Windows and Macintosh in Multimedia
Multimedia Assignment
The first Macintosh was released by Apple in 1984, and garnered an immediate, enthusiastic following; while the first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released in November 1985, lacked a degree of functionality and achieved little popularity. However, Microsoft Windows version 3.0, released in 1990, was the first Microsoft Windows version to achieve broad commercial success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months. ()
For Apple, hardware and software are inseparable, tightly integrated components. Tight integration allows Apple to remain competitive even as cheap hardware manufacturers try to make PCs that look like its Mac designs. Windows XP comes preinstalled on every computer manufacturers' products with the exception of Apple. The lower cost of the software to OEMs versus the high cost to retail customers keeps XP on the vast majority of computers. The low cost to manufacturers like IBM, HP, Dell, Gateway and second tier or white box manufacturers allows them to modify their software and hardware to run XP. (2006)
Windows installed base means many people already have training on the system as end users. That creates a barrier for adoption to other systems. A large number of Microsoft Certified System Engineers exists. Those engineers and product specialists can fix user problems quickly. They also see no need to move to a different platform.
Macintosh OS X runs on a limited number of hardware devices which allows Apple Computers to offer a stable and high-performance product overall. Apple's entry level products such as the Mac mini provide a low-cost, high-value multimedia platform. (2006) Apple remains the major innovator in the PC space. Apple makes superior display units and peripherals. Users have shown they will pay more money for Apple's products because of the high levels of performance and innovation; while Windows PC appeals to more people because of high availability of software and support and easy access to hardware parts and services, as well. Mac OS X comes at $129, while Windows XP for $299. (2006)
Browsing, Download, and Speed Performance
Mozilla Firefox is the most popular internet browser available for both Windows PC and Macintosh machines. On the PC segment, the Windows-bundled Internet Explorer is dominant garnering as much as 90% of market share (internetworldstats.com), followed by Firefox. Macintosh operating system (OS) has a market share of 4% as of July 2006 (w3schools.com) and its default browser is Safari. Apple claims that it is the fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2 (apple.com). And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2.
Gamut, Gamma, and Colour Space
"One aspect every Web designer needs to remember when creating images for use on Web pages is the relative difference between the way images look on PC screens and Mac screens. This is due to something called 'display gamma', technically the effect that the input voltage of the monitor has on the intensity of the signal. Without adequate correction, the midtones and shadows of anything shown on a display are rendered darker than they should be. This can obviously alter the general brightness of an image - midtones look more like shadows and shadows become impenetrable - but it also affects colours, as hues made from particular values of red, green and blue can look very different from screen to screen, depending on the gamma." ()
The range of colours that can be reproduced on a monitor is known as the colour space. It varies from monitor to monitor due to the manufacturing process (), and as such, it is harder to keep track of in a Windows PC (which has multiple hardware manufacturers) than a Mac (whose hardware and software are integrated and kept under close watch of Apple Company). Calibration is used to try and limit the differences between devices which include printers and displays. The term “gamma” or “gamma value” describes the extent of the contrast in the midtones in an image.
Macintosh computers have their displays automatically gamma-corrected to a certain extent, which means that images tend not to be noticeably darkened by the monitors. PCs, on the other hand, don't have this kind of correction, so the midtones of images tend to darken by comparison when shown on those computers. The default Gamma value on a Mac is 1.8 gamma that matches printed results more closely, while on a Windows PC 2.2 gamma setting is common. ()
Fonts
Text is rendered 33% larger on a Windows computer than on a Macintosh. Mac uses 18 pixels to render 18-point text while Windows uses 24 pixels. This is because Macintosh assumes resolution display of 72 dots-per-inch (dpi), but Windows assumes 96 dpi, so that the same text size appears much smaller on a Mac than on a Windows PC. ()
Common Windows fonts are Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Georgia, Courier New and Comic Sans. Common Mac fonts include Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, Chicago and Times. ()
TrueType fonts, in general, are predominant on both Macintosh and Windows because they appear smooth and attractive at any size, both on screen and printed. Furthermore, on a Mac, each Truetype font requires only a single font file in the system folder which makes for simpler font management. Windows, on the other hand, has no direct equivalent of the Mac's font suitcases which can combine screen fonts and TrueType fonts in a single suitcase. Windows has a separate file in the Fonts system folder for each font variant. ()
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