 | Mac OS X | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Development and Distribution | Developed and distributed by Apple Inc. | Developed and distributed by Microsoft. |
| Manufacturer | Apple Inc. | Microsoft |
| User | Everyone | Everyone |
| Company / developer | Apple Inc. | Microsoft |
| Usage | Macs | On PC's desktops, laptops, servers and some phones. |
| Introduction (from Wikipedia) | OS X, formerly Mac OS X, is a series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. OS X runs exclusively on Macintosh computers and has been pre-loaded on all Macs since 2002. | Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS. |
| Available language(s) | Multi-lingual | Multilingual |
| File system support | FAT, FAT32, HFS, HFS+, exFAT | FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT |
| License | Proprietary EULA | Proprietary |
| Update method | Mac App Store | Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Microsoft Update Catalog |
| OS family | Mac OS, Unix | DOS (formerly), Windows |
| Text mode interface | macOS has Unix at its core, and has a Unix command line with the default bash shell. | Windows uses a command shell and each version of Windows has a single command interpreter with dos-like commands, recently there is the addition of the optional PowerShell that uses more Unix-like commands. |
| Preceded by | Mac OS 9 | MS-DOS |
| Compatibility | Can coexist on local networks with Windows, BSD, Macs, and other Unix-like systems. Has great compatibility with Windows. Sometimes file compatibility issues may arise. | Can coexist on local networks with Windows, BSD, Macs, and other Unix-like systems. Sometimes file compatibility issues may arise. |
| Default user interface | Graphical (Aqua, Flat) | Graphical (Classic/Standard [Win9x-7], Luna/Royale [XP], Windows Aero [Vista, 7], Metro [Win8, 10 pre-1703], Fluent Design [Win10 version 1703+], Mica [Win11+]) |
| Source model | Closed Source (with open source components) | Closed / Shared source |
| Supported platforms | PowerPC: versions 10.0 through 10.5; IA-32: versions 10.4 through 10.6; x86-64: versions 10.4 through 10.15; | PowerPC: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; DEC Alpha: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; MIPS R4000: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; IA-32: versions 1.0 - 10; IA-64: version XP; x86-64: versions XP - 11; ARM: version RT, 10, 11+; |
| Internet browsing | Safari | Internet Explorer (since Win 95-8.1, discontinued in 10 since later updates and 11), Microsoft Edge (Windows 7 or later since 2019), other browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc. |
| Programmed in | C, C++, Objective-C | Assembly, C, C++ |
| Marketing target | Personal | Personal, business, etc. |
| Working state | Current | Current |
| Latest release | 10.15.1 (build 19B88) | Windows 11 version 23H2 (Build 22631) |
| Market share | As of 2019, 15.93% of PC users from all over the world run macOS. | As of Nov 2023, 68.87% of PC users from all over the world run Windows. |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) | Hybrid |
| Official website | www.apple.com/macos/ | https://windows.com/ |
| Initial release | March 24, 2001 | November 20, 1985 |
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