1. PC Operating Systems
1.1. Ubuntu
1.1.1. Pros:
1.1.1.1. Very speedy, and good boot design implemented
1.1.1.2. Booting from the CD/DVD drive works like a charm and presents and attractive selection to either try Ubuntu, or simply Install Ubuntu.
1.1.2. Cons:
1.1.2.1. A Downfall of the Ubuntu Installer is that it presents options for adding the Adobe Flash player and MP3 music playback as installable options, instead of defaulted options.
1.1.2.2. Security Updates aren’t released on a regular schedule, like Windows or Apple.
1.1.3. Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and is distributed as free and open source software with additional proprietary software available. It is named after the Southern African ethical principle Ubuntu ("humanity towards others"). Ubuntu provides an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease of installation. Web statistics suggest that Ubuntu's share of Linux desktop usage is about 50%, and upward trending usage as a web server. Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK-based company Canonical Ltd.
1.1.4. http://gogeometry.com/software/ubuntu_linux_operating_system_mind_map_news.html
1.2. Windows 7
1.2.1. Pros:
1.2.1.1. With the most software available for Windows, you’ll be hard pressed to not find software.
1.2.1.2. Pinning applications (like in OSX’s dock) to the bar makes for quick launching, and easy task management.
1.2.2. Cons:
1.2.2.1. Still taking a long time to load. Even after 3 boots, the lack of a decent boot cache slows down startup considerably.
1.2.2.2. The down side compared to the Ubuntu Installer is that until the system is installed, you cannot actually use the computer as a computer.
1.3. Mac OS X
1.3.1. Pros:
1.3.1.1. Mac OSX Snow Leopard make great use of disk cache, and speeds up boot signifigantly with this version. It’s always been pretty speedy, but this is a great speed increase.
1.3.1.2. Overall, the Mac OSX update process is clean and easy to do, if a little to infrequent for my tastes.
1.3.2. Cons:
1.3.2.1. Where the Mac OSX Installer fails, is in it’s partitioning. If the hard drive is blank, it will not initialize the drive itself. You need to start Disk Utility to do that, and setup the partitions yourself.
1.3.2.2. Mac OSX is still vulnerable to attack. Apple does an OK job of releasing security updates, but they are usually released in large patches instead of as they become available.
2. Sources 2011
2.1. http://bit.ly/anb8Iy
2.2. http://bit.ly/estv16
2.3. http://bit.ly/fIo2cj
3. Operating System - software, consisting of programs and data, that runs on computers, manages computer hardware resources[1], and provides common services for execution of various application software.
4. Smartphone Operating Systems
4.1. iOS
4.1.1. Pros:
4.1.1.1. 1. There are no unnecessary animations and transition effects and whatever little is there looks natural and is functional.
4.1.1.2. 2. Turned out to be the easiest mobile operating system.
4.1.2. Cons:
4.1.2.1. 1. The oldest of the four platforms.
4.1.2.2. 2. Features was never a strong point of iOS.
4.2. Android
4.2.1. Pros:
4.2.1.1. 1. Feels the most complete out of all the four platforms here in terms of features, and if features are all that you are looking for then you would be happiest with Android.
4.2.1.2. 2. Has gone through considerable changes since its first iteration and has only got better with age.
4.2.2. Cons:
4.2.2.1. 1. At times you will notice unexpected and inexplicable slowdowns while going through the UI, which deters from the overall experience.
4.2.2.2. 2. Does not use the GPU to render the on-screen images, which means the CPU is overburdened, causing further slowdowns.
4.3. RIM
4.3.1. Pros:
4.3.1.1. 1. It is possible to cut, copy and paste almost any piece of text across the OS. And the experience is also very painless.
4.3.1.2. 2. Every single Blackberry device supports true multitasking.
4.3.2. Cons:
4.3.2.1. 1. The Blackberry phones get almost paralyzed while installing/upgrading applications.
4.3.2.2. 2. No Blackberry smartphone still supports Adobe Flash.
4.4. Symbian
4.4.1. Pros:
4.4.1.1. 1. Features like multi-tasking and copy paste, something others have just discovered and others are yet to, have always been part of Symbian
4.4.1.2. 2. You will find almost every feature here that you get on Android, along with some that you don't, such as FM radio and USB On-the-Go connectivity.
4.4.2. Cons:
4.4.2.1. 1
4.4.2.2. 2