Longhorn Outruns XP, Threatens Tiger: In the operating system race thus far, Apple's incremental approach to system releases has paid off compared to Microsoft's strategy of giant leaps at long intervals.
Since Windows XP shipped in 2001, Apple has shipped five major versions of Mac OS X. Apple's Unix-based operating system started out far behind Windows XP, but is now out in front in terms of features, functionality and user interface.
Microsoft's Longhorn, scheduled for release at the end of 2006, catches up to Tiger in some areas and surpasses it in others. But if Longhorn slips into 2007, Apple could have the next big cat version released or at least waiting to spring out.
Security
Security is one area where Longhorn is more sophisticated than Tiger. For instance, Internet Explorer will run in a "containment area" that will attempt to keep worms and spyware out of Windows.
Longhorn will support laptops with Trusted Platform Module chips, which create a secure boot that protects hardware and applications from being run by unauthorized users or by malicious software.
Longhorn and Tiger both have the ability to automatically encrypt all data on the hard disk, a feature missing from Windows XP.
Since Windows XP shipped in 2001, Apple has shipped five major versions of Mac OS X. Apple's Unix-based operating system started out far behind Windows XP, but is now out in front in terms of features, functionality and user interface.
Microsoft's Longhorn, scheduled for release at the end of 2006, catches up to Tiger in some areas and surpasses it in others. But if Longhorn slips into 2007, Apple could have the next big cat version released or at least waiting to spring out.
Security
Security is one area where Longhorn is more sophisticated than Tiger. For instance, Internet Explorer will run in a "containment area" that will attempt to keep worms and spyware out of Windows.
Longhorn will support laptops with Trusted Platform Module chips, which create a secure boot that protects hardware and applications from being run by unauthorized users or by malicious software.
Longhorn and Tiger both have the ability to automatically encrypt all data on the hard disk, a feature missing from Windows XP.
