Vista isn’t bloatware
Vista or Mac OS X. What’s it going to take to install and run the operating system you choose?
The knock against Windows has long been that it is bloatware, but on install, Vista system components are only two-thirds the size of Mac OS X components, even with the tablet components installed on the ThinkPad X60. However, the utilities and applications that come with a Windows install to provide device-specific services and support, as well as the bundled software are likely to take much more space than a clean Macintosh installation.
The MacBook Pro arrives with 18.36GB of software preloaded, including the operating system and libraries, along with a bunch of Apple applications for manipulating images and sound, making DVDs and photocomics. Operating system resources, including the 12.9 MB of user files created for the initial user account, take up approximately 11.1GB of hard drive space. On the MacBook Pro, which ships with a 120GB drive (111.47GB is available for use), that means I have 90 percent of the drive left for applications and data.
Of course, that percentage of storage will vary with the size of the hard drive. For example, the MacBook Pro can be configured with a 160GB or 200GB drive for an extra $100 or $200, respectively.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X60 arrives with 25.8GB of pre-installed software, but only 7.188GB is associated with the Vista OS. Vista also creates a user file of 91.1MB—seven times the Mac user file size—for the initial user. The initial storage requirements advantage is largely illusory.
Vista is more compact than Mac OS X because many system features are farmed out as applications that can be augmented or replaced by third-party tools, where Apple keeps that functionality in the kernel and libraries. For example, there is 41 percent more storage taken up at the outset by application software associated with the unique features of the ThinkPad, which ships with a full suite of ThinkVantage utilities and myriad Windows utilities, such as the new Vista Sidebar and Windows Defender security tools.
Full story & source: ZDNet