I have to write a paper on this topic, so I did a search on Google with the exact string you see in the subject and it just turned up a bunch of forum discussions (which is good too).

Can anyone direct me to artciles, summaries or any sort of comprehensive coverage of this topic?

The gist does not have to be one vs. the other (that just seemed the best way to get results on Google), mainly I just want to cover the differences one might encounter. If one is better than the other certain things though, I would certainly mention that.

Some of the issues I am aware of already include:

Monitor Brightness
Browser Compatibility
Font issues
Differing Software

Even if you can't refer me to other articles or what not, feel free to mention anything you might have to say about this...

i think that there are more diffences between Linux and Windows than mac and Windows.
One: Photoshop.
Two: assuming a *nix environment for the web server that you are running, you can run everything on you devopment box as you will live online, which makes testing a bit easier.


As far as Apple goes, the Mac does render colors more brightly and lacks some fonts out of the box. Dev software isn't a problem though. Phtotshop runs on Mac =) You might check and see which databases can run on Mac, that might me a difference. Also, WYSIWIG tools on a MAc are not quite the same IIRC. There are a few Mac only ones out there (or there were the last time i checked).

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the browser it's designed for view in. Of course, every site should be designed for every browser, but very rarely is that the case. The point is, designing on a PC disallows you to see how it looks in Safari (without using other tools, that is).

There isn't much difference in OSs at all. Its all about the dev tools and Linux x86, Linux PPC, Wintel, and OS 9 and OS X all have tools to do the job and do the job well.

Personally it should be a paper on gui web authoring vs text typed layout. Mozilla being on all these platforms does make a good case for cross platform design integrity as well.