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What Vista can learn from Leopard
August 9, 2006 11:20 AM PST
Apple Computer let developers know this week that its next Mac OS X version, Leopard, should spring onto store shelves next spring. It also lifted the veil a bit for planned operating-system features, but it held back some details.
Part of the secrecy was to prevent Microsoft from copying Apple's ideas, CEO Steve Jobs suggested. "We don't want our friends to start their photocopiers any sooner than they have to," he said.
It's a reminder of the operating-system rivalry between the two companies. Apple has touted itself as the innovator in such software; it has suggested that all the new additions in Windows Vista already exist in the most recent Mac OS X, Tiger. Microsoft might take issue with that, but there's no denying it has struggled somewhat with Vista, which has had features cut and seen a series of delays.
To find out what people on the street make of it, we asked our Vista Views panel, made up of ordinary readers, this question: Which feature in Leopard would you like to see in Vista?
David Dawson
How about some hype? Leopard's got it. Apple delivers promises and great products--it already has a next-gen graphics engine, indexed searching, smart folders, smarter navigation and promises that more remain to be revealed of Leopard's features. On the other hand, Vista's really pushing people's patience--it's delayed repeatedly, loses features as it gets closer to shipping, is bloated and possibly will harass the user at every action.
David Dawson is the team leader for research and development at Community IT Innovators (CITI), an organization providing technology support to socially responsible organizations in the Washington, DC area.
Robert McLaws
I'm still trying to figure out how Apple can call Microsoft "copycats" in one breath (who steals source code by photocopying it, anyways?) and then, in the next, introduce Time Machine (which is a rip-off of Windows' Previous Versions"feature that has been around since Windows Server 2003). And doesn't calling it "Vista 2.0" mean that they're copying Vista 1.0?But it doesn't surprise me that they couldn't get their joke right; they couldn't even copy the Windows logo properly in the keynote.
From what I can tell, there isn't anything in the new OS X that I can't get in Vista, and then some. I can have a Tablet and a Media Center in one computer. I can hook up my Xbox 360 to that same machine (which Mac can't do) and watch TV recorded off my digital cable tuner (which Mac won't have). And you won't need to have Office anymore to get some basic features like spam protection and calendaring. So I get all the features and more, without the smug self-righteousness of the pseudo-intellectual Mac zealotry.
What more could you ask for in an OS?
Robert McLaws is an IT consultant, community leader and Vista enthusiast. He has been running Vista enthusiast site Longhornblogs.com since 2002.
Wallace Wang
Vista doesn't need to include (copy) any features of Mac OS X Leopard. What Vista needs to do is match or exceed the way Mac OS X implements its features.From a technical point of view, Window's System Restore feature is actually superior to Mac OS X's Time Machine, since System Restore can work on a single hard disk, while Time Machine requires a second hard disk. The big difference is the way Microsoft and Apple implemented this same feature.
Under Windows, you click through a series of dialog boxes, radio buttons and calendars to find a restore point to return to. Not visually exciting or intuitive, but practical and efficient. Under Time Machine, you can see a series of your previous window contents extending off into the distance, and click or search for the window you want to restore from the past.
From a technical point of view, Window's System Restore is superior but from a user's point of view, Mac OS X's Time Machine is far superior. Given the choice between using a great program with a mediocre interface (Windows System Restore) or a mediocre program with a dazzling interface (Time Machine), guess which one is going to generate the most excitement?
Apple isn't necessarily great at innovating, but they are far superior when it comes to implementing their ideas in ways that the average user can understand immediately, and that's where the Mac OS X shines over anything Microsoft Windows could ever offer.
The best way for Vista to compete with Mac OS X? Have Microsoft dump Vista, and license Mac OS X to run on ordinary PCs. Otherwise, given Mac OS X and a copy of Parallels with Windows running in a virtual machine, Vista has no chance to compete, no matter what features it might add.
Wallace Wang is a freelance computer journalist and author whose books include "Microsoft Office for Dummies" and "Steal This Computer Book."
Brian Lambert
I would like to see something like Spaces, or virtual desktops, in Windows Vista. (Editor's note: Click here for video of Spaces.)I think it's time to shift the paradigm of the way desktops should look and operate. It would be interesting to be able to have more than one desktop that you could easily access, and put applications aside. There's a lot of potential for this that Vista could explore, especially with the new graphical interface. Hopefully, we'll be wowed away by some of Vista's features when it arrives.
Brian Lambert is a law student at Southern Illinois University.
Kevin Faaborg
I'm about as worried as I was before with XP.I would really like to see Time Machine implemented in some way into Vista. It's better than System Restore, because this is talking about your own personal files and not just system files. Plus, (if) you just want to get a file instead of having to do a full restore, you can do that too.
Kevin Faaborg works in basic hardware and software guidance for a large financial corporation, but he has experience in more computer sales-based jobs.
