Leopard vs. Vista: feature chart showdown
By Ryan Block 
posted Oct 27th 2007 4:36PM
posted Oct 27th 2007 4:36PM
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
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.
Let the warring of fanboys begin...
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?
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.
Let the rants from those who spend their time reading fan-boy wars begin.
Well observed.
Legend: Because Engadget needs Digg traffic.
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?
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?
-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?
first?
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!
Well, unless your like me and can read upside down. Belive me, it is a handy skill to have. :)
Why would you have to turn your screen upside down to read it? I could read it fine. It's just dumb is all.
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!
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.
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.
leopard is much better, this chart is a disgrace. Vista should not recieve any type of credit for that POS.
@ all that upside down talk:
i'm confused.
haha....cool comparison. i like it.
Your missing legacy support.
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
If price was to be added, couldn't choice be a section as well?
Price is important, but MS doesn't charge for Service Packs.
@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.
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.
"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 :|
DaMan09, good call, added that in.
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.
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.
+ 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).
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
-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!
Seems fair. And I don't really like Apple at all, either.
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
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.
OS X does not go into kernel panics unless your hardware is faulty. Check your ram and or other parts you might have handled...
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.
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.
Vista has BSOD sooo many times already
Ubuntu has only given me trouble when I manually configure xorg
Macs are way too expensive
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!
"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...=(
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.
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.
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.
i've seen the BSOD a few times on xp, but its almost always my fault. its nothing serious anyway, you just gotta reboot. like, oh no, the world's gonna end.
i don't know any exact statistics, but even if mac is slightly more stable than windows, its not enough to really keep ripping on windows about.
"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!"
you ass. that NEARLY crashed my pc, but guess what? i'm still posting.
@ Tallest Skil
I'm pretty sure you got about half the people running windows to try that to see what it does. I also have to take issue with the "ignorant fool" comment. Whenever I compare Macs to PCs with the same CPU speed, HD capacity, video card, memory, drive capabilities, etc. I find there to be a price difference of about $100. I think that the argument that Macs are more expensive than PCs has some weight. That said I think the price difference is worth it in most cases.
@Marshall
I think I'd pay $100 to use OS X and not Windows :)
i've only seen one bluescreen, and that was immediately after i reinstalled. :( wiped my drive installing feisty fawn. after that, it got the right drivers installed, and now i've never seen it again.
maveric101: that's hilarious! I tried it too, and it nearly killed mine.... However, I recovered.
Tallest Skil: you are crazy :-) Of course, opening a gajilion versions of ANY application simultaneously will overload ANY computer, no matter what OS it is running. lol.
To add my bit of anecdotal evidence into the sea: I've been running XP (SP2, and so on) for a very long time, and the ONLY times that it's given me trouble have been those when I've overloaded it. Given normal operation + normal hardware, nothing really ever goes wrong.
BOSD? For me, that's a relic of a much, much older time. I really can't see any reason for even potentially switching over to a mac. But that's just my 2 cents.
(Oh, and when it comes to the cost of Windows vs. UNIX: Windows is pretty cheap when it is bundled with systems (OEM). Failing that, there is always the internet... where software can be downloaded at no cost (as a last resort).)
This is in response to the dumbass who said hold windows key and e for 7 seconds and watch Vista crash and burn. I just did it for about 15 seconds and all it did was open 57 explorer windows then I closed them and boy I sure didn't see any crashing and burning in fact I came back to internet explorer and typed this. Just because you can make a computer crash doesn't mean that will crash ALL of them. Give a few minutes with mac os im sure I can find a way to crash it I mean come on.
Whoa! I just realized that the windows button does more than bring up the start menu! I've been using windows for over 10 years and NEVER heard this from anyone. DAAANG
I would say Leopard has better 64-bit compared two Windows.
What do you mean by WiFi strength indicators?
"I would say Leopard has better 64-bit compared two Windows."
what exactly does that mean?
"What do you mean by WiFi strength indicators?"
