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Microsoft Responds To "Like OS X" Comment

Z80xxc! writes "After a comment by a Microsoft employee claiming in an interview that 'what we [Microsoft] have tried to do with Windows 7... is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics,' the Windows 7 team has issued an official rebuttal, saying that the comment came from an employee who was 'not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7,' and that it was 'inaccurate and uninformed.'"

505 comments

  1. ego by sopssa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Random person thinks he knows everything, grows an ego and tells "juicy" stuff to press to boost that said ego while actually knowing nothing.

    Nothing to see here. But I suspect lots of Linux/Mac OSX fanatics will be coming in 3.. 2.. 1..

    1. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I suspect lots of Linux/Mac OSX fanatics will be coming in 3.. 2.. 1..

      I came as fast as I could! Just let me get my breath back and I'll start bashing whoever the bad guy is in the story! Who is it today? MacDonalds? Apple? Microsoft? Jack Thompson?

    2. Re:ego by zmollusc · · Score: 5, Funny

      ..0
      OMGBBQ!!!!! Gnome is bettar than both!!!!! and anyway it all comes from PARC work blah blah GEM blah blah Amiga blah ....

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    3. Re:ego by coinreturn · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      or...Total butt-kisser thinks he is helping the situation by claiming Windows is like MacOSX so that there will be no reason to switch. Actual look-and-feel sucks shit, so his comment is misleading. MS fanboys try to claim Win7 is actually better in 3.. 2.. 1..

    4. Re:ego by sitarlo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or, totally informed person tells the truth and evil corporation fabricates a "rebuttal" to save face.

    5. Re:ego by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 4, Funny
      --
      I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
    6. Re:ego by RedK · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Or you know, this guy just let out the big dirty secret and in an attempt to save face, the "Windows team" puts out an official response that claims the contrary even though at this point it's pretty obvious to anyone with 1 functionning eye, trying to kill the first guy's credibility in order to sweep all of this under the rug.

      The end the night by sucking their collective thumb and weeping for their mommies to "make it all go away".

      See, anyone can say anything about it. The few people who know the actual truth (the first guy and the Windows team) won't ever tell us the real truth.

      --
      "Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
      Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
    7. Re:ego by OscarGunther · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Who mod parent a troll?! Have you no sense of humor, sir?

    8. Re:ego by gbjbaanb · · Score: 4, Funny

      so did xkcd.

    9. Re:ego by Mitchell314 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't get why it'd be funny, but I also don't get why it's modded troll. Some people are just to trigger happy, eh?

      Maybe it's a KDE user who did it.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    10. Re:ego by gbjbaanb · · Score: 1

      in other news, Microsoft employee says "iPhone is better than WinMobile", cue Microsoft fanbois to criticise employee and distract everyone from the frickin' obvious.

    11. Re:ego by loupgarou21 · · Score: 1

      I'm not so sure that he was really looking to juice his ego. I'm guessing that he probably knew exactly what he was talking about, but his phrasing was very poor. It's not that they were trying to copy Apple with the redesigned UI, they probably did a lot of testing and probably interviewed a lot of computer users about what they do and don't like about the UIs of various operating systems, and probably got a lot of comments, especially from Mac users, about how the average user wants a very simplified user interface where the things they use frequently are easily accessible to the user, and the more complex things, like computer settings are somewhat hidden from the user, harder to get to and accidentally change. So while redesigning the UI, they tried to take that philosophy of a more user-centric UI, not that they were trying to copy the Mac OS interface.

    12. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I doubt a KDE user would do it, they'd have to spend too long looking through the huge array of buttons and options that do similar things in order to just be at the end of desperation, push one of them in the hope it does the right thing.

    13. Re:ego by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Jack Thompson is a safe bet in all situations.

      For every Off-topic mod you get, you'll be almost guaranteed one Insightful mod. As long as you're against Jack Thompson. Which I am!

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    14. Re:ego by socsoc · · Score: 1

      iPhone is better than WinMobile

      There's nothing new or newsworthy about that statement...

    15. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please Mod Parent Troll.

    16. Re:ego by danbert8 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Why waste the mod points? He's an AC and he's at 0, if you don't like reading shit, raise your threshold.

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    17. Re:ego by Eirenarch · · Score: 0, Redundant

      And if I was a shareholder in a company and any employee of the company publicly stated that competitor's product is better I would want him fired on the spot.

    18. Re:ego by webmistressrachel · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Which is exactly what the problem with capitalism is - what if the other companies product IS better?

      Advertising laws have been twisted so much that we're allowed to use subjective lies, but you can be sacked for giving away facts... roll on 1984. It's late. Very, very late. But not never...

      --
      This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
    19. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sounds like you think you know everything and have a huge windows ego, must be nice being ignorant. have you ever used a Mac? and yes windows 7 looks to have ripped off the Mac a little. I am both long time PC and Mac user and PC needs to grow up and learn they are not the best just the cheapest alternative if you can't afford anything else.

    20. Re:ego by iamhassi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "Random person thinks he knows everything"

      He's not really that random, he's the "partner group manager with Microsoft", LinkedIn says he's the SMB & Distribution Director at Microsoft Ltd. He's kinda high up there, and in my opinion that's a huge slip, to say on record your company took inspiration from your main competitor. Can you imagine how bad it would sound if Chevy said "We wanted the look and feel of the Ford Mustang when we created the new Camaro". I'd be surprised if he wasn't looking for a new job by now, or at least given a position where he'll never be asked another question again ;)

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    21. Re:ego by jcr · · Score: 1

      Is that Hitler, or Bob with a hairpiece?

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    22. Re:ego by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      In related news, John Riccitiello was spotted at Denny's texting on his Blackberry.

    23. Re:ego by insnprsn · · Score: 1

      Dang it some one beat me as I was logging in... I was going to say, Its always ok to start bashing jack Thompson, he's most likely closer degree of connection to than Kevin Bacon.

    24. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the last time... The meme is OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!1!!!eleventy-one!!! Note that 'WTF' there in the center.

    25. Re:ego by insnprsn · · Score: 1

      hmm, n00b mistake... forum didnt like my use of insert brackets, lol So what I was trying to say was "likely a closer degree of connection to "insert any story here" than Kevin bacon

    26. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      For every Off-topic mod you get, you'll be almost guaranteed one Insightful mod

      No no no!

      You've got to say "I know I'm going to get modded down for saying this but ..."

    27. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Considering the context of the thread, GP is downright funny.

      I bet that's what he was going for.

    28. Re:ego by sycodon · · Score: 1

      That's "totally employed" person now.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    29. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not many people know that "Adolph" is German for "Bob"... Oh, and with a hairpiece *and* a mustache. Mustn't forget the mustache.

    30. Re:ego by DJRumpy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why would they even bother to deny it? It's not like they tried to deny their Microsoft store inspiration. If anything, they were being blatant about their inspiration.

