Vista Leopard Microsoft
Microsoft's Vista and Apple's Leopard are evaluated in terms of their features and developments over their predecessors (i.e. Windows XP and Mac OSX), and how these can be related to business performance. It is important to note that the similarities between the two operating systems have increased considerably, especially because of the increased interoperability and similarities in applications and functions. However, they are also quite different. The features and the similarities or differences are of special importance to business organizations when deciding on whether or not move to Leopard or Vista.
Microsoft has changed the rollout rules, and many of these rules are not as favorable to IT as it was before. First of all, Microsoft has been flooding the market with copies of Vista at no cost. It is a tactic that many critics consider as questionable or controversial. Microsoft is not exact1y doing IT a favor by putting more than 2 mil1ion copies of Vista in the grasp of individuals that would not have had the money nor time to attempt an upgrade their PC. This is because the tactic makes it more risky for IT. For instance, the increased use of Vista outside company time - - and outside IT supervision/advice - - would mean decreased control of IT on emp1oyees' systems (i.e. laptops), and increased risks for organizations, especial1y when considering that there may be some applications that can become inoperable because of the shift towards Vista.
In addition to this the beta of Vista has taken much longer and has involved many more people than that of the predecessors of each. Compounding this is the fact that almost all of them it seems, have posted highly critical comments online. These comments have ranged to addressing the features, stability, security and nearly every other aspect of Vista. Attracted end users have been overwhelmed with negative criticisms about Vista. These are disadvantageous for Windows, since these can become valuable foundation on which Vista's opponents can develop their argument. It is commonplace for IT to face negative feedback from users for some minor performance changes when a new operating system has been introduced. However, it is another thing when the users can cite specifics about widely discussed issues.
In terms of networking, Symantec has made claims that changes to the networking properties could make Vista less stable and secure than XP. The security company has been finding flaws in Vista in a way as fast as Microsoft releases builds to test. And its researchers have determined that Vista's support for peer-to-peer protocols and IPv6 wou1d play an ever-increasing function in the control of malicious files and activity.
Microsoft should receive accolades for shipping an operating system with an IPv6 network package fully functional. However, making this as the default can prove to be a problem with IT. This is due to the fact that a large part of the network security monitoring equipment that IT departments have in use cannot check IPv6 packets, and that makes them a potential security hole that can compromise IT systems, which are an integral part of business.
In contrast, Apple has been altering the Mac OS to be more, not less, IT-friendly. First of all, it is now UNIX, a technology that IT shops are very familiar with and are comfortable dealing with. Aside from this, OS X now uses Intel processors. Macintosh systems are still better designed than most PCs and are no longer individual boxes that are relatively difficult to manage. Also just as important are Apples' Leopard new features that are designed to help IT in their management of end-user needs. Most importantly, Apple's Leopard incorporates the Time Machine too1. This tool comes standard in OS X Version 5. If Windows users lose an old file or want to return to a prior version of a document, they don't have many options. Aside from lost passwords, lost files are the next most common help desk request. With Time Machine, Mac users get a illustrated journey through a time line of their files. Once the file is located, they can simply click on it to restore it for use at that time.
Aside from the Time Machine, there is also Boot Camp, which is the Leopard tool that lets Mac users run Windows or Mac applications natively on a single machine. So even organizations with a Windows-heavy application portfolio can upgrade their end users to Macintosh systems and still be able to implement Windows software.
Vista Features
In terms of the visual aspect, the biggest change in Vista is the more stylish appearance of the desktop. The start-button menu has been altered to remove many of the clunky drop-down menus that branched to the right when a menu item was chosen. The most significant example of the new look comes in the Windows Flip 3-D feature, which gives the user the option to tab through open applications as well as to catch a glimpse of screen shots of each as they flow in 3D. Additionally, when the user places the mouse over an item on the taskbar a thumbnail screen shot of that application is produced. The upgraded Windows Explorer, now Vista Explorer, gives thumbnail views of files instead of merely listing their names. These screen shots make it easier to find the right program when several copies of programs are open, or when looking through similar documents.
In terms of security, Microsoft claims that Vista has is highly secure against current and emergent threats. In the five years since Windows XP has been released, the most important topic has been security. Microsoft boasts that the new Vista system is considerably more secure. They have tightened security over the core, the kernel, of Vista. In prior versions, programs and applications, which included viruses and spy ware, were able to access and alter this crucial section of the operating system. It's a nice addition, but we will have to wait to see how successful it will be. It is imperative to note that, as the most popular operating system, Windows is the system most often under attack by hackers and virus writers.
