Windows vs Snow Leopard

The latest version of Apple's operating system, Snow Leopard, OS X version 10.6, has just been released. There is no shortage of reviews and articles on the web praising it or criticising it. Apple users say it is the world's best operating system and that it is much better than Windows 7. They call Windows 7 just a Vista Service Pack that Microsoft has quickly thrown together to try and make up for the disasterous current operating system. Snow Leopard is the ultimate operating system, of course.

You will also find reviews of Windows 7 on the web that praise Microsoft's next operating system and they say that it is the best yet. It is full of brand new features and Windows has been completely redesigned. Windows fans also occasionally criticise Apple's Snow Leopard, although not as much as the other way around, claiming that it offers very little that is new and that it is merely a service pack. After all, it's just a 0.1 version number increase and it's still called Leopard.

Each operating system is very different and each one has its fans. Snow Leopard has some good features, but also some drawbacks and the same is true of Windows 7. Some people will prefer one while others will prefer the other. Can't we respect each other's preferences?

There isn't a winner in this contest. In fact, there isn't even a contest. In October when Windows 7 goes on sale you will be able to buy it and install it on your PC, but you won't be able to buy Snow Leopard and install it on your PC because it only works on a Mac. Windows 7 and Linux are direct competitors because you can choose to put either of them on your PC, but you can't choose to put Snow Leopard on it. This means that Apple and Microsoft aren't true competitors because Microsoft sells operating systems and Apple sells computers. Apple competes with the likes of Dell, HP and Acer - when buying a new PC you have a choice, but when it comes to upgrading the OS, there's no choice at all.

If you have a Windows PC then you'll love Windows 7, but if you have a Mac then Snow Leopard is a great upgrade.