by Thomas Walters

Created on: March 05, 2010

The primary difference between Mac and PC is what is at their programming core. To fully understand this difference we must first learn a bit of history regarding both platforms. 

Firstly the Mac. Back in the 1980s Apple set about buying the company NeXT. The technologies developed at NeXT would become the core of their operating system. The Mac OS is based on the UNIX system, developed in the 60s by some very clever people, and today the term Unix is used to refer to any OS that is similar to the original system, but back in the day when Apple was in it's infancy they used a combination of Unix and the technologies at NeXT to create a very powerful OS. And this is where the two differ. Whereas Apple's OS is primary based on Unix, most other operating systems are not. focusing on Microsoft's Windows for a moment the major differences occur because of the way in which the programs are structured. In Windows programs usually require an install, creating a folder, registry entries and sometimes creating more program files. A program on the PC is usually an executable (.exe) and use resources from the user's documents, the program files, and the registry to function. On the Mac, many applications don't require an install (there are some exceptions), they simply require the user to move the self-contained application (.app) to the applications folder in which it can run quite happily by themselves. Both systems are very different from one another in terms of their core, but both have their advantages over the other.

In terms of graphical differences there are a number. Whereas the PC features a taskbar at the bottom of the screen, where open programs are displayed and programs can be pinned as for quick access. Also in the task bar is the start menu and notifications area. From the start menu users can access all areas of their PC, with access to a list of most used programs and core parts of the system it is perhaps the most used feature of the PC. Programs are self-contained with their own top-level menus at the top of the programs and singular windows.

On the Mac, instead of the taskbar, there is a dock, containing a number of programs as specified by the user, with a link to the applications folder and downloads on the right. On the top of the screen is an ever-changing top-level menu, with the only common feature being the Apple logo in the top right hand corner with access to system

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