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On Thu, 28 Mar 2002 12:51:19 PM, "Robert Aldridge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Seng Li Peng at Asia Internet wimped out. He pulled the article > because it > wasn't neutral - is expressed opinion. Half-wimped, maybe... The *printable* version is still available at: http://asia.internet.com/asia-news/print/0,,161_998821,00.html Bob Laughton === Mac OS X vs. Windows XP With the launch of two major operating systems (OS) in 2001, one being the Windows XP from Microsoft and the other being the Mac OS X Unix from Apple, those in the publishing industry would be asking themselves if they should migrate from their existing platform to the newer ones. If so, which one? Since the launch of the two OS, there have been many articles on the Web that make detailed comparisons of their features. The Mac OS X is targeted at users at home, school and in creative industries as well as companies with Unix on their mainframes. With Mac OS X, companies with desktop Macs can be hooked into a network. Windows XP, on the other hand, boasts to be better than Windows 95 and 98, and come with a fancy new interface, ingenious shortcuts and bundled software for playing movies and streaming audio and video which also landed the company in an anti-law suit with software companies who accused Microsoft for unfair bundling behavior and most recently with Sun who accused Microsoft for shipping its Windows XP without support for its Java software programming language. Some have also highlighted that Windows XP does not support Adobe's PDF formats, the industry standard for document transfer, does not support MP3 encoding nor MPEG 2 required to play DVD movies and it also does not have Apache while Mac OS X does. According to reviewers in the US, Windows XP's Movie Maker is not in the same league as Mac OS X's iMovie 2. Mac OS has also proven to be more secure, although not totally protected from viruses, when compared to other operating systems. Within three weeks of the launch of Windows XP, at least three high-risk security flaws were identified. Disagreeing that Mac OS X is superior to Windows XP, some have explained that while Windows XP natively supports the vast majority of existing applications and drivers previously released for the Windows 2000 platform, and delivers full memory protection and feature support for virtually all legacy apps, Mac OS X does not. In addition, some have said that despite the fact that a Mac OS X package may contain thousands of components, Apple does not provide any standardized method for uninstalling applications. Windows XP, by contrast, have a more user-friendly way of managing application uninstallation. There is no end to the comparison. Although feature-to-feature comparisons are important, Andreas Pfeiffer, an expert in the computer-based publishing and new media for more than 15 years, urged users to look at the motivation behind Microsoft and Apple for coming up with their versions of OS instead. Although Pfeiffer sees the value in Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, he sees Windows XP as nothing more than a product that contributes to the confusion in the OS marketplace. He explained: "Windows XP is basically a repackage of Windows 2000. When they released Windows 2000, it was touted to be the professional platform in the industry. A year later, they claimed that Windows XP is the one instead. If you come from an environment where you are using Windows 95 or Windows ME, it makes sense to migrate to Windows XP because you will get more stability. But if you are already on Windows NT or Windows 2000, it does not make that much sense because Windows 2000 is reported to be more stable than Windows XP." "Microsoft makes its money from selling OS and applications. However, the applications and OS markets are mature and there is little room left for selling upgrades. So they began to push its .Net concept to coax the market into the subscription model where you pay only for the applications and software services you use. In order to achieve this, they needed the market to move to Windows XP," he added. This is not to say that Microsoft's products are to be avoided. But that decision-makers in the content-creation industry have to anticipate how Microsoft's and Apple's strategies in the future will affect the platform they choose now. Pfeiffer Consulting, founded by Pfeiffer in 1998, is a Paris-based research and consulting organization that provides strategic analysis of user trends in the media and technology space. Findings of its reports including Macintosh vs. PC in Professional Publishing are based on extensive research and interviews with professionals as well as making use of testing facilities and unique benchmarking procedures. March 27, 2002 -- Looking for the perfect gift for the Mac fanatic in your life? How about a Mac EvangeList T-Shirt or iClock here: <http://www.macevangelist.com/eshop/> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscribing, unsubscribing or changing to a digest or individual version, visit <http://www.MacEvangeList.com/groups/> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send all submissions to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