      OS X does have a nice UI. If they did take some Win 7 ideas from OS X to improve Windows, then I think they did a decent balancing job between outright copying, and failing miserably. That said, they should have paid more attention to details past the first layer of the UI. There are still far too many obscure clicks or info overload to get to specific settings, like changing an IP address for example. Although I supposed some might love to see every possible network configuration option all on one screen, a little information partitioning would go a long way. They still have to balance convenience with presentation. I think they went too far the other way in an attempt to keep the clicks to a minimum, or to hide more advanced configuration settings from the casual observer.

      Windows 7 is ok, but it's still Windows, and all that the definition entails.

    31. Re:ego by xtracto · · Score: 2, Funny

      You forgot Sony, RIAA, MPAA.

      BTW for the GP:

      Nothing to see here. But I suspect lots of Linux/Mac OSX fanatics will be coming in 3.. 2.. 1..

      We do not have to come, we *live* here.

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    32. Re:ego by xtracto · · Score: 1

      OMGBBQ!!!!! Gnome is bettar than both!!!!!

      Now, I agree that Gnome is better than Vi; however you an not sincerely believe that a lousy desktop environment is better than a complete operating system (that is only lacking a good text editor). ;-)

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    33. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, that's a cool new source of flames ! Penny arcade fanbois vs. XKCD 1337 c0m1X ! What, you love both ? You pansy, spineless scum !

    34. Re:ego by davidsinn · · Score: 2, Interesting
    35. Re:ego by socsoc · · Score: 0, Troll

      It works?

    36. Re:ego by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Windows is only cheap if your time is worth nothing. The annual reinstall of Windows, hardware drivers, apps & data should be enough to convince anyone that Windows is a very time consuming, and thus not so cheap, OS.

      I charge $120/hr to clean off viruses, uninstall useless programs, install OS updates. Why? because people - most people - don't know how to do this. So I make sure that people know there is a cheaper solution. Run an OS that doesn't get slower on boot up for every program you install, doesn't require several AV solutions to be protected, doesn't require a firewall to be protected, doesn't require a 'wizard' for every install of ANY thing, doesn't hide the program files from the user (Imagine if the Applications folder on a Mac was limited access!), and on & on & on.

      Macs and Linux have their plusses & minuses as well, but it just boggles my mind how much people thing Windows is the cheapest solution. Try this on your friends & family that want you to support their machines. Send them an invoice for how much actual time you worked on their machines - for your current hourly salary. Pretty quickly, they'll see Windows ain't cheap.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    37. Re:ego by davidsinn · · Score: 1

      My WinMobile device works just fine. It does more than the Iphone can do.

    38. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MacDonalds?

      No, his farm is that way -->

    39. Re:ego by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Informative
      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    40. Re:ego by socsoc · · Score: 1

      My two WinMo devices, both less than 2 years old and one with a community developed ROM, suck horribly compared to my 3G. Guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

    41. Re:ego by socsoc · · Score: 1

      What does it do more than my jailbroken one can do? I use it both at work and for personal use and it's levels above my WinMo devices.

    42. Re:ego by davidsinn · · Score: 1

      I didn't need to jailbreak it and then fight the antijailbreaking measures that a control-freak company uses to be able to use the device with full functionality. In other words "it just works."

    43. Re:ego by synthmob · · Score: 1

      I've been thinking for a couple of months now that Microsoft has the best emulation of everything Apple with win7... The graphics.... the 'new' microsoft website, even the new Microsoft retail stores -- all mimic layouts and design cues from Apple. Just swap the color schemes.

    44. Re:ego by LizardKing · · Score: 1

      +1 Bad Car Analogy

      (Let me just make it clear to the Septics - the analogy isn't bad, the Mustang and Camaro are).

    45. Re:ego by davester666 · · Score: 1

      You "live" in the slashdot servers?

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    46. Re:ego by AshtangiMan · · Score: 1

      How is that attributable to capitalism? Roll on 1984 . . . was he talking to a friend in his home when he said it? Oh, he was talking to the press? I'm confused. Is this some kind of well crafted troll?

    47. Re:ego by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      I think it is obvious to most observers that Windows and Mac OSX copy features from each other. I'll leave it to the Windows and Mac fan boyz to argue about which direction the majority of copying occurs in, but the original design of Windows including many of the APIs does appear to have borrowed from the Mac.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    48. Re:ego by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 1

      I was going to replace windows with OSX but instead I'll say this, regular people do not know how or care how to take care of their computers.

      Updates are the same, OSX has updates that should be installed, linux has updates that should be installed, windows has updates that should be installed. Applications have updates that should be installed. People bitching about windows updates and not saying a thing when OSX and linux also have updates is really showing your bias there.

      Also remember cheapest can also mean "I know this". Regular people may not be willing to learn a new way to do something. They know application abc that does xyz. They do not want to change. You did your job by showing them alternative ways to do something. If they choose a way that is not your preferred way, so be it. That is their choice. Showing them a bill (or mock bill) is only showing your arrogance.

    49. Re:ego by Zediker · · Score: 1

      y s, h 's the on who ats all the 's in my posts! I'll catch him som day!

      --
      I love to slaughter the english language.
    50. Re:ego by Gilmoure · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Jack Thompson as Ronald McDonald would be scary.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    51. Re:ego by gtall · · Score: 1

      Capitalism, as a theory, doesn't have much to say about advertising. Nice strawman, choose another. It does posit that if another company's product is better in a global abstract sense, customers will choose it. It presumes that all customers have equal and complete information. The economic system we have is not capitalism. The premises don't hold.

    52. Re:ego by fastest+fascist · · Score: 1

      Personally, I think anyone who says Windows 7 looks like OS X has never seen either Windows 7 or OS X. The only reason I can think of that Microsoft even bothered to issue a rebuttal to that claim is that if they did indeed tried to copy OS X, they sure failed embarrassingly.

    53. Re:ego by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Nah, we KDE users tolerate freedom of choice. That's why we have actual option dialogs. While building something like that into Gnome is seen as an insult to the grand Gnome scheme that everybody should think like. And so we tolerate the idiots who want to limit themselves by using Gnome.

      Less pressure on KDE developers to crapify their software. ;)

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    54. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Virtually.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    55. Re:ego by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      In related news, John Riccitiello was spotted at Denny's texting on his Blackberry.

      You go there to blackberry on your text.

    56. Re:ego by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      I had a virtual epiphany once, tasted like chicken.

    57. Re:ego by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      Yes but there is no mod for droll.

    58. Re:ego by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Can you imagine how bad it would sound if Chevy said "We wanted the look and feel of the Ford Mustang when we created the new Camaro".

