Comparing bananas to oranges and apples


CIO takes a hard look at Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OS X
I'm a Macintosh user, I'll admit it. I have been for years. But I am even more interested in the free market. Everything I have seen over the years convinces me of one thing. In a free market without coercion, the only way to sell more product is to offer something that the competition doesn't.

That is why I am happy to see this article about a CIO trying all three of the major software platforms. Fascinating stuff, and a real peek into the demands of the market.

For three months, Halamka ditched his Windows laptop. He replaced it first with a MacBook running OS X. Then he spent a month using a Lenovo ThinkPad X41 running a dual-boot configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation and Red Hat Fedora Core. Finally, he took up a Dell D420 subnotebook running Microsoft's Windows XP. After evaluating all three to determine which worked best for him, he plans to begin testing his preferred setup with users, most of whose desktops currently run Windows.

Halamka judged the three operating systems according to a variety of criteria including their performance, user interfaces and enterprise management capabilities, such as the ability to configure applications, easily organize file systems, and establish granular security control. We followed Halamka's progress, and now we have his conclusions. We've also ask three other experts to take a look at Halamka's findings and add their own insights.

Yes, Apple's Macintosh OS X came off looking pretty good, but not perfect.

If I had my druthers, I'd rather see modular operating systems. You buy text management from this company, interface from that company, and drivers from a third. That isn't a realistic business model though, at least not yet.

Just because you own a Ford doesn't mean you can use ONLY their parts. The software industry isn't ready for that yet, I think it will get there as companies realize they will never be able to completely control either the desktop or access to the web. We're already moving away from desktop computers that never move and computers that you have to physically connect to the internet. It's coming, and in the end it won't matter which brand you use.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sun - January 21, 2007 at 02:23 PM  Tag


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