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This article is part 2 of an ongoing series of articles on this site comparing Apple Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" to Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4 (FC4). (The previous article is here.) The point of this comparison is not to say that one OS or the other is "better" but rather to point out the differences and indicate where an artist who previously used Mac OS X 10.4 would find Linux to be easier, harder, or the same to use as the Mac. See the introduction article for more information and links to the other articles in the series. Although the focus of this series is on the needs of designers, artists, and content creators, the content should be relevant to any number of Mac users or Linux users.
This time around we're going to look at a few of the bundled applications and functionalities in Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4. Specifally, we'll examine:
- Dictionary functionality
- Connecting to servers
- Search functionality
- System preference adjustment
- Hardware configuration examination
Where appropriate, we'll compare and contrast the functionality.
Dictionary and Thesaurus In OS X 10.4 "Tiger", Apple provides a Dictionary and Thesaurus tool, pictured below:
Below is a screen shot of the dictionary included with Red Hat Fedora Core 4 (KDict):
While I happen to prefer the output I get from the Red Hat dictionary tool, Apple does provide a thesaurus that Linux does not provide by default. Having said that, however, I realize that there are also a number of online thesaurus and dictionary tools available through a web browser that would meet this need for a Mac user who was desperate to have thesaurus functionality. Even if a dictionary and thesaurus were mission-critical tools to a Mac user switching to Linux, it doesn't look like a deal-breaker.
Connecting to Network File Servers
It's hard to argue that Apple has made it easy to connect OS X to servers. Regardless of whether you're connecting to an Apple (afp://) server, a Windows server (smb://), a UNIX NFS server (nfs://), an FTP server (ftp://), it's pretty easy to connect to it using the following OS X window (provided you know which prefix to use on your URL):
On the other hand, it's not so difficult in Red Hat either. Below is the "Connect to Server" dialog, showing that Red Hat FC4 will connect to FTP, Windows, WebDAV, and other servers:
 Apple's interface is simpler and cleaner (as Apple's interfaces tend to be in general). Apple's tool is also able to connect to AppleShare (afp://) servers, while Linux does not. If the designer was working in a Mac/Linux shared environment, that would be a concern. On the other hand, OS X Server supports FTP, SMB, and other file sharing methods, so it needn't be a deal-breaker. Though Linux's interface is a bit more complex, it's also a bit more capable than OS X's. An OS X user might find this a little confusing at first, but would pick it up fairly quickly.
Spotlight Searches
Now we come to Apple's "Spotlight" search functionality. Though in my opinion this feature was stolen from the abandoned Microsoft plans for WIndows XP (and isn't the great innovation Apple claims it to be), I don't see anything in Red Hat FC4 that compares to this:
 Having said that, I must point out that there is an effort underway to produce a VERY comparable functionality in Linux. That capability is actually being beta tested at the moment and looks to be as good as Spotlight (if not a touch better). For more information about it, check out the Beagle project.
System Settings and Preferences
One of the smarter moves Apple made in making OS X a "UNIX" that's accessible to the masses is the System Preferences pane, appearing below. From here, a user can make changes to Mac OS X's appearance, desktop, screen saver, security, and much more, through a graphical user interface (GUI).
Red Hat offers much of the same sort of functionality through its Desktop menu, as illustrated below:
 While comparing the two feature sets here is a little bit of "apples and oranges" (pun not intended), both Linux and OS X contain the same sorts of preferences in their menus and both are equally easy to work with. A Mac user moving to Linux should find no problems or major deficiencies here.
Hardware Browsers
Below are the "Hardware Browsers" in OS X and Linux. While OS X provides a good bit more detail, the basic system information a graphic artist might need about their hardware is available from both platforms:
In the next installment, we'll look at the bundled email clients in OS X and Red Hat FC4.
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