In terms of search capability, Vista provides more efficiency. Before Vista, Microsoft had talked about how searching for files from anywhere on the computer would be a central part of Vista. However, Google struck first and added the search function to its free download, Goog1e Desktop. Ultimately, users would determine whether it is easier to search from the start menu or the Goog1e toolbar. Vista does give the capability to save searches as “search folders,” which can be effective for businesses that have substantial file systems that need to be referenced on occasion.
Vista also includes the Sidebar. Microsoft has added a function on the desktop that it calls the Sidebar. Here users can add small programs and gadgets, including clocks, calculators, weather information, photo slide shows and stock tickers. It puts otherwise excess space to use during hours were previously the space would have gone unused. It is an appealing and convenient addition on any monitor.
In terms of performance, Microsoft has promised improved performance along with each and every upgrade to date. So with Vista they renewed the claim once again. Prior performance has not always lived up hype stirred up by Microsoft.
There is also the sleep feature. Another performance upgrade includes the new sleep feature. Windows computers in the past had two ways of saving information when inactive - - standby and hibernation. Vista adds the sleep mode that combines these two features. Data from active programs is saved on the hard-drive as well as the RAM on a desktop computer. The version on the drive protects data from becoming lost during a power failure. The version in memory permits the computer to quickly pick up where it left off. On a laptop, the information is saved to memory during sleep at first. After a long period of inactivity, information is moved to the hard drive prior to the laptop going into hibernation. The sleep mode is designed to reduce power use, protect data and enable users to quickly resume working. With many programs open at the same time the Vista system can jump back into action faster than the Windows XP system.
There is also the Super-fetch feature. This feature preloads frequently used programs into memory. It also controls background tasks, such as virus scans, to limit their use of system memory when the user is trying to use other programs.
Another new feature is the ReadyBoost. Through this feature, the computer can read and write to flash memory more quickly than to a hard drive. This is a new type of hybrid hard drives that includes flash to take into account the differences in speed. Vista does the same thing by allowing users to install a USB flash drive to work as supplemental to the computer's RAM. Users can plug in flash drives and Vista will ask if ReadyBoost should be used to increase the speed and performance. The performance features are central additions to Windows.
On the downside, Vista has a very high levels of consumption of system resources, particularly RAM and graphics memory. There are some reports of Vista struggling to perform on machines that meet but do not exceed the system's minimum hardware requirements. 1 gigabyte of RAM is stated to be the official minimum, but in reality, Microsoft shipped review units that had 2 GBs of memory, which seems to be a much more realistic amount.
In terms of networking, networking with XP, wireless, in particu1ar, can be an complex process. In the first upgrade since Wi-Fi became popular, Vista significantly improves the approach, as it effortlessly and consistently locates and connects to both public and home wireless networks.
In terms of family settings, Vista allows parents to manage the amount of time children are allowed to spend on their computers, control the sites they can visit, and restrict the types of games they can play as well as control the software that can be installed. It also can supply thorough reports on children's computer activities, including alerts when there's an effort to gain access to restricted Web sites, games or software.
There are also software freebies. Vista completely revamps Windows' backup software, allowing scheduled backups to CDs, DVDs, or external, internal or networked drives. XP added photo management to Windows. Vista changes the old My Pictures (folders are now called Pictures, Documents, Music, etc.), and includes a basic photo editor, a photo gallery and the ability to add labels and other specific data.
Improved speech recognition has also been supplementary to the new operating system. While not ideal, Vista's voice-recognition software performs amazingly well. After about 20 minutes of training - - a tutorial for the user, which, at the same time, helps the software learn subtleties of the user's voice - - the user can speak off several paragraphs of text with minimal mistakes. For anyone looking to buy a new PC, Vista offers a number of advances over XP. To take benefit of the visual features such as Flip 3-D or the translucent border at the top of windows, called “Aero,” users need the Vista Premium edition. Media Center functions that allow users to share music, movies and photos throughout the home also need the premium edition. Upgrading an existing Windows machine to Vista may be a riskier idea. If the computer in question is more than a year old, it may be facing memory and graphic card updates, or more. Aside from this, older printers, scanners and other peripheral devices may not be Vista-compatible.
Leopard Features
Apple's Leopard's strength is in terms of the applications available through the operating system. Of the few new additions to Leopard, collaborative applications are one of the most important. The built-in Podcast Producer allows users rapidly package multimedia content using audio, video and documents in simple configurations.
Mac Office Suite's Entourage, which is similar to Microsoft's Outlook, however, may find some trouble in connecting to new iCal API sets without first installing connectors. The CalDAV standard that App1e bases iCal on has good means for moving and sharing calendars, appointment times, resources and other elements that long have been a free and handy feature of Microsoft's Outlook and Exchange Server e-mai1 system combination.