Joe Rud
The one feature I'd like to see from Vista that I know will be there with Leopard is it being sent to production.Joe Rud is a computer industry professional from from St. Louis Park, Minn.
David Price
Answer you expect: Spaces, because it will help keep the computer best organized.
Long-term answer, which I have been saying for YEARS: Bill, take some of your billions, buy the best and brightest programmers in the world, and make a brand-spanking-new OS absolutely positively from scratch. No DOS, no Windows, no xNIX, no backwards compatibility; start completely over and do it right. Kids, can you say "21st century?"
David Price is a senior accident analyst at one of the U.S.'s top research and development national laboratories and an award-winning nature photographer.
Callum Jones
I think nothing should be copied--it just gives Apple fans another thing to point and laugh about. With MS doing that, we would be flooded with too many forum threads about Leopard vs. Vista. MS should sit down and focus on what they need to create, not re-create.Callum Jones is a student in Perth, Australia.
Chris Hacking
Virtual Desktops ("Spaces") are a feature of almost every Linux desktop manager. They allow great numbers of windows to be open at once, without needing to bring some forward and let other fall into the background. They allow users to view whole sets of windows.Say I have one desktop devoted to instant messengers, with contact lists and conversation/video windows. On another desktop, I am reading and writing e-mail, another has a full-screen Web browser with 15 tabs open. And finally, I leave one desktop blank (perhaps except for Sidebar set to "always on top" for just this one window), so I can see all my desktop icons without needing to minimize (and then restore) all my open windows.
Vista probably could very easily implement virtual desktops, since all UI elements, including the desktop itself, are 3D objects. Just make a few more of the Desktop objects and tag each window with the desktop(s) it is visible on. Make it easy to change which desktop(s) a window is on, and add some flashy graphics affects to chew GPU cycles. Use a hotkey combo, like Ctrl-WinKey+Tab, to switch.
Windows, you are the last major OS on the train here.
Chris Hacking is a computer engineering student at the University of Washington, Seattle who has worked in Web development and freelance software development.
Shruti Shah
I'd like to see the Spaces feature. For years, I've waited for the ability to rearrange items in the taskbar on Windows, and having different "spaces" just takes it one step further.Shruti Shah, from Long Island, N.Y., is a senior in college.
Jason Klomps
I would have to say, the built-in video-conferencing feature. Pretty much all Macs come with a video camera these days. It would be nice to have this be available in Vista without downloading a separate program.
Jason Klomps of Tucson, Ariz., works in IT support for a call center.
John Kneeland
I'd like Vista to do Boot Camp. In reverse.
John Kneeland is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in international relations and East Asian studies.
The Vista Views panel is being brought together by CNET News.com to discover what people on the street think about Microsoft's new operating system.
We're looking for a range of perspectives--from beta testers to business buyers to home PC owners.
Interested in joining the panel pool? Here's how it works:
Whenever key Vista news breaks, we'll e-mail a question to contributors. Sometimes, we'll ask a yes/no question and use the answers for a simple poll. Other times, we'll look for more in-depth feedback on Vista events. It doesn't matter whether you send us two pages or two sentences--we value your comments. And if you don't have an opinion on a particular story, or you don't have time to respond, that's fine too.
The feedback will often reach our readers. Our writers may quote panel remarks in stories. Or we may pull together comments--your two cents--in an article of their own. Occasionally, we'll ask contributors to take part in a weekly podcast to discuss their views with News.com editors and industry experts.
We want to know what our readers think, as Microsoft gets ready for one of its most important launches in years. If you haven't signed up yet, send an e-mail to us at vista-views@cnet.com.
Reader comment from Wallace Wang:
"We've been waiting over five years already for the successor to Windows XP, so we might as well wait a few more months for Microsoft to ship a secure, reliable operating system."
Read more Vista panel comments on this topic here.
Story: Symantec sees an Achilles' heel in Vista
Reader comment from Brian Clarke:
"Symantec needs to find a better business model than fear-mongering and profiting off of insecure operating systems from Microsoft."
Read more Vista panel comments on this topic here.
Story: Gates: 20 percent chance of Vista delay
Reader comment from Robert McLaws:
"Everyone has complained for years that Microsoft doesn?t listen to its customers. So why now is everyone complaining when they finally DO start listening?"
Read more Vista panel comments on this topic here.
Story: Gates to bow out at Microsoft
Reader comment from John Kneeland:
"Ideally, it would mean that Microsoft will focus less on adding new junk and instead focus on making the existing junk work well."
Read more Vista panel comments on this topic here.
Piecing together Vista
Videos
Peek at Vista
New features are designed to appeal to nonbusiness users. February 22, 2006
Windows' chief answers questions from News.com readers. January 27, 2006
Blog
The latest Windows blog postings on News.com.
Design: Gautama Swamy
Production: Kristina Wood
look for "virtual desktop manager"
Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this
PowerToy.
