WINDOWS 7 OR SNOW LEOPARD?

Well, most of you may have heard about the new Operating Systems from Apple and Microsoft, Snow Leopard and Windows 7. The more things change, the closer in convergence these OS’s have become over time.

First one must realize that Windows 7 is really Vista 2 with a lot of cleanup of the interface and improvements in performance. Internally at Redmond, it’s called Windows 6.1, however that would not exactly work for the marketing campaign.

Marketing would not be able to get away with charging anywhere from $99.00 to $319.00 depending on which version you choose.  There are six, from Starter and Home Basic to Ultimate or Enterprise.

Apple’s upgrade Snow Leopard, which is actually version 10.6, costs out at a $29.99 per box.

Apple decided to waver from introducing lots of new features and instead focused on performance enhancements. They should have also focused on getting rid of all the bugs. One of the undocumented undesired "uh-oh" enhancements was a bug that would wipe out users data, if an upgrade was performed with an existing previously set guest account.

Nasty! They are about to introduce a fix for this unasked feature. Fortunately this is only affecting a few users at this point, however if your one of those few than it is a huge issue.

Windows  7 noticeably bests Apple’s Snow Leopard in 3D image rendering, which is important for folks like gamers. Thus it comes as no surprise when Windows 7 beats Snow Leopard in games.

Those concerned about battery life on laptops will be happy to know that Snow Leopard generally gives significantly longer charge life than one running Windows 7.

Are there compelling reasons that you might want to upgrade to a new OS? Yes and No. Let me explain.

If you are concerned with having a Windows compatible system, installing Windows 7 might make sense. As of last week (10/22), all new PC’s will be sold with Windows 7.

Upgrading is not trivial for Windows 7. To make it as smooth as possible, third party migration tools are needed. Note that you cannot upgrade from a 32bit version of Windows to a 64bit version. A clean install must be chosen. Microsoft’s criteria seems to be at 4 Gigs of ram. Below that, you are only going to be able to use 32bit.

So what is the big deal about 64bit computing?  In a nutshell, 64bit computing has the ability to double the size of units of data while retaining compatibility for 32 bit systems. It gives the user faster graphical editing capabilities. On a server level it can result in cost savings, because fewer physical servers are needed.

Networking seems to be much improved in Windows 7, necessitating much fewer clicks to setup wireless TPIP.

One important point is that Windows 7 kernel is the same as Windows 2008 Server (R2). The kernel is the nucleus of the OS, the closest part of the OS to the machine level and may access the hardware directly.

However, it gets a little confusing when Microsoft offers six versions of Windows 7 to Apple’s one.

Apple’s Snow Leopard is written in 64 bit also, but the OS automatically boots into 32 bit mode unless otherwise selected. Snow Leopard has a Docking Station verses  a Taskbar in Windows 7. They are similar and yet different in the two Operating Systems.

In Apples Dock one can launch applications and folders and get previews of the disk. In Windows 7 you can hover the mouse over and get overlays with actual control functions.

Both Operating System have built in backup capabilities. Apple has Time Machine and Windows has aptly named Windows Backup. Both require extensive additional disk space, such as in an additional spare drive.

These are good starting points, however I prefer third party options for backing up both Operating Systems that will clone your hard drive and make it a bootable backup source.

The advantages of a bootable backup are tremendous. The OS gets backed up along with all your applications, files and documents associated with the backed up system.

By using the default backups, one still has to reinstall an OS and all your applications, some you may have had for years. Do you remember where all the registration and serial numbers are for those applications? When you clone bootable backup this point is minimized.

Here are some third party applications that will clone a bootable active backup for your system.

For the Mac computer there is Super Duper and Carbon Copy Cloner, two of my favorite applications for accomplishing this.

On the Windows side there is Acronis True Image and Ghost from Symantec. I also have used these two to successfully back up and clone a drive.

Most folks get a new Operating System when they purchase a new computer and that is probably prudent for the majority.

So the choice is obviously yours on whether to go with a new OS or not. Windows 7 still has the registry, dll’s and fragmentation to deal with. Snow Leopard really takes those worries out of the user’s realm, and that is a plus for a lot of people.

Since initiating writing of this article I have actually installed Windows 7 on two PC’s. One was a Gateway with 64 bit Vista Ultimate and 4gigs of ram. The upgrade took three and one half hours. The good news is at the end of the upgrade process I was left with a new and very functional OS, as should be.

I also installed a Home Premium version of Windows 7 on my daughter’s almost four year old HP Pavillion laptop. This machine had an 80gig drive and 1.5gig of ram. Previously it was running Win XP SP2. While installing Windows 7 the installer is intelligent and well designed enough to create a directory with all the old programs and the previous version of Windows as a reference source.

It was amazing how well Windows 7 runs on this older laptop with the above configuration. It is like a new computer.

Windows 7 does not provide a mail program by default so it is easy to download the free Mozilla Thunderbird and fly with that. There are other free mail programs available as well.

On a budget, download Sun Microsystems free Open Office, it functions quite well on Windows 7. Alternative web browsers to Internet Explorer are Mozilla’s Firefox, Opera and Apple’s Safari will work in Windows also.

The more I use Windows 7 the more impressive it appears. One thing I forgot to mention is its compatibility mode. For programs that ran well on XP and may not work well in Windows 7 you can choose properties (right click) and select compatibility mode.

Microsoft actually included a virtual XP SP3 running inside Windows 7. It will work with quite a few apps, however it is possible to find one that will not run correctly in virtual mode. In that case researching the app with the developer of the app may provide updates or additional possibilities.

Microsoft does supply a free security application called "Microsoft Security Essentials". An antivirus tool with additional protection for anti-spying and other malware. It can be downloaded here Microsoft Security Essentials

These are my independent views on both the Apple and Microsoft Operating Systems. I do not work for either company and I do not receive software or other hardware from them. The software I purchase is at retail facilities at regular retail prices and the opinions I share with this group are mine alone.

And now, friends, a few items regarding threats to your privacy of which you may want to be aware:

The House October 20th offered up a new bill regarding Surveillannce

Beware of Google’s Book on Reader Privacy

Is EZ-Pass infringing on people’s privacy?

Telephone Company is Arm of Government, Feds Admit.

There is a lot of choice out there, and what and when you choose can affect your life and the life of your family dramatically. In turbulent times good choices are more important than ever.

Remember there are copious talents in our group of TTPer’s. We can learn and help each other during times like this. The caliber of individuals JW has brought together is more than impressive. Good ethical moral rational conservatives, my, what a group you all are. Ronald Reagan would be impressed, and that folks is a compliment of the highest order to all of you!

Stay safe and hope to see you in San Antonio.

Marco