Over a short period of time, three major operating system releases will take place. From Apple, Mac OS X 10.6 (also known as Snow Leopard) will ship on August 28,2009. From Microsoft, Windows 7 has already been released to manufacturers, with general retail availability set for October of this year. Representing Linux, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) is also slated for an October 2009 release. So, there are a lot of reasons for us to be excited.Since I use Mac OS X (dual boot with Xubuntu) on Macbook Pro, Ubuntu on my main workstation, and Windows XP on some of our computers used for our family business, I'm looking forward to these consecutive "big-time" updates. However, I still haven't made up my mind if I'll immediately upgrade to the new versions. But I did a little research and collected some important information so that I could somehow find out early on if the upgrades will be worth it.
For all of you, I'm going to highlight the main features of Ubuntu 9.10, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and Windows 7. I will also share my quick observation later on.
Mac OS X v10.6 (Snow Leopard)
* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- Stacks will allow viewing a subfolder without launching Finder. Stacks have also been modified to include scroll-bars for folders with many files;
- Contextual menus which come out of Dock icons now have more options and have a new look, with a semi-transparent charcoal background and white type;
- Exposé can now display all windows for a single program by left clicking and holding its icon in the dock;
- More reliable, higher-resolution iChat;
* System Enhancements:
- Faster installation, startup, shutdown, Time Machine backup and connection establishment;
- Smaller footprint compared to previous version (7GB of disk space will be freed);
- 64-bit support with nearly all system applications built with 64-bit code;
- New technologies introduced to enhance the performance of multiple processor cores and graphics processing units;
* Additional Features:
- New version of Quicktime;
- Out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange;
- Automatic updates for printer drivers;
A complete list of features can be found HERE.
The main focus on this release is obviously on improving performance and efficiency on utilizing key system resources, rather than adding new end-user features.
Windows 7
* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- A redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar;
- A new control panel interface;
- Windows Explorer now includes a desktop slideshow that changes the desktop background in a designated amount of time;
- Start menu and window management enhancements;
- The user interface for font management has been overhauled;
* System Enhancements:
- Faster boot speed;
- The DirectX version has been updated to 11;
- Multi-touch support for Tablet PCs and other capable devices;
- Native WWAN support, similar to native WiFi added in Vista;
- Enhanced security features;
* Additional Features:
- Calculator has been rewritten, with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion and date calculation;
- Office Open XML and ODF support in WordPad;
- Windows 7 will include Windows Media Player 12, along with new codecs for playing formats such as H.264, MPEG4-SP, ASP/Divx/Xvid, MJPEG, DV, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC-LC), AA;
- Windows XP Mode;
A more complete list of features can be found HERE.
Windows 7 is like a striped-down version of Vista but few key enhancements are added here and there. --Hardware and applications that are compatible with Vista will be fully compatible with Windows 7. In addition, overall performance improvements are also expected.
Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)
* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- Overall theme refresh;
- Using the most up-to-date GNOME version;
- A redesigned login manager;
* System Enhancements:
- Faster boot speed;
- Ext4 will be the default fileystem;
- Ubuntu One client will be installed by default;
* Additional Features:
- Empathy Instant Messenger will replace Pidgin;
- Will utilize GRUB 2 as its default boot loader;
Since Ubuntu 9.10 is still in the early stages of development, a lot of changes can still happen as some features may still be added or removed. I can only give more and accurate information when the release date approaches. However, you can take a peek at what's cooking HERE.
I've noticed that Windows and Mac OS X is trying to be like Linux right now --fast and resource efficient. On the other hand, Linux on the desktop is still polishing its user-interface perhaps to be like Windows or Mac OS X. Although I now absolutely prefer Linux for its overall features, my geeky side still tells to me to check out Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Hopefully, I can share the complete experience with all of you here soon.
GNOME is kind of stable, but it is also based an old way of doing software and the project have not produced anything new in years.
KDE have made some great improvement recently, some ideas have even been copied by Microsoft for Windows 7. The ideas behind Akonadi, Nepomuk, etc are the heart of today's competition on the desktop.
