Description of the Company - Report Example

of the Company The report is for a start company that is disturbed to choose between which Operating System to apply to drive the Company’s electronic production such as Smartphone, Computers, and Laptops. The Company stakeholders are convinced that the success of the Company rests on the type of the OS selected. The report will thus help the Company choose between Apple (OS X) and Linux Operating System. Introduction The purpose of this report is to assist the Start Company to choose between Apple (OS X) and Linux Operating System that will satisfactorily assist the Company in its electronic production. The finding of the report is that despite the fact that OS X is heralded for its user friendliness, it falls short in various aspects thus Linux Operating System is recommended for the Company due to its superiority in everything ranging from flexibility to portability to cost. OS X is embedded on a Linux variant and is vastly considered as the most user-friendly Operating System available. However, Linux performs a range of better than everyone’s favorite Operating System. Analysis Linux Operating System Figure 1 Pros Freedom A number of Linux distros are free and users do not require to pay for the copy, however, such is only one element of freedom celebrated by Linux operators. Also, Linux distros can be freely downloaded and legally installed on as many computers as one may the company may require as well as freely and legally issued to other people including the Company staff. In addition most Linux distros are open sources, therefore, the Company users will have adequate accessibility to the code of origin and able to customize Linux to suit their needs and even users can create personal distros. In addition, Linux’s installation is easier as compared to OX S. Flexibility The OS X is thought to be users friendly but lacks flexibility as does Linux. OS X is more of Windows and no much can users do once they get what they want. With OS X, one is allowed to alter the desktop layout, transfer the Dock to the side preferred and even shrink the Dock and even make as audio-like. In addition, OS X allows users to add third-party applications as well as themes the desktop. However, Linux helps users get rid of challenges such as having the Dock on the desktop with the task bar solely features integrated, a feature that cannot be performed by OS X since the taskbar is as much part of the Blue Screen of Death was in Windows 95. Linux allows users to add taskbar a range of features to whatever taskbar or panel of interest. Moreover, Linux accepts a range of configurations and further help operators eliminate non-preferred features by installing a different desktop or window manager. Hardware Requirement Linux can run on lesser powered machines by default compared to OS X. For example in comparing Macs (iBook running at 800MHz with 512MB of RAM). Such a machine is noted to be much slow with OS X running on it but runs much snappier with Yellow Dog Linux with the same hardware but only different OS. In addition, Mac with G4 1.2 processor with 1GB of RAM affirms the observation. Further, Intel machine running Ubuntu 8.10 is noted never to match in performance. The Ubuntu machine demonstrates speed at all levels from boot to application launch. Reviewing least system requirements for OS X (OS X: 876 MHz or faster CPU, 512 MB of RAM, 9 GB of disk space) and Ubuntu (Ubuntu: 700 MHz x86 processor, 384 MB of RAM, and 8 GB of disk space), reveals lesser system requirement for Linux. Indeed Ubuntu 8.10 is never the preferred of the Linux distributions. Mandriva Spring 2008 requires even lesser requirements and run on any CPU with only 256MB of RAM. Cost The Linux Operating is free and period while OS X currently sells 129 dollars spent only on OS. In addition, there is the cost of hardware with the cheapest MacBook costing 999 dollars. However, users can be cost-effective by purchasing a laptop at 399 dollars and run Linux like a champ from a range of dealers. Additionally, Linux presents users with an office-ready Linux machine that addresses every task at the cost of hardware alone. Cons Content Creation. Linux OS has limited content creation compared to Apple’s OS X. OS x culminates into more features and programs that present opportunities for creating content than Linux. Linux does not support the Pro Tools used in OS X that contribute to creating music as fails to allow the creation of print application with Adobe Photoshop, as well as InDesign. In addition, Linux does not provide a satisfactory platform for producing videos as does OS X with Final Cut. Thus, Linux is not appealing to content creation and management. Limited Vendor Support  There is inadequate support for users of the Linux OS, and hence it must prove expensive due to breakdown. Inadequate support for proprietary applications Users might have problems with the uber techies that culminates to operators opting for the Gentoo Linux distribution despite fewer problems with Ubuntu. OS X Figure 2 Pros The main advantage of OS X over Linux Operating System is its widespread popularity among users and support. More companies produce release products for OS X due to its technical merits. OS X outshines over Linux OS in content creation. OS X system is packed with programs and features generating content. Thus, OS X excels over Linux in creating and managing content. From users of OS X, the system is more stable and has fewer support issues. The OS X has a greater control over its hardware design systems and takes care of spyware and virus problems. It leads to a more stable operating system than the Linux OS. Cons Command line: OS X falls short of command line in terms of command line. The OS x command-line tools are not enough for the power admin. Security: OS X is less secure as compared to Linux Operating System. Tools like fwbuilder and iptables that heighten security on Linux are absent on OS X. Cost: The cost of OS X is inhibitive to users in addition to the hardware cost that supports this system. On the other hand, Linux is free. Moreover, one can purchase a laptop a much cheaper cost that runs on Linux. Keyboard efficiency: The OS X keyboard is inefficient than the Linux. A major inconvenience with the OS X is the lack of a key that functions on its own. Usually, you have to hit Fn + End key, or Fn + Delete to get these keys to work as they should. Availability of Software The number of software available for OS X are far less than for Linux. The tasks that one can perform with Linux would, therefore, be greater. More users hence lean away from OS X towards Linux. Portability With OS X, the operating system is closed in the machine it was built in. It is impossible to migrate an installation from one hardware to another other than by installing it anew. However, with Linux you can select a given directory and move it from one machine to another. Conclusion The Company should embrace the Linux OS over OS X based on the number of pros Linux has over the OS X. First, because this is a starting Company, there is the need for cost-effectiveness ranging from software, hardware and installation costs. From the pros and cons of the two OS, Linux is cheaper as the software is freely acquired and easy to install. In addition, Linux works with a number of CPUs as compared to Apple’s OS X that is attached to Apple expensive machines that might prove difficult to acquire. Many users can purchase Linux machine that are ready to use with no further software or hardware requirements as compared to Apple OS X. In addition, Linux is more flexible and has higher degree of freedom as demonstrated by the open sources. Work Cited Cameron, Jamie. Managing Linux Systems with Webmin: System Administration and Module Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, PTR, 2004. Print. Jepson, Brian, and Ernest E. Rothman. Mac Os X Tiger for Unix Geeks. Sebastopol: OReilly Media, Inc, 2009. Internet resource. Levin, Jonathan. Mac Os X and Ios Internals: To the Apples Core. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2012. Print. Taylor, Dave. Learning Unix for Os X Mountain Lion. Beijing [China: OReilly Media, Inc, 2012. Print. Taylor, Dave. Wicked Cool Shell Scripts: 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac Os X, and Unix Systems. San Francisco: No Starch Press, 2004. Internet resource. Wright, Dawn J, Ned Dwyer, and Valerie Cummins. Coastal Informatics: Web Atlas Design and Implementation. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference, 2011. Print. Read More