DISQUS

Spanx · 1 month ago

I've been using Windows 7 at work and Snow Leopard at home. Snow Leopard wins. Windows is an improvement for sure, but can't really compete with Snow Leopard in terms of user interface and ease of use. Macs may be overpriced, but I am willing to pay for no headaches!

DonovanT · 1 month ago

Awesome! I couldn't have said that better! And thank you for being diplomatic and not raging about how dumb and unintuitive Windows is or go on about how overpriced and non-versatile Macs are.

I love it when people stay on topic!! Yay!!

Taranfx · 1 month ago

I couldn't agree more

kus · 1 month ago

Best comment!! I want to try Win7 too, but it's not available yet in my country.

Name · 1 month ago

The key words are "...using Windows 7 at work" enought said. hahaha.

Snook · 1 month ago

What headaches?

BFAChris · 1 month ago

You're really going to put this poll up 4 days after Win7 launches? How many Mashable readers could have possibly installed it and come up with an opinion in 4 days?

OmniDragon · 1 month ago

Considering the beta was public and the release candidate has been out for a very long time, I'd say PLENTY of "mashable" readers will have had a lot longer than four days to come up with an opinion.

Name · 1 month ago

Thats BS. Firstly most of mashable users are mac fanboys, secondly, most PC users havent had a chance to check it out. So, this poll is totally biased and invalid.

asdf · 1 month ago

No, it's actually a good point. With Mashable posting several Apple-related news per day, this website is kind of a destination for people interested in Apple news.

That's why, in my opinion, this kind of poll doesn't even make sense.

michaelcjohnson · 1 month ago

As if there were an unbiased online poll. People can vote multiple times, you only get opinions from people who visit the site, etc. I get your point, but really that describes any online poll. It is just for fun. No real decisions should be made based on these data...

TamahomeJenkins · 1 month ago

The statement you just made is totally biased and invalid.

Indy · 1 month ago

The user base for Windows is much bigger, so there will be more fanboys that will vote for W7 anyhow. Regardless, these polls are just for entertainment, not statistical science.

Name · 1 month ago

It seems to me that it could not be biased. The weekly polls are not intended to tell us what most people prefer but rather but most Mashable readers prefer. If most Mashable readers are 'mac fanboys' then Snow Leopard will win and rightly so.

OmniDragon · 1 month ago

I guess you missed the part about the beta and release candidate being out for a long time. That's OK, though. Lots of people can't read too well.

Mac User · 1 month ago

PC is BS! I mean its a pathetic excuse for a computer, and Windows is a pathetic excuse for an OS.

Lincoln · 1 month ago

Seems to me that if "most of mashable users are mac fanboys", that it doesn't make sense to see Win7 came out ahead in the poll.

Flowsion Shekar · 1 month ago

I'm pretty sure most users have had Windows 7 for months now.

jmattos · 1 month ago

The beta has been out for eons, feature complete.

Georgiatch11 · 1 month ago

I've been running windows 7 since October 2008 and so have 4 million plus other beta testers.. so I'd say a heck of a lot of people have had windows 7 long enough to have an opinion about this operating system.

i-Core · 1 month ago

let me predict the result of this poll - "Windows7 is the better than Snow leaopard"

Elianastar · 1 month ago

Microsoft's history = promise; Apple's history = delivery. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Or, you can just use a Mac.

johndoe · 1 month ago

I have never used a Mac, but wanted to report that I have been using the RTM of windows 7 for over a moth now, whith a hardware that should have been adequate:

Intel DP965LT, Intel Core2 at 2.33GHz, 4GB Kingston DDR667, Nvidia 8600GT with 256MB, and a Maxtor SATA2 drive

Yet Windows freezes every now and then for no apparent reason, some times even before reaching the login screen, and I have to reboot several times.

I have used that same hardware with Windows XP and Debian Lenny, and it was stable and speedy on both.

