Puzzle Settles the Score of Mac vs. PC

STONEHAVEN, Scotland, March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Passionate data crunching by the developer of PictureSudoku.com may finally settle technology's oldest brainteaser: Which is better, Mac or PC?

PictureSudoku.com sees about 5,000 visitors per month. It lets users play a picture form of Sudoku puzzles in real-time online. The website monitors several components that gauge a player's performance:

1) the player's hardware used
2) the player's choice of internet browser
3) the player's speed to complete a puzzle

As a player progresses through the Sudoku puzzle, hints are provided on request. It was hint data, when combined with the three factors above, that puzzle developer, Simon Broadley, thought might punch up the score of one platform vs. the other and one browser vs. the other.

View charts                      

Computer Choice:

http://www.xpresspress.com/images/Sudoku-speed-computer.png

Browser Choice:

http://www.xpresspress.com/images/Sudoku-speed-browser.png

"There is a definite connection between computer and browser choice and how fast people complete a picture Sudoku," stated Broadley.

The data also made Broadley wonder whether one platform (and by extension, consumer) is smarter than another.

According to the findings, iPad users required four times the number of hints when compared to Mac desktop users and 60% more hints than Windows desktop users.

"This may be attributed to more children using the iPad," Broadley hypothesized.

But don't fret Apple fans, the narrative shifts when puzzles are played on the desktop. Windows users required more than two times the number of hints than Apple/Mac users. And when the Safari browser is deployed, Mac players became supercharged, finishing puzzles faster than any other hardware/browser combination.

Desktop Macs with Safari are smarter—at least for PictureSudoku.com play.

"By far, the slowest play was through Internet Explorer," Broadley stated. "However, those players still required fewer hints than Firefox users. The figures go against logic which suggests more hints slow down a game."

And the winner is …

"Sorry, PC users. For this round, Mac is the winner," Broadley concluded. "But it's only a game."

Founded in 2007 as a programming challenge, PictureSudoku.com was created by developer Simon Broadley of Stonehaven, Scotland. Players can freely copy and paste the Sudoku code and put a game on their own site. Visitors can also create picture Sudoku puzzles using art provided by the website or their own images.

Contact: Simon Broadley, +44 7780623596, [email protected]

This release was issued through The Xpress Press News Service, merging e-mail and satellite distribution technologies to reach business analysts and media outlets worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.XpressPress.com.

SOURCE PictureSudoku.com

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