This refers to four desktops of different users I believe. Nice try
though.
NT4 had natively support for multi-desktops, and there were tons of applications providing this functionality (if I remember correctly there was even a Microsoft-provided MFC sample demonstrating this).
I guess that Microsoft released a more "user friendly" version with PowerToys in XP (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx" target="_newWindow">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx</a>), but the feature was there for a long time. Don't take me for granted, look for yourself the applications at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.tucows.com/Windows/DesktopEnhancements/VirtualDesktop" target="_newWindow">http://www.tucows.com/Windows/DesktopEnhancements/VirtualDesktop</a>
Alin
and I bet it's not even close to Spaces.
Think about it folks. OS/2 Warp did this back in the 90s and Windows still does not have this feature.
Vista 1.0?</i>
No. It means they did one (and actually a lot more) better than
Vista.
<i>But it doesn't surprise me that they couldn't get their joke
right; they couldn't even copy the Windows logo properly in the
keynote.</i>
- Glad you watched Steve's keynote. Nice to see an OS that
actually exists, isn't it?
<i>From what I can tell, there isn't anything in the new OS X
that I can't get in Vista, and then some. ... So I get all the
features and more, without the smug self-righteousness of the
pseudo-intellectual Mac zealotry.</i>
Not quite true. These are all features you HOPE to get. You sure
don't have them in your hands right now.
<i>What more could you ask for in an OS?</i>
How about that it SHIP?
<i>Robert McLaws is an IT consultant, community leader and
Vista
enthusiast. He has been running Vista enthusiast site
Longhornblogs.com since 2002.</i>
And by all accounts will still be running it, waiting for Vista, into
2007. Do I hear 2008? 2009?
everyone how wonderful McDonald's dinner menu is ... All you
can say is that it is the most popular! So. McDonald's didn't
invent hamburgers, it just made the best investments and aimed
at the lowest common geek denominator with monopolistic
business practices and with 6 times the R&D (and for its size it
should have 10-times the R&D) of Apple it does less over longer
timelines.
To say MS didn't take the mouse and "windows" from the Mac,
and the Gadgets from Apple Widgets and Vista graphics from
OSX graphics is a sad lie. And Apple takes plenty of ideas from
others, but guess what they improve them and put them in an
OS. MS and Vista doesn't do that they take ideas from other
OS's and puts them in their OS. A difference too sophisticated
for Windowphiles to understand .... sad and hollow ....
Tbh, I'd rather wait until it works than it be released. And I'd rather nice bunch of re-writes, a bunch of feature enhancements and some new features (even if not all that were envisaged) than a few extra features tacked onto a large price label, and called a new o/s.
righteousness of the pseudo-intellectual Mac zealotry."
Ah, but you get all the smug self-righeousness of Windows
zealots like Mr. McLaws.
And what was that garbage about needing Office for spam
protection and calendaring? You don't need that on Mac, and
haven't for some time. If anything, that sounds like praise for
the Mac.
Thanks tho, I appreciate you proving my point.
-Robert McLaws
LonghornBlogs.com
I'm not a MS lover, but I don't despise them either. Your hatred is making you ignorant.
pseudo-intellectual Mac zealot" but he sounds an awful lot like a
"smug self-righteous pseudo-intellectual Windows zealot." Is
that supposed to be better somehow?
And, though he surely knows this, calling it Vista 2.0 does not
mean Apple is copying Vista 1.0. The idea is that Tiger is
already Vista 1.0 and Leopard is the next step.
Second, Wallace Wang is not correct about Time Machine
requring a second hard disk. Apple's web site says that in
prefernces you choose the drive or *volume* to back up to. You
can choose a disk partition in other words, perhaps even a disk
image that is located on the same partition (i.e. a virtual
volume). So, we at least have external disk, disk partition, and
server as possible backup locations.
That said, we are talking about backups here. A second drive is
clearly preferable. It may seem "technically superior" to have it
all on one drive, but nobody who has a hard drive fail will think
that.
take some of your billions, buy the best and brightest
programmers in the world, and make a brand-spanking-new OS
absolutely positively from scratch. No DOS, no Windows, no
xNIX, no backwards compatibility; start completely over and do
it right. Kids, can you say "21st century?" "
I'm by no means a Windows fan, but I believe competition is
imperative to the survivability and great feature offerings of
MacOS X. I want the Mac, Apple, and the MacOS to survive and
prosper until I am 110 and can no longer see the screen. For
that to happen, Apple needs to constantly have something with
which to compete, in order to keep raising the bar, back and
forth. Apple borrows sometimes from Windows, Windows
sometimes from Mac, and both from others.
Windows does NOT need to go away...they need to get better.
Re-write the whole thing, like D. Price said, from scratch, just
like Apple did with OS X.
If Vista is truly built on the server 2003 code, then the core will be a great product.
If Vista is truly built on the server 2003 code, then the core will be a great product.
As far as backwards compatability, that is a huge selling point. It will always be there.
agree with this post completely. I am a huge Mac OS fan, but
that's not why I dislike XP. It just sux at the moment. I would
honestly like a version of XP that nobody has to make excuses
for. I will have windows software at work for a long time to come
and I would at least like a system that I didn't hate using. I would
buy both for use at home if I liked both. I know that's not exactly
Ronjay's point, but I agree that competition is good. Right now I
see Apple as working harder (or smarter) because they are the
"underdog" so to speak. Would they work as hard if they had the
perceived lead? Actually, we might find out in the near future...
I've been following some of the stories that came out after Microsoft took Vista to the Black Hat Security Convention and challenged everyone there to find security flaws with Vista. Of course there were a bunch found, but even the hackers were impressed with the efforts MSFT took to ensure security in this OS. And all the security holes found there were patched.
They even were so nice as to delivery security updates to Beta 2 users using Windows Update since it was available to the public and MANY people started switching to Vista Beta 2 as their main OS. Microsoft said it will support the Betas and Release Candidates with security updates until the Retail Release is available. Then (of course) they will stop supporting the evaluation versions.
Microsoft has definately stepped up. And I applaude their efforts.
have an imperfect perception as to what a Mac is and what it
does. You'd be suprised in fact how very wrong these people
can be. Many Windows users might look at Time Machine and
say, "System Restore does this" or "Windows Server 2003 does
this". Not true. System Restore restores the SYSTEM (and only
the system). This means that no deleted or changed documents
are restored. Just Applications and Windows. Windows Server
2003 it not a consumer product so therefore it is pointless to
compare it to Apple's Leopard. In addition, the backup method
in Windows Server 2003 is not graceful or easy to use at all. It is
the way that Apple is implementing Time Machine that makes it
special.
With Expose, Dashboard, and Spotlight - most Windows users
wouldn't realise how useful they are, because they don't use
Macs. I have my mighty mouse side buttons set to Expose, and
it is perfect for switching applications in an instant. Dashboard
skips a few steps in opening up a browser and navigating to a
website, and spotlight is a great application launcher as well as a
way to find files. Only does Vista get any of these features.
This just scratches the surface of why Mac OS X is superior to
Windows. The little things about Mac OS X are just as important
as the big things. Not to mention that Mac OS X is beautiful.
I would guarantee that if all consumers used a Mac for one
month, at least 7 out of 10 would refuse to switch back after
that month.
And also, seriously Windows fan boys -- stop grasping at straws
making lame arguments. For example, someone said, "If
Leopard is Windows Vista 2.0, then Apple is copying Vista".
Common. Thats the biggest line of BS I've heard all day. That
logic is totally screwing. Seeing as Vista 2.0 is not out -- or
even being developed yet, there is nothing to copy. By saying
that Leopard is Vista 2.0, you are making the implication that
Leopard will have the features that Vista 2.0 will have - and
since Leopard would come first - Microsoft is therefore effectivly
copying Leopard.
In the end, when I sit down at a Mac, I get a spartan operating system (albeit with nice eye candy) running on way-too-expensive hardware that I can't even repair myself. And don't tell me the hardware is more reliable, because 2/3 of the iMac people I know have had their machine break down. On the other hand, I can build my own PC for half the price. It is fast, serviceable and far more upgradeable. Since I choose the components, it is reliable and rarely breaks down. When it does, I don't have to ship the machine off with all my data on it for two weeks and twiddle my thumbs. Since I put Windows on it, I can run about 32 trillion different software apps, and customize the heck out of EVERYTHING. No spartan UI and control panels. Oh, and I can play games without jumping through hoops, too.
I don't worship my computer, I use it. It's a tool. It's an entertainment device. That's it.
So, quite frankly, no matter how good Leopard is compared to Vista, I just don't care. Until I can run OS X on my home-built hotrod, I will continue to not care.
which ALWAYS needed fixing - they got exploited even when
endlessly "patched" and were nothing but trouble. These were
year-old Dells and such. Those initial dozen Mac users were
quite upset with me when I forced them to take the new
machines and swore we'd go out of business if we had to use
these stupid toys. The torches and pitchforks came out.
All it took was some training and some attention:
"Where's the My Documents folder???"
"Um, ok, lets make a folder called My Documents"
"Now what do I do with THAT???"
"Um, well, you could drag your documents into it..."
Within a few weeks, you just didn't hear from them any more. I
had to check on them to make sure they were ok. We weren't
fixing their machines every other day, either. Within six months
they were quietly THANKING me for giving them Macs - really
sneaking in and thanking me so nobody else knew they "got it".
Little did they know everyone else "got it", too. By that time,
there were about 30 Macs deployed.