If you really want to show the power of Linux UI, you should really show the latest KDE, KDE 4.3.
It will be the future, I feel it !
Gnome? It does the things I want simply, no fuss, doesn't distract with needless buttons and graphics etc. ie Gets the job done efficiently, including visual efficiency. I have one thin panel on the top, with a drop down menu, a few shortcuts, and the notification area. Very screen efficient.
The brown? It's different, distinctive, I'm tired of blue, and over time I have gotten used to it, and I have found it to be very easy on the eyes and less distracting.
I haven't quite warmed to KDE yet. It just reminds me of Windows 7. Or maybe it's vice-versa. :) Nevertheless, KDE is coming along very nicely.
But of course, I need to use my iPod Touch and iMovie on OSX. :(
It doesn't look that way, this is from phoronix. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_jaunty_osx&num=1
OSX is the most effecient OS base on this benchmark. With the release of snow leopard (opencl, grand central), this will further the gap more.
"Overall, Mac OS X 10.5.6 already outpaces Ubuntu 9.04 when it comes to many respects of the desktop and server performance. With the introduction of Mac OS X 10.6.0 "Snow Leopard" in a few months, the Apple gains will likely widen considering the efforts they are putting forth on improving the performance via a smaller memory footprint, OpenCL, etc. The graphics performance in Ubuntu 9.10, which will be out after the release of Mac OS X 10.6, may improve with Intel working to fix its regressions and Gallium3D could be enabled in time. Beyond improving the graphics performance and potentially some minor performance improvements thanks to an updated Linux kernel (well, a big improvement in SQLite unless they regress again) and the newer GCC 4.4 series, we would not anticipate the Ubuntu 9.10 performance to be drastically different."
On the Phoronix.com-website Ubuntu competes in 26 tests with OS X and there is no distinct winner, so both of them have their advantages.
One important advantage for Ubuntu though: every six months you get a new Ubuntu-version with more features completely for free!
A second advantage is the add/remove software-library where you can add thousands of free software-programs with one mouse-click!
Linux for servers, Windows for newbies, Mac for lovers and Ubuntu for tweakers.
bla bla bla
I just use all of 'em, and wish there were a better integration between them.
with Kde is very nice.
Also Windows 7 stole a lot of things - seen any of the adverts with "WINDOWS 7 WAS MY IDEA" - Well yes it was - all they did was took the linux compiz manager and hit 'copy' right into windows 7 with the whole of compiz being made by open source developers to act clean and efficiently
I also don't get what all the whinging is about with lack of hardware support in linux - so far I have had no issues personally whatsoever on countless linux installs!
And about the Ubuntu default brown - yes it is terrible but you can change it in under 10 minutes - simply install another GTK/Mcity theme the engines are already installed, add beryl and compizconfig and your done!
And about codecs for video watching - simply install the ubuntu restricted extras - job done!
What I do is run KDE-PLASMA on top of GNOME so I can have the superior usability of the GNOME desktop environment with KDE's SHINY look
Everyone knows that the majority of users of computers in general don't know much about them - the type of people who post here represent maybe 15 % of the whole user base of all OS's and hardly use any of the OS features. They get reccommended to use windows by sales-people because they wish to make a profit! and they will never use anything else simply because they are too scared to install an operative system from scratch like UBUNTU even though UBUNTU is more than capable of doing everything they need BETTER than windows. It is only Graphic designers etc who actually need windows and even then these apps like photoshop could be ported to UBUNTU if adobe wished - But NO!
Everyone also has to admit that Ubuntu DEFINATELY has surperior stability over windows and can be relied upon to uphold the quality and usability and continually improve - that's why ubuntu and other linux distros are the choice for servers
Therefore I notion that there should be a website created to give guidance to less skilled computer users on how to do things like install ubuntu. The answer will probably end up being GOOGLE CHROME OS.
overall the penguin is closing the gap - GO GOOGLE
You see the Mac. Beautiful. Pretty dock.
Windows 7, pretty and glossy and shiny.
