Mac Os X Lion Free Download for Dell Laptop Updated

Mac Os X Lion Free Download for Dell Laptop

Mac Bone X Lion vs. Windows 7: Which Bone is Best?

Does Lion roar enough to compel you to ditch Windows the side by side time you lot're set up to buy a new laptop? Actually, Apple was doing pretty darn well even before its latest operating system arrived, with the company recently snagging the number-three spot in U.S. PC sales on the strength of its hot-selling MacBook Airs. King of beasts just kicks things up a notch, adding such iPad-like amenities as a new Launchpad for your apps and helpful multitouch gestures.

On the other hand, Windows seven runs on a whopping 94 pct of computers sold worldwide. And why non? Since late 2009, Microsoft'south sequel to the hated Vista Bone has proved easier to apply and is full of helpful features. On boilerplate, Windows notebooks likewise continue to be much more affordable than Macs. However, whether it's because of the iPad halo effect or the perception that Macs simply cause less headaches, more and more people are wondering whether it's time to spring the Windows ship.

To help y'all decide which Bone is best, we pitted Mac Bone X Panthera leo and Windows 7 against each other—feature by feature—in an ballsy battle.

Interface

Mac OS X Panthera leo

The look and experience of an OS usually determines how intuitive information technology is for users to find and collaborate with apps. Panthera leo makes that easier than always with the addition of Launchpad, which displays your system'southward app icons. To access Launchpad, perform a iii-finger pinch with your thumb on the trackpad or press the dedicated Launchpad push button on the latest MacBook Air.

Launchpad basically duplicates the iOS interface on iPhones and iPads. You can easily swipe from one screen to the next, and you tin can drag app icons onto each other to create folders of similarly themed programs. Apple tree has seamlessly integrated the Mac App Store with Launchpad; when you make a purchase in the App Store, information technology automatically installs and appears on the Launchpad.

Lion too preserves the Dock (known as the taskbar in Windows) from previous OS versions. Y'all tin can elevate an icon from the Launchpad into the Dock to brand an app more accessible.

King of beasts makes total-screen application viewing possible for its native programs and select third-party software. Switching between full-screen apps is achieved instantly with a two-finger swipe to the left or correct on the touchpad. However, full-screen apps obscure the bill of fare bar until yous hover over it.

Windows 7

The interface for Windows 7 isn't dramatically different from previous Windows versions, but at that place are welcome tweaks. While the familiar Get-go button remains, Microsoft gave the taskbar a cosmetic and operational facelift.

The buttons are sharper looking and can be reordered with a simple mouse drag. With Aero Glass functions activated, Aero Peek lets y'all see thumbnails of the windows open in each app past hovering over a taskbar push button. Similarly, with Jump Lists, right-clicking a taskbar push shows that app'southward previously opened or currently active windows—documents or web pages—for quick access.

Another clever interface chemical element is the Show Desktop icon on the right end of the taskbar. Hovering over this rectangle presents your desktop at any time.

WINNER: Mac OS 10 Panthera leo

Betwixt the iOS-like Launchpad, user-friendly Dock, and full-screen apps, Panthera leo has a more mod and approachable expect and feel.

Multitasking & Windows Direction

Mac Bone X King of beasts

The refinements made in Snowfall Leopard are farther polished in Lion with the introduction of Mission Control, which combines the Exposé and Spaces features. Exposé displays thumbnails of all windows, making it easy to navigate to them. The Spaces feature sets up multiple desktops ("spaces"), letting yous assign specific applications to each one to avoid a cluttered desktop. Now it'southward all accessible on i screen.

Mission Command, activated past a trackpad gesture or keyboard shortcut, lets you view all desktops in mini windows on top of the currently active desktop. Mission Control also reveals open up applications, making it easy to toggle from one window or awarding to another. The existing keyboard shortcut of Alt+Tab will toggle between apps too.

Unfortunately, Mission Control tin be confusing. While Lion will automatically organize and stack windows related to a given app in the eye of the screen, full-screen windows get segregated and line the pinnacle of the brandish forth with Spaces. You too tin can't close applications from Mission Control.