      I think the real worry is litigation. "We wanted to make it so close to the Mustang that people would be confused and buy a Camaro instead" and they will be sued into bankrupcy (oops, too late). But if they say "the Mustang is popular and so we wanted to make the Camaro to compete in a similar market" that could mean exactly the same thing and isn't actionable.

      But then, there's also Microsoft's official corporate policy: "Apple who?" and that was violated.

    59. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      How do you even know what chicken tastes like?

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    60. Re:ego by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      Hmmm good point, Ok well it tasted salty and roasty and peppery and had this sort of bland friendly taste. Is that better?

    61. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi, My name is John Everyman. I was at my buddies house and told him his Mac is neat and then I sent an email to Microsoft and they made Windows look more like Mac, I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my idea.

    62. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      -1 Missed the Matrix reference. :p

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    63. Re:ego by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      A more accurate observation for hypernerds would be, "How do you even know what pussy smells like? Maybe it smells like fish because the guy who programmed it had no idea and that's the default smell or something and bit shift of two and radix and..."

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    64. Re:ego by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      > Total butt-kisser thinks he is helping the situation by claiming Windows is like
      > MacOSX so that there will be no reason to switch. Actual look-and-feel sucks
      > shit, so his comment is misleading. MS fanboys try to claim Win7 is actually
      > better in 3.. 2.. 1..

      No, geeked MS employee speaks truth on the minds of the actual programmers, then lawyers jump in and say, no way in hell is this an attempt to copy Apple's copyrighted look and feel, not no way, not no how.

      MS keeps Apple alive to keep (noticeable) competition to avoid government monopoly charges (remember that MS pumped several hundred million into Apple a decade ago, pre iPod, when it almost went under?) Their contract with Apple that allows them access to "significant aspects" of Apple's look and feel (which Apple signed lest Microsoft yank Apple versions of Office products, way back when) is gold for Microsoft in defending their We're-no-monopoly! claims.

      So this employee's truthful, if loud, mouth, screws with that entire multi-hundred-billion dollar crystal house.

      I recall the official Colecovision newsletter when I was a teen. One "issue" (there weren't very many) talked about the Donkey Kong sequel, or maybe DK itself, don't remember. Anyway, there was a sticker covering up a block of words. Under the sticker, which I peeled, was "It tells the King Kong story...", where King Kong is still copyrighted.

      So lawyers are skilled at saying things with a straight face for reasons that have nothing to do with anything other than money.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    65. Re:ego by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      Yeah because MS would admit to that and it's not like there hasn't been any talk about Vista looking like OSX.

      Win 7 is Vista 2.0 and now that more than 30 people are effectively using Vista now it's no surprise the OSX comments are making a come back.

    66. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      I charge $120/hr to clean off viruses, uninstall useless programs, install OS updates.

      Isn't that awfully high for really basic PC servicing?

      doesn't hide the program files from the user (Imagine if the Applications folder on a Mac was limited access!)

      LOL'd, for real. You do know that an "application" on a Mac is actually a folder full of files with a special executable fork that starts the application? The program files most definitely are hidden from the user!

      The crapware ("useless programs") that comes with most PCs is of no relevance to the quality of the OS, anyway. If people are too dumb to figure out how to uninstall all those programs themselves, just advise them to buy computers that don't come pre-loaded with crap in the first place. It is possible to get computers with a vanilla Windows install.

      They're just doing it wrong, and if you're telling them to buy a fuckton of bundled software, pay someone to spend hours removing it, install several (several? more often than not they conflict!) AV products, and a firewall... well, then you're telling them to do it wrong. I wonder if that's because you're the guy they'll be paying?

      Vanilla Windows + Office + NOD32 = about as good and easy as you can hope to get. Beyond that, I'd say install Firefox and SMPlayer and use them for your primary web browser / media player instead of IE and WMP. That simple step will probably make it a lot more secure. Furthermore, there is no "annual reinstall of Windows". Don't be ridiculous. If they take some very rudimentary steps and get a good antivirus (NOD32), they won't need to reinstall Windows every year. I certainly don't plan on it.

      Oh, and UAC? Simple. If you're installing something, allow it to continue. If you aren't, cancel it. It's not hard to learn.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    67. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      LinkedIn says he's the SMB & Distribution Director at Microsoft Ltd. He's kinda high up there

      So? He's in charge of SMB (making network shares work nicely in Windows). He's also a salesperson. Neither one of those titles indicates that he knows anything at all about the way Windows 7 was designed. He's not in the Window 7 design team.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    68. Re:ego by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Copying an idea and making something that works similarly isn't illegal. Copying an interface and making something that people could actually mistake for the interface you copied is illegal. There is absolutely no possibility of confusing the Windows 7 interface with the OS X interface. They work similarly, but there's just no way they could be confused.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    69. Re:ego by arminw · · Score: 1

      ....not that they were trying to copy the Mac OS interface....

      No, not much at all! Ladies and gentlemen! Start your copiers!

      --
      All theory is gray
    70. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I take it you just accidentally missed the extra o from too? You know cause otherwise you'd basically fall into the category of dumass... but...no... You do know basic grammar right?

    71. Re:ego by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      Sorry I took the blue pill this morning...

    72. Re:ego by leenks · · Score: 1

      Ah yeah, yours was broken from the start!

    73. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing you can be sure is that sopssa (1498795) will be there putting in the good word for Microsoft.

    74. Re:ego by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      So then this comment was modded insightful satirically?

    75. Re:ego by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      Sarcastically?

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    76. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your reply has many grammatical errors too. Keep your words soft and sweet because you never know when you have to eat them.

    77. Re:ego by w0mprat · · Score: 1

      Or people actually check facts rather than take FUD literally. Anyone could actually try Windows 7 and realise the task bar is still very much the Windows paradigm, like the rest of it.

      --
      After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
    78. Re:ego by Miseph · · Score: 1

      I take it that you just accidentally missed the extra 'o' from "too"? You know, 'cause otherwise you'd basically fall into the category of dumbass... but...no... You do know basic grammar right?

      FTFY... well, sort of. I inserted the minimum characters and punctuation to make your post almost tolerable, but it's still pretty bad, even for dialect.

      --
      Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
    79. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And we think there's nothing to see, too, as microsoft blatantly copied apple since windows 1.0. Sure, apple got them from xerox et al. but there's a difference between introducing GUIs and DTP on PCs and parroting what your competitor in the same segment did last year.
      Later apple "copied" MS with ipod iphone (closed proprietary systems) and karma was kinda restored :D

    80. Re:ego by uncoveror · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Windows has always been a rip-off of Mac, and a poorly done one at that. There is nothing new about that. Microsoft has always ripped off, they have never innovated, except possibly with Microsoft Bob, which they cannot blame on anyone outside the company.

      --
      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
    81. Re:ego by daver00 · · Score: 1

      OS X does have a nice UI.

