Comapare to

13:37 Oct 12, 2016 

If we are going to apply the traditional distinction between "compare to" and "compare with", as stated in the sources Rachel, Peter and I have cited, it is difficult to see how "to" could be defended here. All the sources say that "compare A to B" or "A compared to B" is used when A is likened to B, when A is seen to be similar to B. But the comparison in the ST is one of significant difference, not similarity. You couldn't replace "compare to" with "liken to" here. By contrast, "with" fits, because "A when compared with B" means "A when examined in relation to B to determine the degree of similarity/difference", and in this ST, when that is done they turn out to be different.

But as I commented before, and as Tony has also said, this traditional distinction is widely disregarded nowadays, and there has been a clear shift in real usage away from "with" and towards "to" in contexts where "with" would traditionally have been preferred.

So "either" is correct in prevailing modern usage and "with" is correct in traditional usage. And Tony is also right that in the former "to" is acceptable here, and that "with" is acceptable too. And in that situation "sounds better" is fair comment

09:45 Oct 12, 2016 

I don't think there's any doubt that many people would spontaneously say/write "when compared to", but "when compared with" actually seems preferable to me. To my mind, with "when" the sense is "when you compare them", and comparing them means examining them side by side to see how similar or different they are. As noted above, "with" is traditionally preferred here, though many people now use "to". Without "when", the argument, and possibly the answer, would be different, in my opinion.

09:38 Oct 12, 2016 

Traditionally there is a difference in usage, which I think many people still observe. It is expressed in the Collins definitions:

"compare
1. (transitive; usually foll by to) to regard or represent as analogous or similar; liken ⇒ the general has been compared to Napoleon
2. (transitive; usually foll by with) to examine in order to observe resemblances or differences ⇒ to compare rum with gin"
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/compare

The same basic point is made here, and I think it is sound:
http://gmat-grammar.blogspot.com.es/2006/09/compare-to-vs-co...

Insofar as such a difference exists, it is by no means always observed. But it certainly cannot be said without qualification that "to" is the standard preposition after "compare" in all contexts. Further useful comment here (under "usage"):
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/compare
And in more detail here:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/compare-with-or-comp...

09:34 Oct 12, 2016 

The striking preference for "compare to" among most colleagues here may perhaps reflect an observable shift from "with" to "to" in contemporary usage, but the idea that "compare with" is wrong, or an uncommon variant of "compare to", is simply untrue. The ngram result is a crude measure but it shows a strong and continuing, though declining, preponderance of "compare with" over "compare to":
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=compare with,c...

"Compared it with" was more common than "compared it to" until around 1980, since when it has been the other way round:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=compared it wi...

08:20 Oct 12, 2016 

You should correct the glossary entry for the query term = Comapare => Compare