For example, in Windows 7 the game GRID is less responsive than it was in XP, where I never experienced any problem at all. In Windows 7 sometimes it seems like things are in slow motion. I am downloading the latest Nvidia Drivers, but to be fair, I used old drivers with XP with no problems, so if Windows 7 was better than XP as MS claims, the NVIDIA drivers built in Windows 7 should have been enough to have a similar gaming experience, which clearly has not been the case.

johndoe · 1 month ago

Confirmed.
Yesterday I installed the latest available Nvidia drivers, specifically made for Windows 7, and I keep having the same problems with the game GRID. In certain scenes, the game first enters in some kind of slow-motion, and about two seconds later the amount of frames per second drop so low that I usually end crashing my car against a wall because I have no real-time visual feedback.
Windows 7 is definitely not better than Windows XP, at least for this particular game.

Eman · 1 month ago

Mashable Readers == Apple Fanboys

"Nuff said.

(Don't believe me? Count the no. of pro-SL comments) ;)


Windows 7 - it just works!

neilkevin · 1 month ago

This is very informative article.I was wondering this stuff only.Thanks for such a great post.It is very useful for me.I would like to know more in this topic.Hope for know more in it. I am using windows 7 since last 6 months and it is superb.
Thanks.
calcium

DieterDH · 1 month ago

Snow Leopard, by a hundred miles!

I had Windows7 on my system, for the past 3 months, as I have MSDN access.

As SOON as the first 7 update went out, Windows went haywire, like Vista did and guess where Windows7 is?

Secure Deleted, 6 pass, to ensure the garbage, that is Windows, is fully removed; that not EVEN A TRACE, could be left, TO CHANCE, which may or may not, CONTAIN MALWARE!!

Anyone who still KNOWINGLY buys cheap computer components, which run the HD killing Windows on it, deserves all the punishment the OS can dish out!

As a Microsoft Certified and educated IT professional, I revert to NOT USING a system that is literally designed to fail!

If you still buy into the fossil that is Microsoft, then ur made for each other!

I'd rather be a "Mac" than a "Windowz"!!

TamahomeJenkins · 1 month ago

I've had Windows 7 since it was first released in beta, but no matter what, I kept coming back to my Mac. For me, the ease of use, and the general lack of problems is worth the extra up-front cost of a Mac, and Windows 7 didn't do enough to keep me away. In my opinion, use what you like and don't flame others, because nobody likes a fanboy anyway.

Anthony Clauser · 1 month ago

Of course Snow Leopard would win a fight. It would just jump through Windows. Crashing Windows into a million broken pieces.

adamhirsch · 1 month ago

Best response yet....

dainathomas · 1 month ago

This time there is a grill to the window and Window is solid enough to handle leopard ...
Windows 7 is better ..:)

Best,
Daina

බින්කු கனிஷ்க NArada · 1 month ago

This is unfair! Where the hell is Ubuntu 9.10 in this article? At latest you should have add another platform to give a wide coverage!

TamahomeJenkins · 1 month ago

The point of a faceoff is that it is one-on-one...

Flanjygo · 1 month ago

I want to see Ubuntu in a faceoff as well. Ubuntu has all kinds of good things that I would pick over Windows any day, and it isn't overpriced in any sense of the word.

kznx · 1 month ago

Ubuntu and Gnome are great for being free, but the interface is a little too clunky for working on all day, at least for me. Of course, I run my servers with debian, but use windows for everything else. Not to mention the whole full-screen flash problem:
http://xkcd.com/619/

i-Core · 1 month ago

sdasd

Aaron · 1 month ago

why the hell does every mashable writer use a goddamn mac.

Ben Parr · 1 month ago

The PC on my lap at the moment contradicts your statement.

MacBav · 1 month ago

How can your PC contradict another person's experience?

Chris Stewart · 1 month ago

Off topic:
Ben pretty sure I saw you at the Summit last week. Will you be at FailCon?

Look for the tall Ginger kid with the green "Jobless not Hopeless" shirt.

-Chris
HireMeSF.com

DonovanT · 1 month ago

Because they prefer them? Just a thought.

Name · 1 month ago

these mac fanboys should stop creating this biased blog posts.

