What is the difference between Mac OS X and Windows?

Answer 1

There are thousands of differences between mac and windows operating systems. To try and explain everything would take me all day and a books worth of typing. I can however explain the primary differences. First Windows is based upon a DOS programming language (think of it as the foundation for the operating system); Mac is based upon unix programming language, (linux is also based upon unix as well.) Macintosh is often more secure than windows due to less attempts at hacking because the majority of computer users use Windows. Macs tend to focus on graphics and multimedia while Windows focuses on office function. I would say it would be easier for you visit the individual websites and decide for yourself.

Answer 2

OS X is a BSD Unix based operating system with a GUI which is more user friendly than Windows for many users. The OS allows for permissions based accounts, and has better access controls to limit the spread of malicious software (yes, there are viruses and proof of concepts which target Apple software), and protects the system folder from write actions unless a user has administrative privileges.

The ease of use is often cited as a primary reason for educational institutions and art related business to defer to Apples.

Windows is prevalent in business environments, and has differing architectures based upon which flavor is installed (there are vast differences between 3.11, 95, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7) and the variations would best be researched on a product information site. Because of the popularity of Windows, malware and viruses are numerous, and an antivirus program is often the bare minimum that a user must use to protect their computing resources and data.

No matter the operating system, a best practice to follow is to always work from a user account with limited privileges and only do upgrades and installs from within the administrative account's workspace.

Answer 3

Mac (or short for Macintosh) is a compute made by apple. The mac software is also made by apple and runs Mac OS X. A p is a computer that can be made by many companies such as Toshiba, Dell, HP, Acer; The list goes on. However the software that a PC runs on is Windows. Be it windows 8,7, vista etc. Windows is made by Microsoft.

So the difference between Mac and PC is

1) The hardware makers

A) For a mac this is apple.

B) for a PC this could be Toshiba, Dell, Acer etc.

2) The software makers

A) for a mac this is apple

B) for a PC this is Microsoft

Hope it helped.

Sorry I went on a bit!

George

Answer 4

MAC means in your context a Macintosh computer brand manufactured by Apple. They are PowerPC architecture and use MAC OS as operating system. Windows is a family of operating systems that mostly run on IBM architecture PC's and their concurrency is UNIX family of operating systems.

Answer 5

Mac OS X looks different and costs less. Originally Microsoft licensed aspects of the Mac OS from Apple to allow them to create their Windows system. This resulted in long running dispute between the two as Apple claimed Microsoft had taken more than originally agreed. Since then the two systems have "borrowed" aspects of each other's systems. There are still fundamental differences: for example Mac OS X is a true windowing system whereby a window lets you view and interact with the running application whereas Windows runs an instance of the application in a Window. This often causes confusion for users who switch from Windows to Mac OS X as they expect the application to quit once the window is closed when a Mac application can still be running without any open windows.

Answer 6

There are way more than two differences between Mac OS X and Windows.

Two of the most notable differences are:

1. There are no known viruses in the wild for Mac OS X;
2. Apple controls the entire Mac experience, providing both the OS and the hardware (versus Microsoft, which provides an OS to many different hardware companies).

Both of differences (and many, many others) contribute to what many consider to be a much less frustrating experience using their computer, and are the primary reasons Mac users tend to regard their computers more favorably than Windows users.

Answer 7

A mac is a computer....Windows is software that runs on a PC.

Answer 8

There are several differences between Windows and Mac, the main difference being as the operating systems. Similarly, the control key in Windows corresponds to the command key on a Mac.

Answer 9

i do