Windows 7

Windows seven'due south multitasking solution is non as slick as Panthera leo'due south, only information technology is effective. In addition to pressing Alt-Tab to flip from i open app to some other, pressing the Win primal and Tab when you accept Aero Glass activated shows active apps in a 3D carousel of revolving windows.

Most of Windows seven's multitasking is accomplished via the taskbar. Aero Peek, for i, shows a thumbnail of open files in an app by hovering over apps in the taskbar. Add together oftentimes used apps or files to the Taskbar by right-clicking on them and selecting the drop-downward menu option. The taskbar's limited real estate can get cramped easily, even so.

Another quick way to bounce from 1 app or doc to some other is Snap. Grab the elevation of a window and push it to either side. The window locks to the side and resizes to half the screen. Repeat on the other side. Double-click the top of either window to return it to full size.

WINNER: Windows vii

While Mission Control is more aggressive, multitasking is easier to manage in Microsoft's OS. And but Windows seven lets you compare windows side by side.

Touchpad Navigation & Multitouch Gestures

Mac Bone X Lion

Lion mines the previously unused capabilities of trackpads by refining finger gestures. Many gestures will seem

familiar to iPhone and iPad users, only Lion expands upon those with new three- and four-finger movements.

For example, swiping up with three fingers opens Mission Command, and swiping left or right switches betwixt full-screen apps. A three-finger pinch plus thumb starts Launchpad, while spreading the same fingers apart presents your desktop. When you're in an app with multiple open windows, a 2-finger swipe down reveals all windows for toggling among them. Not just can you lot compression with two fingers to zoom in and out in any window, a new ii-finger tap lets you zoom in on a specific part of an prototype or web folio.

Although these finger movements enable fluid navigation, yous need to remember them. In addition, the default two-finger scrolling mode now defaults to mirror how iOS devices work, the opposite of normal Mac procedure. You can alter this setting in Preferences.

Windows 7

Multitouch gestures on Windows 7 vary greatly based on the notebook and which company makes the touchpad. For our tests, nosotros used a Synaptics ClickPad. In general, two-finger scrolling worked well, simply pinch-to-zoom wasn't as shine on almost Windows machines as it is on Macs. Three-finger flicking through photos was also hit or miss. Still, assigning a shortcut to a iii-finger press let us launch a program.

On newer Windows notebooks, such as the Samsung Serial 9, you can perform four-finger gestures. Swiping down minimizes everything, and swiping up activates the Aero 3D window manager.

While gestures are customizable, making changes requires a multi-click drill down. In improver, some Windows notebook vendors disable helpful features by default.

WINNER: Mac OS Ten King of beasts

Apple owning the hardware and software really makes a difference. Gestures just work better on Lion.

Search: Mac Spotlight Vs. Windows Search

Mac OS X Lion

Spotlight, the already-resourceful search bar on Macs, becomes even more productive in King of beasts. Activated by clicking on the magnifier icon in the upper right corner or pressing Command + space bar, Spotlight will search the unabridged hard drive, the web, or even Wikipedia. As you type characters in the search bar, Spotlight intuitively finds possible choices grouped by category (documents, music, pictures, etc.) and often finds your quest earlier yous finish typing. You can reduce the search universe to specific types of data by customizing Spotlight in System Preferences.

In Panthera leo, Spotlight now shows a preview of the particular and so you tin can double-check that it'southward what you wanted to find. Dragging and dropping the particular directly into e-mail, the desktop, or an application adds speed and convenience to what was once a Where'south Waldo? process.

King of beasts also supports searches express to the contents of a directory binder, with a search bar located in the acme right corner of the folder window.

Windows 7

Improved since its first appearance in Windows Vista, the Get-go menu search box will attempt to locate your query past suggesting results grouped by category (docs, e-mail, music, pictures, etc.) as you lot type. The search box is ready as soon equally you press the Windows central or click the Windows push at the bottom left.

Searching in a particular folder or library can further pinpoint results limited to the binder's contents. Users tin can apply context-sensitive filters using the search box'south drop-downwards bill of fare. A resulting preview pane makes it a snap to see if it'south the right search result.

