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.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:15PM]

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

[ryan Posted Oct 27th 2007 8:04PM]

LegendZ28, I have a Mac and a Vista box on my desk, I spend a lot of time with both. I don't spend a lot of time searching the network and using boolean search terms though. In other words, it's not some misinformation campaign on our part, just a mistake, and it's been fixed!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 11:21AM]

Ya good ones, but there's the one name that rules the universe "Pussy". Do you think Apple will try it?. Ian Fleming and James Bond made some notority from it!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 7:21PM]

How about you change Mac OSX's "No included antivirus" to "Not needed", and give them a green box? Huh?

- Xidius

[Quikboy Posted Oct 28th 2007 11:12AM]

That's untrue.

There "could" be a day where a group of hackers infiltrates that Mac OS X system.

It's better to have protection than no protection. Sort of like sex - it's best to have a condom, put in place, just in case.

So Macs are much more vulnerable than PC's for that.

[waffffffle Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:20PM]

There are a couple points here I strongly disagree with and are sorely lacking in factual evidence.

Under Business, Mac OS X supports Active Directory right out of the box, and can simultaneously bind to multiple directory systems (LDAP, NIS, AD, Open Directory) with little configuration. This feature is available in the one version of Leopard for $129, not a more expensive version. Apple wins this category hands down. Workgroup Manager is a server feature but you are not comparing the server versions of Windows and OS X, just client functionality.

Additionally, the presentation features of Vista are necessitated by the general suckiness of Windows in dealing with projectors and display drivers. There is no need for these features on OS X. Keynote and PowerPoint for OS X support presenter display features and the Displays settings in System Preferences have always been simple and powerful. OS X has always been built for mobility and there is no need for any "Mobility Center" to be bolted on to the OS in order to ease with configuration. The Displays menu bar item has served this purpose for many years while there has not been an equivalent on Windows until now.

Under Sync (network) you're disqualifying .Mac because it uses a central server, yet that is how Apple accomplishes this task. You gave Windows a number of wins in the media category even though those features require more expensive versions or additional purchases. On that basis you can't fault .Mac for being an external paid service. Sync Services on OS X is a very powerful system that is open to third party developers and has expanded to support a number of additional features (sync of Dashboard, Dock Items) in addition to iCal, Address Book, Safari bookmarks, and more. Even Entourage plugs into Sync Services and can sync over .Mac.

I agree that iTunes should be mentioned as it is the default media player in OS X and tighly integrated into other applications on the OS. While it is a free download, the level of integration on Windows with any media player (iTunes or otherwise) is non-existent. Apple should again win this category.

To give Vista some credit, the speech recognition in Vista is actual dictation software while OS X continues to only support the recognition of verbal commands, known as "Speakable Items."

[bbock Posted Oct 28th 2007 4:37AM]

You should have a way to explain some of the items you are judging. For example, I had no idea what Presentation Mode is in Windows. And I'm not sure Keynote doesn't have that. Dunno.

I agree that OS X should have anti-virus software built in, but I'd say the advantage should be OS X just because the problem is so much huger on Windows.

The 32-bit 64-bit puzzles me. Shouldn't the advantage be OS X since there's only one version that supports both. And drivers for OS X work regardless to which you pick, but Windows requires different drivers? Seems like a more complicated experience out of the box.

In Safari vs. IE, that's a tough call. Since websites create for the masses of broken browsers out there, they are best tuned to IE. But Safari is far more standards compliant and is faster.

Point should be given to Apple for having one version of Leopard (not including servers) instead of the insane number of Vista versions. Your Vista column has a lot of caveats that the feature is only included in this version or that version of Vista.

Compatibility on older computers should be worth a point. OS X runs on computers that are several years old. Not so Vista, which doesn't run on all computers sold today.

Compatibility of current software should be a point. I don't know how that shakes out.

Has Vista greatly improved Bluetooth and Wifi? Last Dell we bought with XP was a nightmare in both of these aspects. Whereas the Macs we have just worked.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:21PM]

Max Memory?