      I somewhat dispute this. OSX has a pretty UI, and it has some nice features but there are catastrophically stupid decisions that make it difficult to comprehend for me. Abstracting application menus right out of the application window? Into one universal menu bar which changes with focus? What the hell is that about? Refusing to allow me to maximise windows? Cluttering up the dock with applications *and* files/folders, shit the dock itself takes up way too much desktop space for a simple launcher. Its pretty, looks great on display but usable? I don't really agree with that.

      Windows does bury options too deep, thatI agree with completely, but indexed search has cleaned that up a lot, just go to control panel and type vaguely what you are after and you will basically be there. Plus, power shell is very good, you can pretty much use that exclusively, it works for linux.

    82. Re:ego by DJRumpy · · Score: 1

      I like the menus on top. They are always in the same place, with the same universal picks in the same locations.

      As to maximizing, you can if you like, by resizing the window. It will remember the window size next time (for instance I keep a bigger browser window than needed), but why resize a window when the extra space isn't needed? You're just wasting space. Personal preference and all.

      Catastrophic? I don't think so.

      The folders on the doc are starter folders (Download, Applications, Documents). If you don't like them there, you can drag them off. You realize that don't you? Takes all of 3 seconds and you never have to look at them again.

      The doc is also resizable, either via the preferences/doc applet, or just by right clicking the doc and selecting preferences. You can make it minuscule, move it to any edge of the screen, or auto-hide it if it you choose.

    83. Re:ego by dave87656 · · Score: 1

      Who is Jack Thompson? I feel so out-of-it. I even looked him up on Wikipedia but found nothing fitting.

    84. Re:ego by Dr_Terminus · · Score: 1

      I just installed Win 7 over the weekend - and one of the things that I find a bit annoying is the melange of methods they use for the control panels. Some control panels have OSX-like functionality, i.e., the control panel appears in the same window as the control panel directory, with a somewhat standardized appearance. But others retain the old WinXP functionality, i.e. the control panel pops up in a new window (e.g. System, Folder Views, etc). Seems really sloppy to have both going on. From a user standpoint, its quite confusing to not have a constant control panel behavior. /rant

    85. Re:ego by uglyduckling · · Score: 1

      I've just wrecked my moderation in the rest of this story in order to reply to you, but I can't resist.

      • Locating the menu outside of the application window is better than the alternative, not just as a matter of philosophy but also according to UI metrics - it is a matter of muscle memory - push the mouse right up to the top-left and click, you always have the Apple menu, push to the top-right and you always have Spotlight search; on Windows you have to look at the screen and work out how to move and then slow the mouse down over a menu item because it could be anywhere. Pull the mouse down to the bottom-left and click - what happens? Nothing! Microsoft have made the bottom-left pixel on the screen dead, so to even hit the start button you have to position. Note that the Dock does not suffer from this - pull then click works.
      • Changing the menu bar with focus makes perfect sense and avoids wasting screen real estate. It means that it's possible for an application to have a small window (for instance a web browser displaying a small part of a page) and still have access to all the menus. The Windows implementation is ridiculous - tying the menus to the app window breaks muscle memory, wastes screen space and requires resizing the application window for apps that have lots of menus. Also, it's possible to have a daughter window open and be unable to access the application menus because they're tied to a minimised parent window; conversely an app with lots of windows open could have the menu bar duplicated all over the screen.
      • The dock can be resized and hidden, so it's ridiculous to criticise that you personally don't like its size. It's not a 'simple launcher', it contains mimised windows, alerts and status updates (via bouncing icons and progress bars overlaid on the icons), document lists (via Stacks) and indicates running applications.
      • You don't have to have files on the Dock, remove them if you don't like them. The Windows Start Menu also has files (under 'My Documents') BTW, as does the Gnome menu.
    86. Re:ego by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Saying that you just proofed you have not even used KDE3, or seen even the KDE4.

    87. Re:ego by MrNiCeGUi · · Score: 1

      Muscle memory seems just a load of hogwash to me, if the result is me having to ballet the cursor all over the screen just to access an application's menu. Say i have more apps open, none maximized. I want to access the menu of another app than the one I'm working on - i have to click that app's window to make it get focus and only then I have its menu all the way on top of the screen to work with. Not to mention now I have a selected window down there somewhere and a menu all the way up top: my eyes going up and down are going to make me dizzy.

      What i give you is that, indeed, this allows apps with small windows to have expansive menus. But that is the only immediate advantage. Having to ''aim'' is a bullshit excuse, in my opinion. Believe me, it's really not that hard to click a button on the screen if you do not have a problem like arthritis or Parkinson's.

      BTW, the bottom left pixel activates the start menu on my 7 computer. I don't know which version didn't, but this one certainly does.

      Also, if Fitt's law is so important and people can't click, why the window buttons do not deserve that treatment on Mac OS X? In windows I can shoot to the top right corner and close a window. The minimize and restore buttons also have infinite height.

      Hiding the dock is not a solution. It's annoying to have it pop up every time you touch the bottom of the screen. Of course, this could be just me; I've never been able to stomach the autohide on Windows either.

      I've written about it before, and I believe I'm not the only one with this opinion: apple's desktop paradigm comes from a small screen era, and it didn't evolve significantly, and it doesn't scale. The latest Imac has a 2560x1440 screen.

      The dock is indeed not a simple launcher, but the taskbar is also an application switcher. The dock does that very poorly. That's why something like Expose was necessary, but, while very useful if you must visually identify a window, it's much slower than the taskbar if you know what you're looking for.

      Anyway, if someone who says that the taskbar has copied the dock didn't use both. Visually, it may appear so if you're just looking at screenshots of the other operating system. In use they're totally different.

    88. Re:ego by uglyduckling · · Score: 1

      I guess I use a computer with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse, so I switch windows/apps with Cmd-Tab. You're right about screen size, but on my MacBook (which I guess must be Apple's biggest seller) the GUI is perfect, and it's a single sweep (or at most two broad sweeps) of my finger across the trackpad from the middle of the screen to hit the menu of my choice. It's orders of magnitude slower for me to position the pointer over, e.g., Safari's Home icon because I have to do lots of little strokes on the pad to get the pointer where I want it. I also have to do lots of little strokes on Windows to get the pointer over any app menu. More and more people are buying laptops rather than desktops, and in fact netbooks rather than full laptops, so I think Apple's GUI is the better choice. I understand why you think the Dock is a poor app switcher (although I am used to it) but the taskbar is a terrible app launcher, so there's strengths and weaknesses to both.

    89. Re:ego by broken_ms_windows · · Score: 1

      yeah wife went to friends house used windows 7 and came home telling me how its a crappy rip of os x

    90. Re:ego by JBaustian · · Score: 1

      I can't compare OS X to any Microsoft operating system, not really, because I don't use MS operating systems often enough to develop my own opinion.