Ociro · 1 month ago

you, as a windows fanboy should stop commenting on these posts. Just ignore them :)

Ontopic: I am using SL right now, but i really really want to know what windows 7 is like. I've had some bad experiences with xp & vista (leaks, bsod, crashes etc). Sure mac has its leaks and bugs as well. SL compared to vista & xp: SL is easier to use, and is more stable in my opinion.
I don't know anything about windows 7. If anyone disagrees with this, please comment :)

Andrew · 1 month ago

@Ociro: Yours is probably the most sensible Mac user comment I've ever read. My first clue was that I didn't want throw up from over-exposure to arrogance.

David E. Curtis · 1 month ago

macintosh is a piece of overpriced hardware and software. Where windows can be installed. On a wider range of computers, even macs.

Kus · 1 month ago

Windows is overpriced Operating System.

Name · 1 month ago

A non-windows user (I assume Mac user, due to the nature of this post) talking about overpriced? Hilarious

Arpit Shah · 1 month ago

Windows 7

SocialSeb · 1 month ago

Ummm, yeah... even Tiger would have beat OS 7... the problem is that just like with every other new phone who declares itself an iphone killer (which is really just trying to do what the iphone alreay does), Windows keeps trying to do what Macs already did like two releases ago, except that the Mac guys still did it better even back then. And btw, I use both Mac and PC. I've tried both of th enew OSes extensively. My opinion is informed. XD

BoulderBill · 1 month ago

Yes, an ill-informed opinion. I run both also and anyone who claims Microsoft is trying to do what Apple OS already does may have spent time on one but certainly not both. While it is true that the MS OS initially followed in Apple's shadow, that was years ago now. Microsoft has, for a long while, been trying to do what it does better, and it has finally succeeded. While there is no clear winner, the real news is that MS finally has an OS of which it can be proud.

Name · 1 month ago

MS was x64 way before apple was now apple is copying. MS was using intel/nvidia/ati and pretty much apple was texas instruments now apples are PC's with a little gui, that is it. APPLES are PCS. Apples have a concept of Windows update, Apples have a box if the application crashes to inform them like MS does etc etc. MS was doing that many years before them. Apple copied Yahoo gadgets to create their version.

Sheo · 1 month ago

Uhh, Apple had x64 with the PowerPC G5s back in 2002. I agree that Apple switched to Intel procs after MS, and would even submit that they did it to compete in the large Intel consumer base.

However, all PCs are PCs. Apple, IBM, Dell, Toshiba all make PCs. It stands for "Personal Computer", not "Microsoft Computer". And don't even tell me that everyone who includes a crash reporter in their software is copying off of Microsoft; MS should really hire you as part of their patent team.

Mike · 1 month ago

I am going to have to go with Windows 7 only because that is the OS I have on my computer, otherwise if I did have a Macbook (which I am saving up for) I would go with Leopard.

rvassar · 1 month ago

Minor Edit (caps):

Microsoft attempted to erase all of the bad memories left by Windows Vista wit the launch of perhaps the most ANTIQUATED, oops I mean anticipated operating system software yet: Windows 7.

SimonJar · 1 month ago

Windows 7 maybe an improvement to Vista but it still requires anti-virus and this slows down pc's dramatically. The fact that 7 is basically vista with improvements would make me nervous using it as my choice OS.

crunchysteve · 1 month ago

Doze 7: same shit, different version. Snow leopard's not perfect (Mac OS 9.2 was near perfect), but it doesn't annoy my tits off getting in the way of every task.

myrtille · 1 month ago

Interesting but I would have been more interested in seeing the results when you compared a PC built specifically to optimize Win7

TN J · 1 month ago

From reporting I saw by CNBC on launch day ... Windows 7 looks like a clunky little wanna be clone of Mac OS X. Yes, I am a Mac "fanboy" but I've worked on both platforms so I know which is what. I have no MSFT products on my Mac. Would you rather have an iPod or a Zune? That kind of says it all right there. Snow Leopard should win this one easily.