We have Vista systems running with 16GB in them.

Even Vista 32bit accesses 4GB, which is the cap for a 32bit OS without use PAE.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:24PM]

You're kidding, right? Front Row *destroys* Media Centre. Just the load times make Vista's media centre useless.
You also forgot that Airport Disks are 500x easier to set up, are around 700$ cheaper than a Home Server, support multiple operating systems, use more secure connections (SMB is crap), and are a lot more elegant. They're quieter too.

[TheCount Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:11PM]

Spoken like a man that has never used media center. Front Row may be better than Media Center if you're 10 years old and can't manage more than 3 buttons on your remote control.

[John D Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:37PM]

Yes, I must agree. I use Vista Media Center, and after the initial media library build, it's damn quick. And the Xbox 360 and other extenders are terrific - especially because you have a choice. Vista Media Center is quite slick - IPTV, internet radio, video\codec support. FrontRow isn't bad, tho - I'll give you that. Just a little trimmed back.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 28th 2007 3:29AM]

By "Airport Disks" Im sure you're refering to Apples marketing name for NAS. You might be suprised to hear this but NAS is not limited to macs in fact you can use on with mac and a PC at the same time. Home servers are for much more than NAS as well, you can do scheduled centralised system backups and other cool shit.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:21PM]

You forgot the two massive monkeys on apple's back: DRIVER SUPPORT and SOFTWARE SUPPORT. You can't jack into a mac (printers for example), and the software library is a fraction of windows (and linux).

[DylanRK Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:22PM]

Looks like they didn't even use Vista for more than an hour.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:45PM]

You forgot about Leopard Server. You count all the vista styles, but just the Leopard standard/client

[xz87 Posted Oct 27th 2007 8:48PM]

Bluescreens do still exist, but they tend not to happen seemingly at random like in the older versions. I've been using and tweaking the hell out of XP (can't comment on Vista yet) for several years and the only two bluescreen types I've gotten were from a faulty unsigned driver, and trying to push my DDR timings too far. I have yet to see a piece of commercial software cause one during normal use.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 28th 2007 12:42AM]

Chris, how sure are you that you want to add in server software versions - on BOTH platforms?

Mac OS X Server comes in exactly two versions:
10 (file-sharing) clients: $500
UNLIMITED clients: $1000
(minus a nickel)

Now let's count the Windows 2003 server versions, and client licensing structures, which of course aren't really vista-ish yet.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:28PM]

Well, personally, I'm a Vista user because I've been in the PC industry for 20 years. Vista's great, and will keep getting better. I also work with a lot of people who use Macs, and they're great also. I really think that the Mac caricatures of the Windows platform are ridiculous and unfair and immature. At the same time, the Windows fanboys who love to try and bash Mac are equally immature and annoying, and lack objectivity. Use what you like and shut up about it, already.

[Arkv2 Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:29PM]

Ha, it doesn't matter, they both suck. Now come and rank me low!!!! muahahaha

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:31PM]

How about comparing the names of the OS's? Maybe do a poll.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:30PM]

also, please explain how iPhoto is better than Windows Photo Gallery

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:31PM]

How could WMP11 vs Quicktime be a tie? WMP11 is tons better than quicktime. Remember folks quicktime not quicktime pro.

[Quikboy Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:46PM]

I agree. I don't want to start a flame-war over media playing but...

I find WMP 11 to be the best out there right now. Why? Well, because:

1. Tons of online stores to choose from (iTunes has only iTunes store)
2. Support for tons of devices
3. Good codec support (and if you want more, Microsoft has an official developers site: http://wmplugins.com/ )
4. Easiest UI ever - in iTunes there's a ton of buttons and menus to choose from, but WMP 11's layout is much more cleaner and to the point to use
5. Watch DVD's - my favorite, or I use Media Center
6. Lots of skins and visualizations
7. Minimize to the Windows taskbar, and your can view a video in a very small screen that floats above the taskbar, while you can surf the web. All the controls and things works in the minimized level very well. Great for multi-tasking
8. Advanced audio controls - if you have it, take a look at "Show Playing" tab > Enhancements > Show enhancements. Now that's pretty cool!
9. Customizing formats/bitrates better

I could go on and on. But I definitely agree: WMP 11 is the best one out there right now. If they would just tweak it to enhance a few things some more...