WINNER: Mac OS 10 Lion

Both Lion and Windows seven do an splendid job of helping yous detect what you're looking for fast, but Apple'southward Bone goes the extra mile past letting y'all preview files from within Spotlight. Lion also works faster and lets you extend your searches to the web.

Native Spider web Browsers

Mac Bone X Lion

Safari v.ane evolves slightly in Panthera leo, including more efficient browsing navigation with multitouch gestures and full-screen viewing capabilities. Gestures include double-tapping to scale up text or an epitome and swiping left and right to navigate pages.

A new Reading List characteristic lets y'all save articles for future reading. To do so, press Command + Shift + D, or elevate the URL to the eyeglasses icon on the left of the toolbar. Or select Add To Reading List from the Bookmarks menu. Click the eyeglasses icon to open up a sidebar with your listing. Unfortunately, pages are non saved for offline reading.

The Reader icon in the accost bar reformats any currently viewed URL page for easier reading and printing; you become clean text and all images and ads are stripped out.

Windows 7

Cyberspace Explorer ix is the LAPTOP Editors' Pick winner amid Windows-based browsers. Cheers to born hardware acceleration, pages load chop-chop, and text, images, and video are rendered rich and crisp. Smooth integration with Windows 7 lets IE9 exploit such OS features every bit Snap for viewing 2 web pages adjacent. By right-clicking on the IE9 taskbar button, yous can access Jump Lists to choose from recently viewed pages.

IE9'south completely renovated interface maximizes the browsing screen infinite by minimizing the formerly cluttering toolbars and making navigation controls easier to find and apply. Adding page Tabs puts productivity into warp speed. Click the New Tab button to the right of the terminal page Tab and a new page opens showing a color-coded mini-history of previously opened pages and a refreshed address bar to type in another URL. Tabs can be dragged to the taskbar for offline access.

IE9 lets yous pin sites, a feature that integrates directly with the Windows 7 Bone. Once you pin a site to the taskbar, it tin can provide notifications, such as new messages. Users can also right-click the icon to access a Jump Listing of various shortcuts. When we pinned Facebook, right-clicking let us go directly to Events, Friends, Messages, and News.

WINNER: Windows seven

Thanks to Microsoft'southward performance, corrective improvements, and taskbar features, Internet Explorer nine beats Safari 5.1 equally the amend native web browser.

Multimedia Experience

Mac OS X Lion

The older, excellently equipped versions of iLife '09—which include iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb, and the music track creator GarageBand—remain untouched in Lion. But to upgrade to iLife '11, you must either purchase the $49 suite at the Apple tree Store or download each app in the suite individually in the Mac App Shop at $xiv.99 a slice.

The upgraded version adds some new features, including full-screen views and instant Facebook links plus some improved operation tweaks. Merely merely frequent users of the older version will notice the differences.

Apple'southward QuickTime Player has been pumped upward with interactive capabilities. Users can merge multiple clips into a unmarried motion-picture show, export just the sound of a video to listen in iTunes or another histrion, and capture a yet epitome of a region of the screen. Want to share a video? That's handled in QuickTime via a one-button link to e-mail, Facebook, Flickr, iMovie, and Vimeo. And watching a movie in full-screen mode is first-class.

Unfortunately, Mac still does non back up Blu-ray.

Windows seven

Microsoft loads Windows seven with a cornucopia of seemingly feature-rich multimedia creation and playback tools. Included on many laptops and available as a costless download, the Windows Live Essentials suite includes Messenger, Moving picture Maker, Photograph Gallery, Windows Mail, and Writer (for blogging), all enabled for Microsoft's cloud push. Add together to these options Windows Media Role player 12 for CD/DVD burning, music, photograph playback, video.

To maintain consistency, these applications rely on the ribbon-style toolbar that offset appeared in Microsoft Function 2007—and therein lies our major complaint. The powerhouse block of features appears as a labyrinth across the pinnacle of each screen. Information technology makes users wish for a map to find specific functions.

Even in Windows Media Player, which does not use the ribbon interface, the user is met with a mishmash of columns and tabs for music, photos, video, and other media, which leaves a new user moaning in confusion. At least in Moving picture Maker, a step-past-footstep link can help yous create and edit videos.

