Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Many people ask me, should I buy a Windows PC or a Mac? Both have their strengths and weaknesses, so here I will pit both operating systems in a head-to-head comparison to see which operating system reigns supreme. For testing, we pitted a 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Pro (2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU, 5,400-rpm, 160GB hard drive) against an identically configured 13.3-inch Dell XPS Studio 13 so we could concentrate on the benefits and disadvantages of each operating system.

Using Geekbench, an application that measures CPU and RAM performance, the MacBook Pro fetched a score of 3,543 in Snow Leopard. Using Boot Camp to run the program under a Windows 7 partition, it got a score of 2,789. Also on the transfer test, the system copied a 4.97GB folder of mixed media at a swift rate of 21.5 MBps.

The Dell PC got a score of 2,586 in Geekbench, which was about 200 points below the MacBook Pro’s Boot Camp score. It also completed copying our 4.97GB folder at a decent rate of 17.8 MBps, which is far slower than Apple. 

WINNER: Mac OS X Snow Leopard

On a full charge, the MacBook Pro lasted for 6 hours and 13 minutes in our laptop battery test. However the Dell XPS Studio 13 only lasted for about 3 hours and 57 minutes on a full charge. This is nearly 2 hours shorter than the battery life of the MacBook Pro.

WINNER: Mac OS X Snow Leopard

On Cinebench, which measures GPU performance, the MacBook Pro scored 4,653- which was nearly 2,000 points higher than Dell. Transcoding video was swift: we converted a 114MB, 640 x 480 file from MPEG-4 to MKV (wrapped in the H.264 codec) using HandBrake in 4 minutes and 15 seconds. During our tests, a 1080p Nvidia PureVideo YouTube video chugged along at 15 fps with Flash 10.1. Windows 7 achieved a 2,688 Cinebench score, far below Snow Leopard’s performance. Converting the same video file from MPEG-4 to MKV took 4 minutes and 9 seconds, a bit shorter than Apple's time. The 1080p Nvidia PureVideo YouTube video played at 22 fps under Flash 10.1.

WINNER: Windows 7

Mac OS X Snow Leopard wins this round hands down. Windows 7 was an improvement to the last operating system, but most boot times hover around the 1 minute mark compared to the Mac's 50 sec. boot time.

WINNER: Mac OS X Snow Leopard

On the basic laptop categories, Mac OS X Snow Leopard is a far smoother operating system than Windows 7. It boots faster, and has a better battery life. However Windows 7 has better graphics power than Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and is cheaper too. So Price over Features- you decide which operating system you like better. Lets hear it in the comments!