Ubuntu.. Gray, boring, dull. Very small panels by default. Requires macwannabe thirdparty apps to get something better. Looks like Windows 95-98. Will turn a Macbook with Ubuntu installed into an Asus EEE.
Take a look at the latest benchmarks versus Karmic at, the Karmic beat the costlier hyped MacOS in majority of the tests. The fact that a free volunteer OS not needing specialized hardware could even manage to come close to the hype of the century MACOSX goes to speak volumes.
In case there was no Linux, I would rather go for the far lesser hyped and way superior Win7, at least it delivers real world performance even at a price and has far more software available for it not to mention MS is way more dilligent when it comes to the word security.
I can say that Windows 7 is the most convienient. Windows 7 is not a stripped down version of XP, as there was quite a bit of rewriting. It is true that the framework is similar to Vista and that most software developed for Vista will work in 7, not all of it will.
Windows 7 for sure has the most eye candy, and has never once crashed for me, not even in the early beta stages, an not on any of the five computers I have installed it onto. Shutdown and Startup are still slow when compared to a Mac. However, Microsoft got it right this time, and takes the throne of "Most Stable OS" away from apple.
Ubuntu sure has evolved since I first tryed it out. It is easy to duel boot the system and format the HDD. Installing programs is a pain the ass however, even if they are all listed in a central place. Games lack a really good visual experience. System wide support for all my devices and hardware just isn't here yet. The UI is great, and in some areas beets out Windows and Mac, but still needs a great deal of catching up to do in many areas.
Mac OsX 10.6.2 is officially Apples version of Windows Vista. Making a drastic change to a full 64bit OS without the backing of many saftware developers, such as Adobe and the CS3 Suite, will bite apple in the ass. Eventually OsX SL will have customers praising them for the wonderful speed of the 64bit world, however before that happens they are stuck in a whole that will take them longer to get out of then it did for MS to climb out of the Vista Canyon. Even now MS gets crap about Vista, though many of the issues have been fixed (you just got to know how to fix them.) OsX SL is great for day to day tasks. Videos and Music are easily watched producing a great video experience and superior sound quality to Windows and Ubuntu. However, as noticed in tests of OsX SL against Ubutnu and Windows 7, programs demanding high graphics resources, such as 3D games and Photoshop CS4, OsX SL crashed and burned. When put up to the task of Stability, every tester experienced atleast one crash with OsX SL, none with Windows 7.
So yeah, I'll be sticking with Windows 7 and with Ubuntu as my secondary OS. As for apple, they may say plenty about their OS, but when looking upon the facts they just lie to the consumer, and hope that the cloud of vanity they put up is enough to fool them.
-windows 7 is clearly the OS that people are actually using, but not necessarily the better one, it is clearly a good OS, and seems to be quite stable (given that it is windows, only other stable version in my opinion was xp). this gives great improvement on vista, and xp is behind times now with its old style graphical user interface.
-mac OSX i have not used extensively, but i did use one laptop for a few weeks. it seemed to be everything it was meant to be, the software is very good, very stable, but i do need to say that when i compare it with linux (price tags set aside completely) it is equally as difficult to learn to use well.
-Ubuntu has the biggest advantage on the other 2, its free. when you go and buy a computer it usually ships pre-loaded with either windows or mac, so the aspect of free is often overlooked, but here are the true numbers for you.
windows 7 home: $110
apple osx: $200+
those of you that complain about the theme in ubuntu, i urge you to right click on your desktop, then click change background, go to the theme tab and choose a new one, ubuntu comes with about 12 different themes, and if you dont like those and want to go an extra step go to gnome-look.org
for those who have been confused by other posts talking about KDE and GNOME, they are simply different graphical interfaces for linux, they are the two most advanced and other are more simplistic, but these differences are it how it looks, not the limitations. i personally like GNOME although i have not tried the newest KDE yet.
speed tests.. (always given they all have the same level hardware and are fully functioning in that hardware)
-startup, ubuntu and osx are faster than win7, but not by tons
-during use, osx is the fastest, ubuntu is not far behind at all, and win7 is lacking (this includes running many things at once, which is the business concept for windows in the first place)
-shutdown, in many cases shut down speed does not matter, ubuntu far outperforms, osx does not take long, but windows is far behind.
