Graphic Editing Test
For this test I used the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) version 2.2.10 that is available for both operating systems. This is not a Universal application for Mac and runs with Rosetta. In addition, I downloaded a popular script called warp-sharp to cleanup photographs. This along with the artistic Old Photo script from the GIMP program were used on a single 5 megapixel digital photograph for comparison.
Test Steps
- Open photograph file in GIMP
- Select Alchemy | Warp-Sharp from the Script-Fu Menu
- Press OK to use the default settings
- Time script to completion
- Select Décor | Old Photo from the Script-Fu Menu
- Press OK to use the default settings
- Time script to completion
Results
Warp-Sharp Script
- Mac OS X – 47s
- Windows XP – 32s
Old Photo Script
- Mac OS X – 36s
- Windows XP - 28s
In this test, we are seeing a 22% and 30% faster performance from the application running in Windows XP over Mac OS X. Since the application does not use the hard disk at all during this process, the performance gap is likely attributed to the fact that the code has to be translated via Rosetta.
