Reviews

Head to head: Windows 7 vs Snow Leopard

In the second of our series of head to head reviews, we pit Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system against Apple’s Mac OS X update Snow Leopard.

6 Oct 2009

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Overall Winner:

Overall then, we have a draw, two wins for Snow Leopard and three for Windows 7, meaning Microsoft wins our informal little showdown.

Of course, picking a winner in this particular grudge match is fraught with difficulties, and what you ultimately go for depends on your needs.

For serious businesses, who will continue to go with a PC, that will mean Windows 7. However for home users, Snow Leopard continues the trend of making Macs increasingly attractive buys, while the licensing of Exchange will see an increase in Macs in the workplace as business users want the elegance of a Mac while still having access to their work, without having to use BootCamp or virtualisation.

What's also clear from this is that both are forcing the other to innovate, and that's good news for consumers and business users alike.

Verdict

In our battle, Windows 7 places a killer blow over Snow Leopard. Windows is still going to remain the first choice for businesses, but Apple is clearly making strides and many users will want both. This is certainly one battle that looks set to continue for some time yet.