Name · 1 month ago

Why would I want an iPod? I'd be stuck with iTunes. Gimme a Zune (or anything else) anytime.

Ravi · 1 month ago

Zune . Now f**k off.

dragonblogger · 1 month ago

I have installed Windows 7 and have run dozens of programs and put it through paces, I do an entire category about it on my blog. Word to the wise, if using 64bit version of Windows 7 or Vista for that matter, make sure you devices have drivers, my printer won't work in Windows 7 64 bit.

adamhirsch · 1 month ago

Honestly, I've been using both now since the end of August and I finally have my Windows 7 machine on all reformatted with a RTM Windows 7 Ultimate install. Windows 7 is awesome and the best hands down. Intuitive, clean, fast and smart. Snow Leopard is rather boring... Granted Windows 7 is basically like Snow Leopard, but all you Mac users (/Windows Haters) out there... Have you actually tried both and spent time on both OS's? I have!

RavoxX · 1 month ago

Whats up, Dudes? :)
Ubuntu 9.10 - 2 Days!

Ubuntu > OS-proprietary-Crap

elvin · 1 month ago

When Snow Leopard will be available on PC and at the same price then these pools are "fair".
2 Questions for fanboys: WHY you pay triple price for the same "Made in China" specs? and WHY you pay 2 OS (dont tell me you dont have windows in bootcamp)?

I am a PC and a Proud Windows and Ubuntu user!

I admit: I have an iPhone ...but its cheap

Matthew Lowery · 1 month ago

1. Because I love the simplicity, ease of use, the great UI, the sleek shape, and speed.
2. I don't have windows on bootcamp. I've never needed it.

Name · 1 month ago

We (mac owners) pay for quality. The reality is windows has little control over the quality of the machines that run its operating system. This leads to poor quality machines. Though the specs may be comparable macs are far easier to use and tend to last longer. They are more expensive for a reason.

Paying for a mac is like paying to get into a club. Once you pay you are treated well. Paying for windows is just paying for windows. Once they have your money you are no better than anyone else.

Eman · 1 month ago

Buying a mac is like buying a Ford at the price of a Ferrari.

Cheers! :)

Name · 1 month ago

keep talking sheeple.. whatever makes the price difference feel better. lol

LEEric · 1 month ago

Use both Winu 7 and SL. Win7 has some nice improvements, but overall for my workflow, SL wins overall. Its partly a function of what you are used to, I guess, but the design of SL feels more holistic than Win7.

Michael · 1 month ago

Personally I don't feel these polls are good for much. Mac "fanboys" will be very keen to vote (I suspect with good reason) whereas a lot of Windows users might not bother, let alone the even smaller subset using W7.

TheBox193 · 1 month ago

Windows XP

David Neubauer · 1 month ago

I'm running 64bit photoshop on on 6 up video wall with Windows 7. Ding ding ding ding!

Ryan Haylett · 1 month ago

I haven't used Snow Leopard, but I know that the changes from leopard are minimal. I've been living with Windows 7 since the original beta, and I love it to death. It beat leopard in my mind, so Snow Leopard shouldn't be too much competition. I prefer Windows over Mac since well... let me use a Mac phrase, "It just works". I have no problem Macs, but the OS seems way to locked in for my tastes. I'm a Web Designer too, so I guess the whole "all designers use Macs" rumor is false.

atimmer · 1 month ago

This is not difficult to choose. I have installed both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. I discovered Adium yesterday and now I have no single reason to go to Windows 7. (msn for mac was crappy). So this is definitily Snow Leopard.

kurt · 1 month ago

i hate those mac people where all they do is brag about how good macs are to hide the fact that they could have got a way better computer for the same price

Khaled · 1 month ago

I'd use Snow Leopard on my MBP and Windows 7 on my gaming desktop, so for me it's a tie.

Robin Buckley · 1 month ago

Well, Snow Leopard was a worse improvement... But it is a better opperating system.