Don't have Vista, but this probably has some progress-bar like thingy showing whether you are getting strong signal or weak signal. Make sense, doesn't it?
and while I don't play PC games (in fact mostly using linux on my laptop), my gaming is restricted to only Nintendo DS, the Games comparison is pretty laughable. I guess this is comparing just the OS and the frameworks provided for gaming by the OS, but still, comparing gaming between the two OS is just so... pointless.
Finally, Aqua is pretty for sure, but I'd pick KDE any day, and either beats the pants off Windows in this area. Seriously, there's something really wrong when you need that much memory and graphics power just to run some pretty effects.
He means that windows vista has a 64 bit version and a 32 bit version. The programs and drivers and all that have to be built for 64bit I believe. Leopard is fully 64 bit but can run both on 32 bit and 64 bit systems and run software on both. It is fully transpartent to the user where as with vista you jump to 64 or stay at 32.
Leopard spanks windows with an OS that runs in only a 64 bit flavor. This is one of the main reasons i have been looking at switching to OSX, microsoft screwed up badly by not forcing users to have a 64bit platform for vista, games are hitting RAM barriers now and the OS uses 1gb to just run, seriously, we can only have a max of 3 because the were too lazy to fix the basic code of XP limiting the RAM to 3gb max in a 32bit environment.
To call 64 bit support a draw is a crock of crap and everyone knows it, driver support isn't there for vista.
64bit driver support for vista is just the same as 32bit. Both sets of drivers must be released together.
64bit Vista can also use 32 bit apps. I've been using it exclusively for quite awhile now. No issues.
"'I would say Leopard has better 64-bit compared two Windows.'
what exactly does that mean?"
I meant to say "64-bit support". Leopard is full 64 bit in one version, while Microsoft has two.
"'What do you mean by WiFi strength indicators?'
Don't have Vista, but this probably has some progress-bar like thingy showing whether you are getting strong signal or weak signal. Make sense, doesn't it?"
The Airport menu does show WiFi strength, which is why I asked the question.
Actually engadget really didn't do the homework on the WiFi part on Leopard as it will show theWIFI connection accoridng the strength. Most powerful on top. More info you don't need on signal strength!
Leopard beats Vista with ease! :-)
Jason, have to correct you here. The reason MS didn't just release a 64-bit version of Windows is that driver support is lacking. Windows 64 (let's call it) uses a lightweight translation layer called WOW64 to let 32 bit applications run in Windows64's environment. Although 32-bit applications can be run transparently, the mixing of the two types of code within the same process is not allowed. A 64-bit application cannot link against a 32-bit library (DLL) and similarly a 32-bit application cannot link against a 64-bit library. This may lead to the need for library developers to provide both 32- and 64-bit binary versions of their libraries.
So while you may not have any issues (as you shouldn't) you are seeing a subtle performance hit when you run a 32-bit app and some hardware companies have not written 64 bit versions of their drivers. None of these issues exist in Leopard and I think that was the point being made. This is why Windows still comes in 2 separate flavors and it's not all integrated into a single package.
Jason, have to correct you here. The reason MS didn't just release a 64-bit version of Windows is that driver support is lacking. Windows 64 (let's call it) uses a lightweight translation layer called WOW64 to let 32 bit applications run in Windows64's environment. Although 32-bit applications can be run transparently, the mixing of the two types of code within the same process is not allowed. A 64-bit application cannot link against a 32-bit library (DLL) and similarly a 32-bit application cannot link against a 64-bit library. This may lead to the need for library developers to provide both 32- and 64-bit binary versions of their libraries.
So while you may not have any issues (as you shouldn't) you are seeing a subtle performance hit when you run a 32-bit app and some hardware companies have not written 64 bit versions of their drivers. None of these issues exist in Leopard and I think that was the point being made. This is why Windows still comes in 2 separate flavors and it's not all integrated into a single package.
Why would Macs even need 64bit support. Unless you're an engineering and are running CAD programs or you're a gamer running insane games, both of which Macs have none, there is no reason to even consider 64bit at this time.
It's a good chart, but some things bother me. I don't have leopard, but I do have tiger, and vista home premium. I must say, I would much rather have Flip 3D than Expose. Another thing, I don't like how the game category is so short, is it because you know that Windows obliterates Macs in that area?