Within a year, we had replaced 47 PCs with Macs and some
people had already bought a Mac for home. Now, almost three
years after starting this, we have 64 Mac replacements for PCs,
nearly zero trouble from them and MOST of these people have
REPLACED THEIR HOME PCs WITH MACS. I'm talking real hard
core former Windows bigots who now overwhelmingly prefer the
Mac and drop kicked their Windows machines, including XP
machines.
Within the last two weeks, the dominoes are falling faster -
we've had no fewer than six NEW Mac switchers in the company
(out of 85 people) on top of the ones that switched already and
more are planning on doing the same.
They didn't drink the Kool-Aid, they just used the machine and
had that "aha" moment. It takes a few weeks to really let it sink
in. Until everyone has actually lived with a Mac, you've got no
grounds to critique it. Vicarious experience or reading other
people's vicarious experience doesn't count.
I wonder if Spaces includes the ability to anchor an item so it shows up in all the virtual desktops (like an IM chat window while you keep working on other things).
Doees Spaces handle only 4? I know with Linux's desktop environments you can choose (1 .. 10? 12? 15? +++?).
Personally I love using the virtual desktops and that's one feature I would LOVE for Windows to have.
the hassle.
This is one thing that bugs me about Windows. It seems the
Windows community is dependent upon "add ons" to get
anything done. Microsoft supplies the basic OS, but to get it to
do anything, you have to go out and download half a dozen
other things and install them, hoping they will work.
OSX is complete and works... What more could ask?
Oh, could someone please port that stupid pinball game from XP
to Mac? I am driving myself to distraction switching my OS's
back and forth, so I can play that thing... Worse than solitaire...
LOL
a. flipping a light switch
or
b. constructing a rube goldberg device that puts 17 layers of complexity into a simple movement - its probably really cool to watch the hamster spin in the hamster wheel that powers the choo choo train that runs on the track that hits the egg that rolls down the tube that hits the barbie doll that kicks the beachball that bounces onto the scale that...(you get the point).
this is why people love the Apple experience, it takes the labor out of work, it takes tasks that are otherwise complex and simplifies them, want to update an ipod, plug it in, itunes auto launches and if you use smart lists, auto updates your song selections, unplug and you are done, total time, 2-3 mins and you didnt push any buttons on the keyboard, at all.
MS should take a similiar approach to their apps, make it easy to just get things done. most folks dont need 50 ways to make text bold, when just one will do. Elegance and simplicity wins over kludge every time.
Windows Users state that Time machine offers nothing more than system restore... time machine is for the work you do on your computer not just your system settings and configuration files... which i find interesting... it seems windows users do a lot of system settings and configuration changes where Mac users are worried about changing things they have worked on back to previous versions...
My Mac stays on for months without a glitch. It's not the OS Mac users worry about.
For users of Novell networks, incidentally, this feature was available even long before it was on Windows.
I, for one, would like to see some decent debate (a concept notably different in its execution, as compared to "argument") between people who A) actually know what they're talking about, and B) can supress the childish urge to follow every half-witted point with an inflated-ego-driven insult.
You may well find that "zealots" on the other side or actually willing to listen to what you have to say if you can avoid labelling them with cliches like "fanboy"...
The way I see it:
Apple has a better home product
MS has a better corp suite of products.
Linux is free and can do everything good, just not better.
System Restore is not only for system files but your any thing you want Windows to make a backup of so you can retore it if you make a mistake.
In Vista System Restore is expaned to include Shadow Copies which is a versing type system already included in Windows Server 2003 that allow you backup any files, folders or applications that change on your system. System also allows you to store you backup copies on any media that Vista can access (CD/DVD-ROM, Internal/External Harddrive/ another PC using either Network/USB/IEE 1394
As you can see, Shadow copy is quite the backup beast and is superior to Leopard Time Machine. \
Personally I find Time Machine to actually be more of a pain then a feature. Graphical stuff like Time Machine can be fun for the first time but when you happen to save over hours of work by mistake with something you did not want, the last thing you care about is a Stary backgroup why you try to find the version of your work before the save. You want something that is easy, guick and get you up and running without much fuss. Having some flippable graphical whiz bang feature is not it. Being able to simple right click on your document select the previous version before the same and get back to work sounds a lot cleaner and a much better approach.
Just because you can make something pretty doesn't mean you should. This actually may be a lesson that Apple learn from MS.
the desktop, if I understand you correctly. You have not used Time
Machine, so it is safe to say the preview shown, may not be the
final version, and either way, you have not used it, and you may not
be aware of all it's capabilities. Am I correct?
previous version before the same and get back to work sounds a
lot cleaner and a much better approach."
So what happens when the file you want to recover is deleted
and there is nothing to right-click on? Do you have to then go
through a convoluted process to recover that file? Why do you
have one interface for restoring previous versions and another
interface to restore deleted files?
Too little emphasis is placed on actual usability. A lot of what
makes Time Machine such a nice concept is that it's infinitely
more usable and the Windows implementation. In terms of a
metaphore, too, it just makes darn sense.