      But I've heard all the complaints about MS operating systems, going back to the '80s and early '90s. If they are better than ever, it is because they have had a very good OS to compete against. Just imagine how terrible MS would be if there was no Apple.

    91. Re:ego by badkarmadayaccount · · Score: 1

      Hate him with a passion. Hope he dies in a furnace.

      --
      I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
    92. Re:ego by bandmassa · · Score: 1

      I find it hilarious that Macroslop would care either way. If Windows 7 is as good as they claim, comparisons to Mac OS won't provide any advantage, but they will not cause any disadvantage, either. The clampdown on Mac OS comparisons is a bit ginger, at best. At worst, it shows a marketing department terrified of the alternative OS. Something they should have no need to be. Yes, I'm a Mac OS X user.

      --
      "I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1
  2. Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... unemployed.

    1. Re:Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by turing_m · · Score: 1

      ... unemployed.

      ... in Greenland!

      --
      If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
    2. Re:Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by Zordak · · Score: 1

      Vizzini... he can fuss.

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    3. Re:Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... unemployed.

      ... in Greenland!

      That Steve Ballmer, he can fuss.

    4. Re:Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by v1 · · Score: 1

      I was thinking more along the lines of "'inaccurate, uninformed, and embarrassingly honest "

      But we've been through this before. Windows 3.1 was Mac OS 7. Windows 98 was Mac OS 9. Windows XP was Mac OS X 10.1. Nothing new here. You can't redact history. MS doesn't typically innovate, they "embrace, expand, and corrupt". They just typically have about a 2 year dwell time with whoever's coattails they're chasing.

      7 does look a bit more modern on the outside, but from what we've seen so far, it's still a few years behind the times under the hood.

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    5. Re:Inaccurate, uninformed and soon... by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      "Windows 3.1 was Mac OS 7. Windows 98 was Mac OS 9."

      And all this time I thought that real-mode Windows wasn't as stable as the Mac OS. Oh well, live and learn.

  3. Something About Bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill: "STEP INTO MY OFFICE!"

    Idiotic Microsoft Employee: "Why?"

    Bill: "Cause you're fuckin' fired!"

  4. they've been copying Mac all along... by wvmarle · · Score: 1

    For sure the prime source of inspiration and functions for Windows comes from Apple's work! And maybe now and then from somewhere else. So I'm more inclined to believe the interviewed employee than the higher-up managers refuting it. Of course they can not admit they simply copy Apple, after all.

    1. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by JerryLove · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So Mac copied Xerox Star, and Windows Copied Mac? Do you know who copied whom for OS/2, Amegia Workbench, NeXT, Linux, BeOS, and GeoWorks; all of which have similar WIMP interfaces?

      It would be silly to say that any (other than STAR) evolved in a vacuum; but "borrowing ideas" has happened in every direction.

    2. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Shrike82 · · Score: 1

      Yep, toally agree.

      A lot of people applaud OS X for it's great interface, and these same people then bash MS for admitting that they let it influence their design! If a piece of software has a good look and feel then competitors are obviously going to take this into consideration. If they don't then they get left behind. I mean come on, honestly Microsoft, you're telling us that you never once took a look at Apple's operating system and thought "Hmm that bit is pretty good. We could use something similar."

      --
      You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
    3. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Mitchell314 · · Score: 1

      They all copied from Multics.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    4. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Xerox STAR had never been created, the differences between PCs today would be the clickiness of keyboards and whether or not your display could handle 132-column mode. On the upside, these PCs would STILL be running terminal emulation most of the time. Billions of reboots would have been prevented. Even better, Microsoft's involvement would be limited to a nifty BASIC interpreter, long since obsoleted by other languages. Best of all, mainframes would still be king of the hill and IT would be a great career option. As soon as we can build a time travel device, I propose we go back and eliminate Xerox STAR just to see what happens.

    5. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Dolohov · · Score: 1

      More to the point: what on earth is wrong with copying good interface ideas? As a Microsoft stockholder I'd be far more upset if they *didn't* look at Mac OS when designing Windows!

    6. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Mac copied Xerox Star...

      Says the person whose never seen a Xerox Star.

      Yes, there are a few similarities, but nothing like Win-Mac.

    7. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NeXT

      ...was where Jobs was before coming back to Apple and AFAICT is what he is turning MacOS into. Not that I'm complaining; I LOVED the little black box.

    8. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by digitalhermit · · Score: 1

      It was all a fractured metaphor.

      The idea was that your computer desktop would be like your physical desktop. This has likely done more to thwart usability in subsequent incarnations than any Frankensteinish idea from Microsoft ever could. Sure, maybe it made sense when files were very application specific. If I wanted to open up a letter, I'd open up my mailbox that's sitting on my desk. If I wanted to dispose of a page, I'd put it in the trashcan that I keep on my desk. The TV would be on my desk. As would the, uh, hi-fi system. And for almost every action I would need to check the junk desk drawer on the bottom left of my screen where I'd find everything else that I needed. Of course, I could start moving things from the drawer to my desktop but in a few days it would be so cluttered that it would be difficult to find anything, especially since the calculator would be the exact same size as my television and my notepad and my journal (that is to say, about 0.75" wide and tall). We might as well have chosen a steering wheel metaphor or a buggy whip metaphor.

      Our interfaces seem to border on the ridiculous. On this laptop I'm using right now, there are a dozen extra buttons for media, wi/fi, hibernation, home (not sure what that one does, but it has an image of a house on it). They're all tiny buttons, less than a centimeter square. There are lots of LEDs too. There's no "Check Engine" light though, or a fuel gauge though. But that would be more useful than a hard drive busy light to me.

      Why do I have to go to three menus to increase the font size in a document? Hell, I'd like to be able to messy select a line of text and pinch expand the font size. I want to be able to move text around by dragging (some apps can do this). I want consistent behaviour in my web browser as in my document editor. If I want to cut an image from my screen and save it to a file, I shouldn't have to launch two applications to do it (and I don't mean some Alt-PrtScr that saves a bitmap to my desktop but a way to lasso select almost *anything* in a vector format image).

      The thing is, we have the hardware power but the interfaces are so clunky that using the power is difficult.

    9. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by ArcherB · · Score: 1

      For sure the prime source of inspiration and functions for Windows comes from Apple's work! And maybe now and then from somewhere else. So I'm more inclined to believe the interviewed employee than the higher-up managers refuting it. Of course they can not admit they simply copy Apple, after all.

      I installed Windows7 and to me it looks the bastard child of KDE4 and XP. I didn't see a whole lot of Mac in there.

      To me, Mac is that little parabolic taskbar thingie (doc?) with the hopping icons on the bottom that is not really a task bar, disks that are icons directly on the desktop (as opposed to "My Computer") and the menu bar on the top that confuses most normal people because it changes with whichever application is active. None of that is in 7.

