Apple Mac OS X

Mac OS X (pronounced /mæk.o?.?s.t?n/) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently shipping Macintosh computers. Mac OS X is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. Unlike its predecessors, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT through the second half of the 1980s until Apple purchased the company in early 1997.

Where to Buy

Apple Mac OS X 1
MSRP $129.00
Release date March, 2001
Brand Apple
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Pros & Cons22
Reviews16
Details
Buy It
Competitors6
Comments3
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
16 reviews
76
negative
mixed
positive
12 positive
0 mixed
3 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Good looking
+10agreedisagree

•
Easy to use
+6agreedisagree

•
Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
+6agreedisagree

•
no oppressive product validation
+6agreedisagree

•
Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
+5agreedisagree

•
The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
+5agreedisagree

•
affordable price
+4agreedisagree

•
The "dock" make navigation easy.
+3agreedisagree

•
innovative
+3agreedisagree

•
Rock solid open source BSD UNIX subsystem
+2agreedisagree

•
Unlike MS Windows, application are mostly of extremely high quality, with very little proportion of junk.
+2agreedisagree

•
Not much of a learning curve.
+1agreedisagree

•
Time Machine - easy to use backups and file recovery
+1agreedisagree

•
Bootcamp - software to easily allow dual booting OSX with alternative operating systems on Apple hardware (specifically Windows)
+1agreedisagree

•
Spotlight - intelligent and speedy all-in-one tool for file management, program/system configuration launcher
+1agreedisagree

•
high amount of UI polish
+1agreedisagree

•
exposé desktop accessibility tool - functional and pretty
+1agreedisagree

•
Easy downloading.
-2agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
only works on Apple hardware
+7agreedisagree

•
Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
+6agreedisagree

•
Cannot be virtualized
+4agreedisagree

•
closed source
+1agreedisagree


16 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

The first version released was Mac OS X Server 1.0 in 1999, and a desktop-oriented version, Mac OS X v10.0 followed in March 2001. Since then, five more distinct "end-user" and "server" versions have been released, most recently Mac OS X v10.5 in October 2007. Releases of Mac OS X are named after big cats, for example Mac OS X v10.5 is usually referred to by Apple and users as "Leopard". The server edition, Mac OS X Server, is architecturally very similar to its desktop counterpart but usually runs on Apple's line of Macintosh server hardware. It includes workgroup management and administration software tools that provide simplified access to key network services, including a mail transfer agent, a Samba server, an LDAP server, a domain name server, and others. Apple also produces customized versions of OS X for use on three of its consumer devices, the Apple TV, the iPhone and the iPod touch. The modified OS only contains what is needed for that particular device (un-needed drivers and components are removed), though certain sources have reported that simple hacks could install features in the Mac OS to the stripped down version, which could indicate Apple wants to improve upon a common platform on all its hardware devices.

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This report was started November 19, 2007 at 1:47 pm by Jan
with the last edit occurring Today, 9:59 AM by Red_Lehari
This page has been viewed 7723 times, with 207 edits by 20 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Apple Mac OS X

• Mac OS X Version 10.5.6 Leopard

• Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (Full Product, Mac)

UPC: 605433009943

EAN: 5050053026040

MPN: MC094Z/A

Competitors

Apple Mac OS X is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Operating Systems »
Ubuntu

Ubuntu

MSRP  $0.00    Released  October, 2008
Pros
  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
Cons
  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.
  • I have problem with openVPN client, it just need a little workaround which is not that easy for regular user
  • Connecting through webdav with MS Windows is more stable than through Ubuntu, eventhough I did it through ubuntu, but not that easy for regular user
ProSCORE
30 reviews
91
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 50% vs. vote Ubuntu 50%
Linux

Linux

MSRP  $0.00    Released  August, 1991
Pros
  • Free and open-source
  • Strong developer community
  • Enterprise-class server operating system
Cons
  • Most Windows programs aren't available in Linux versions
  • Not all hardware is readily supported.
  • driver stability - many drivers are just ports of windows drivers
ProSCORE
22 reviews
71
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 50% vs. vote Linux 50%
Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista

MSRP  $199 - $380    Released  January, 2007
Pros
  • Simple instalation from scratch (GUI really helps installation)
  • Much better compatibility with 64-bit hardware
  • Much fewer security vulnerabilities than XP
Cons
  • Performance can be much better
  • Default installation comes with many bloated eye-candy settings enabled that slow your computer down
  • User Access Control is a huge pain
ProSCORE
29 reviews
38
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 67% vs. vote Microsoft Windows Vista 33%
Debian GNU/Linux

Debian GNU/Linux

MSRP  $0.00    Released  August, 1993
Pros
  • Rock solid, even unstable/sid
  • Linux OS that has spawned more successful offspring than any other Linux OS
  • Apt/Dpkg are solid package management options
  • Fantastic appserver platform
  • PHP, OpenJDK, GCC, LLVM and more get solid testing support/SQA support
ProSCORE
1 review
100
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 67% vs. vote Debian GNU/Linux 33%
Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

MSRP  --    Released  --

Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of software operating systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Microsoft Windows eventually came to dominate the world's personal computer market, overtaking Mac...