compatibility:
first off, price wise, word/power point/exel have equal counterparts made by SUN, which is called open office, its free and available for windows, mac, and linux (comes with ubuntu by default)
same goes for GIMP which is very much like photoshop.
windows 7, compatibility is full, same as windows has always been, but get ready for price tags on anything good.
osx, has all the applications you need, but maybe not everything you want, there is a very good windows emulator (to play those games you really want to play) for $65
ubuntu, has everything you need, a simple manager where you can download anything you want out of a few thousand different application, not all of them are that great, but many are.
in respect to gaming there are a few good ones, 2 good first person shooters.
but ubuntu has in its software center an installable program called WINE which is a windows emulator for free, this used to have many bugs and not work well, but now it works very well and its counterpart called 'play on linux' allows you to play many windows games and other application that previously did not work. not everything works, but the improvement so far seams to point toward nearly full compatibility in the future.
in the end, if you dont want to spend money on a mac, and windows isnt good enough for you, ubuntu is the way to go. if you want to blow that extra few hundred on osx you can, but its not worth it.
im a linux user in general, and most of the "end users" really would like ubuntu 9.10 very much if it was wrapped up a little better and pre installed, i do computer work on the side and i give people the option of ubuntu anytime they have corrupted windows beyond repair. and 9/10 that get ubuntu like it very much, but most are changing from xp or vista, not making the choice between windows 7 and ubuntu.
For a gamer, surely Windows 7 is times better than OSX.
For developers and Media Centers Ubuntu is better because it is free and has a lot of Media Center Softwares (for FREE) so this mean you can save several $$$$$.
But I don't think it really worth to buy a real Mac to try OSX.
Try Hackintosh.
you have your head up your a$#
that was so wondeful
thX mAn
Comparisons should be made to a more stable, fast distro like slackware or arch or even debian.
That said, I like osx better than win7. Ubuntu is more comparable to winME/os9.
As for those who say that mac is just overpriced trash and you can get similar specs in PCs for £500 less, you are half right. But the design that has gone into apple products is far far superior than any PC, for example mac's trackpads are just sheer creative genius. Pinch to zoom in, inertial scrolling, support for up to 4 fingers at once on the trackpads, PCs don't even come close to that. Next you have the aluminium unibody design; a case carved from a single piece of aluminium. This design renders the macbooks near indestructable which rival those of the IBMs oldskool laptops. They are also incredibly light.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for with a mac. And no, I'm not an apple fanboy, I do honestly really like W7 and ubuntu otherwise I wouldn't have them installed on my mac. But in my opinion mac is far superior for day-to-day use and is a lot nicer to use too. But everyone's got their own opinions I guess.
How do you dare compare anything from MICRO$OFT to Linux and MAC OS X??? You shouldn't even bother, M$ WINDOWS is only good for EYE-CATCHING WANNABEES who are 100% dummies. The only OS that M$ EVER MADE that was more stable than the rest of all was WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL although it was damn SLOW at booting and shutdown. After successfull booting and the DESKTOP LOADING, the win2k was much better despite its bad graphics (DESKTOP THEMES) however with good RAM/PROCESSOR, you could install 3rd party DESKTOP THEMES even for MAC/KDE including this win7.
Windows XP Professional sp3 came with nice looking graphics and this was in competition with what MAC OS X and LINUX KDE had released earlier--- ANSWER TO WHO COPIES WHO (M$ WILL ALWAYS COPY LINUX/MAC) PERIOD!!! However, winxp lacked many tools and utilities that were integreted in WIN2K sp4 such as (NET SEND -- a good utility for NETWORK MASSAGING, etc ... ) usefull to LAN ADMINS, DEBUGGERS & PROGRAMMERS that all you DUMMIES KNOW NOT ABOUT b'se all you care about is GAMING!!! If all you care about is GAMING why not purchase an XBOX or a SONY PLAY STATION 3? Because you will not damage your computer's keyboard or mouse, silly.
.... GO TO NEXT PAGE....