      --
      There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    10. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Halo1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If you ever saw the Triumph of the Nerds documentary by Bob Cringely, you'd have seen Steve Jobs saying "Picasso had a saying Good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless in stealing great ideas."

      Of course, in the same documentary he also says "The only problem with Microsoft is that they just have no taste" :)

      --
      Donate free food here
    11. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Engelbart's team at the Stanford Research Institute invented the mouse before that. Most of his team moved to Xerox and did the STAR

    12. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by lorenlal · · Score: 0, Troll

      A lot of people applaud OS X for it's great interface, and these same people then bash MS for admitting that they let it influence their design!

      It's pretty simple - implemented it first and brought it home. Microsoft copied it, and I don't think they added anything to it.

      See, it has more to do with the fact that this is the latest instance of Microsoft implementing something that they didn't design, selling something that appears to be blatantly stolen, and claiming it as their own. DOS was bought from someone. Windows was taken from numerous someones. The Office suite was created as a response to Lotus, WordPerfect and others. And we all know how Microsoft has defended it's position in the marketplace (that whole anti-competitive thing).

      Add that to the fact it took Microsoft almost 10 years to have their design "influenced." If Microsoft said, "Look, we missed the boat on this taskbar idea. It's a great design and we'll be implementing something similar." I think there would still be grumblings, but not with the same level of sarcasm.

    13. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Nonillion · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Both Apple and Microsoft copied their user interface concept from Zerox Parc. If I remember correctly, it was the Zerox Star OS

      --
      "I bow to no man" - Riddick
    14. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Shrike82 · · Score: 1

      The whole "Microsoft is evil" argument aside, and also putting the moral and legal issues relating to borrowing, stealing or being influenced by someone elses design decisions aside, I think we can both agree that no big company is going to develop their software in a static bubble without looking at current trends and what their competitors are doing better than them.

      --
      You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
    15. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by netsharc · · Score: 1

      Also, where's the logic of application menus, why is "Exit" put under "File", I thought File is for file-specific functions like open, save and print.

      And then some clever morons thought "What do users do with options? They change them, they edit them! That's right, we'll put Preferences under Edit [see Firefox in Debian]".

      No wonder people get confused by computers.

      --
      What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
    16. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Jobs not only copied Xerox. He was the first person to realize that they should be copied. He recognized the future when he saw it even if the guys that created it didn't.

      Microsoft is only capable of stealing from others once it is painfully obvious that something is a success in the marketplace.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    17. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      It all comes down to what is basically plagarism.

      Jobs is willing to admit to his sources of inspiration.

      Microsoft just blathers about "freedom to innovate".

      This is why many people cut them no slack at all.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    18. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Job's complaint wasn't that they copied, it was that they copied and made it worse. Just look at System 1.0 and Windows 1.0

    19. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1

      Which copied from CTSS? And let's not forget ITS, from which we get the best text editor ever.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    20. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by kirillian · · Score: 1

      Sadly, however, people only see "OMFG!!! My computer is smoking from having to make all these pretty colours!!" - the interface must be Mac! They completely miss the fact that each interface works with a different basic behavioral model (that, and about 90% of the people that actually take the time to say something are only repeating what someone else has said - they've never seen it themselves).

    21. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point being that this is the company that always blather on and on and on forever about their "innovation" and "intellectual property." The point isn't that they rip off everyone else as that's a given. They are a bunch of lying hypocrites.

    22. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Put them together, and read between the lines.

      Microsoft has no taste and, so, has no idea what to copy.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    23. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Painted · · Score: 1

      ...ignoring the misspelling of Xerox...

      This comment always irritates me. Yes, Apple's boys did a daring daylight raid on Xerox Parc- where they saw a crude, barely functional GUI. The Alto could not overlap windows, if I recall correctly. They then significantly expanded the entire GUI metaphor, generating the first GUI that any of us would admit was modern and usable.

      So yes, Apple got inspiration from Xerox for the GUI, then significantly refined and improved it, and brought it to market. MS got ahold of a prototype Mac, and crudely copied it- if you ever saw the horrors known as Windows 1 and 2, you know what I am talking about. It wasn't until Windows 3 that you could argue the Windows GUI was even close to the Mac's, and that is really stretching the point. Every Windows GUI before 95 was dramatically inferior to the Mac GUI.

      To sum up, in general, Apple Innovates, MS copies.

      --
      http://marsandmore.com - Posters of space, spacecraft, and astronomy.
    24. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by wzinc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "The first successful commercial GUI product was the Apple Macintosh, which was heavily inspired by PARC's work; Xerox was given Apple stock in exchange for engineer visits and an understanding that Apple would create a GUI product." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_(company)#PARC_legacy

      People don't realize this: Apple paid Xerox!!! That stupid, "I stole the TV first" thing is rubbish. Apple paid (in stock) for the GUI; Xerox didn't want it anyway. Apple brought it to market, raising the price of the stock Xerox owned.

    25. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For sure the prime source of inspiration and functions for Windows comes from Apple's work! And maybe now and then from somewhere else. So I'm more inclined to believe the interviewed employee than the higher-up managers refuting it. Of course they can not admit they simply copy Apple, after all.

      I too could be more inclined to believe the employee over higher-up managers refuting it, if the employee was someone that looked like he could have had the slightest involvment with the planning and development of Windows 7 and not being a partner manager (read sales person) on the other side of the ocean.

    26. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      It wasn't until Windows 3 that you could argue the Windows GUI was even close to the Mac's, and that is really stretching the point.

      Talk about stretching. I don't think early versions of Windows were in the same taxonomic rank. Even the newer ones don't come close.

    27. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

      A lot of people applaud OS X for it's great interface, and these same people then bash MS for admitting that they let it influence their design!

      I have no problem with OS X influencing Windows design. I just wish they would copy it a little more accurately.

    28. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by wfolta · · Score: 1

      You need to elaborate on the word "copy". The Mac interface took ideas from the Xerox Star, but made dramatic improvements like non-contiguous regions, pull-down menus, and drag-n-drop. Yes, Xerox had pop-up menus, icons, etc, but Apple made major improvements. Windows did not take the Mac interface and improve upon it.

      As the old play review goes: "The parts that were good were not original, and the parts that were original were not good."

    29. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``Of course they can not admit they simply copy Apple, after all.''

      Well, why not? I don't see the big deal here. So Windows copied ideas from OS X.

      OS X copied, like, the whole of Unix!

      And Unix? Well, it copied ideas from MULTICS. And the GUI is probably inspired by the Mac's.

      Really, copying ideas is nothing new in the OS biz, and it's a Good Thing there as it is everywhere else. Why reinvent the wheel? If a good idea is already out there, why not use it?

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    30. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the best part of that documentry was Ballamer trying to keep a straight face when they talk about how much they paid for DOS.

