A Tale of Three Operating Systems, Part II (Why You Need Bootcamp)

A while ago I put three operating systems on my laptop. With the Mac Pro I've done the same thing - it's a huge win to be able to cover such a wide swath of OS/GPU/CPU combinations with fewer machines. Last time it was OS X 10.4, Windows XP SP2, and Ubuntu 6.06. This time I repeated the process with OS X 10.5.2, Windows Vista RTM, and Ubuntu 8.04. Random observations:

• Linux really just keeps getting stronger. I've always been a bit skeptical about Linux as a desktop environment, particularly as a Windows/Mac developer (that is to say, I'm spoiled by free high quality IDEs ad debuggers that require no setup to use the platform SDK, comprehensive platform documentation in one location, etc.). But Linux installation is becoming more plug & play and trouble-free each time I make myself a live CD.
• Windows Vista is a train wreck. I feel a little bit lame blogging this, as taking pot-shots at Vista is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel. But the contrast between Ubuntu, which has become easier to use over a year and a half, and Windows, which has not, is stark.
• There are some positive things to say about Vista. The partition-aware installer is a real convenience for multi-booters. And once you figure out where everything has been moved to and go back to "classic" views, the OS is tolerable. But you'll still find plenty of things that will make you want to tear your hair out. My recommendation: stick with XP. (Duh.)

Now on to the performance numbers. These numbers are the Xp900 time demo fps tests 1, 2 and 3. Each set of 3 numbers is from the three phases.

      1           2               3
MAC   49/ 60/ 62   38/ 43/ 44     21/ 20/ 21
WIN  121/128/133  114/115/119     77/ 75/ 82
LIN  143/144/157  130/123/132     92/104/113

That's not a typo. Linux is beating out Vista, but both are absolutely killing OS X. What's going on here? I don't know. But there appears to be something that isn't well optimized in the GeForce 8 drivers on OS X.

I suspect Apple will close this gap eventually; don't bother asking me for status information on this because if they ever tell me what's going on, I'll be bound by NDA not to tell you.

For now my recommendation is: consider dual-booting into Linux - it's pretty easy to install Ubuntu and you'll get great X-Plane performance. With good drivers, the Mac Pro and 8800 are just monstrous.