STR † THE FREEDOM BLOG

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Today is the day millions of Ubuntu users have been waiting for: The release of the new Ubuntu version called “Hardy Heron”, version number 8.10. We at STR took some time out of our busy schedule to do an in depth comparison between the three major operating systems which are:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
Ubuntu Hardy Heron
Mac OS Leopard

We selected the vista version Home Premium because it seemed to come closest to the list of features the competitors Apple and Canonical offer.

Are test machines are: For Ubuntu and Vista: Lenovo Thinkpad with T8100 chipset, Core 2 Duo processor with 2.1 GH and 2 GB Ram. For Mac OS we use a Macbook with Core 2 Duo processor, also with 2.1 GH and also 2 GB Ram.

Let’s get started!

1: Installation:

Windows Vista: The installation of Windows Vista is extremely easy. After putting in the DVD and you will be asked if you want to start from the disc. The next step is basically just to confirm that you want to install Vista on that computer and the machine does all the rest. About 20 minutes later you will be asked to enter your account name and to select an avatar and a wallpaper. After downloading five security patches the Windows system is good to go. It’s the easy going and pleasant way to install a new OS we are expecting from Microsoft. Let’s see how others are doing.

Ubuntu: The installation process with Ubuntu is qute confusing. After starting from the disc you will be asked if you want to start the “Live CD” or install the system or start from the hard drive, which is silly because there is no OS installed on the hard drive. Ubuntu seems not to be smart enough to be aware of that simple fact. After selecting to install Ubuntu the computer is quite busy with copying the files onto the hard drive. First it seemed to be very fast but the big surprise came when the computer was asking us to enter a “domain name” and a “computer name”. My first thought was that I installed the wrong thing because I was not about to host a domain or play silly games by giving my computer names. After consulting Canonical it was clear that you actually have to specify a domain name and also have to give your computer a name. I guess that was implemented by people that are in love with their computers. I am talking hardcore nerds that give their computers names. Well, I called the domain: ShelleyTheRepublican.com and I named the computer George W. Bush. After the installation was complete we were confronted with quite some problems: How do I connect to the internet? To make a long and painful story short: The wireless card was not supported by Ubuntu. The same with the webcam, the soundcard, the fingerprint reader, the sudden motion sensor of the hard drive, the special keys and on and on and on. Nothing really seem to work at all. If you want to use the most basic features like having sound and connecting to the internet you are in trouble with Ubuntu. I contacted Canonical again but they just told me to visit help forums and look for solutions. From there on it was countless hours of looking through threads of “try this” and “maybe that”. Even IT-professionals like me will have a very hard time to get the system running. Why does this have to be so complicated?

Mac OS X Installing a Macintosh system is a whole different story. After 10 unsuccessful attempts to start from DVD I was made aware that I have to press the “C”-key in order to start from the disc. Why? Never mind. Apple must have their reasons. After about 10 minutes of a painfully sounding dvd drive trying to collect all the necessary data the first selection menu appeared asking me for the language I require. Why? I bought the computer in America, I bought the Mac OS X dvd in America. So why is it not just going to install the system in English? Very strange. In the next steps I had to agree to a very long end user agreement and select or deselect certain features I never heard of. After about one hour the computer asked me for the second dvd. The system seems to be huge! Upon further investigation I found out that about 1,000 printer driver have been installed on the system. The printer driver software alone took almost 5 GB of space on my hard drive!!! It turned out that my printer was not even on the list, even though it’s a normal main stream HP printer I recently bought in BestBuy. What is wrong with Apple? Not only does it take ages to install the system but in the last steps of installation Apple tries to sell their rip off services to you! First of all you have to enter your name and address. You can not avoid it. I don’t understand how they can demand to know your personal details. I find that very rude. Then you will be asked to sign up for “Mobile Me”, the Apple mail service. Needless to say that I am very happy with the MSN service I am using for years. I did not sign up for Mobile Me of course. At least it was easy to connect the mac to the wireless network, after establishing the internet connection I was very surprised to see that I had to download almost 3GB of software updates! Apple does not seem to have any concept of software size or availability of space on personal computer systems. Why does an upgrade from Quicktime 7.3 to Quicktime 7.4 have to be 160Mb???