WINNER: Mac Os 10 Panthera leo

iLife for Apple'south Os is simply more polished, robust, and easier to use than Microsoft's Windows Live.

Gaming

Mac Bone X King of beasts

For years, owning a Mac meant you went without playing the hottest games effectually. But the introduction of Intel-based systems and the release of Os X Snow Leopard helped to change that. Today gamers can go their hands on some of the best titles—only non all of them. The problem is that many of the hottest games depend on the use of Microsoft's Direct X software, making them incompatible with OS X. To brand them compatible, game developers take to essentially change their games' software.

That's not to say that there aren't some dandy games available to Mac users. Valve Software, for example, offers a variety of some of its most cherished titles, such as Half Life and Portal for Mac. Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of the smash hitting World of Warcraft, has also made Mac-specific versions of its titles. The Mac App Store's ease of discovery helps, but Apple simply isn't as strong in gaming on the desktop as it is in mobile.

Windows 7

Windows has been the become-to operating system for game developers for years, and gamers know information technology. The vast majority of titles on the market are Windows exclusives, and this vacation season will add to that with the release of Bethesda Softwork's Elderberry Scrolls V: Skyrim, Id Software'south Rage, and DICE's Battlefield 3. Add to that the number of legacy games playable on Windows seven and y'all've got a large enough game library to keep yous busy for quite a long time. In addition, Microsoft's Games for Windows Marketplace gives users an easy fashion to purchase games online and try demos.

To play the most demanding games smoothly, users will need a powerful system, and Windows vii gamers have admission to more affordable hardware than Mac users. A Windows seven-based gaming rig capable of playing the most graphically enervating games—such as Alienware'southward 17-inch M17x equipped with a two.2-GHz Intel Cadre i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, an AMD Radeon Hd 6970M graphics bit—will price y'all about $2,000. An equivalent 17-inch MacBook Pro rings in at a decidedly college $2,699. That'southward a hefty chunk of change and a clear positive for Windows 7 users.

WINNER: Windows 7

The sheer volume of available games remains ane of Windows' strengths. Despite connected growth, Mac Os X'southward game choice still lags.

Security

Mac OS X Lion

Apple'due south Os has always been less vulnerable to malware—or at the very least less desirable a target because of its smaller market share. Only as the recent Mac Defender Trojan proved, no software is completely secure. To aid stay a step ahead of the bad guys, Lion includes new security features, such as application sandboxing and enhanced runtime protection.

Sandboxing is designed to reduce the impact of a given threat by limiting what an awarding tin can practice. That includes accessing the network or opening documents that may contain sensitive data.

Meanwhile, address space layout randomization (ASLR) is now available for apps to make them more resistant to attacks. Basically, it's a technique that continually changes the retention location of agile system and application software. The thought is to foil attacks aimed at gaining access to a computer via specific software components.

Last but non least is FileVault 2 total-deejay encryption, which allows users to encrypt their important files easily. You can even encrypt an entire drive.

Windows 7

Microsoft has fortified Windows 7 with enhanced security features to help minimize damage caused by viruses and other malware, just the OS works all-time in tandem with separate security software. A new Activity Middle tells you whether your antivirus software is up to date and whether your firewall is on. Windows Updates are automatic by default, simply you lot can always modify that. Unfortunately, these updates frequently occur at inopportune times, so you may want to tweak the settings and so that your figurer downloads updates but and then lets you choose whether to install them.

To assistance protect your notebook, you can download the free Microsoft Security Essentials program, which can shield your system from viruses, spyware, Trojans, and more than. And yous'll demand some sort of security software considering Windows continues to be the much bigger target for malware writers. Premium security software tends to offering more robust features, only nosotros wish the complimentary trials that came pre-loaded on laptops didn't bug users to annals and then often.

WINNER: Mac Os X King of beasts

Although Macs are becoming more than interesting to hackers, Windows users are still much more than susceptible to malware. In addition, frequent security software alerts and Windows Os updates are abrasive.

