Microsoft Windows vs. Apple Macintosh

-Rohan Kapil & Karnamohit Ranka IISER Bhopal.

History of Microsoft Windows OS• The first Microsoft Windows version, Windows 1.0, was

released in November 1985.• The initial versions of Windows OS were generally

extended versions of MS-DOS, the OS using text-form rather than graphics for user interface.

• They did contain graphical interface, but only for certain software, and the user came out of graphical interface once the user closed the window of the application software.

• Windows 2.0x used a real-mode memory model, due to which it can run under another multi-tasker like DESQview; but, consequently, it was confined to a maximum memory of 1 MB.

Microsoft Windows 1.0 screenshot

• Windows/286 2.1 was the first to use extended memory, and Windows/386 2.1 had a protected mode kernel, with LIM-standard Expanded Memory Specification simulation, a predecessor to XMS.

• Later, major success came with release of Windows 3.0, which allowed better multi-tasking of application software of MS-DOS, and could be run in Protected or Enhanced or Standard modes; and, by this time, VGA cards were also available for PCs, letting, thus, Windows 3.0 emerge as a serious threat to Apple Mac OS. Later, ‘multimedia’ versions of Windows 3.0 were also released, first comprising of a sound card as well as a CD-ROM drive.

• The features listed above and growing market support

from application software developers made Windows 3.0 wildly successful, selling around 10 million copies in the two years before the release of version 3.1. Windows 3.0 became a major source of income for Microsoft, and led the company to revise some of its earlier plans.

• Microsoft later developed Windows 3.1, which includes several minor improvements to Windows 3.0 (developed jointly with Apple), but primarily consists of bug fixes and multimedia support. Later, Microsoft also released Windows 3.11, a touch-up to Windows 3.1. Around the same time, Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups (WfWg), available both as an add-on for existing Windows 3.1 installations and in a version that included the base Windows environment and the

networking extensions all in one package.• Microsoft also developed Windows NT, which was

basically a networking user-friendly OS. Windows NT was the first Windows operating system based on a hybrid kernel, which was why it was difficult to incorporate with the normal desktop user’s Windows OS. Also, Windows NT was the first to use a 32-bit API, in contrast to the 16-bit API which was used by its other counterparts.

• Microsoft Windows tried to improve its versions, trying to incorporate the Windows NT’s advanced drivers and features into the simple desktop OS versions, but it was not to be until the release of Windows XP. But here, too, some parts were left out of NT version.

• The latest version of Windows is Windows Vista.

Timeline of Microsoft Windows OS

History of Apple Macintosh OS• Apple Macintosh project started in late 1970s with Jef

Raskin & aimed to produce low cost computer applications.

• First Mac OS, a complete GUI, had 64 kilobit of RAM and used 6809E Motorola microprocessor, as well as supported 256X256 pixel black-and-white bitmap display.

• Later, it was improved to support Motorola 68000 microprocessor, with 8 MHz of clock speed, 384×256 pixel display, 128 KB of RAM (expandable to 512 KB of RAM); the final product's screen was a 9-inch, 512x342 pixel monochrome display.

• Macintosh user interface was partially influenced by technology seen at Xerox PARC.

Apple ‘Classic’ Mac OS v1.0 screenshot

• Macintosh 128K came with 2 applications- MacWrite and MacPaint, but since programs needed to be rewritten in a different format for the Mac 128K, since it was a completely graphically oriented user interface, and the programmers shied away from this idea.

• Apple introduced Macintosh Office in 1985, and as earlier progresses occurred in same year, programmers started to program graphical software for such GUIs.

• In an attempt to improve connectivity, Apple released the Macintosh Plus on Jan 10, 1986 for US$2,600. It offered 1 MB of RAM, expandable to 4 MB, and a then-revolutionary SCSI parallel interface, allowing up to seven peripherals—such as hard drives and scanners—to be attached to the machine. Its floppy drive was increased to an 800 KB capacity; it was an instant hit & the longest

selling Mac OS.• In 1987 Apple took advantage of the new

Motorola technology and introduced the Macintosh II, which used a 16 MHz Motorola 68020 processor, with a color QuickDraw application in ROM.

