Let's start with the most popular: Windows With almost 90% of the operating system market share, you can't miss Windows. It's in commercial buildings, industrial facilities, as well as home computers. Windows, having been introduced in 1985, is a very mature and complete piece of software. Yet, it has it's flaws.

Pros: • Compatibility: Almost every application, driver or game will work on Windows. • Technical support: Having so many users, you can always find someone (either online or offline) who can help you with Windows. • Huge quantity of function: When you get to know Windows well, you'll find out that there are so many functions that you can do almost anything quite easily. Cons: • Viruses: You may need to buy an antivirus program, although free ones exist. • Slow: Windows, especially Vista and 7, requires a lot of computer resources (memory, processor, disk space), and thus, runs slower.

Maybe you'd like to test OS X before buying a Mac or building a Hackintosh, or maybe you just want to run an app on your Windows machine which is only exclusive for the Mac OS X. Whatever your reason is, you can actually install and run OS X on any Intel-based Windows PC with a.

• Price: It easily costs over a hundred dollars. Another big player: Macintosh Apple's Macintosh OS is even older than Windows.

It is the first ever successful graphical-based operating system, being released one year before it's Microsoft counterpart. Best portable drive for mac. Pros: • Viruses: Apple Macs get almost no viruses. This is mostly due to Window's superior market share. • Reliability: Macs only run on Apple computers, and are thus less prone to hardware and software crashing.

• Looks: Let's face it, most of the time, Mac just looks better than Windows. Cons: • Expensive: Mac costs even more than Windows. • Only available on Apple computers: If you already have a computer, you cannot install MAC on it unless it's an Apple. Otherwise, you must buy a new computer. • Compatibility: Only a few programs will run on Mac, and almost no games.

Smaller but growing: Linux Linux is GNU's answer to Mac and Windows. Yes, this means that Linux is FREE! By free, you can download, modify and redistribute it without spending a dime!.

Linux is a younger player in the OS world, having been written in 1991, and is optimized for modern use (well, more than Windows and Mac). Unfortunately, it has some disadvantages also. Pros: • Price: Linux is F-R-E-E. You can download it, install it, use it, modify it. All for a whooping 0$. • Variety: Linux is not a full operating system. It is just a kernel.

To use the kernel, additional software needs to be bundled with Linux. Several hundreds of these bundles (called 'distributions' or simply 'distros') exist. The most popular ones include Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora. The good thing is, with so many different flavours of Linux, there is always one to suit your needs! • Viruses: Although being more vulnerable to viruses than Mac (because it is open source), Linux still has very, very, very few viruses. Cons: • Complicated: Although some distros are quite easy to use, most of them will required a good deal of computer knowledge in order to get them to work.

• Compatibility: Like Mac, representing only a few percents of the market share, Linux does not have as many programs and games as Windows. • Vendors: You won't find a lot of vendors selling Linux computers. Usually, you'll just end up having to buy Windows computer, reformatting the hard drive, and installing Linux yourself.

Before you begin • Make sure you have: • Your Windows product key (xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx). • An internet connection (internet service provider fees may apply). • Sufficient data storage available on a computer, USB or external drive for the download.

• A blank USB or DVD (and DVD burner) with at least 4 GB of space if you want to create media. We recommend using a blank USB or blank DVD, because any content on it will be deleted. How to tether ipad and mac for powerpoint mac. • For Enterprise editions please visit the.

Follow these steps to download Windows 7 • This product requires a valid product activation key for download. Enter the 25 character product key that came with your product purchase in the field below. Your product key is located inside the box that the Windows DVD came in, on the DVD or in a confirmation e-mail that shows you purchased Windows. • After the product key is verified, select a product language from the menu. • Select either 32-bit or 64-bit version to download.