This is a lesson that so called makers of "iPod killers" have yet to
learn from iPod + iTunes with their geeky devices sprouting
flimsy buttons on all surfaces and programs with hidden nested
windows and menus. It is, in fact, all about the interface!
get you up and running" compared to the Windows feature.
Firstly, you don't need to leave your open app. With iPhoto
open, you can click on Time Machine and go back in time
WITHIN IPHOTO... no other UI is necessary. And while scrolled
back in time, the UI is fully functional for browsing, so you can
click around all your data in the past inside iPhoto.
Secondly, you can run queries in time... you can, say, open
Address Book, search for "Rose", find nothing... so click on Time
Machine, then automatically zip back in time to a point where
Time Machine finds a result for your query. Then bring JUST
THAT ONE RECORD from Address Book from the past to the
present. So it's not just about files, it's about an API for
application to access individual data from the past.
Last, a scrollbar and a zoom compared to a calendar and a
wizard... obviously I'd rather scroll through a document than
click the down arrow 100 times, and I think the same will be true
of the two restore features.
Besides that, Time Machine is almost completely auto-
configuring and automatic usage. Plugin, turn on, and forget
about it (until something goes wrong, and stuff is "just there".)
So live application UIs, non-file-based data retrieval with live
queries, a "scrollbar" interface, and instant configuration are all
ways in which Time Machine is far beyond what Windows is
bringing, and why it will probably end up being far more
relevant to your average mac user than the "similar" feature is to
a Windows user.
at least research your lie first. Have you ever even SEEN a G5.
Number 1, Counter Strike Source has not even been ported to
Mac OS X, so if you WERE playing it, you were playing it in Virtual
PC, emulating an intel chipset, and graphics card.... the fact it
even ran at all is testament to just how powerful a machine it
would be... but seriously, has NOTHING to do with how well the
apple components work together.
And 2, you're right, CoD 2 is marginally slower on a Mac than it
would be on a similarly equipped PC, but considering it was
ported from windows code, with a lot of windows optimisations,
this is to be expected. If it had been written for mac, and ported
to windows, you would see the same thing in reverse. If you
want to know how well mac components work together, buy a
new intel based mac, and install windows on it, it will be without
doubt one of the fastest computers you've ever used.
Plus, when people speak about Graphics in this sense, they were
talking about the graphics subsets, the way the OS Displays
everything on screen. Aqua, which has been in mac OS X for
many years now, and microsoft's new "innovation" Aero, which
more or less catches up with it.
But, Microsoft will never do this since they can't even get what they have out the door in the same decade they start it in.
Microsoft is pathetic when it comes to its upgrades, even Office 2007 has three different interfaces. One for Word, Excel, etc. One for Publisher and another for Outlook. What they couldn't just pick one.
But, then Apple is also pathetic. They are a bigger monopoly than Microsoft, they just don't have as many customers so the government does't care. The control the OS, the hardware and in the case of iPod they control all of that plus the file format and DRM so it doesn't work with other products without having to jump through hoops.
Face it the computer industry as a whole sucks. Intel and AMD... hey people how about a whole new hardware platform? Why do we still have to worry about IRQ's and DMA's? Because they like Microsoft keep building junk on top of rotten foundations. You would think they were cows the way they all like to milk things.
Robert
And still, after all that, I keep anything a real value off the Windows' laptop. I don't trust the os one bit.
In contrast, Mac OS X has never hiccuped in two years. The fact that everything on OS X is easier with eye candy is&well, icing.
If MS could have 1/2 that record they'd be really making progress.
s
Vista. Resolution independence of the UI has
advanced faster. Now we have the 3D hardware
accelerated desktop environment (prior to Vista
launch), which have already evolved beyond
Vista's capabilities, and the two most popular
desktop environments already supercede Vista's
functionality (pluggable virtual filesystems,
file type handling, network protocol support,
etc).
From the user-facing standpoint, there's very
little in Vista that's fundamentally new -- and
nothing that doesn't exist in Linux already.
Desktop search - done. New explorer - mimics
Konqueror but without KIO-like functionality;
explorer search, done. Scalable icons - done. UI
that uses hardware accelerated graphics - done,
Linux version has far more feature/effects than
current Vista Beta. Taskbar thumbnails - done.
Flip and Flip 3D - done (functionality is the
same though the presentation differs).
From the UI standpoint, Vista is playing
catch-up in many ways.
The value of Vista is in the improved security
(which remains to be proven -- hacks already
exist for it), and things like the file
versioning (which is done per VMS, and for which
there's a Linux equivalent though tricky to set
up).
You can't count out the Linux Desktop based on
Vista as Vista merely implements a subset of the
feature commonly available for the Linux
desktop. Microsoft's big advantage in that area
is familiarity -- people are used to the Windows
way.
I've completely switched to Mac OS X because I don't have time to diagnose and repair endlessly.