Parental Controls

Mac OS 10 King of beasts

Thinking of letting your kid on your brand-new MacBook Air? King of beasts gives parents peace of mind past including a host of controls. Yous can limit which apps your child can access, which is huge because the Mac App Store makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to download new apps. You tin also preclude Junior from e-mailing people he doesn't know and customize which contacts are advisable for iChat.

As with Windows 7, you can gear up time limits for figurer admission, only King of beasts goes a stride farther by letting parents allow access only to specific websites. For parents with minor children, this walled-garden approach will be peculiarly welcome.

Windows seven

Microsoft's parental controls keep your kids condom past limiting their access to only certain programs, as well as blocking them from playing games based on ratings. Y'all can also block or let any game by name. If you want your child to exist able to access your notebook only at certain times on certain days, Windows vii makes it piece of cake to gear up upwards a schedule.

However, Windows 7 lacks Lion's ability to customize which websites your child can employ. To add together this feature, yous'll demand to have a notebook pre-loaded with Windows Live or download the software.

WINNER: Mac Os X Lion

Lion edges out Windows in this category because y'all don't have to spring through actress hoops to prepare web surfing limits.

Backing Upward

Mac OS Ten Lion

Time Machine is a great feature in Mac Os X that gets better with Lion. Information technology lets you back up your unabridged system (documents, photos, organisation files, etc.), and it's easy to restore files past going back in time. The first time you connect a hard drive to your Mac, it volition ask you if you lot want to use it equally a backup drive with Time Automobile. Time Machine also works seamlessly with Apple'due south Time Sheathing, a combination wireless network bulldoze and 802.11n base station.

Now with Lion, Time Machine keeps a spare copy of the things you create or change while you're abroad from your backup bulldoze or Time Capsule. That way if yous delete something accidentally, you tin hands recover information technology after. King of beasts likewise offers encrypted backups with FileVault 2.

Windows 7

Safeguarding precious files and folders is a cinch with Windows seven. You just launch Backup and Restore, then choose a destination for the backup. The straightforward interface guides you through the rest of the procedure, including deciding whether you lot desire to let Windows 7 choose what to back up on a regular schedule or choosing the files or folders yourself. As well bad backing up to a network is only bachelor to Windows seven Professional and Ultimate users.

A divide System Restore characteristic in Windows 7 helps restore your PC'southward system files to an earlier point in fourth dimension should your system outset to misbehave. It will assistance y'all disengage system changes without touching your files. The Bone regularly creates restore points, but you tin can also do so manually.

WINNER: Mac OS X Panthera leo

By combining file and arrangement backups in a single programme, Lion makes things easier. The OS makes things even simpler past inviting users to back up via Time Machine when connecting an external drive.

Special Weapons

Mac Os X Lion

Ane of Apple's slickest moves was to integrate the Mac App Shop into Lion. Based on the overwhelming success of the iPhone app store, the Mac App Store is built into the Dock for ane-click access. Once an app is purchased (you need an Apple ID to get started), it instantly downloads and installs on the Launchpad for immediate apply.

King of beasts's resourceful Resume feature remembers all the open up apps, docs, and web pages when the Mac is powered off and restarts them on reboot for users to continue where they left off. A related characteristic is AutoSave, which, similar its name, automatically saves changes to a doc or any app developed with AutoSave even if you shut the app without manually saving it. Return to your document, and those changes are there. And if yous need to go back to a version before changes were made, the Revert command takes you in that location. The downside is that AutoSave deactivates the Save Every bit office.

FaceTime handles video calls to other Macs, the iPhone 4, and the iPad 2, automatically adjusting from landscape to portrait formats depending on the mobile device you are using. Working in tandem with Panthera leo's total-screen viewing, FaceTime not only maximizes the image but lets you switch betwixt a call and other full-screen apps.

Panthera leo's improved Mail app is also better than what you lot'll find in Windows Live, thanks to a cleaner conversation view and super-charged search functionality. Last but not least is AirDrop, which makes it dead elementary to share files between Macs over a peer-to-peer network.

Windows seven

It's no surreptitious that Microsoft has a huge pb in the number of programs that back up Windows 7. Because of Windows' larger install base of operations, at that place are thousands of apps you either won't find on Macs (beyond games) or that volition come up to the platform later. But that's not all that makes Windows 7 uniquely compelling.