Trojian · 1 month ago

I think MS is still unclear of its own Product W7, I mean they still blue screen and fail to boot.it might be the successor of Vista but its not a great improvement after XP PRO.
Everything mac's do just keeps on getting better and better, while pc's just try to look nice with ongoing problems that never end! look at it this way, Pc's have millions of viruses for windows and OSX got less then a hundred for apple computers.

felipe09 · 1 month ago

Despite all the discussion here, I thought Snow Leopard's advantage would be much bigger. which tells me a lot of readers still "faithful" to Windows, this is like religion, you know it doesn't exist but u still believe in it.

Henry · 1 month ago

wow
that is competitive
but i still think Windows 7 will dominate this fight

fete des peres · 1 month ago

What about games? What games are supported under each operating system? And how much vendor support will each operating system get in the future?

rmbgi · 1 month ago

Snow Leopard is just an enhancement. Leopard and Tiger were in many ways better than Windows 7. Mac OS X is a decade old OS improving every two years. For Microsoft its very difficult to make an OS in few years. Windows 10 or 11 may be close to Snow Leopard of Today..

miami web design · 1 month ago

A bit premature, wouldn't you say? Give PC users a few weeks at least...Jeez..

Charlie · 1 month ago

I haven't even gotten my copy of Win7 yet...

dagger_99 · 1 month ago

We have recently had Snow Leopard join our environment. Being a staunch PC supporter and having used Windows 7 for months with great satisfaction, i was sceptical, but since it wasn't my main machine, decided to give it an unbiased run through. i liked the functionality and tight packaging, but quickly found the flaw in a Windows based network. I can only relate it to the kid who stood alone in school, unable to play nicely with all the other kids in the school yard.

aisinvon · 1 month ago

Win 7 will win

Phil · 1 month ago

Iv seen the comparison between the 2 and 7 trumps leopard, i hate leopard, user interface is so crappy in my opinion, its overrate glorified unix for a price.

Herrin · 1 month ago

Even though I am a Mac lover I do think this is silly. Windows 7 just came out. How can it possibly compete with an OS that is rock solid and over 5 years old?

Name · 1 month ago

Will winning this poll make microsoft fanboys feel any better for paying for the world's most expensive operating system?

Olivier · 1 month ago

Windows 7 is built by Microsoft, the same company that produces Internet Explorer. Need I say more?

TheSaxman · 1 month ago

I think it sucks that Microsoft isn't giving Vista owners a free upgrade to Windows 7 after all of the "insert profane word here" we have had to put up with and will continue to put up with until we fork out the $ to upgrade...

I'm a UPSET PC... thanks Microsoft!!

Name · 1 month ago

In there lies the difference between mac and windows. A mac is expensive to buy but cheap to upgrade. That means that not many people are using the mac equivalent of windows XP. Most people have updated because you don't spend $200-$300 to upgrade you spend $20-$40 to upgrade. This also means no dealing with giving free upgrades to particular people because upgrades are cheap!

mattycraig · 1 month ago

*Insert fanboy comment here*

nishantmodak · 1 month ago

It is too early.. to get into this face off. 6 months down.. they will speak for themselves

CharlesFernando · 1 month ago

I vote for the third option because I don't have any of them... but if I have to buy one, I will get a Leopard. However, as a Brazilian all Apple stuff is very expensive, after been forced to change my OS (XP), I will stick with Ubuntu...

nishantmodak · 1 month ago

Isn't it too early for this face off? 6 months down the lane.. they would also speak for themselves!

tonyv · 1 month ago

The only interesting thing about this ongoing battle is in the respective advertising strategies of these two companies.
Microsoft/Windows advertising has always been about Microsoft/Windows products with very little dissing of the competition.
On the other hand, Apple/Mac advertising, since its inception, has always been nothing more than a continuous slur campaign against Microsoft, and never really says anything about the Mac products themselves.
That fact (i.e, integrity vs. somewhat childish insecurity)), in and of itself, speaks volumes...
But, in the end, hardware is really a much more important decision for me than the operating system - after a few hours experience, most operating systems tend to be the same old same old. Just a few trivial bells and whistles with some different color schemes is really the only diff in OS's these days.

