Windows 7 not a threat to OSX? [Updated]

by Justin Horn on Jan 15th, 2009 @ 7:12 pm

Now that Windows 7 beta is out to the public the benchmarks are starting to come out. So does Windows 7 make an improvement over Vista…the short answer from an Overclockers.com article is no. Yes, Windows 7 is still in beta, but as it is mainly just an update to Vista (as the article points out) these numbers might be pretty close to the final results with the final product.

I’ve tried Windows 7 beta myself and it seems very similar to Vista, with the biggest obvious difference being the new “Start Dock”. It’s basically a Frankenstein between the classic windows start bar and the OSX dock. So while Snow Leopard is tightening up and improving its speed and functionality Windows 7 seems to be Microsoft as usual.

This could be an interesting turning point for Apple as people might start to add more value to the OS included with a new Mac. This could make the the price difference between a PC and a Mac seem more resonable to computer purchasers frustrated with Vista. Should also be cool since both operating system should be released in 2009, although Snow Leopard should be out before Windows 7.

UPDATE
To keep this fair and balanced, here is a pretty positive review of the new Windows 7 beta on Engadget. In particular they talk about the speed:

Speed improvements
This seems to be the thing people most wanted out of Windows 7, and it certainly seems to deliver. We’d say the benefits are most drastic in seriously underpowered hardware, like netbooks — which is, of course, exactly where it’s most needed. Our Vaio P, for instance, booted in two thirds the time it took with Vista. Naturally, the OS is by no means delay free. We bump into slowdowns all the time, with all sorts of apps, but they seem to happen less often, and Microsoft has done the work of mitigating the traditional “hurry up and wait” aspect of booting up the computer — if you can see the desktop, you aren’t far from making something happen, instead of waiting for 100,000 start-up items to do their thing.

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View 3 Comments
Apples & Oranges, OSX

1.
1. Jordan

   January 17th, 2009 1:57 pm

   

   That’s interesting. I have been using Vista since the beta and am currently running the Windows 7 beta. Windows 7 is a MAJOR advancement over Vista. I know you read some study on benchmark, but in my experience it is much faster than Vista. Vista ran fine once up and running, it was the start up and shut down times that killed it. Windows 7 addresses these problems and solves them quite well. As for the new start dock, I’m not completely sold on it yet, but this could be attributed to the fact that I never liked the Mac dock and therefore wouldn’t like the start dock either. However I will say that as far as a “dock” goes, the start dock is much improved over the mac dock.

   Vista can be likened to what Apple did with OSX. Vista was the first itteration of the next generation operating system in the way that it looked, therefore hardware needed to be updated to run it, but now that the hardware is in place, from here on out these OS updates should run fine. I’d still much rather pay for an operating system every 3-4 years than a new one every year as is the case with OSX.

   Apple makes their own hardware, therefore they can say what you can and cannot run. Even if you customize a computer with them you have less options than with a PC. For an operating system that takes on many different types of hardware and manufacturers, Windows is doing a stellar job.

   In short, everybody needs to give Windows 7 a shot for themselves. Don’t listen to an advertisement or hearsay from some other OS worshiper, try it for yourself. Odds are you are going to like it.

2.
2. dizzy

   January 17th, 2009 7:30 pm

   

   Good points. I am a current Vista 64 user and it works okay for the most part, but after installing SP1 it got weird. Explorer will crash randomly, DNS fails (works on all other PC/Macs in LAN), certain USB devices only work in a particular USB port or not at all.

   I guess I will hold my final judgment until I really get to try out the beta, but after the Vista flop I can’t say I have high hopes.

   I agree that Windows does have to handle a lot more different types of hardware and don’t forget that fact. There is a certain freedom lost using a Mac, but as I’ve gotten older and have less time to tinker I actually really like my new Macbook with OSX.

   As for the updates, even if OSX updates once a year it only cost like $140 compared to like $300 or more for Windows. I’ve only really been using OSX for a few months and I have to say all my hesitations like the dock, program windows, closing out of programs, etc I don’t even notice anymore.

   Lucky for me I will always have my PC and now a Mac so I can play in both worlds and get the best of both.

3.
3. Curtis B

   January 25th, 2009 7:48 pm

   

   I’m in agreement with Jordan. I tend to take overclockers analysis as a little biased towards the gamers end of the Market, so not relevent to the mac space. I installed 7 on an old P4m laptop with 1gb RAM. It blew the socks off Vista on the same tin, both in startup and in use. I can even run Aero on it and run Office apps responsively – something this box wouldn’t do on Vista!

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