Comments on: Apple is not always better than Microsoft Updated

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By: Alistair Deneys

Alistair Deneys — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:59:19 +0000

I agree with Alex and Jeff (above). Apple can write great software for Mac OS, but Windows is a completely different platform. It is Windows which forces the restart after installing certain kinds of apps. For example, in *nix land (which OSX is a aprt of) I can insert kernel mode drivers after boot. Hello modprobe! The restart is not Apple’s fault, it’s Microsoft’s.

By: Alex Shyba

Alex Shyba — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:58:22 +0000

I have learnt that any software from Apple for Windows sucks. For example, I always have to kick the iTunes process manually after I close the app. Otherwise it is just sitting there and eating my CPU. A lot of fun! I did not use Mac OS but for some reason I think their software is much better on their native platform.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:55:26 +0000

The window is showing you how much disk space you need
The progress bar is showing how much data will need to be downloaded.
Compression technologies these days makes these numbers different.
As to Windows not allowing them to completely install services without needing a reboot, lets not kick Apple too severely over that one.

By: Harvey

Harvey — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:08:49 +0000

Re: Apple is not always better than Microsoft

Hi Alex,

You asked why iTunes needs to install Quicktime, as shown in your screenshot of the updater in Windows. The answer is fairly simple. Although iTunes can play many formats (AIFF, MP3, MP4, M4A, etc.) the music files that download from the iTunes Store are either AAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding) for audio, or H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/AVC) for video.

QuickTime is optimized for these media formats. Also, since some of the audio files and video files contain DRM, QuickTime is needed to decode and play these files.

You also asked why you have to restart after the install. This is the same on Macs as it is on Windows. The reason is because the installer installs files at the system level in order to function. It probably isn’t totally necessary to do, but it’s much safer to restart after a system level installation. So, for the minor inconvenience of having to restart you avoid any potential problems that might happen if you didn’t restart.

Personally, I’d rather play it safe and spend the 30 seconds for a restart.