This report will look at the contrast and differing functionality between the two operating systems, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows 2000.

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Battle of the Operating Systems

Introduction

This report will look at the contrast and differing functionality between the two operating systems, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows 2000.  It will give details of arguments for both systems and look at areas such as Installation, Interface, Hardware compatibility and Internet support incorporating networking, multitasking, file management and utilities. The report will also include feedback on the comparisons between the systems from CNET.com.

It is important to understand that the Mac OS X system is produced by and will work only with Apple Mackintosh machines, whereas Microsoft have developed their operating system to work with most independent made computers and do not produce their own hardware in order to run the operating systems and software that they develop.

First of all though we need to understand what is an Operating System (OS) and Network Operating System (NOS) so that within the report we can look at the different functionalities of the two OS systems in question.

OS and NOS

What is OS? – OS is the Operating System that all computers have nowadays and it enables the PC to function by doing two main things which are listed below:

  • It manages the hardware and software resources of the computer system. These resources include such things as the processor, memory, disk space, etc.
  • It provides a stable, consistent way for applications to deal with the hardware without having to know all the details of the hardware

What is NOS? – NOS stands for Network Operating System and is piece of software that is installed onto each PC that requires network access. It monitors the exchange and flow of files, electronic mail and other network information.

NOS are classified according to whether they are peer-to-peer or client-server NOSs.  Peer-to-peer NOSs like Windows XP, 2000 are best for small office use as they work well with sharing applications, data, printers and other localised resources acress a few PC’s. Client-server NOSs like Windows NT, Linux and NetWare are ideal for large-scale organisations that require fast network access.

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Section One – INSTALLATION

Overview – From the information obtained above and the comparisons made it seams like the installation side of the OS X system is much easier than that of the Windows environment. Through its automatic restarts from CD and the methodical way it walks you through the entire process demonstrates it’s advancement on Windows 2000.

Section Two – INTERFACE

Overview – The OS X system has developed with leaps and bounds and has produced an excellent user interface enabling multitasking capabilities, File management facilities and is easily compatible to setup and use via a network. This ...

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