Mac OS X vs. Windows XP Home Donate/PDF Final Discuss Categories: Version Score OS Shootout: Mac OS X vs. Windows XP Home Dan Pouliot Last updated, January 1, 2005 This web site is available as a downloadable PDF. Final PDF updated: 1/1 (9.7MB). Pricing Perspective: Since there are many methods of January 1, pricing available for both operating Keeping my promise to myself, I've made the final edits to this site systems, this site lists only retail and generated the last PDF version. It has been fun, but unfortunately prices. Actual prices may vary greatly. the demands of life leave me no time for frivolous pursuits such as A Google search, or a price comparison this. If you get value out of the PDF, please make a donation. site (Pricewatch.com, pricegrabber. com, dealmac.com) can lead you to If the revenue stream picks up enough I may return to updating this many online retailers of OEM and site in the future. Thank you to all who have sent me donations and upgrade versions of the OSes that may kind words. I am humbled by your generosity. cost less than the MSRP. Lower prices may also be available from educational Sincerely, and other discounts. Please check with Dan Pouliot your school, employer, church, www. froogle.com, computer manufacturer, and local government for any available discounts. Nov. 28, Proving it is possible for a Mac fan to trash talk OS X, forum member At the time of writing this document Rosyna has written: The True Cost of Mac OS X. here's what PC Connection was getting for our OSes: OS X 10.3 $119.95 Family 5 computer pack: Is it no longer true Macs are easier than PCs? Has Windows XP finally $199.95 caught up with (and maybe even surpassed) Mac OS X? Is Mac OS X just a pretty OS, but of little substance? To get a little more clarity on this XP Home Edition topic, I decided to look at the two OSes—Mac OS X 10.3 and Windows Upgrade: $98.95 XP— in depth, and cover usability issues such as networking, windows Full: $189.95 and keyboard controls, voice feedback and voice recognition, the Dock vs. the Taskbar, Find/Search, Help, and much more. XP Professional Upgrade: $189.95 Although I say I'm comparing two OSes, I'm really comparing three: Full: $289.95 Mac OS X, Window XP Home Edition, and Windows XP Professional. When necessary I'll elaborate on the differences between Home and http://www.xvsxp.com/home.shtml (1 of 3)1/1/2005 5:47:46 AM Mac OS X vs. Windows XP Pro. For those of you that would like a more in-depth comparison of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the Home and Pro, you can check out Microsoft's own comparison. cost of the OS, plus the cost of the Microsoft's comparison leaves out some details. For instance, it says, hardware, plus the cost of support, "join Windows XP Professional systems to a Windows Server domain." If divided by the number of years that you you read between the lines you'll understand that XP Home Edition own the machine. At least one site tries cannot connect to an Active Directory Domain. For a more verbose to compare the prices of Mac an PC comparison, check out this comparison on Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for hardware. Paul Murphy of Linuxinsider. Windows. com presents a detailed case that-- contrary to conventional wisdom-- Macs are cheaper than PCs. Industry analyst What about XP Tablet Edition and XP Media Center Edition? Gartner has concluded that Macs are XP Tablet Edition and Media Center Edition are unique offerings in more cost effective than PCs to own. the marketplace. This was a private study that got leaked to the public. Gartner's subsequent If you want a computer with writing tablet capabilities, you have refusal to publicly endorse its own only one choice: XP Tablet Edition. True, OS X can interoperate with conclusions smacks of corporate damage pen tablets, but you cannot buy a Mac that allows you to write control. directly onto the screen. Likewise, XP Media Center Edition is the only place in the market you can get OS level integration with your TV set for viewing photos, listening to music, or recording and playing back shows. You can find similar third-party offerings for the Mac, but not integrated directly into the OS. Since their offerings are indeed unique, this site will not discuss them in depth. Suffice to say: if you want a tablet PC, you must get XP Tablet Edition. If you want a "digital media center" with OS integration, you must get XP Media Center Edition. This shootout is narrowly focused on features (and the usability of those features) for creative professionals, so its conclusions may not be true in other work environments. For instance, corporate employees have very different requirements for what makes a useful computer from those of web or video designers. Furthermore, this shootout only considers components that either come with the OS or are supplied for free by the OS manufacturer. I think it's fair to say that everybody loads up his or her computer with commercial, shareware, and freeware apps that extend the computer's basic functionality. I wouldn't be so bold as to try to compare X vs. XP in terms of every possible combination of software on the market. So take this shootout with a heavy grain of salt. From the Editor: As you will no doubt deduce as you read this site, I prefer Macs. Just the same, I think this site is mostly objective. Use the online forum to keep me straight. —Dan Pouliot Let the shootout begin! Pick a topic: http://www.xvsxp.com/home.shtml (2 of 3)1/1/2005 5:47:46 AM Mac OS X vs. Windows XP © 2003, XvsXP.com. All rights reserved. Updated all the time. XvsXP.com is owned and operated by Dan Pouliot. http://www.xvsxp.com/home.shtml (3 of 3)1/1/2005 5:47:46 AM X vs. XP > Introduction: A Note about Bias, Scoring Defined Home Donate/PDF Final Discuss Categories: Version Score Introduction: A Note about Bias, Scoring Defined Bi·as: A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment. Routing out Bias If you're reading this site, chances are you already have a preference or an inclination regarding Mac OS X and Windows XP. And, surely, anyone with enough computer experience to be able to thoroughly compare these two OSes has a preference by now. As I see it, what is at issue here is whether we let that preference inhibit our impartial judgment. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the issue of bias comes up regarding this site. But after all the effort I put into eliminating bias from my assessments, I was quite surprised when I saw the high emotional charge that this site sparked among posters to various message boards (including this site's own board), and the sheer volume of posts implying, or outright accusing, this site of being biased. Occasionally newly written content may lack a thorough examination of the topic at hand. Such potential/perceived biases don't remain long, since they are quickly dealt with by the active community on this site's member forum. For that reason, I think it is fair to say that this site is about as impartial a comparison of these two OSes as can be found anywhere. So how do we tell when a statement is biased? The following are some clues or ground rules to help detect when bias may be present: When to suspect that bias is present One may suspect bias is present if a discussion: Is extremely forgiving of the failings of one yet extremely harsh with the failings of the other Burning CDs in OS X isn't as convenient as in XP. And drag and drop on the PC just doesn't cut it. Be vigilant of mediocrity in all OSes. Changes the subject to reinforce a position This is not a Mac vs. PC shootout. It's a shootout is about the quality of user experience of these 2 OSes. That's all. It's not a shootout about: ● Quantity or quality of hardware- processors, peripherals, you name it ● Cost ● Third-party software ● Apple's viability ● Microsoft's evilness http://www.xvsxp.com/bias/ (1 of 4)1/1/2005 5:47:49 AM X vs. XP > Introduction: A Note about Bias, Scoring Defined Sure, this site mentions cost issues and third-party software, but merely as a conversation points. I think I even put down Microsoft once or twice [hey, it's fun and easy ;-)]. But third- party software and cost issues do not affect any scores (nor does Microsoft's evilness). I don't mind people discussing these other items in the forum, just as long as they realize that they are off-topic. I bring up easily 200-300 points about these OSes in this site. Talk about that! If you don't rebut my assertions I must conclude that you agree with me. If you disagree with the fundamental value of such a 'pure OS' debate, you should stop reading now, because this site will just make you angry. Makes apologies, justifications or exceptions for poor OS experience This can look like saying, "The reason why the Num-Lock key behaves backwards is...[fill in justification]".