S
I think that McLaws' comment wins the booby prize:
"He has been running Vista enthusiast site Longhornblogs.com
since 2002."
Waiting all those years and he still doesn't get it.
Let's look at the two different approaches...
Microsoft continusouly introduces new products long before they are ready, takes too long to get them out the door, has armies of testers yet still releases products littered with defects, provides inadequate product support and delivers little to zero innovation. The company is a joke, has a monopoly but it will eventually end without a significant paradigm shift in its approach. People tolerate Microsoft because there are not accepted better options on the market. When better options exist, people will defect. A large number of users are moving to Mac OS and I would guess that most of these users will never return to Windows and will motivate others to switch.
Apple keep its products a secret and most recently has released products ahead or on-time. Because they make the hardware, there is better OS integration and the products are more reliable. Product support is very good. Steve Jobs is most concerned with controlling the user experience. Mac OS will increasingly become a better option for users.
I use my Windows desktop for gaming only. And user a PowerBook for work and I find that my laptop running Tiger co-exists on my Microsoft/Exchange network at the office better than my prior ThinkPad running Windows XP. It boots up quicker, shuts down quicker, manages power better, never crashes, does not require me to log into my network domain until I actually accessing something in the domain, and Microsoft Entourage allows me to access my Exchange server data using our Outlook Web Access as opposed to an IP address therefore when remote I do not need to VPN into my works network to be productive with my email and calendar, etc.
While I agree the Leopard's enhancements might not be too compelling, I suspect that Tiger will be a much better product than Vista and that home and corporate users will be very very slow to upgrade.
the world? Did MS create Back-ups? I don't think so. The point
here is that MS has that feature and NO ONE uses it. If you saw
the presentation, that was the point made. Of the 26% that
actually do ANY sort of backing-up, only 4% actually do a real
back-up. So Time Machine is about getting people to USE it
because it's simplicity. The Copy stuff is about all the other
features that MS DID actually copy like Aqua and Witgets. Did
you know that there was a form of widgets back in OS7? But it's
now when Apple decided to implement it in OSX?
Who said they need to implement their logo right? Hell I didn't
notice what your talking about, but i got the point he was
making, even with his screwed up French accent...
You wouldn't get the same stuff that comes with a mac even if
you got 10 PCs. What are you talking about? Do you get built in
1st Class Video conferencing where you can actually control
some elses computer while you look at them? I don't think so, do
you get iMovie? iPhoto, a built in Dictionary that is SYSTEM WIDE?
an Application like Preview where you can save almost any file to
ANY file format? A system that is built on PDF? Should I go on
and on and on, wake up dude, we use Macs because it actually
makes things possible for us instead of spending our time
troubleshooting or getting interupted by some ridiculous pop up
window from the SYSTEM telling me this or that... Who needs
that?? I sure dont'... Hell, I can remember setting up a machine
for a friend, we finished with all the license bull and what do we
get at startup? A freaking sales pitch of some who knows what?
I mean what is that all about? We spend our $$ on a machine
and now it's trying to sell me some bull like a cheap sales man?
My cousin has a Tablet, Jesus, what a pile of junk. It is slow as
melaces and I can't figure out what's the point of the entire
machine... Those hinges are going to pop like popcorn... and
for what? to flip the damn thin over? and at a cost of over $2K!
So you use your XBox as a digital tuner? Hum, that's an option.
But I don't think I need to spend $500 for that. Apple ships with
Front Row, I think that's all I need on my intertainment system
with 1.5 Terrabite, a TIVO and OSX. H264 Rocks and that's all.
Apple is doing nothing new or are they providing a great piece of functionality that does not exist in Vista. Some people will like the Graphical look to doing backups but after the graphical polish wears thin, when you delete, modify a file and want the original, you will want a quick, simple and fast way to get your file back. The Time Machine does not do this, its way to much Fluff for something that should be as easy as creating your document.
I know Apple lovers always fee that MS sees Apple in their rear view mirror but to be honest the biggest threat that MS is looking at is the web and the innovations that are happening there, next its Linux then Apple.
The thing you fail to realize is that while most people continue to talk about Apple innovations then suddenly get amnesia that someone already innovated it first. The wise man can see that Apple can steal just as good as MS, the only difference is that MS users understand that those features were created somewhere else while Apple users feel like those Ideals came from Apple.
Look, the Wiget ideal predates to Windows for Workgroups when I used GEODesk so no, Apple was not the first to implement the tech and they definitely not the innovators of it now.
You speak about front row which is a good product but then again, you can get a Media Center Dell for 700 that includes a TV Tuner that you can hook up to your TV and record all of your shows for free (No TIVO subscription required). In Vista, you will get CableCard support so that now you can hook up your Cable or Satellite to your TV and get High Def shows for free including the 480P digital ones as well.. You can do everything that TIVO can do and if you want you can upgrade your card to the Nvidia dual High Def card and record two shows at once while you watch a 3rd.