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:33PM]

@ Hugo Rifflin

I agree about the driver issue. Our office toyed with going mac until we realized that our business network copiers wouldn't be supported. Everyone complained about the "lack" of driver support in Vista, but it supports more devices easily than Mac or any Linux/Unix platform. It's just that comparitively, there are so many more devices out there that run on XP and need to upgrade drivers for Vista that they got behind the 8-ball at the outset. But there are tons of vendors who don't even bother to code drivers for Mac support. I think its a vendor issue, not an OS issue.

[Quikboy Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:35PM]

To tell you the truth, I find Windows Photo Gallery to work much more better than iPhono.

WPG seems to do tasks much more easier for what's it worth, and their red-eye tool I find is much better than iPhoto's.

WPG and the many things you can do with your photo, doesn't compare to some of the specialized skills you might need for iPhoto.

Also the new Windows Live Photo Gallery does panoramic stitching, and upload to Flickr. You can't beat that.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 28th 2007 6:37AM]

shouldn't leopard win the 32/64 bit?

As far as i know, leopard is compatible with both simultaneously where as in vista you have to choose weather you want to buy the 32 or 64 bit version.

Also, while opera may be better, surely safari 3 is miles better than ie7 - it's faster and more secure, what other non-subjective way is there to compare the two.

finally, shouldn't price be listed? $130 beats the $200 of even vista home basic, while vista ultimate is $400. I also think leopard deserves a point for simplicity - one version instead of about 20!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 10:36PM]

I think this debate is only really relevant for people who are planning on buying a computer soon. Apple only lets people install their OS on their hardware, so for a person, like me, who has a computer, not Apple, that is less than three years old the debate is irrelevant. If Apple chose to open up their software to the masses, I bet they would see it sell A LOT MORE!!! That being said, I'm perfectly happy with Ubuntu 7.10. I had Vista, but it was WAY TOO SLOW, so I rolled back to XP MCE. Now I dual-boot, but spend most my time in Ubuntu.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:37PM]

I wonder about the backwords compatibility on the Leopard. But wait till service pack 1 for vista comes out which will improve vista.

[Tiptup300 Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:44PM]

"Game Selection" cat anyone?

[ryan Posted Oct 27th 2007 8:07PM]

Selection of games is not an "out of the box OS feature". It's a statement about the 3rd party application ecosystem, and exactly what this chart is not about!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:42PM]

Gap should have been a lot wider

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 29th 2007 11:19AM]

Wookie, virus programs spread much more easily in a dense population. So with less than 10% population density, it makes it very hard to spread, and if it does spread, it spreads slowly enough to be countered. This means that a windows virus can spread 10 times more easily than a Mac virus, based on market share alone.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 8:20PM]

To the small pocket of deluded people who think that OS X is virus free ONLY because it has a small market share...
Firstly, no-one really knows the exact share of OS X *USERS* (as opposed to annual sales) as Macs dont need to be upgraded every service pack and thus dont feature as heavily in the sales figures but, hey, lets run at the aforementioned 'less than 10%'
But heres the capper - you really think that, given the number of so-called smug apple 'fanbois' who gloat about their secure OS, theres not a single decent cracker out there whos decided to 'stick it to them' and write a virus *anyway*? Come on - the more you set yourself up as indestructable, the bigger the line of people trying to bring you down. However the people of that line have brought their best, failed, given up, and gone back to f**king up windows boxes because, seemingly no matter what MS do, their OS is still more vulnerable than a papier mache bank vault.
Its just one o those things. MS cant do security, much like Norton cant properly/timely handle viruses. Such is life, and the sooner you accept it the happier you'll be.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:56PM]

i hate mac with a passion and i really did not like vista

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:46PM]

"The bluescreen argument hasn't really been relevant since Windows 98."
Actually, it has. WinXP just doesn't display the blue screen. Anybody experience random reboots? That's the new bluescreen. For those of you nostaligic types, the blue screen can be re-enabled by editing the registry.

