An operating system is the software that supervises a computer’s operation in storing and retrieving files, scheduling programs for execution, and coordinating the execution of programs. Each operating system has its own pros and cons. Three operating systems I will take a look at in this report are: MacOS Sierra, Ubuntu, and Windows 8.

MacOS Sierra was initially released on September 20, 2016. It is the thirteenth release of MacOS, which is Apple’s operating system for Mac computers. Sierra is preceded by OS X El Capitan and succeeded by MacOS High Sierra. It is named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, the home of Apple.

Sierra has some pros to it. One pro is that it is a smooth, easy, and free upgrade from its predecessor OS X El Capitan. Sierra also performs better than El Capitan. Another pro to Sierra is that it integrated Siri, an assistant which uses user voice input to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions. A third pro to Sierra is that it added support for Apple Pay, a payment and digital service that lets users make secure purchases and send and receive money from others. The final pro I will mention is Sierra’s enhanced security features. One example of this is that a user can now unlock a Mac using an Apple Watch.

In addition to its pros, Sierra also has …show more content…
One con is that the upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is not free and costs $39.99 if the user is running Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7, $119.99 if not. Another con is that Windows 8 is more susceptible to viruses and has less security than both MacOS Sierra and Ubuntu. Windows 8’s new user interface is difficult to learn and is confusing. In addition, Windows 8 introduces two separate control panels, which can cause an awful lot of confusion to the user. The final con I will mention is that Windows 8 is closed source, just like MacOS Sierra. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is totally open source and easily