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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM AIX

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AIBM AIX (for Advanced Interactive eXecutive) is a Unix operating system, developed, offered and supported by IBM.N/A

    macOS

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AmacOS is the graphical operating system for Apple desktop devices.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of IBM AIX and macOS
    Feature
    IBM AIX
    -
    Ratings
    macOS
    9.5
    4 Ratings
    8% above category average
    File Management00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings9.84 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings9.84 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings9.54 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Small Businesses
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (11 ratings)
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.4
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM AIXmacOS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    IBM AIX is well suited for mission-critical applications, especially the ones that need to run on well-performing hardware and need less downtime. It is also perfect for applications that need a lot of CPU, because AIX scales well on the IBM POWER hardware, so adding additional CPU almost always generates higher performance/throughput. IBM AIX runs unmodified from the smallest IBM POWER machine (S1022, with 12 Power10 cores) to the biggest machine (E1080, with 240 Power10 cores). Because IBM POWER systems have very fast CPU’s, you typically need a lower number of CPU’s when compared to alternatives. This may bring a reduction in cost for software licensed per core. Unfortunately, not all software vendors port their software to IBM AIX, so sometimes you may have to run Linux on POWER, or skip the POWER platform altogether. But many vendors happily support AIX and POWER.
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    Apple
    Macs, macOS, and the appropriate Mac applications really shine in ease of use. Specifically, the system's media-handling features are excellent. The developer frameworks (libraries) are excellent and provide easy programmatic access to the operating system's features. macOS is very stable and is built on a solid foundation of a Unix kernel. The Swift programming language is very approachable, and macOS supports many scripting and programming languages, opening up a wide variety of coding libraries.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • Stability. In the 14 years that I have used the product, I cannot think of a single time that we had an OS level failure. It is rock solid. We have had systems that have been booted and run for literally years without interruption.
    • Virtualization. We run IBM AIX as LPARS on Power infrastructure. All of our AIX infrastructure is virtualized making it easy to scale as needed.
    • Their logical volume manager makes the task of managing storage very simple. It is feature complete and they have mitigated much of the complexity that usually is inherent in LVM implementations.
    • I have a love/hate relationship with Smit. It is their administrative interface. It is very powerful and very complete which is why I marked it as a pro. It is also a bit clunky and somewhat arcane in its interface but still usable.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    • Unified hardware and software drivers
    • Power users can have full access if needed
    • Upgrade cycles are so easy with OS transfer
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    IBM
    • A lot of the built-in commands have not been updated in years. If you're used to some fancy CLI options in Linux, you may be out of luck with AIX.
    • Out of the box, you cannot run open-source Linux utilities on AIX. There is a toolbox you can install, however, it's not the same versions as you would get in different Linux flavors.
    • Tab completion for files and Up arrow to re-run previous commands don't work out of the box without running a Korn shell. A small annoyance, but one that catches me every time!
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    • upfront costs to getting the most benefit from macOS requires you to purchase a Macbook...this is expensive
    • it's windows snapping function just isn't as good as Windows OS
    • as good as the M chips are, gaming just isn't a big strong suit
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    Its simply the best operating system
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    IBM
    AIX is robust, helps the systems administrator, is built to prevent easily made mistakes. If you are used to other variants of Unix (in particularly Linux) there is no steep learning curve to get started with AIX. You need to learn the intricacies of the operating system, but that is true for any new operating system. AIX has built-in tools for almost anything you want and has the AIX Toolbox (on the web) for tools that are not included with AIX by default, but can be installed. Installation of AIX is modular, you can select with components and features you want to have installed. Installation of additional components (and usually also removal of installed components) is easy and straight-forward.
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    Apple
    I'm sure I'm biased. I've been using a Mac for 30+ yrs. I am significantly more productive on a Mac than on any other platform. It comes down to some personal preference and familiarity, but I just think the interface is more intuitive and streamlined
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    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    macOS tends to be very reliable, and Apple distributes updates as needed to patch known vulnerabilities or issues. It is very seldom that a macOS-based system is unavailable, and if that happens, the cloud-based storage and identity management support make it very easy to slot in a loaner machine while the user's primary machine is repaired.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    The Apple Silicon hardware allows macOS to perform very well, with rapid response. Local processing for Apple Intelligence-related items is quite fast, and the response is impressively complete. Our experience with integrations to other enterprise systems is that the other system is usually the bottleneck in the process, rather than macOS.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    There is lots of documentation out there for AIX. On the times I've had to address a hardware issue, IBM's support has been great.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    IBM AIX operating system is advanced with most features and also it's more reliable unlike Redhat Linux, Sun solaris, HP-UX and also we will have well support from the vendor if we run into any issues. IBM AIX is more user-friendly when compared to linux and easy to use so i would prefer the customers to have their operating system as IBM AIX for companies who has more customers.
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    Apple
    Just that simplicity of day to day activities and management. It's basically zero hassle with the ability to scale and power up if needed
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    macOS is very easily deployed with central MDM/DDM management systems. There are several of these available to select, depending on the amount and type of deployment needed. We use Jamf Pro to support a "zero touch" deployment model, which makes it almost as easy to deploy 100 endpoints as 10 (other than delivery and unboxing).
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • IBM AIX on Power hardware has been the backbone of our most critical applications.
    • The versatility of IBM AIX virtualization has been extremely useful, scalable, and provided configuration with redundant dual VIO servers.
    • IBM AIX is not Linux so special skill sets are needed to actually manage the systems. Finding qualified engineers can often be a challenge
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    Apple
    • Apple supports their hardware longer than most manufacturers, which is good.
    • Apple's hardware is more expensive than similar equipment competition, which is bad but offset somewhat by its longevity.
    • Apple in an Apple world works great.
    • Apple in a Windows world has some work to do to get things talking.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots