised by how unresponsive the editor's being. I mean, really, if you count iLife, you should probably count Office '07, since that comes bundled with most new Vista computers, and is usually preinstalled. That follows the same logic he's using for iLife here, right? So that would give email to Outlook, Text editing to Word, Contacts to Outlook, and Calendar to Outlook. And Tasks to Outlook, too. That would, of course, make Vista the leader by 5, if I'm not mistaken. Please, tell me if I'm wrong. (Not about the math, about the principle:) ) And I'm pretty sure that my Vista install will defrag automatically every Monday morning at 2.30 AM, which sounds like a scheduled task to me.

And how about a category where updates are considered? I think anyone will agree that Microsoft is much better than Apple's "Surprise!" updates, not to mention a lot more regular. And Windows update is much improved in Vista over XP.

[John Doe @ Oct 30th 2007 4:44AM]

JD. ilife does count because every Mac that is sold comes with a complete version of iLife. It may not be the latest and greatest but you get those apps that can be installed on Leopard.

[AK Mac @ Nov 20th 2007 12:19AM]

This thing is screwed.....for example...in the multiple OS support area...Tied?...Whatever!! Give me a frickin' break! Be honest, this is not a tie! A PC cannot run OS X but a Mac can run ALL Operating Systems! Where is the fine print in these areas?

This is just one area where the author is obviously not mentioning the tie breaking facts. This comparison while OK, is far from perfect....move along nothing to see here.

[rationality @ Jan 19th 2008 7:51AM]

-JD

Include Office 2007?
1. Office 2007 is NOT INCLUDED on most PCs. Fact.
2. Office 2007 Professional is $500, Ultimate $680, iLife 08 is $79.
3. Office 07 vs iLife 08 is stupid. They have nothing to do with each other.

Just one more thing.

APPLE: BUY ADOBE!

[Jesse S @ Oct 27th 2007 4:45PM]

Seems fair. And I don't really like Apple at all, either.

[applefreak @ Oct 27th 2007 5:16PM]

I of course, am an Apple fan
I think that both deserve more credit for things,but even though Vista might be able to do more is some areas, it dosn't count if it is always bluescreaning.

but yes, I do think this way fair

[Ben @ Oct 27th 2007 5:47PM]

The bluescreen argument hasn't really been relevant since Windows 98. Get a clue fanboy.. I've been running Tiger side-by-side with Vista for at least 6 months, and I've seen a few kernel panics on OSX, but never a bluescreen on Vista.

[Teejay @ Oct 27th 2007 5:57PM]

OS X does not go into kernel panics unless your hardware is faulty. Check your ram and or other parts you might have handled...

[Big John @ Oct 27th 2007 6:07PM]

Teejay, that's an outright lie. Since buying my Mac in February, I haven't added hardware to it nor have I removed it. I've seen two kernel panics. Thanks.

[Stephen @ Oct 27th 2007 6:24PM]

that's not entirely true teejay. Mine and several other Santa Rosa MBPs that I support were kernal panicing at least once a week while on Airport until Apple repleased new Airport software after the 10.4.10 update.

[Frank Zhao @ Oct 27th 2007 6:49PM]

Vista has BSOD sooo many times already
Ubuntu has only given me trouble when I manually configure xorg
Macs are way too expensive

[Tallest Skil @ Oct 27th 2007 7:15PM]

To Mr. Zhao: "Have you seen Mac prices lately, you ignorant fool?" You're stuck in the early nineties with Gil Emilio. Oh, and in general, go to Best Buy and hold Windows+E on any Wintel box for seven seconds and watch your precious Vista crash and burn. Do it on ALL of them at once like I did!

[rokerovakero @ Oct 27th 2007 7:20PM]

"The bluescreen argument hasn't really been relevant since Windows 98" can you give me your hardware specs so I can the same hardware? my windows crashes all the time. sometimes not even a blue screen just reboots...=(

[memodude @ Oct 27th 2007 7:29PM]

The only time I've had BSOD's on Vista is when my RAM voltage was set wrong and when I overclocked farther than what my RAM could handle. Both of those were my fault, not Vista's.

[Jaxim @ Oct 27th 2007 7:51PM]

How often does Windows Blue Screen anymore? This is such an OLD complaint. Sometime in the early days or XP or before: but not with current builds of XP and Vista. I'm sure it happens, but it probably happens just as often as Macs shut down prematurely too.

[Mr. Gray @ Oct 27th 2007 8:56PM]

Ben, everyone has personal anecdotal experience to share. Saying, "Well I haven't seen issues." isn't really going to convince anyone. I mean I had a great Dell laptop for years that never had issues and then I had another after that I returned in 3 months because of numerous problems. So what does that prove? Nothing.

Big John, Kernel panics only come from 2 sources... a faulty or poorly written kernel extension or faulty hardware. Just because you haven't altered your configuration doesn't mean the former can't be true. Computers can and do ship with faulty parts. Everything in the guts of a machine is volatile and often has flaws. Or maybe you installed some software that uses kexts - Parallels, Fusion, Cisco VPN, are just a few common ones that get too close to the kernel (in my opinion) and can cause issues. I'd check your logs and see where the panic is coming from and try to resolve it. It's not normal at all.