ProSCORE
1 review
0
Vote! (7 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 71% vs. vote Microsoft Windows 29%
Gentoo

Gentoo

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --
ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (4 votes)
vote Apple Mac OS X 75% vs. vote Gentoo 25%

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
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Comments

9 taps
1.  avatar gadgetcoma said:

Saying there aren't as many games / apps available as for Windows is technically true, but there are many titles available and just about anything you need can be found for Mac OS. If not, just run Parallels, Fusion or Boot Camp.
Jan 05, 2009 4:45pm
2.  avatar Howlsthunder said:

I agree with gadgetcoma. I'd rather have a dedicated game console for games, personally. Gaming does not factor into how I choose my computing experience - stability, ease of use, reliabiliy, and all-around user-friendliness is what I count on. I use a Mac to make my living and I can't afford down-time, something which has been a rarity for me since switching to Mac. Its the reason I will pay the extra $ for a Mac over an equally-powered yet slightly cheaper PC.
Apr 17, 2009 8:05pm
3.  avatar gbchaosmaster said:

Mac OS X is far better than Windows. Sure, Windows does have a couple more games, but they can be easily downloaded, which, by the way, is a snap with OS X. It just has such a better interface compared to others.
Apr 18, 2009 6:26pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Howlsthunder

avatar
April 20, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
0 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • affordable price
  • The "dock" make navigation easy.
  • innovative
  • Rock solid open source BSD UNIX subsystem
  • Unlike MS Windows, application are mostly of extremely high quality, with very little proportion of junk.
  • Not much of a learning curve.

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Comments

"I agree with gadgetcoma. I'd rather have a dedicated game console for games, personally. Gaming does not factor into how I choose my computing experience - stability, ease of use, reliabiliy, and all-around user-friendliness is what I count on. I use a Mac to make my living and I can't afford down-time, something which has been a rarity for me since switching to Mac. Its the reason I will pay the extra $ for a Mac over an equally-powered yet slightly cheaper PC."

Competitors

Howlsthunder prefers Apple Mac OS X over Debian GNU/Linux, Gentoo, Microsoft Windows Vista, Ubuntu, Linux, Microsoft Windows
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

gbchaosmaster

avatar
April 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • affordable price
  • The "dock" make navigation easy.
  • innovative
  • Not much of a learning curve.
  • Easy downloading.

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware

Comments

"Mac OS X is far better than Windows. Sure, Windows does have a couple more games, but they can be easily downloaded, which, by the way, is a snap with OS X. It just has such a better interface compared to others."

Competitors

gbchaosmaster prefers Apple Mac OS X over Microsoft Windows Vista, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, Gentoo
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

gadgetcoma

avatar
January 5, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
0 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Comments

"Saying there aren't as many games / apps available as for Windows is technically true, but there are many titles available and just about anything you need can be found for Mac OS. If not, just run Parallels, Fusion or Boot Camp."
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

fractalhorizon

avatar
April 26, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
89
negative
mixed
positive
17 pros
2 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • affordable price
  • The "dock" make navigation easy.
  • innovative
  • Rock solid open source BSD UNIX subsystem
  • Unlike MS Windows, application are mostly of extremely high quality, with very little proportion of junk.
  • Not much of a learning curve.
  • Time Machine - easy to use backups and file recovery
  • Bootcamp - software to easily allow dual booting OSX with alternative operating systems on Apple hardware (specifically Windows)
  • Spotlight - intelligent and speedy all-in-one tool for file management, program/system configuration launcher
  • high amount of UI polish
  • expos? desktop accessibility tool - functional and pretty

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Cannot be virtualized

Competitors

fractalhorizon prefers Apple Mac OS X over Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Linux
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

simplistic

avatar
April 22, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
86
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
2 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • affordable price
  • The "dock" make navigation easy.
  • innovative
  • Rock solid open source BSD UNIX subsystem
  • Unlike MS Windows, application are mostly of extremely high quality, with very little proportion of junk.
  • Not much of a learning curve.

Cons

  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • Cannot be virtualized

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Yale

avatar
April 23, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
77
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • affordable price
  • innovative
  • Time Machine - easy to use backups and file recovery
  • Bootcamp - software to easily allow dual booting OSX with alternative operating systems on Apple hardware (specifically Windows)
  • Spotlight - intelligent and speedy all-in-one tool for file management, program/system configuration launcher
  • high amount of UI polish
  • expos? desktop accessibility tool - functional and pretty

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • closed source

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

dialupinternetuser

avatar
April 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
  • no oppressive product validation
  • Not affected by most, if any, viruses and worms
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • affordable price

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • Cannot be virtualized

Competitors

dialupinternetuser prefers Linux, Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu, Debian GNU/Linux over Apple Mac OS X
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Henk Poley

avatar
April 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
71
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
2 cons

Pros

  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • no oppressive product validation
  • The "dashboard" is very useful and doesn't interfere with other programs.
  • The "dock" make navigation easy.

Cons

  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • closed source

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Master2k27

avatar
June 30, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
4 cons

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • Cannot be virtualized
  • closed source

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

phenix1819

avatar
June 6, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
3 cons

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • closed source

Competitors

phenix1819 prefers Microsoft Windows Vista over Apple Mac OS X
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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