[Jake Le Master Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:49PM]

Fancy File Browsing:

What was Vista's has preview feature excluded?? It is quite akin to Leopard's Quick Look. You can view any Office document, video, pdf file, song, etc. right in the folder.

[Jake Le Master Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:18PM]

That first sentence is an aborting, my apologies. It should read...

"Why was Vista's preview feature excluded?"

[Jake Le Master Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:53PM]

I'm losing my bloody mind...

That should read: abortion*

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:50PM]

i'd prefer browser as firefox though. good and thorough comparison. i currently use windows vista and i want to know is mac any good.

well i prefer mac though, since i had many bad experiences with crashing, data loss and viruses. well whatever.

i think you guys forgot to compare the security of the OS. well i guess only windows need security.

btw i never knew that u cant see the signal strength of a wireless port on a mac :P

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:03PM]

Liked it!
But for the Indian market, the apple is far far away i guess.
What say?

[Mehul360yahoocom Posted Oct 28th 2007 1:15AM]

Thats because Indian Consumers are not open to change.

Indians love Sony, Windows, Nokia etc. I know I'm stereotyping but its true for the most part.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:53PM]

Why is antivirus in red for Leopard?
Not that it needs one . _.

[tadghostal Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:19PM]

Wow. What a surprise!!! Engadget scored an Apple product over a Microsoft one. Go figure!

This just goes to show how useless side-by-side comparisons usually are. The points of comparison are usually (as is in this case) just randomly picked to bolster the desired side.

Look at the category "Registry" How is that objective? You're simply saying that Vista has one, and Leopard doesn't. That's an *observation*, not really an objective comparison. You may as well just make a category called "Is cooler", then give the Leopard the green and Vista the red.

I'm just thankful Engadget (or iEngadget) is here to tell the overwhelming majority of the market share that they are wrong for owning Windows, and should own Apple products instead.

Great work, guys.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:23PM]

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

[ryan Posted Oct 27th 2007 8:16PM]

Nice Space Ghost ref. So the registry thing is actually pretty objective. I was a Windows sysadmin for eight years, I think I know a few things about what is beneficial to have and what is a hinderance in Windows boxes. The registry is a major, massive problem with Windows, and only serves to hold the OS back and cause end users a LOT of problems. There's little subjective about it, no one who's intimately familiar with the registry's workings thinks the registry is a good thing.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:00PM]

This comparison is great, but it fails to address the fact that 91% of PC users use Windows. As a result, Apple users have to know how to use Windows to function in modern society. For Windows users, there is no need to know anything about Apple PC's.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 5:59PM]

With Windows, you press Start to shutdown. You actually have to press Start to stop. This logic is representative of the whole OS.

[DylanRK Posted Oct 27th 2007 6:09PM]

All actions have to START somewhere.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 10:11PM]

Actually we're looking at Vista, have you seen it? THERE IS NO MORE START BUTTON!
Its 'The pearl'

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2007 7:30PM]

@JY & @all fanboys (mac or pc or liux or whatever)

It's ok to prefer one thing over another, or to comment that a certain feature is better than another. It's great to have a personal opinion.

What bothers me is this attitude that YOU are personally BETTER than someone else just because you use a certain OS, or type of computer or whatever else. I really think there's a reason we call you "fanboys", and not "fan-men". Men are confident in themselves, and don't need to compensate for their personal insecurities by boasting in a piece of software, or by bashing on the piece of software that someone else prefers.

All "fanboy-ism" is simply the product of grown people with terrible self-esteem. Instead of compensating, why not identify the source of your insecurities and feelings of personal inadequacy, and try to become a more confident adult?