Microsoft and Apple have both released solid operating systems in the past couple of years in Windows 10 and macOS Sierra, respectively. The two companies have one of the oldest rivals in technology, but which is the better operating system?
Windows 10’s fresh, vibrant and dynamic redesign has been a massive hit, and for good reason. – it breathed new life into the operating system. Apple, on the other hand, kept things visually similar with macOS Sierra, but this is by no means a bad thing. Perhaps the most notable change in interface that Apple added is picture-in-picture video, a concept borrowed from the iPad. This feature allows you to keep a small video window on top of the screen, that won’t get buried under everything else on your screen. Windows 10 offers a built-in tablet mode, and the operating system can be used with lots of devices.
Both operating systems have similar looking navigation bars on the bottom of the screen, offering the same functionality and experience. The Windows 10 application launcher has been redesigned in order to take up only a small portion of the screen, and is customisable in shape and behaviour. When you open the application launcher in Sierra, it takes over the entire screen. In terms of functionality, they both do the same job very well, although as Windows’ app draw doesn’t take up the entire screen, you can do other tasks while it’s open.
Both operating systems now have a personal assistant in the form of Cortana in Windows 10 and Siri in macOS Sierra. As AI becomes more efficient and accurate, users won’t need to interact with computers in a traditional way. Both personal assistants are powerful, although they’re not yet at the stage that they can considered AI. Cortana is a less robust personal assistant than Siri, simply because it’s only been present in Windows 10 for a short time. Siri, on the other hand, was born on the iPhone and has been honed over a period of several years. That said, Cortana can comfortably keep up with Siri in terms of setting reminders, locating files, and answering basic questions. Cortana is expected to grow as the months go by.
When Windows 10 was released, Microsoft faced a lot of backlash for its approach towards privacy. The operating system has a lot of features that may infringe on user privacy, although most of them are optional and can be turned off with little effort. With that said, the average user may not be technologically proficient enough to research such options.
On the other hand, Apple has made a name for itself as a defender of privacy rights, particularly after its famous stand against the FBI. The company rarely has an interest in acquiring specific user information, in contrast to Microsoft. Apple will now also follow an approach called differential privacy for both macoS Sierra and iOS 10. This will essentially allow Apple to collect general information about usage without identifying specific users through randomized data. Because of all that, Apple definitely triumphs when it comes to privacy.
Security is another point that most users would make against Windows. Due to its sheer popularity, open-source nature, and some very poor security measures by Microsoft, Windows is a haven for malware and other threats. Because of its relatively limited user base, macOS is targeted only by a handful of attackers and is otherwise extremely safe. Exercising common sense and having software like Windows Defender are still enough to protect yourself from most threats. Once again, however, casual users often fall prey to attacks that would be easy to spot by more experienced users. It should be noted that Macs are by no means immune to viruses and malware, though.