Comparison of Windows Seven, Mac OSX and Ubuntu

Windows Seven has introduced many new features that many people believe it will put more pressure to its competitors; Mac OSX and Ubuntu. Windows Seven is considered to be much better than Windows XP, a Windows that was once said will be the Windows that will kill Linux. However, Linux still survive. The current offering from Mac OSX and Ubuntu also show several advantages over Windows Seven. Here is Windows Seven features comparison against Mac OSX and Ubuntu offering.

Kernel
Windows Seven use version 6 of NT kernel. While this kernel proof to be reliable, it is old, need rebuild and contain inefficient code. NT kernel do not developed with security in mind. It has patched many times mostly for bug fix that make the code bloated and slower. Microsoft mention that a more efficient kernel called MinWin is in development. However, it appears that Windows Seven do not use MinWin yet.

Mac OSX use BSD kernel. Because BSD developers aim for correctness first, BSD kernel is more solid and reliable than other kernel. By providing Mac OSX in limited number of hardware, Apple can improve performance and lessen compatibility problem of BSD kernel. However, Apple still has to improve the software on top of kernel since Apple decided to develop their own desktop software. The good news is, Apple Darwin has reach maturity now that it can provide fast performance and fewer bug comparable to its OS 9.

Ubuntu use Linux kernel. Linux kernel strong point is advance technology. Linux provide more feature than other kernels. However, because Linux developers aim for feature first, the reliability suffers. The code quality of Linux is poor. Bug is known to reappear on later release. And worst, desktop functionality of Linux kernel has become slower on each version, following the step of Microsoft.

Package
Microsoft has included more and more applications and drivers into Windows Seven to provide plug and play experience. However, compared with Mac OSX and Ubuntu, Windows Seven certainly lose in the number of application offered in default installation. Users of Windows Seven will get browser, file and device manager, some basic text editor, basic video editor, basic image editor, and some other limited version of software; all of them are basic application that may not be suitable for professionals. Because of demand for higher security, Microsoft has started to include anti malware on its product. Mac OSX and Ubuntu in the other hand, provide more complete package right from the start that can even satisfy a professional.

Interface
Windows Seven is said to offer better navigation through Aero. Aero uses 3D engine to display and manipulate the desktop in 3D. However, Mac OSX has already done this around the same time the Windows XP launched through Aqua. Starting from version 10.2 Mac OSX offer quartz extreme feature that allow the use of 3D engine to manipulate desktop with only 16MB memory version of NVIDIA or ATI card. This is less demanding than Windows Seven that requires at least DirectX9 hardware to run its Aero. Even Ubuntu offer the same feature through Compiz with around the same hardware requirement as Mac OSX quartz. If Windows Aero becomes popular, it would not take long before third-party developers provide Aero functionality on either Mac OSX Quartz or Ubuntu Compiz.

Device Driver
Windows Seven supports a large variety of hardware products. Windows Seven has advantage in device driver availability for many kind of device. People can choose any brand of device and then find a Windows Seven driver for them. For popular devices people may not need to find the driver, Windows Seven will detect them automatically.

Apple has control over driver because Mac OSX device are mostly provided by Apple. With limited hardware, Apple can provide enough resource to ensure that any Mac OSX device work properly. Mac OSX has less driver problem compared to Windows Seven or Ubuntu.

In Ubuntu, people have to know what kind of device is supported before buying any kind of device. Many manufacturers do not provide drivers for Linux. Linux developer has to build the driver from scratch. This limit the number of device supported in Linux. Recently Linux provides an emulation layer to allow the use of windows driver. While this kind of implementation may hamper further device driver development it allow support for hardware not yet supported by Linux

Upgrade cost
Because it's free, Ubuntu has the most advantage in price. Since Mac OSX can only run on Mac computer, upgrading to Mac OSX may require the purchase of Mac computer for people who do not have it yet. For people who already have the required hardware, both Mac OSX and Windows Seven provide competitive price to each other.

While Mac users may not need to upgrade their hardware to upgrade their Mac OSX, Windows XP users may have to upgrade their system to meet or exceed the Windows Seven hardware requirements. A laptop purchased before the release of Vista may not be able to run Windows Seven. Users may have to purchase a new laptop to use Windows Seven. For them Mac OSX upgrade cost can be as competitive as Windows Seven.