Conclusion: The clear winner is Windows Vista. The installation of Vista is quick and easy. The system does the thinking for you and it comes out just right. Well done Microsoft!

2: First steps: Setting up the computer, surfing the web, installing applications, playing music, watching DVD.

Windows Vista: The looks of Windows Vista are great. Glass effects, shadows, beautiful wallpapers and yet the familiar and screen space saving layout we came to love over the years. You feel right at home in Vista. A few adjustments for the mouse speed and I was good to go. The new Service Pack 1 did really improve the overall feel of Vista. It’s even faster and more responsive. The screen or single appls do not freeze, even under the heaviest of usage. One of the reasons might be that Vista is the only system that is based on Microsoft’s NT technology that also made Windows 2000 a winner. The fact that Vista is a native 64bit operating system makes it a competitor that might be hard if not impossible to beat, but let’s see. Surfing the web is fast and safe. All the necessary plugins and security features are already implemented. Vista comes with “Windows Defender” to protect you from spyware and viruses and the Windows Firewall keeps even the most malicious hacker at bay. Because Vista already comes with a whole bunch of important applications out of the box like Wordpad, Notepad, Internet Explorer, Windows Mail, Disk Defragmenter, Disc Cleanup, Paint, Windows Media Player, Windows Calendar, Windows Contacts, Calculator, Windows Live Messenger, Backup and Restore, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, a bunch of fun games and much much more, it is not necessary to install any additional applications. Vista just works and there is no need to spend more money on costly applications. Incredible value for the money! Needless to say that playing music and watching DVD is also an easy and pleasant experience.

Ubuntu: Because it was not yet possible to get Ubuntu to connect to the internet I can not determine how many software updates are required. Ubuntu seems to work fine though. The startup is taking quite some time but it least the screen doesn’t stay black. Ubuntu is a free operating system and I do know that “free” usually means “no value”. It seems to me that this is exactly the case here. Logging in using my finterprint is not possible because the fingerprint reader does not work. Surfing the web is not possible because there is not internet connection, playing music is not possible because there is not sound. Wait a minute.. Can we watch DVD? No we can’t actually, because Ubuntu does not come with a DVD player and the “Movie Player” does need some kind of codec I can not download because I don’t have an internet connection. Ubuntu seems to be a complete failure.

Mac OS X: I am not a big fan of Apple’s “Brushed Metal” design. Get over it already, Apple! Brushed Metal is out. Glass is in! Nevertheless everything seems to work. Adjusting the mouse speed was not possible tough. I guess the average Mac user has to trust Apple to adjust the mouse speed for them. Very strange. Other adjustment preferences are missing too. Where do I chance the wallpapers, where can I change the screensaver? Surfing the web though seems possible. The browser is called “Safari” and is, you guessed it, brushed metal. Most of the website I visited with Safari were not rendered correctly. Unfortunately it was not possible to install Internet Explorer on Mac OS. Playing DVD was working great. The built in DVD player started up as soon as I put the DVD into the slot in drive. The drive made horrible whining sounds but at least it worked. Not bad. Playing music though is a problem. Apple does not deliver their operating system with the Windows Media Player. It is also not possible to install winamp. After a long while I was able to locate an old version of the Windows Media Player for Mac. Version 4.5. It doesn’t run naively on Mac OS X, you have to run it inside Mac OS 9 which was installed automatically when installing the OS. Very complicated but at least not as bad as Ubuntu.

Conclusion: This is not really a competition. So far it’s more like the “Redmond Operating System Massacre”. Ubuntu and Mac OS X are badly hurt and running from the powerful Vista OS. No really: Everything once again works just fine on Windows Vista. Ubuntu though seems to be out of the race. What can I do with a notebook with no sound and no internet? Please, put them out of their misery already! As for Mac OS X, well you can surf the web and you can watch DVD but I don’t like the fact that you have to startup a 10 year old OS inside the new OS in order to listen to music. That is just not good enough. Sorry. The clear winner is: Windows Vista! Well done Microsoft!