Shake, part of Windows 7's Aero interface, is an instant de-clutterer. If you have a legion of windows open up and desire to concentrate on one, clicking the summit of the pane you want to keep and shaking the mouse volition make the other windows instantly disappear from the screen. However, the tabs will nonetheless be bachelor from the taskbar.

Windows seven's Leap Lists is a welcome feature to proceeds quick access to favorite sites, music, docs, and photos by merely right-clicking a taskbar tab. A carte du jour of recently opened windows in the particular app takes y'all immediately dorsum to the one you choose.

Device Stage is sort of a switchboard for controlling external devices plugged into the PC. Exist it a multifunction printer, photographic camera, or phone, Device Stage automatically loads and lets you handle tasks applicable to that device. Only those products with Device Phase firmware currently work with this feature, which will open automatically when compatible products are connected to your laptop.

WINNER: Tie

It's difficult to beat not having to remember to save your documents in King of beasts. The Mac App Store/Launchpad combo is some other large plus. On the other paw, Windows vii still has a huge lead in the number of available apps.

Value

Mac OS Ten Panthera leo

Mac Bone X Lion delivers a core of new, slick, user-friendly applications and hardware improvements for a deal $29.99 upgrade. Considering that the Mac was already vastly efficient with swift boot times, well-honed software, and standout performance, Lion boosts this offering fifty-fifty more. Buy a MacBook today and Lion will exist included, but plan to spend at least $999 for the least-expensive Air.

Desire something bigger than an 11-inch screen? You're looking at spending at to the lowest degree $1,199 for a Mac. The boilerplate selling price of a notebook right now is virtually half that.

Windows 7

Windows vii laptop shoppers have a lot more than choices at much more than ambitious prices. You lot tin get a well-equipped notebook with a second-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB difficult drive for less than $600. If you're willing to spend more, yous tin can get a Windows vii motorcar that caters to the needs of gamers, as well as business users looking for actress immovability and security, all for reasonable prices.

And then what about similarly configured notebooks in the Apple and Windows camps? Hither's a good comparison:

As you lot tin can see, the Dell XPS 15z delivers much better specs beyond the lath than the 15-inch MacBook Pro—for $300 less. What the numbers hither don't show is that the letters on the Dell'due south keyboard were a bit difficult to run across from certain angles and that the MacBook Pro lasted nigh 2 hours longer on a accuse on our tests. Nevertheless, the XPS 15z provides more bang for your cadet overall.

WINNER: Windows seven

Yep, MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros deliver plenty of value—and information technology's difficult to quantify certain intangibles such as design and ergonomics—but at that place'southward no denying that Windows laptops offer better specs for your money. The fact that you can't get discrete graphics on a MacBook for nether a k will be a dealbreaker by itself for some shoppers.

Overall Winner: Mac Os X King of beasts

Our epic boxing has come to a close, with Mac Os X Lion winning half dozen rounds outright and Windows 7 winning four. Both platforms tied in the special features category. Then the last score for Mac OS X Lion is vii versus five for Windows seven.

Where does King of beasts excel? It has a slicker and more inviting interface, superior touchpad/multitouch navigation, and more robust system-wide search functionality. Apple'south Bone as well beats Windows when information technology comes to multimedia (thank you to iLife), security and parental controls, and backing up your system and important files.

Although it'due south the older of the two OSes, Windows vii outshines Mac Os X in some pretty important ways. We find it easier to multitask in Windows, and it offers a better native web browsing experience via IE ix past leveraging the taskbar. Windows 7 too pulls ahead in gaming and value, making this the OS of choice for both budget-conscious shoppers and the most demanding users.

Our overall winner though is Mac OS X Lion. Assuming you can afford the premium for a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, Apple tree's operating organization but offers a improve user experience. Features such as the Mac App Store, meliorate gesture support, Resume, and AutoSave—not to mention less security and stability bug—all add together up to an OS that is now a step ahead of Windows. Now the pressure level is on Microsoft to make Windows viii great.