Application availability
Because the maturity of Windows development tools, there are more people building application for Windows. This result in more application available for Windows Seven. Because of Mac OSX and Windows Seven use in business, software developers are interested in developing application for Mac OSX and Windows Seven. Ubuntu is still not considered as viable market for many software developers. The number of good application in Ubuntu is more limited.

However, change of code in Windows Seven break functionality of many Windows XP compatible applications. XP application may not run natively in Windows Seven. In order to allow XP application to run in Windows Seven, Microsoft provides emulation of Windows XP in a form of virtualization. This feature is available as XP mode on higher range of Windows Seven. Emulation also allows XP application to run on Mac OSX and Ubuntu. By means of Wine, Mac OSX and Ubuntu users can play even DirectX games.

Reliability
Windows Seven provides better reliability than previous version. This still need to be proven. Microsoft has poor track record for software reliability, it is common that every new feature of Windows will introduce some bugs. Some corporate customers prefer to wait until service pack is released before starting to upgrade to new Windows version.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu have even worst reliability problem. Ubuntu application crash more often than other operating system. Ubuntu also give problem for its user on every new release. Users are often found that upgrading may break something.

Mac OSX is said to be more mature. The latest Mac OSX release only contains internal improvement and bug fix with no added feature, which is a good thing.

Security problem
Windows Seven provides improved firewall and anti malware. This improves Windows Seven security. Users do not have to always rely on third-party security product anymore. However, Windows are known to be more prone to attack than other operating system. Keeping anything on Windows Seven up to date is very important. This is similar to Mac OSX and Ubuntu. Although Mac OSX and Ubuntu virus attack is never happen, all operating system require users to frequently update operating system and software to prevent security problems.

WYSIWYG
Windows Seven introduce Display Color Calibration Wizard feature. This is done by third-party applications before. However, Mac OS have already done this for a long time. Mac OSX introduces better color calibration for any input and output devices with Apple ColorSync. For professional, Mac provides excellent color matching that allow users to experience What You See Is What You Get. Color matching is also possible on Ubuntu. However, with poor drivers support, it is very limited.

Power Efficiency
Windows Seven has introduced feature to activate a service only when it is required. This feature is said to improve power consumption through longer CPU idle time. However, this feature already exists on Ubuntu and Mac OS X for years. This feature is nothing new on Linux and BSD. The introduction of this feature is interesting because before Windows Seven, it is only available through third-party applications.

Performance
Windows Seven uses resources more efficiently and will still have better performance than previous version of Windows. However, computer performance is very application dependent. Some applications may run natively faster on one platform while other may run faster by emulation on other platform. Some Windows games can even run faster on Ubuntu by means of wine.

Mac OSX is known to achieve close performance on same hardware starting from version 10.2. Mac OSX is also known to get faster on each new version. Windows Seven and Ubuntu have different performance direction. Windows Seven uses 3D desktop which takes toll on a system with slow 3D card. While Windows Seven provides better desktop performance over Windows Vista, Windows Seven requires much higher hardware requirements than Windows XP. Windows Seven will be a lot slower than Windows XP on same hardware.

Windows Seven do not yet sets up separate threads for display and internal processes. Something that Mac OSX and Ubuntu already has. Windows seven performance rely on both processor and graphic card. In effect, slow graphic card will slow down system with fast processor.

Ubuntu is getting slower on each new version too. Developer of Linux aim more to integrate new server feature required by enterprise that usually sacrifices the speed of desktop part. Linux developer rarely concerns about optimizing the code for performance. This results to very inefficient code, a bloated code which takes a lot of memory and CPU time to run.

The decision for the best operating system is very subjective. It is up to you to choose which is best for you. No operating system is perfect. All of them have weaknesses. Your choice may depend more on availability, familiarity and looks.

Infoworld - The myth of "MinWin" and a thinner Windows 7
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Scot's Newsletter - Microsoft: MinWin and Performance Changes in Windows 7
APCMagazine - Interview with Con Kolivas part 1: computing is boring