Then the same idiots released VISTA prematurely, a MEMORY CONSUMING O.S loaded with useless GRAPHICS that the user has nothing to do with and even refusing nice ANTIVIRUSES such as KAV WORKSTATION, many printer incompatibilities, etc... Then WIN7 again from M$ BILL ($$$$) Gates. I bought myself a new SAMSUNG BLACK PC with INTEL I7 PROCESSOR loaded with 8G.B RAM and 3T.B of HDD, it came with WIN7 ENTERPRISES and installation is M$-CUSTOMIZED, WTF are those 3 PARTITIONS FOR??? isn't a damn copy to the REDHAT LINUX INSTALLATION PROCEDURE of creating the SWAP, HOME aka / and the /bin FOLDERS??? again who COPIED WHO?? at least on linux you can edit them properly aka CUSTOMIZATION in WIN7 everything has to be done as M$ dictates.
All you those bothered by the nice looks; you can still install win7 looks even on a win98 OS loaded on your P.C using STARDOCK.COM, get a life, damn it. win98 WAS EVEN MUCH FIRST AT BOOTING AND SHUTTING except that FREQUENT CRASHES were innevitable. Many of you dummies haven't even tried all those OLD O.S all you do is YUPP and YUPP against stable O.S which you haven't even tried. All the PC's you buy come preinstalled, try installing yourself and you may get a chance to start RATING OPERATING SYSTEMS online.
As one ANNOYMOUS PUT IT; COMPUTER USERS HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES DEPENDING ON THEIR DAILY TASKS that need computer assistance and I will try elaborating it here below for you DUMMIES;
1. GSM technicians love using WIN98 to FLASH EEPROM on those old GSM mobile phones for the reasons of SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITY in the latest M$ WINDOWS O.S; so to them WIN98 IS THE BEST STABLE SOFTWARE.
2. Network/SYSTEM ADMINS love using WIN2k3 ADVANCED server for the reasons of "RENAMING AND TWIKING THE ACTIVE DIRECTORY" and FILE PERMISSION/SECURITY issues; dummies don't ask me what A.D is try GOOGLING IT TO UNDERSTAND MORE. However, WIN2K3 advanced server is not really a proper NOS (network operating system); dummies; there are only 2 TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS; google that one too.
3. UNIX SYSTEMS/LINUX; THIS IS very suitable and stable for WEB SERVERS, FILE SERVERS, PRINT SERVERS, DOMAIN CONTROLLERS, FULLY WORKING AND AUTHENTICATED SECURITY SYSTEMS and for those who love to "jail break" their computers from using PAID SOFTWARE preferring the use of OPEN SOFTWARE without paying any damn $$$$ to some lunatic monopolist like M$. Even all these programs that you DUMMIES love commenting about made by MICRO$OFT are in most cases programmed in UNIX/LINUX environment such as using FEDORA CORE; another well maintained OPERATING SYSTEM from "RED MEAT" aka REDHAT LINUX.
... continue next page ... 3 --> FROM ABDUL HAMIDU.
4. MAC OS X; somebody was commenting about ADOBE PHOTOSHOP for graphics designing and let me add ADOBE PREMIER PRO for VIDEO EDITING; tell me any MICRO$OFT O.S COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE from that shitty ADOBE which is very expensive THAT BEATS FINAL CUT PRO designed to work on MAC OS X??? By the way; tell me y'all DUMMIES; have you liked those movie series of 24 HOURS by "MICHEAL BOUERS"??? That movies was edited on a MAC G5 using FINAL CUT video editing; now if you still doubt; just GOOGLE THAT; any information is avaible on GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE.
5. THOSE SAYING THEY LOVE WIN7; I bet you haven't tried installing "BLACK HAWK DOWN" game and those nice RACING GAMES on it such as "NEED FOR SPEED" etc...; they are all incompatible and my old H.P deskjet printer is not recognisable by VISTA let alone WIN7 WHICH prompts me to use again my favourite M$ O.S aka WINXP which is less stressing and less MEMORY CONSUMING except that all damn M$ O.S are full of BUGS, spyware installed by default in the O.S that FETCH your INFORMATION unknowingly and sending it directly to M$ MONOPOLISTS SO THAT THEY CAN FIND A WAY TO SUE YOU in order to mamke more MONEY from innocent dummies like you!!!