Name · 1 month ago

It comes down to, in the past microsoft has not had to fight to convince people to use windows. Mac has always had to compete with microsoft and in essence take costumers from microsoft. Their ads reflect there need to capture the hearts of windows users. And as far as microsoft's advertising they have gotten more brutal toward apple in the last year or so. They launched the "I am a PC" campaign which I see as a direct attack on macs.

edunetsys · 1 month ago

Win 7 has been getting rave reviews. It seems that XP can now be relegated to history.

MACWIN · 1 month ago

There is no winner because even though both are OS, they are usually used in 2 different ways. I have both and find a need for both for different situations. I code in Visual Studio and game in windows. I do photo/video editing in Mac. Comparing the two is like comparing a sedan to a pickup. Both are vehicles, but both serve different purposes. This world is huge, there is plenty of room for everyone..

Andrew MacDonald · 1 month ago

Defo Mac OSX Snow Leopard.

Guest · 1 month ago

The Apple team are stupid! They have an operational system that can be only installed in Apple machines. This means that if I want to try it or install it in my PC, I just cannot. For this purpose, I'd have to buy a new computer and choose a Mac. Why don't they release a universal OS, one that you can install in your computer regardless if it is Apple or not? That would be a real competition. The way it is now is just a waste of time and money for the stupid.

Guest · 1 month ago

Honestly about all you would get from putting mac os on a windows machine is possibly more reliability and a slightly different UI. The functionality that makes mac os what it is requires an apple computer. The biggest example I can think of is the apple 'magic mouse' which is one of the amazing things about a mac but apple owns the copy right. They would be foolish if they sold it just so that mac os could run in all its glory on a windows machine.

shafew · 1 month ago

i voted for windows7 coz..i never used mac! -_-

Kelsey · 1 month ago

Since I'm now a Windows user, I'm interested in upgrading to 7, but I'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for Mac and I know that it will always work faster and easier than windows. I know that 7 has a lot of similar features as mac operating systems though, so maybe 7 will be the closest thing I'll come to having a mac again!

anon · 1 month ago

i doubt this article has been read by over 5,000 uniques so far. i am sure the fanatics have been clicking the button all day.

ka · 1 month ago

Commentors : It is obvious all those faceoff polls are completely invalid, not for just one reason but for many reasons. Take it easy, just vote, it's for fun and sell some of these -->

And anyway, everybody knows that Snow Leopard is far better than Windows, we don't need no poll ! :)

MacMeister2000 · 1 month ago

I just prefer no headaches, and the low requirement of resources. So in my opinion, Snow Leopard is the winner. Facts... 64bit Windows 7 requires 20 GB while SL requires ~8GB (no extra printer drivers, and localizations {installable later, if needed}). And, I have a gut feeling SL uses less RAM too, but no facts in my head to back it.

Don't quote my name.

Mac User · 1 month ago

Okay, so Microsoft thinks they can kick Apple's butt! HAHA! Mac has been working better than Windows for years, and watch the new Mac ad "Broken Promises" It will explain!

Alex fez · 1 month ago

Windows 7 is the way!!

illustratorblog · 1 month ago

Vote prove that media social are on Mac

speedy87 · 1 month ago

I already really don't like win 7. I have the Pro RC running on a PC in work and it has reminded me of when win xp first came out. Although win 7 has it's compatibility mode for installing older versions of software (to attempt to avoid the same problems of the xp release), since installing win 7, i've decided to get a mac, and thinking about boycotting microsoft all together. Do love apple's new "I'm a mac" ad. really makes my point.

Scott · 1 month ago

WINDOWS 7 IS SOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!!!! Apple just trys too hard to be different! They suck and they know it! That is why they are making such mean comercials-because they KNOW microsoft has them beat! I have used BOTH operating systems and I think Windows 7 is better!!!!! :)

aj02 · 1 month ago

I was going to vote for windows 7 but it keeps crashing and disconnects me from the wireless I will use the mac for now

josh154675 · 1 month ago

i havent used snow leopard but windows seven cannot be beaten. windows has almost always been better than mac.