    31. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure Amiga stole their interface from Unbuntu.

    32. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      "He was the first person to realize that they should be copied."

      Yes, all those other people who were allowed to tour Xerox PARC and examine their work failed to realize its potential.

    33. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      You must be the time-travel adviser for Skynet. You have to eliminate the Alto to destroy our time-line.

    34. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by ClosedSource · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As a person who spent years using a Star and the earlier Alto, I'd say that if you eliminate Xerox's ideas from the original Mac OS and Windows, there wouldn't be much left.

    35. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      The Alto GUI wasn't "barely functional". I know, I used one for two years.

    36. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by blivit42 · · Score: 1

      This reminded me a fortune I received upon logging in one day many years ago, discussing Bill and Steve's rich neighbor Xerox:

      "Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."

      Looks like this probably originally came from the 1983 book "Revolution In The Valley" by Andy Hertzfeld

    37. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Microsoft copied it, and I don't think they added anything to it.

      They didn't?

      Can you hide all the windows on your Mac?

      Can you hide all windows but one?

      Can you maximize, minimize, or restore a window using the keyboard?

      Apple got a lot of stuff right. They also borrowed a lot of stuff from previous designs that also got certain things right (no, Apple did not invent everything they included in their OSs). Why do people criticize Microsoft so much for doing the same: borrowing from Apple when Apple got things right? You can't copyright the way a design works, only the way it looks.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    38. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is only capable of stealing from others once it is painfully obvious that something is a success in the marketplace.

      Whew... I'd heard rumours about this atrocity known as the "Ribbon", but according to your statement it can't possibly exist.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    39. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Makes me wonder though if Apple would have had a task bar if it wasn't for Windows 95 - the first OS I ever saw that concept.

      The taskbar rocked - so much so that KDE and Gnome have identical replica's of it to this day. Hard to imagine before that - on the Mac (with multifinder) you had to click that menu in the top right of the screen.

    40. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by arminw · · Score: 1

      ........For sure the prime source of inspiration and functions for Windows comes from Apple's work!....

      Of course that is the reason why Microsoft didn't let Apple die, but gave them some money and promised to continue developing Office for the Mac. They knew that if Apple bit the dust, there goes Microsoft's research and development department.

      --
      All theory is gray
    41. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not so much reading between the lines, as comprehending what Jobs was saying outright.

    42. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by XnavxeMiyyep · · Score: 1

      If you're referring to the Mac OS X Dock when you say taskbar, that existed with NeXTStep 1.0, which came out in 1989.

      --
      I put the 't' in electrical engineering.
    43. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Dr_Terminus · · Score: 1

      They didn't?

      Can you hide all the windows on your Mac?

      Yes. F11. Or hot-corner.

      Can you hide all windows but one?

      Yes. Command - Option - H

      Can you maximize, minimize, or restore a window using the keyboard?

      Yes. Command-M (for minimize - never tried the others).

    44. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by Archibald+Buttle · · Score: 1

      Windows95's taskbar was essentially a copy of Acorn's icon bar which first appeared in their Arthur operating system in 1987, and was refined in RISC OS 2 which came out in 1989.

      Apple's dock (as it's called) is merely a development of the NextStep dock which has been around since 1989.

    45. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by uglyduckling · · Score: 1

      On the Mac, Preferences ('Options') and Exit are on the menu that shares the application's title (e.g. Safari has a 'Safari' menu which is a menu for everything to do with that application; the rest of the menus are about that application's documents). What really bugs me is that 'Page Setup' is under the 'File' menu on Word, (which should be all about what to do with this file rather than what's in it) when it should be under 'Format'. What bugs me even more is that Apple copied that misfeature when they developed Pages. Thankfully the OpenOffice developers had the sense to put it in the 'Format' menu where it belongs.

    46. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > Yes, all those other people who were allowed to tour Xerox PARC and examine their work failed to realize its potential. ...and who were these mythical people exactly?

      Jobs is the only one that ever gets accused of "stealing" from PARC directly.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    47. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      "Exit" IS a file-specific option. It basically means the same thing that "Close" means, with the exception that for applications that can open multiple files at once, "Exit" closes all of them.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    48. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by netsharc · · Score: 1

      Not really, MS Word I think has "Close All", but it doesn't exit the app. How do you justify that? Exit is an application-specific function, not a file-specific function, and as the commenter before you correctly says, Apple at least is a bit cleverer in that it has a "Safari" menu option.

      --
      What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
    49. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      But in a file-based system, applications do not exist... they only exist inasmuch as you use them to open and manipulate files. The file is the primary object, the application is just how you work with it.

      So "Exit" is a file-specific option.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    50. Re:they've been copying Mac all along... by netsharc · · Score: 1

      That is the stupidest thing I have ever read.

      --
      What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
  5. Things not to do if you like your job by Random5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pretty sure on the list of 'Things not to do if you like your job', admitting you're inspired by the competition and complimenting their design TO THE PRESS has got to be in the top 3.

    1. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by jDeepbeep · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure on the list of 'Things not to do if you like your job', admitting you're inspired by the competition and complimenting their design TO THE PRESS has got to be in the top 3.

      You mean like Bill himself has done?

      --
      Reply to That ||
    2. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I would probably go with defecating on the CEO's desk, being caught copulating with cleaning equipment, and attempting to snort toner out of the photocopier would take up those top slots, but hey, if you think you can get away with one of those...

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    3. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering the reports some people turn in to their superiors around here, I bet people get away with defecating on the CEO's desk all the time without getting fired. Sometimes they even get promoted.

    4. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      Banking sector?

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    5. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by flabordec · · Score: 0

      As long as it is inspiration and not copying, I would think it is OK. It takes a special kind of man to admit someone is doing something better than him and that he is trying to be more like him.

      --
      "I see undead people" Warcraft III - Necromancer
    6. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pfft. I call that a "Tuesday".

    7. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Locutus · · Score: 1

      The employee must have just got all caught up in the "I'm a PC, and Windows 7 is my idea" campaign.
      He didn't get the memo telling all Microsoft employees that 'Windows 7 was not the idea of Microsoft employees, we want to blame the public so don't say it is your idea.'

      But really, after reading the article, it should be easy to understand that he was talking about having pretty graphics in the UI and OS X is known for that. Not a big deal since Microsoft has been attempting to make Windows look better since v3.x and most all their innovations come from copying others rather poorly.

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
    8. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by spruce · · Score: 4, Funny

      In my defense, that mop was a slut

    9. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by AshtangiMan · · Score: 1

      I love that commercial with the young woman at the coffee shop . . . "I wanted a computer I am not afraid will crash" . . . MS Designer: "Ooohhhhhhh, crashes are a baaaad thing. Ok, lets fix that one."