3: Tests: Speed and Security

Windows Vista: Starting up Windows Vista does only take 15 seconds. That includes sliding the finger over the fingerprint reader, which is a great time-saver. It’s a very respectable time. Our security scan also revealed no problem whatsoever. Vista is airtight. An average hacker does not stand a chance against Vista. All ports are closed by the powerful Windows Firewall. Virus infected emails or spam/spyware emails will be caught by Windows Defender. Many years of experience in the field of providing server solutions have given Microsoft the tools and know how to provide a system that can not be harmed by being online. With Vista you are on the safe side. Sure, it’s not free as Ubuntu and it might not be as “hip” in the gay community as a white and shiny Mac but it’s safe and reliable and that is what we all are looking for.

Ubuntu: Starting up Ubuntu takes 165 seconds. That includes to typing in the password instead of using the fingerprint reader. To be honest, as owner of a brand new Lenovo Thinkpad I would find it very hard to accept to not be able to use my hardware properly. There is no way of using up to date hardware on Ubuntu. We also could not determine the internet security of Ubuntu because it was still not possible to establish an internet connection.

Mac OS X: Our mac needs 69 seconds to startup. This also includes the time I need to type in my password. Apple was unable to provide their systems with a fingerprint reader. A call to Cupertino confirmed what we already know. The support agent said: “We are glad we can put out computers that more or less work. We don’t have the technical know how to implement new features.” Shockingly honest and surprisingly sad. Our internet security scan reveals stunning weaknesses. Mac OS X does not seem to have a firewall at all. Attempts to install known applications like Zone Alarm or Norton Firwall also failed. These applications could not even be installed inside Mac OS 9. Mac OS X has a reputation of being a secure OS, we however can not confirm that to be true.

Conclusion: Let’s make this short.. The winner is, once more, Windows Vista! The shortest startup time, flawlessly working finterprint reader, airtight internet security. What more can you want. I guess the competitors Ubuntu and Mac OS X just want to put their head in the sand by now. I would!

Overall Conclusion: May I suggest to rename “Ubuntu Hardy Heron” into “Ubuntu Useless Moron”? I am stunned actually. I was not expecting Ubuntu to be able to keep up with the word leading operating system software, but at least I expected to be able to use the most basic functions we all need to use every day. Ubuntu was not able to do anything other than to be installed. Very bad. Complete failure.

Mac OS is not as bad as Ubuntu but still no example of good programming skills either. I did not like the fact that Apple is shamelessly trying to sell their services. Do you need the money so urgently, Apple? Your products are expensive enough as it is. Why the hustling for money? I was also very disappointed that I needed to install a 10 year old Microsoft application into a 10 year of version of Mac OS which was operation inside the up to date version of Mac OS just to be able to listen to my music. Apple needs to improve the entertainment capabilities of their OS. Bad!

I did honestly not expect the race to be that definitive, but it is. Windows Vista won in every category. Vista is easy to install, it’s real eye candy, it comes with all the important applications you need and love and all the hardware you can ever own is and will be supported by Vista. I have nothing to add except: Congratulations Windows Vista! The soon to be released version of “Windows 7″ will probably leave Microsoft’s competitors even further behind. I for one just can’t wait!

Connie Fairchild

An insider at Microsoft’s development team just leaked these exclusive images to STR - The Freedom Blog. A beta version of the new Windows will be released this December and the completed version 7 will hit the stores mid 2009.

Windows Vista already has a considerable lead compared to the major Linux distributions as well as to Mac OS X. IT specialists confirm that the new Windows will advance Microsoft’s lead in the field of consumer OS even further.

By the way, the design is just stunning! Take a look!

Images courtesy of http://windows7news.com