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Figure.4 4 Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks).
The Macintosh platform has been popular with graphics professionals for
decades, and much of the best page layout and graphics editing software
was originally developed for the Mac. However, in recent years, similar
software has become available for both Windows and Mac, so there is
no reason to choose a Mac based on software compatibility anymore.
Although Mac hardware is not cross-compatible with Windows software,
Mac software is cross-compatible with the Intel platform. The latest ver-
sion of Mac OS X will run on both Macintosh and Intel computers.
Most Intel-based systems use Microsoft Windows . Like Mac OS X,
Windows also has an attractive GUI and is easy to learn and use. Windows
has the advantage of being the most popular OS, and therefore the one
that more applications are written to run on.
Microsoft Windows The graphical Microsoft
operating system designed for Intel-platform
desktop and notebook computers.
The most recent version at this writing is Windows 8.1, but Windows 7
is still widely used worldwide, and is the version featured in this topic.
Chapter 5 (“Introduction to Windows 7”) introduces you to Windows 7;
you will learn there how to run programs and manage files. Figure 4.5
shows the Windows 7 user interface.
Linux (pronounced LIN-ucks ) is an operating system that looks and
feels very similar to UNIX. It can run on a variety of platforms, includ-
ing Intel-based desktops and notebooks, servers, and handheld devices.
(Android, a popular OS for smartphones and tablets, is a variant of
Linux.)
Linux An open-source, cross-platform operating
system that runs on desktops, notebooks, tablets,
and smartphones.
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