With Apple, You get Front Row and if it doesn't do what you want, you are basically LOCKED. On the PC if you do not want MS stuff, you can install Linux, run MythTV (which is a beast in more ways then one) and get so much TV/Movie goodness you will think that your Mac with front row was living in the dark ages. But thats another story for another day.
I think you feel that I dislike Macs which is very wrong. I just see them for the tools they are.
Vista is a copy.. A waste of time and a worthless gesture of
innovative thinking.
Like they said in the keynote. "If you can't innovate, you imitate.
However, its never are good as the original."
For every copied feature you can name that is in Vista that every Apple fanboy not smart enough to do their own research, I can also show you where Apple has did the same with either Vista or XP features or some other companie feature that they are now calling their Own innovation.
Now only that, I believe I can show two new features in Vista to every one feature in OSX that is not in OSX but probably will and be announced as a big feature in the next release.
surely you dont really believe that VISTA is innovative?
well perhaps you do.
It seems that some people find it necessary to defend a principle
to the death for the reason that they are tied into it.
Is it innovative to sell the security to your operating system,
pretty much as an add on feature? I thnk thats pretty funny. Like
buying a house with no doors, and then saying that you can get
the secure version for an extra $999. On top of which, when the
security vendors come to redmond to talk about what they
know, microsoft reserves the right to take their knowledge and
incorporate it into their product.
Really innovative. Thats smart marketing. And then, to top off
everything, they offer the product at a fraction of the price of the
other security vendors. What do you think will happen to that
price when the other vendors find that it is no longer profitable
and you have only one security option: price rises - and no other
companise to do the security work for you.
As far as Apple stealing from the open source community is
concerned, you could accuse them of taking the whole OS from
the open source community, but much of what makes os X what
it is, is what makes it different from the BSD that it was based
on.
Linux based much of their OS on UNIX. In fact Linus Torvalds
wanted to create his own version of UNIX. Loads of the Linux
features come directly from UNIX. So many of the GUIs that run
on LINUX are based on other GUIs - Ones based on windows and
others based on the MAC os. So dont throw accusations arround
that the corporate world steals from the poor 'ripped off' open
source world. The only one you would be deluding is yourself.
Actually, joking aside, I thought the same thing to myself when reading the article. I too thought it odd that no women were included.
In my humble opinion, this woman issue can be left for another "forum", so to speak.
Participation in the panel is open, and we'd welcome more female members. If you'd like to participate, please send an e-mail to: vista-views@cnet.com.
There is a lot of innovative technology out there but these are being introduced piece meal by the Tech Majors such as Apple, Microsoft or Google.
The reason is simple. Make money year after year by creating a hype on some new features.
I frankly admire smaller companies (such as Scandisk of 1990 lore and later acquired by Microsoft) who are the real hub of innovation. Yet, the media seem to be after only whats coming out of the Major Tech companies.
The other thing is there is a regional misfocus in that innovation from Asia is not given prominance. there are a lot of apples following over a larger number of Newtons in Asia..but are they on our radar?
I have been keenly watching one such company by name of NetAlter. They are claiming to be developing an alternative Internet Operating System. Recently, they got selected by Red Herring Magazine for their Annual Asia 100 Awards.
I don't get your point. Window's System Restor is not aimed at
backing up data, but it mostly used for system recovery only. So
how can it be superior to Time Machine? And what are the
technical point that make you saying that?
System Restore is designed to automatically monitor and record
changes made to the core Windows system files and to the
registry. System Restore can then allow you to undo (or "roll
back") a change that caused instability in your system. This is
accomplished by periodically recording a "Restore Point" (or
System CheckPoint) that gives you the ability to roll your system
back to the point in time when your computer was known to
function properly.
System Restore is not intended to be an "uninstaller" or a backup
program. If Windows does not function properly after installing
software or drivers, you should use the Add/Remove Programs
tool in Control Panel (or use the program's uninstaller) to
remove the software before using System Restore.
So there is nothing to do here with Time Machine, Time Machine
goes far beyond this limited windows tool.
Does CNET pick these guys just to support their own agenda, or what? I haven't seen any actual critical commentary on Apple... well, ever. There are no comparisons at all--in any of their WWDC keynote stories--to features that exist already in Windows. But when Microsoft introduces or announces something, the articles are full of them. It really gets old.
Does CNET pick these guys just to support their own agenda, or what? I haven't seen any actual critical commentary on Apple... well, ever. There are no comparisons at all--in any of their WWDC keynote stories--to features that exist already in Windows. But when Microsoft introduces or announces something, the articles are full of them. It really gets old.
So I'll not tell you wich one is the better one, it's sooo pointless.
Let's all shut up about this Apple vs Microsoft thing. It's a pure waist of time, and it's a shame Jobs cant refrain from the MS-bashing. He should know better. He should just let his products speak for him, he has nothing to be ashamed of, IMHO...