• Alongside the Macintosh II, the Macintosh SE was released, the first compact Mac with a 20 MB internal hard drive and 1 expansion slot.

• With the new Motorola 68030 processor came the Macintosh IIx in 1988, which had benefited from internal improvements, including an on-board MMU.

It was followed in 1989 by a more compact version with fewer slots (the Macintosh IIcx) and a version of the Mac SE powered by the 16 MHz 68030.

• Later that year, the Macintosh IIci, running at 25 MHz, was the first Mac to be “32-bit clean,” allowing it to natively support more than 8 MB of RAM, unlike its predecessors, which had “32-bit dirty” ROMs (8 of the 32 bits available for addressing were used for OS-level flags). Apple also introduced the Macintosh Portable, a 16 MHz 68000 machine with an active matrix flat panel display that was backlit on some models.

• The year 1991 saw the much-anticipated release of System 7, a 32-bit rewrite of the Macintosh operating system that improved its handling of color graphics, memory addressing, networking, and co-operative multitasking, and introduced virtual memory.

Macintosh System 7.5.3 screenshot

• Later that year, Apple introduced the Macintosh Quadra 700 and 900, the first Macs to employ the faster Motorola 68040 processor. They were joined by improved versions of the previous year’s top sellers, the Macintosh Classic II and Macintosh LC II, which used a 16 MHz 68030 CPU.

• In October 1991, the Macintosh Portable was replaced by the first three models in Apple’s enduring PowerBook range—the PowerBook 100, a miniaturized Portable; the 16 MHz 68030 PowerBook 140; and the 25 MHz 68030 PowerBook 170. They were the first portable computers with the keyboard behind a palm rest, and with a built-in pointing device (a trackball) in front of the keyboard.

• In 1992, Apple started to sell a low-end Mac, the Performa, through nontraditional dealers.

• Also in 1994, Apple abandoned Motorola CPUs for the RISC PowerPC architecture developed by the AIM alliance of Apple Computer, IBM, and Motorola. The Power Macintosh line, the first to use the new chips, proved to be highly successful, with over a million PowerPC units sold in nine months.

• In 1998, Apple introduced an all-in-one Macintosh called the iMac, and did away with most of Apple's standard (and usually proprietary) connections, such as SCSI and Apple Desktop Bus, in favor of two USB ports. It also had no internal floppy disk drive and instead used compact disks for removable storage.

• Mac OS kept evolving upto Mac 9.2.2. But a change in its old architecture became necessary, and then came Mac OS X, a completely different Unix- based successor, using

Darwin, XNU, and Mach as foundations, and based on NeXTSTEP.

• But still one could run this OS in Classic Mac OS environment, though, since Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has no such option, and also its successors.

• The latest version of Mac OS X is Snow Leopard, v10.6.

Apple Mac OS 9.1 screenshot

Graphical timeline- Evolution of Mac OS

Windows vs. Mac- Credibility???

• Mac OS is the first OS to give PC users a proper, full-time GUI, in 1984.

• Microsoft tried to incorporate this idea of a GUI into their Windows versions, but faced severe legal charges from Apple.

• So, originally, Apple was the first to simplify the concept of user interface by introducing graphics.

• Also, Mac OS gives better security to the OS by some inherited features in later versions.

• Apple Mac OS is self-sufficient in software and tolerates hardware by only Motorola (previously) and Power Computing Systems (presently).

• On the contrary, Microsoft Windows OS has many options to choose- you can assemble a PC of almost any make (there are many options) with a Windows OS installed on it.

• But, as can be concluded, Mac OS is more credible than Windows OS when it comes to taking care of your PC, since Windows OS gets infected more often than a Mac OS.

Microsoft Windows 3.1 screenshot

Windows vs. Mac- Compatibility???

• As discussed earlier, Apple Mac OS has such a compatibility which is not very abundant in the global market; though Macintosh cloning (by Motorola, Power Computing, UMAX & others) existed for some time, but was ended by Steve Jobs in 1997.

• Only scientific software are easily available when Mac OS is considered.

• Whereas, Windows OS application software is easily available anywhere. So, it is easier to find a game or utility software which runs on Windows OS than one which runs on Mac OS.