SO; WHAT IS MY RATING ON THE BEST OPERATING SYSTEM.
The best OPERATING SYSTEM is one that is stable (when gaming, programming, web hosting, printing, sharing files, protecting important data for users and corporates), that does not HANG UP ON YOU thus locking you up for many hours when you were doing something important such as writting a long email to colleagues ( you all know how much WIN I.E has disappointed you on many occassions when it hang up on you and you loose that long email you typed for longer minutes if not hours, damn MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEMS & APPS) LET alone how frequently WIN WORD, EXCEL, PP AND ACCESS has hang up on you while presenting a very important information and the only solution required you to reboot your PC b'se the "KILL PROCESS" too fails to kill SERVICES & CRASHED TASKS, LOOOOL. Dummies are you getting me???.
list of best operating systems is here below;
1. Unix/Linux/MAC OS X are all the same and are the best OPERATING SYSTEMS for everything you'd want to do using a PC; they all use similar terminals and command line BUT DIFFERENT KERNELS "GOOGLE KERNELS IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND". These O.S are the best because they are VIRUS FREE and SELF EXECUTING FILES can't be automatically initiated on them aka .EXE files and those crazy .INF files which is the most problem for M$ O.S and besides; many of them ARE FREE and can be either downloaded for free or paying little FEE to somebody who has downloaded it for you and besides they have the best SUPPORT SERVICE.
THEREFORE; MICROSOFT RANKS LAST in all OPERATING SYSTEM DISCUSSIONS AND COMMENTS. Am talking from EXPERIENCE. We only use WINDOWS O.S b'se many dummies own PC's with WIN O.S and we need get MONEY from these dummies when we are requested to repair, troubleshoot or install WIN O.S and APPS on their pcs. PERIOD!!!
ADIOS to y'all DUMMIES. Dig much before you post your silly comments.
Best regards,
Abdul Hamidu
KIGALI - RWANDA
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
AFRICA.
ubuntu is too far in daily use, we're talking about daily use for an average user. after all a computer is suppose to make life easier. Mac on the other hand is closer. they have adapted to ms office and photoshop on their OS making it more easy for windows users to switch. after all windows has 90% of the market.
on win viruses, well the makers of the virus has one objective in mind; get it to the most number of users. in this case, windows is the target.
let's say the 3 of them had the same market share, 33.33% a piece. theoretically, who do you think would be more equiped? it's the one that's most experienced in handling them.
Mac and windows, i'd rank the same. and i'm sorry, but linux base like ubuntu is far too young. And believe me, i want ubuntu to work. But it's gotta work on plug and plays, apps like skype and office without wine.
Ubuntu community has been very helpful with that, but why give instructions on moving files using CLI when that's why you make GUIs so you can simply copy and paste files. I mean i can do that in command prompt in windows too, but it's tedious.
Linux has a lot of potential. But mac being based on a rock solid unix is the future overall. Windows is just leading the way right now, Mac making it easier for windows to transition to them, and linux.. well, ubuntu has an improved gui with compiz-fusion, and a helpful community.
OS X for client
Windows for noobs
;D
Mac for client
Windows for noobs
Screw Mac OSX: CTRL+ALT+F2
Long live Debian! Down with Ubuntu, down with all web sites that talk about linux, keep it a secret everyone! Don't let the people know! sshhh! omg...u hear that...dead ppl.......AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
So Debian = Ubuntu = Windows = Mac OSX
And I still, after 12 years haven't figured out why I use a computer.
Blam!
**Ubuntu 10.04 / VBox Win7**
helas: windows wins my final match. will please somebody (ubuntu/apple) do something about it? ergo: get synchronised wioth the rest of the world?! ergo: be more open/cheaper/compatible!!! its clear that even a moron OS like windows understands.
Mac for winners
Ubuntu for geeks