Apple also includes a new wiki maker and server for collaborative information sharing. The wiki requires that Web services should be running, and users access it on a browser page that also can branch to blogs, group calendars and e-mail. Users can attach and embed PDF and document files in several formats, as well as pictures and videos, without many issues.
There is also Time Machine, which is Apple's backup-management and archiving-management application. This feature, however, is not fully functional on Apple clients unless Leopard Server is present - - permitting only local storage devices. Apple limits the storage of Time Machine client data to HFS+ volumes, restricting internal or external drives based on other formats. When Leopard Server is present and configured correctly, Apple clients can operate dedicated Time Machine storage volumes to make initial, then subsequent iterative backups to a network resource - but only to Leopard-based storage areas. This method is better than almost none at all - which is the storage method previously used by Apple, except in cases where a client user subscribed and backed up to Apple's Mac service or used another commercial backup package.
Reports on the Time Machine found that only a minor amount of primary network bandwidth is required when an initial Time Machine client-backup is made. It takes about an hour to store 35GB per client machine. Time Machine doesn't work for Windows or Linux clients, which must use backup resources native to their operating systems.
Apple otherwise supports a large number of filing systems, including Sun's ZFS - but only as a read-only file system. There is also the compatibility on Solaris T2000 servers, in which mounting of ZFS on the Solaris 10 server can be considerably easy.
In terms of performance and security, upgrades in the G4- and Intel-based Xserve servers can be considerably arduous. It can take a long time to install Leopard, taking the servers out for two to four hours depending on CPU and existing files, especially because re-indexing can take time. Fresh installations can take nearly an hour on the faster, Intel-based Xserve machines. File-copy performance before and after upgrading to Leopard was essentially the same. When used with LMBench3 comparison software, execution can be nominally faster in Leopard 10.5 than it can be in Tiger 10.4. In launching new processes, users can gain because of the 26 milliseconds faster operation on a machine running Mac OS X 10.5.1 than it would take on the same machine running Mac OS X 10.4.
A new firewal1 application has been added to the IPFW app1ication that Apple introduced in OS X 10.4, but it has no name other than being termed a component of the Apple firewall system. The industry considerations about this firewall was that it wou1d not change an application's desired communications behavior until the application was restarted, meaning that root-based communications applications were exempt from receiving communications blocks. This potential security breach was addressed in version 10.5.1. Additionally a misnamed service option cal1ed b1ock-all, which does not b1ock all communications because it leaves essential services open, can cause false-positive service exposure. Apple relabeled this service option, noting that administrators must kill such services manually via a shell if they really want to get rid of them, and administrators must manually edit configuration files to get rid of them permanently. Aside from this, digitally signed or fingerprinted communications applications that the operating system watches for behavioral changes now are supported when the user or administrator accepts their behavior.
Servers and their Use with Vista/Leopard
It is common knowledge in the Microsoft channel that many of the core files in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are identical. But Microsoft partners believe the impact of the shared code base has been underestimated, and that the stronger performance and security that results from the cross-pollination between the two products is going to have a positive effect on Vista adoption. Since the days of Windows NT, the Windows client and server operating systems have benefited (from both a security and reliability standpoint) from shared engineering best practices and a common code base. But with Server 2008 and Vista, these commonalities wil1 generate significantly more business value by cutting down on the time needed to patch and troubleshoot flaws. The NT 4 workstation and server were almost the same code, but that was a much simpler time. For organizations that deploy Server 2008 and Vista together, the primary benefits will come in the form of more reliable code and consistent hot fixes within both platforms.
On the other hand, the client version of Apple's Leopard operating system depends more on Apple's server software than ever before. This is a trait that the operating system shares with Microsoft's combination of Vista clients and the upcoming Windows 2008 Server. Also shared with Vista were a seeming superfluity of bugs, user-interface behavior problems, and occasional configuration-file overwrites. Unlike Microsoft, which waited a year between shipping date and first update, Apple re1eased Version 10.5.1 of Leopard just two weeks after its shipping date to quickly take care of the majority of initial difficulties we found. While the Leopard C1ient contains incremental changes to its user interface and bundled app1ications, those same app1ications have newly enriched features that are tied to application services shipped with the Leopard Server edition. For example, Leopard C1ient's Mail app1ication performs basic e-mail functions readily. However, Leopard Server's Mail system brings richer Open Directory workgroup features that are not available to non-Leopard clients.
Overall, Leopard and Vista each has considerable strengths that implementing organizations should consider relative to their actual needs and availability of technological resources.
Works Cited
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