Mac OS vs Windows - Adults only

[mehmeh]

It made you look didnt it and is a valid point, as figure I can safetly ask on Hexus without getting banned. I am genuinely interested and it may also yet influence my current new laptop conundrum.

Can someone explain to me or point me in the direction of something that explains the fundamental differences between the way Mac OS and Windows are coded and operate and factual points why one may be superior to the other. Stuff like why does Apple bash .ddl files and the Registry, whats there alternative and what evidence is there that its superior for x, y or z. Even a reccomendation of a good book tbh. I suspect I might not be looking at this the right way? FYI Plenty of Windows experience, the very basics of Unix and Linux, but zero Mac experience.

Thanking yous

[directhex]

I suspect the technical depth you want you wouldn't understand. For your example, Mac OS does have ".ddl" files, assuming you mean Dynamic-Link Library files. The Mac OS equivalent are .dylib files, which do largely the same thing - they're dynamic libraries containing chunks of code.

First, think of a Mac as a *NIX box. It kinda is (the core OS is called Darwin, it's based on NeXTSTEP, which is based on BSD). Almost every non-GUI concept that applies there applies on Mac. Then, apply a lot of Mac-specific user interface stuff on top.

[jim]

Most of the time, the "fundamental differences" aren't exactly that important. I mean that in terms of marketing - Apple doesn't really sell itself on its lack of a registry.

It comes down to the tying together of hardware and software, above all, which then leads to price differences, usability differences, and support differences. Which has been debated to death really.

If you personally are interested in the fundamental differences, then you'll probably have more luck researching Unix vs Windows, which is where you find out why Windows needs defragging and Unix system don't, so on so forth. Whether that actually amounts to much at the end of it all, I don't know. You'll hear all sorts of arguments about stability and various other topics, but it's not exactly clear cut.

[peterb]

Apple sees themselves as hardware vendors, which has software to make it run. As Directhex and snootyjim have said, the underlying opoerating system for the Mac is *nix based with the Apple gui bolted on - you don't have to peer very far 'under the bonnet' to get to the *nix core.

However Apple keep VERY tight control over the OS and their hardware - with the result that it tends to inter-operate very well - it is tightly integrated. The downside is that there much less compatable hardware - and Apple hardware tends to be more expensive than the Windows equivalent.

Microsoft are primarily a software company, and many of its API's are available to developers. Consequently there is a wide variety of hardware and software available.

The fundamental difference is that Windows keeps its configuration data in a number of database files, which together make up the registry, whereas *nix tends to keep application configuration files as independent text based files. The actual differences are irrelevant unless you start getting down into the ins and outs of the OS.

In general, Apple products do exactly what the say on the tin - and do it well. Windows products usually do what they say, but sometimes it doesn't - and (in my opinion) works best when you work the way Microsft think you should be working. Apple fans say that Apple OS interface is more intuitive. (And they did develop the Windows, Icons, Mouse and Pull down Menus Interface from an original idea by Xerox in the late '70s early '80s)