• Mac OS does have compatibles but it is only Motorola; and, nowadays, Power Computing Systems and Intel, too.

• The availability of these processors (except Intel) is comparatively less as compared to the processors compatible with Windows versions, which is quite large.

• Due to this, the servicing of hardware as well as replacement of machine within warranty is not always very convenient.

• So, with respect to compatibility, Windows wins.

Apple Mac OS X v10.5 ‘Leopard’ screenshot

• Apple Mac OS had the primary market hold for around 1984, and 10-12 years henceforth.

• This was mainly due to it being the only reliable full-time GUI available to PC users (though a Mac PC was costly).

• Then, when Windows OS was launched, it was much inferior in graphics to Macintosh OS.

• But slowly, Windows developed into a full-time GUI with Windows 95, and became quite famous.

Windows vs. Mac- Market???

• Microsoft Windows OS was compatible with many types of hardware configurations, since it was not mandatory to purchase only a specific type of hardware configuration.

• This made its market circulation quite large, thus, seriously challenging Apple Mac OS.

• Also, it was much less costly due to its flexibility with hardware environments.

• Thus, in popularity, Microsoft Windows OS took a lead over Apple Mac OS.

• But, current versions of Apple Mac OS X are coming out with flexible hardware environment.

Market Share of various Operating Systems for PCs

Microsoft Windows 98 screenshot

• In general, Apple Macintosh OS is a totally different desktop environment than Microsoft Windows OS.

• Currently, Mac OS X 10.5, or Leopard, is in competition with Windows Vista.

• Comparing these 2 should give an idea of what is Mac OS and Windows OS with respect to each other.

• Windows Vista gives a new feature of Shadow Copies, which enables easier backup and

Windows vs. Mac- Technical Competitiveness???

recovery, allowing individual file recovery.• But this feature is available only on Enterprise,

Business and Ultimate versions of Windows Vista.• Mac OS X ‘Leopard’ has a similar feature called

Time Machine. Previous versions of Leopard were inferior to Windows Vista in this respect.

• Time Machine maintains ‘images’ of drives as they are on previous occasions. This allows external drive recovery, too, by designating it to Time Machine backups, unlike Shadow Copies.

• The web features of both operating systems are particularly interesting. Apple Mac Leopard comes with all-new Safari 3, and Microsoft Windows Vista with the cool Internet Explorer 7.

• In Safari 3, there is a feature of web clipping, which enables you to send a part of a webpage onto Mac OS X Dashboard, which stores any new updates to that part of the previously visited webpage.

• Mac OS X Dashboard is comparable to Windows Vista Sidebar.

• Both function as a quick access to desktop

applets.• Apple Mac OS X gets Finder to explore the

contents of any folder, and finds you the shared files (in a sidebar) automatically.

• And Windows Vista has a better Explorer, which gives a large and handy view of content within a folder, but Network (the traditional Network Neighbourhood) still takes time to search for connected PCs.

• Also, Apple’s Quick Look gives you a graphical summary of the document to give a short summary of the file you look into.

• The Apple Mac OS X SpotLight is faster for

searching than Windows Vista Search, though Windows has tried to increase search speeds; also SpotLight is more organised, but you can save searches in Windows Search.

• Leopard's pretty new Stacks feature lets you drag a folder or a group of files to the Dock for easy access- there is no such Windows equivalent feature.

• You can run multiple virtual desktops at the same time to reduce cluttering, though Vista doesn’t include such a manager, many are available for Vista free of cost.

• Expose is a classic OS X feature which gives a

thumbnail view of all of your open applications once you wing your mouse to corner of the screen.

• Windows’ Flip 3D provides a 3D way to flip through your applications.

Microsoft Windows Vista screenshot

Various OS’ Vulnerability- Bugs, Security, etc.

Conclusion

• Conclusion is not to be made on an absolute basis.

• But, from efficiency point of view, Apple Mac OS should prove a better OS.

• For a cheaper but a good machine Windows OS completely beats Mac OS, though Apple is trying to introduce cheaper models.

• Also, Mac OS X is slowly approaching Windows OS’ compatibility level.

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Apple

• http://www.pcworld.com/article/138819/vista_vs_leopard_battle_of_the_new_features.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows

• http://google.com/