I know flip3d isn't the most useful, but I use the normal windows alt+tab waaaaaay more. And frakly, I prefer alt-tab (window switch) over the apple's expose or apple+tab (app switch) anyday.
What else is there to say about games there in terms of out of the box features? (And no, I'm not going to run down the games each OS comes with.)
I think Flip 3D looks a lot neater than exposé, but exposé is a lot more efficient in my opinion. Exposé will show me all my windows at once and lets me quickly pick the one I need. And I fail to see how windows alt-tab is better than Mac's? Apple + tab = change apps, Apple + ` = change windows inside active application. As far as the game category goes, most of that is dependent on 3rd party, so that is most likely why it wasn't as elaborate.
I do think that they should have put in the comment/notes section some good alternative 3rd party apps.
Flips3D is definitely nice eyecandy but as a heavy Exposé user I found that Flips3D takes longer to switch between windows and Expose more practical.
ALT-TAB exists on MacOS X as CMD-TAB.
Well if you want to change from one window in one application to another window in another applicaiton, windows alt+tab can just go directly from one to the other, especially if it's the last used window. Mac has to do one to go from app to app, and then another to go from app window to the specific app window.
I like how Vista improved upon that by adding thumbnails of the windows when Alt-tab-ing as well
Thats why they have Exposé, and to make it more efficient, they have hot corners as an option. That means I don't even have to use my keyboard to use exposé. I guess to each his own.
Frankly, I have a hard time understanding how *anyone* can prefer the Windows alt-tab window switching to the OS X apple-tab app switching.
I tend to have multiple windows open in each app, and it is FAR easier to, say, bring all 4 of my terminals to the front via apple-tab, than using alt-tab in Windows to select EACH of my cygwin terminals until I figure out which one was the one I wanted. It is simply so time-consuming to select the proper window, and often when switching tasks you want to switch to an app and all windows of that app, not just one at a time. Such a PITA to alt-tab to 4 different windows to get them all up. And anyway, while alt-tab or apple-tab can be intuitive (you can switch to the previous app or to without even looking if you remember how many times you have to hit alt-tab), you simply can't do this when you have multiple windows to recall.
Then again, I see how it can be hard to learn apple-tab and apple-tilde. Frankly, I think Expose kicks all kinds of ass, but I *never* use it because this old dog can never remember to use the hotkey for it. I guess old alt/apple-tab habits die hard.
Exposé is capable some cool maneuvers that left all others OSes way behind. For example: suppose you're with lots of windows open and then you want to drag a file from desktop to one of them. All you have to do is press the show desktop (F11) with one hand, grab the file with the mouse onto the other, then press F9 to show all windows, mouseover the desired one, press F9 again to restore all windows. Which will bring back everything to normal, with the window you ' mouseovered' on the front of all others. Then you can release the file you were dagging.
I know it sounds complicated because of the written description, but it's a couple of seconds maneuver in real world.
About the cmd+tab: it accepts other commands while you're switching applications. For exemple, cmd+q. You can quit lots of open apps within a few seconds. Windows should make commands like alt+f4 available to the alt+tab interface. Works great on the mac.
If Flip 3D is too lame for you, go to http://insentient.net/ and get Switcher for Vista, which duplicates Exposé. It's free and open source, and you can customize it to your heart's content. Vista wins in application switching. End of argument.
Actually, if you want to switch between windows running in the same app in Windows (XP or Vista), you press CTRL+TAB instead of ALT+TAB. Flip 3D is pretty useless, but screenshots of each window when you hover above a taskbar icon is godly.
Windows Sideshow is so stupid. I have yet to see a device in the wild that has this feature.
alot of laptops with vista come with a screen that supports this, and there are alot of devices you can buy specifically for it, not to mention alot of software for existing devices to help compatability.
Asus makes a laptop with an external sideshow screen
http://event.asus.com/2007/nb/w5fe/
I think it's pretty cool, but doesn't need to be in a laptop. What about a smaller screen embedded in a keyboard or monitor of your PC? That would be pretty neat and fairly useful.
