Sherry Tukle, the author of a Tale of Two Aesthetics recalls the landscape of users interfaces by compare and contrasting the Macintosh and PC user interfaces. She contends that the approach wielded by these two sides reflect the personal tastes. However I am here to assert that it is not merely a tale of two operating systems, but a tale of three operating systems and how their approach defines personal tastes and preferences which includes Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Conceptualized by Microsoft in 1985, Windows has grown to become the most dominant operating system utilized by the masses for their computational needs. Microsoft Windows, in terms of customization is moderate. The biggest appeal for Windows is the fact that it is an operating system that is paired with an incredible number of different hardware configurations. Microsoft Windows has been the predominant choice of operating system for gamers, for example because most of the games that were developed in the past decades were written for the Windows operating system through the DirectX API. As a reflection of this taste, hardware manufacturers such as Nvidia and AMD consequently tailored their processors to work best with the Windows codebase. In this regard, Windows has no peer in the operating system world and it reflects upon a person when they decide on a computer with Windows in it; it includes those who like to play very 3D intensive games. Windows also have another huge advantage; it's ability to run legacy applications and it's broad compatibility. It's very possible to run very old MS programs through the DOS box emulator, but slightly newer programs will run natively on the operating system. Of course, because of this wide compatibility and huge install base means that Windows is prone to virus attacks, making it a dangerous task to run Windows without an antivirus software included. The introduction of Windows 8 saw a rising importance in touchscreen integration into the traditional computing experience. While the benefits is to be debated, the inclusion of touchscreen support in Windows 8 will define a consumer's preference because it affects the consumer's workflow. Overall, Windows is a robust operating system, but it lacks the battery and memory optimizations that come with MacOS computing environment.
The second biggest market share in home computing operating systems belong to MacOS, which run on Apple Inc.'s latest in house built computers. Unlike Windows, MacOS and the hardware it runs on are both designed by Apple, which houses several advantages and disadvantages and those reflect a consumer's needs. To achieve this tightly controlled environment, the operating system has to be locked down and closed off from personal modifications (it's still possible). This is a major disincentive for game developers to port their games to the MacOS X environment. But the Mac using demographics is much lower, it further cripples the MacOS's ability to compete in gaming with Windows. Notwithstanding, the hardware that the MacOS X runs on is also slower than their windows counterparts. This is partially alleviated by the close integration of hardware and software with allows battery, memory and overall operating system efficiency on lower end hardware which gives it the perception of being faster. However the cost of these Research and development means a more expensive laptop. But with the increased cost means an greater emphasis on great design and durability. The current line of Macbooks are built using aluminum unibody enclosures to ensure the best rigidity and aesthetics. For a person to own a Mac, generally they don't play alot of games, wants basic computing tasks and care about the appeal of the Apple design. There are more advantages to the MacOS X operating system though; in that is also allows the developers to be able to add convenient programs to aid in productivity like Mail and iMovie that makes it very usable out of the box.
Finally, Linux is a free operating system that potentially spans the entire hardware gamut that Windows have except for high end components. Linux is a bit of a oddity today; they have many many different flavors and and extremely high level of customization. This makes it easy to make Linux look the way you want it to. However in the beginning and it's still true today, Linux is built on a command line GUI; it doesn't intuitively use the same concepts that MacOSX and Windows use. This makes adoption extremely difficult and bothersome for beginners. If anything, Linux represents the pinnacle of those technologically intelligent population. However the folder structure is closer to Windows than MacOS which aids in its usability. Linux is also used to for servers which allow users to utilize a free operating system by which to push their media through the cloud. It's cheap and highly customization, which are two qualities that allow it to suceeed as a media server.
Overall Turkle is mostly right; there is a certain difference between the operating systems and their users, but ultimately I believe that it's a tale of three operating systems that represent three different philosophies. However with these three approaches, technology are able to reach the entire gamut of consumers.
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