CNET has done performance comparison between Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard using 15-inch MacBook Pro with 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, 4GB RAM and 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT video card. CNET used two new hard drives so each operating system would have a hard drive of its own, with only one partition. Also both the computers were set up for high performance in power management.

In time-based tests like startup, shutdown, encoding ACC file and MP4 video, Show Leopard consistently outdid Windows 7. For example, boot up time for Snow Leopard was 36.4 seconds compared to 42.7 seconds for Windows 7. Similarly, shutdown time for Snow Leopard was 6.6 seconds compared to 12.6 seconds required by Windows 7. For converting 17 songs from MP3 format to AAC format, Snow Leopard took 149.9 seconds while Windows needed 12 seconds more.

However, the story was totally different when it came to 3D performance. Here Windows 7 outperformed Snow Leopard in Cinebench R10 benchmark with a score of 5,777 vs. 5,437. Similarly, In Call of Duty 4 test Windows 7 scored 26.3 FPS while Snow Leopard got 21.2fps seconds.

When it came to battery life, Snow Leopard again out performed Windows 7, by lasting for 111 minutes playing HD movie compared to 77 minutes for windows.

These tests clearly show that when it comes to software optimization for specific hardware Snow Leopard is way ahead of Windows 7. But when it comes to 3D gaming most applications are fine-tuned to work on Windows with DirectX than on Mac OS X with OpenGL. We totally agree with the conclusion reached by Dong Ngo of CNET “If money is not an issue – and it definitely is for most of us – you should get a Mac anyway. It’s the only platform, for now, that can run both Windows and OS X.” Money might be an issue because you will have to pay around $200+ more to get Windows 7 disc to install it on your Mac.