I completely agree with you in principle, it's a generally stupid feature. The beta G15 (Keyboard with screen) drivers currently have Vista Sideshow support though. The product itself predates Vista, but still :)
You know one thing that came to mind as I was reading this is the real "size" of Microsoft. Many of us had made comments/complaints about Microsoft's whole activation issue. It's true that it may be somewhat annoying but Apple hasn't got that big yet. They are still somewhat small (I believe 6.x percent of market), and as they grow into a larger company--which they will--they will have to change.
I think one of the main reasons Apple has so much going for it right now is because it can still afford to experiment and try out. Later on though, when they hold above a 10% of the market share, they will be much more scrutinized. In other words, they'll be under their own "Spotlight" (forgive the pun).
Karim Baz
I have to disagree. mac users expect a very high degree of "completeness" from Apple. We tend to be very critical of problems and will let everyone know when we encounter them.
Apple will never add activation to the Mac, it just doesn't suit their culture.
Apple doesn't include activation because the vast majority of people run OS X on Apple hardware only, which is where they make most of their money. The OS exists to sell the hardware - if people want to pirate the latest OS, they'll still need a Mac to run it on.
No they won't. You can run OS X on any processor that supports SSE3.
"I think one of the main reasons Apple has so much going for it right now is because it can still afford to experiment and try out."
Yes, I am aware that your comment is "Highest rated", but still, I'm gonna try and take it on.
So, one of the main reasons Apple has so much going for it right now, is because it can afford to experiment? WTF does that mean? So the iPod and iPhone (arguably the main reason Apple's always in the news) exist because they can afford to experiment? Not because they have great management, great talent, and true visionaries working for them? No, they iPod was merely an accident brought on from the luxury which "only" Apple has, the luxury to experiment? Ha, please. Please tell me that was a joke?
I know the first response to this comment may be: "he was on about Vista versus Leopard, and the fact that Vista has to have backward compatibility etc." Well let me just say, he said Apple. The iPod is the single main reason for why Apple is so big right now. OS X is only "another" leg on the table, mind you, not may people know, but it's probably the strongest leg too.
Apple is actually very successful right now right, simply because it makes some of the best products out there, and the company is run so well, that's the truth.
Hate to break it to you morons who voted the 2nd reply down, but there are plenty of cracked versions of OSX 10.4 (OSx86) out there for people to play around with if they so choose, and it works with most hardware, just lacking the massive driver base that vista is for the most part.
He meant a small user base for the OS, idiot. The iPod and iPhone have nothing to do with this. The iPod has a lot more than 6.x% marketshare, and look how much crap they're taking for dropping the ball with the latest batch. With a small userbase, you have less people making less noise about any problems before you can fix them.
John explained it pretty well. With a 90% market share, MS has a LOT of people to satisfy. If they don't, then expect to see fireworks. So even the slightest slip-up can be exaggerated into in a reputation-slaughtering injustice. With Apple, it's the opposite.
But I doubt that this is the biggest reason.
I like to think that the reason that they are trying so hard to nail work-proficiency is that they have to. With a small market share, they need to make themselves a better-looking company in order to compete.
In theory, this would be the reason, but Apple is successful as it is. Plus, the business model they follow is the reason they have such a low market share. Plus, it's the model they chose when they started the company. So, Apple could easily boost its status by following a model closer to MS's. But they don't. So it leads me to think that they legitimately care about better computing. But they are a company after all, and since when do those care about the average Joe?
But some companies do, I guess.
But I choose not to follow Apple because they do a lot of things I don't like.
Vista supports live partiton resizing, too.
Nice, thanks!
Two great OSs, both are very easy to use yet pretty powerful. Looking forward to running both on my soon-to-arrive MBP
Her family deserves every cent they can get from these goons
pretty soon Apple's gonna run out of big cat names..
lion
But before that Microsoft will run out of fancy names for 'invasive DRM'.
Puma.
Bobcat.
Lynx. wait... that sounds too much like Linux.
And after "Lion" comes Liger, the cross-breed between a tiger and lion. Or maybe just Katt or Kitten. Kitten OS, cute...