Hi all,
I came across this on an X vs. XP Forum. It is interesting to say the least. I was reading some stuff about Windows Users, saying what else have we got to use. Well Linux for one. Mac for another, remember we all have a choice. It is about being smart with those choices.
Read on.
-------------------------------
I've just read quickly your comparison between the two OS...
I was really surprised by the final score which does not reflect my experience
with those OS. I tried to figure out why, here you are my comments.
(Forgive me if I missed some points... and for my poor english.)
Operating System Issues
=======================
Definition:
-----------
"The low-level software which handles the interface to peripheral hardware,
schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default interface to the
user when no application program is running."
( http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/ )
In your comparison you mainly focus on the user interface, leaving out 90% of the OS!
Terminal
--------
You will never be able to create a simple file browser that achieves a high flexibility
(e.g. make a list of all my "gif" files with their size in a CSV file).
Thus you need a command line interface (Command Prompt, terminal).
By comparing the possibilities of the terminals you can get an idea of the power of an OS.
Compare for example Linux (w/o X11) to Dos 6.2 ... The difference is obvious!
Now compare the default command prompt with a unix terminal...
OSX and XP have similar interfaces but behind there is nothing comparable.
If you compare a Mercedes SLK with a ford escort, would you ignore the motor and the brakes?
Certainly not.
Now you can argue that the command line is reserved for the power users and developers.
You are right. But the developers make apps for the lambda users...
I remember the story of a guy who wanted to get rid of the .DS_STORE files before burning an ISO CD.
He asked on a forum and got an app the following day...
USB memory stick
----------------
Now what about hardware? The OS is an abstraction layer that should make it easier to handle drives.
Try to insert a USB memory stick on both OS:
Windows displays a bubble alert "new hardware found" and then "driver installed".
OSX simply mounts the drive on the desktop.
How To eject the removable media?
Windows: right click on the drive in Windows explorer -> Eject.
You get an error message: "The drive is in use, unable to eject..." ???
Second attempt: right click on the tray icon "safely remove hardware",
then select the removable media in the list, "eject", reselect, "OK".
Bubble alert " the drive can be removed", close the popups.
OSX: click on the eject icon in the finder.
Scheduler
----------
What about the kernel schedueler (i.e. the component that allocates CPU time to tasks)?
Try the following manip:
Launch the file explorer, Launch photoshop 7, press alt tab to come back to the file explorer.
On Windows you have to wait until photoshop is done in order to continue.
On osX you can simply browse your files while photoshop loads in the background.
(simply because the priorities of the tasks differ)
Not convinced? Launch 6 apps instead...
This is the real responsiveness of the OS.
It makes more sense than comparing the time to compress a zip file on two different processors.
I don't care if it takes more time to compress a folder on OSX, because I can do something else
at the same time.
Misc
----
What about the Default programming languages?
(Visual C++, Objective C, .NET vs Java)?
Now what about the File system (NTFS, AFS) ?
OpenGL vs DirectX ?
(I don't know...)
And what about the Network protocols (Rendez-vous, NetBEUI, tcp)?
(I don't know either...)
What about the possiblilities of the kernel (Mach, POSIX, ...) ?
It is quite impossible to use XP for building real time applications.
It is hard on Unix too, but you have access to the source code...
What is the minimal hardware required to have a nice user experience?
Security issues
===============
First line of the security manual for newbies:
"Security by obscurity never works."
It is the core strategy of Microsoft...
Windows is not a real multi-user system.
This functionality is added on top of the system.
Any user can copy files on the C drive, there is no notion of group.
Unix is a real multi-user system. The files are associated with users and rights.
On unix you need to change the mode of a file to make it executable (chmod 777).
By default you can't execute a malicious script.
On Windows simply click on an exe...
You can find complete books addressing the security issues of both OS, so I don't go further...
(http://www.wiley.com/legacy/compbooks/catalog/97844-2.htm)
Human-computer Interaction issues
=================================
An operating system should evolve towards a simple system.
Dos was not user friendly, Windows 3.11 Was much better.
Now what is the difference between Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Longhorn ?
The made new icons. Great.
Now pick up a gook book on human computer interaction
(like "Interaction Design" by Jennifer Preece) and compare the two OS...
Contrast
--------
Make a screen shot of your desktop, open it with photoshop and convert it in grey levels
(mode > grey levels). OSX icons (sound, airport) have a good contrast, while the windows tray
is unreadable. It is valuable on a laptop where you usually have a bad environnement
(too much sun on your display for example).
Windows Self organising menus.
------------------------------
What is more annoying than these self organising menus?
The items are never where the supposed to be.
They are hidden, they moved...
The principle of kinesthetics is not respected.
What would you say if the keyboard layout was changing every day according to the most used keys?
It would make you less efficient since you would spend time looking for your keys.
The same applies for menu items.
Dock vs taskbar
---------------
In windows you usually have :
- start menu (choose program)
- quick launch (most used apps)
- tray (apps running in the background)
- task bar (apps running in the foreground)
- office bar (icons for powerpoint, word, access, excel, ...)
Suppose you are a newbie and you try to launch a text editor
Start - programme - accessoires - Notepad.
In which group did I store the lotus notes shortcut? "Notes", "IBM", "Lotus", "Office" ?
If you work with more than 3 programs simultaneously the labels are useless "Micro...-"
The dock does it all in one single bar. It is simple, powerful, easy to use even with more than
50 apps. If you search a software simply browse the applications folder
(try to do the same in Program files).
Cross to close document/app
---------------------------
Two different functions should have different icons.
On wnidows the cross closes either the document or the program.
Normally you open your programs in the morning, you open/close documents during the day and you close
your apps in the evening, don't you? I don't know how many times I accidentally closed excel after closing
a few documents. And the two buttons are so close to each other...
Microsoft knows that, and they made a red cross in Win XP... a shame.
Clippy
------
Microsoft proudly presented a few years ago a new concept: Clippy.
The animated figure who annoys you in the right corner of the screen.
Know clippy is also responsible for making your search harder.
It was first introduced for unexperienced users, but power users have to kill it every time...
Annoying.
Shortcuts
---------
When you use your computer every day, you need shortcuts.
I like to navigate in the dialog boxes on Windows, "right", "right" "enter".
Quick fast.
But most of the time I use my computer for text processing (programming, writing reports, emails).
On OSX you can use the emacs shortcuts in every cocoa app (Mail, terminal, textEdit, ...).
Try Ctrl-a, Ctrl-d, Ctrl-k, Ctrl-y, wow. How fast and efficient.
Misc:
- I hate the DS_STORES on OSX.
- I find really weird to press backspace in Explorer to go up (I would expect to suppress the folder).
- You probably already know this article:
http://www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm
Hmm I really wanted to be brief... Sorry.
---------------------------------
Well that was it folks, hope you enjoyed it, seeya next time.
Cheers
You can ping this entry by using http://members.iinet.net.au/~jamiek/weblog/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/8 .
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