I get asked this question by so many people that I’m tired of having to repeat myself all the time. It’s commonly phrased something like, “What’s the difference between Mac and PC?” or “How do you compare the two operating systems?” Well, the answer is quite simple.
You can’t.
Why can’t you compare the two? Well, because the Macintosh and Windows operating systems are fundamentally different, going deep down into the roots of Apple and Microsoft’s software practices. And what is this difference of which I speak? It’s the hardware-software relationship.
Basically, the hardware-software relationship dictates how software works with hardware, i.e. which hardware an operating system runs on. As we know, Macintosh is built to only run on Apple hardware, while Windows was developed to be able to run on as diverse environments as possible. Therefore, we simply cannot compare the two operating systems, because their overall environments are drastically different. You might disagree in that it is possible to compare UI elements – well, of course you can compare how certain parts of the interface are implemented and argue that one operating system is better than the other, and this will go on forever, but here, I wish to find the fundamental difference between the systems – what is the main underlying difference between the Macintosh and Windows operating systems? That’s why the hardware-software relationship is so important.
Now, let’s take the diversity we just identified and expand upon it a little bit to form a general view of the two sides. Let’s start with Mac, again. If we know that the OS was built to run on only Apple hardware, what does this mean? Well, it means that Apple put the kibosh on third-parties. By that, I mean that they aren’t willing to accept third-party technologies in the general development and function of their OS. Just as their hardware is limited, so are drivers – the number of devices manufactured by other companies that connect to computers through USB or other popular protocols is very small, in comparison to Windows. This just shows that Apple’s goal is not to create a system that others can contribute to, in the way that Windows runs. Really, how many times have you tried connecting a peripheral to a machine running Windows and drivers weren’t built in or available on an accompanying disk? My bet: very few.
Naturally, one could go on to assume that Apple is, in a way, monopolizing users of their operating system by creating such a bond between hardware and software. However, I do not want people to think that this article is biased – yes, I despise Mac (Windows & Linux FTW!), but I don’t want that to get in the way of our little analysis (I could write a lot about why I greatly prefer Windows over Mac, but that’s another story).
As you can see, Macintosh and Windows are very different, but the most important difference is their fundamental standpoint, expressed in the hardware-software relationship. Without these being equivalent, we just cannot compare one operating system to another.
This post was originally published on Absolutely2Nothing, the author’s blog.
Filed under: apple, Feature Tagged: | apple, different os, drivers, fundamental, hardware, hardware-software relationship, linux, mac, mac vs pc, microsoft, monopoly, operating system, os, software, third-parties, windows
There’s also a difference in the way the core OS is written, allowing certain specialized advantages to each side, PC Mac or Linux, and a difference the entire UI flows. Some people just have a preference to one or another, and it’s as simple as that.
Me, I can’t say what my opinion is, because I’ve mainly used WinXP my whole life (well, starting when it was released of course), so I know most of the in’s and out’s. Only recently have I been introduced to Mac, and i have been slightly marred by the media, and all those funny Mac ads, but as I use it more and more, I start to see how the two balance out.
For example, Mac is good at graphics and organization, and very good at fast file-moving, but when it is moving a mass amount of files, or some other major data-writing procedure like finalizing an iMovie project, you can’t do anything else or it will freeze. PCs have a bit more breathing space when you’re doing somehting. PCs are more prone to viruses because of the fact that they have accepted compatibility with much more stuff than a Mac.
I have had no experience with Linux, although I have the Learning Red Hat Linux book by Bill McCarty, gotten after my dad got Ubuntu for me to practice (I have yet to set it up). I think that computers of all kinds have so many differences, and so many little things that will make you want to chuck them out of the window 300 times a month, YouTube’s huber7 put it very nicely, ‘computers [as a whole] suck’.
Fun fact: programmers may sometimes refer to this as DWIM moments – Do What I Mean, you stupid computer!!
@hamstap85: I completely agree! The main point of my article was to discuss the difference in terms of not thinking about core OS stuff, but the core OS stuff is what makes one person choose Mac and another choose Windows. What you explained in your comment connects with why I choose Windows and Linux (though I believe the whole “more prone to viruses” thing is a joke that people are brainwashing everyone with, because, after all, Mac comes with firewall disabled by default, and you call that security!? People just don’t write viruses for Mac.) I just feel that Windows is open to allow you to do almost anything as long as you have the resources, while Mac is somewhat closed by the boundaries that Apple creates. As a programmer and open-source enthusiast, I despise these theoretical “boundaries”, because they limit how people can help the community, which is not a good idea in my opinion. Other than that, I also think that Mac isn’t fully capable of certain tasks, and plus, programs for many fields just do not exist on Mac (especially in the realm of science). Unlike many other people, I also dislike the UI, but oh well. Thanks for your feedback!
@Maximz2005 True. Mac OS X’s firewall is disabled by default but, is that any better than having a terrible firewall enabled? The question is, what’s the point of bashing an OS when “You can’t.” The Point is, they are different. And no matter what you say, everybody has their own opinions.