    10. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but so does Publicly stating that your company's stock is overvalued, and 10 years later Ballmer still has his job! (In both cases, the fact that they were speaking the truth is no defense -- they have a fiduciary responsibility to the company they work for to not damage it's market value.)

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    11. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Locutus · · Score: 1

      that was too funny and especially when she goes off and says; look, I'm doing a bunch of stuff and it's still working.

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
    12. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by mr+exploiter · · Score: 1

      I would probably go with defecating on the CEO's desk, being caught copulating with cleaning equipment, and attempting to snort toner out of the photocopier would take up those top slots, but hey, if you think you can get away with one of those...

      At first I thought getting caught with forking a nice cleaning lady couldn't be so bad... then I read it right.

    13. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? Cause I've gotta tell you, if I had known that kind of behavior was frowned upon in the workplace...

    14. Re:Things not to do if you like your job by CSHARP123 · · Score: 1

      That says why there was a hole in the bucket

  6. What Apple does right by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apple and Microsoft attack the problem of user interface from two completely different points of view. Microsoft wants things to be orthogonal, logical, menu driven, hierarchical, and otherwise fully featured. Apple takes the approach that the user doesn't want to fuss with all sorts of menus and submenus (no two button mouse for years!) and just wants to do what they need as simply as possible. So you end up with two completely different interfaces.

    Apple's interface is elegant but inflexible. Everything fits into the existing scheme and runs perfectly within that scheme.

    Windows' interface is flexible but clumsy. While this has gotten much better in later versions, we're still looking at deeply nested menus, and applications which do not necessarily have any UI themes in common with each other.

    However the key point is that Microsoft is gradually becoming more user-centric. As far as that goes in their own perspective. They are making changes to the OS that were implemented in Mac years ago, and now that they are here, they make Windows a better product.

    Aesthetics is a major theme with Apple, and it is one that Microsoft hadn't fully embraced until Vista. Listen to the users. Let the users tell you what is good and bad. Build the interface to match the user.

    In a sense, the MS employee was right. Microsoft is doing a lot to emulate Apple. And frankly, it's about time.

    1. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One of the problems OS X has is that it lacks the ability to use these menus through the keyboard easily. In Windows I can hit the Alt key, and quickly see all the menus I can open by using an other key (the letter used for the menu item will have an underscore). Such as Alt + F is the file menu.

      Each menu item then can be accessed usually through an access key. So Alt - F - S would be save. I know in both Windows and Mac OS X you have direct save short cuts too, and you can configure short cuts to common items, but that's not I want.

      What I want is to be able to access a menu list from the keyboard quickly while exploring, not remember various different short cuts.

    2. Re:What Apple does right by Dupple · · Score: 2, Informative

      On the mac you can hold down the control key or right click to get a contextual menu. Try it, you might like it. Support varies from program to program and you don't always get what you might expect or hope to see. But that's down to the application vendor and not apple

      --
      Watch those corners
    3. Re:What Apple does right by mdwh2 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Microsoft wants things to be orthogonal, logical, menu driven, hierarchical, and otherwise fully featured. Apple takes the approach that the user doesn't want to fuss with all sorts of menus and submenus (no two button mouse for years!)

      MS have dropped the menu approach (think Office) - but personally I prefer the menu approach. And Apple's OSs have had menus for years, anyway.

      Apple applications still make use of two buttons, which you have to clumsily press a control key to access.

      applications which do not necessarily have any UI themes in common with each other.

      No, it's Apple who are the worst offenders here - just look at how Quicktime and Itunes on Windows completely fail to comply with the Windows UI standards.

      In my experience, Quicktime and Itunes are the worst UIs I've encountered - anything but elegant. I have trouble finding out how to do simple tasks in Itunes (e.g., getting it to recognise updated mp3 ID tags). Only yesterday, I plugged someone's Ipod into my computer so we could watch something - only to find the software had renamed files into random garbage, distributed across randomly named folders in no apparent logical order. We had to guess via file sizes, and try every single one until we came across it. Apple, it Just Works!

      And what does "elegant" even mean? What's your objective definition, and your evidence for this assertion?

      As always, subjective assertions without evidence get modded up simply because they are pro-Apple, whilst I bet I - even though I give clear examples and evidence - will get modded down, simply because these facts do not fit with an Apple moderator's worldview (how does moderation work these days, anyway? I haven't had any for years, and it seems they're only given out to those who mod up pro-Apple posts these days...)

      Microsoft is doing a lot to emulate Apple. And frankly, it's about time.

      God, I hope not. And with "Macs" these days being Apple branded PCs, I'd say the reverse is true.

    4. Re:What Apple does right by DarthBart · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right click? What is this right click you speak of?

    5. Re:What Apple does right by Mitchell314 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Multi-button USB mice work perfectly fine with Macs. To right click with touch pad, put two fingers down on surface instead of one. There still is the control click, as you said.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    6. Re:What Apple does right by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      One of the problems OS X has is that it lacks the ability to use these menus through the keyboard easily

      Remembering the shortcuts on Macs is usually easier because they are consistent (ignoring the three different ways I have of making Apple's video-playing apps run full screen, and the fourth way that VLC uses). On Windows, an entire key on the keyboard is reserved for going to the menu bar. This is something that most users don't do - they either click on the menu with the mouse or hit shortcuts directly - and so on OS X is a chord. By default, it's control-F2, but it's configurable in System Preferences, so if you want it to be something easier to hit then you can change it.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    7. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 2, Interesting

      When you say contextual menu, you mean the right-click menu?

      Cause this isn't what I am talking about.

      What I am talking about there is a menu options in Tools -> Options -> Random Area -> Some Option. In Windows (most anyhow, and most linux apps too), the underlines appear when I hold down alt (I used italics to demonstrate where this will be). I can then go Alt + T + U + R and then use arrow buttons to get too Some Option.

      How do you do this in Mac OS X?

    8. Re:What Apple does right by joh · · Score: 2, Informative

      What I want is to be able to access a menu list from the keyboard quickly while exploring, not remember various different short cuts.

      This is Control-F2 on OS X. This selects the menu and allows to browse it with the cursor keys.

      Alt+character has always been the way to type various special characters and ligatures on the Mac. Wasting this for another way to access menu entries instead was never an option for an OS that grew up with DTP.

    9. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      his is something that most users don't do - they either click on the menu with the mouse or hit shortcuts directly

      This is my problem - I do use this manner. It's handy because I don't have to learn the various different short cuts accross different applications. It also allows me to explore the various commands quickly in a new application or get to commands without shortcuts without leaving my keyboard.

      control-F2 is something, but it's more keyboard presses to be worth it. As in Control+F2, right, right, right, there is my menu option. So it doesn't allow quick access to actions or exploration without using the mouse.

      I know I can configure short cuts to actions I often access, but tbh, I prefer not having too.

    10. Re:What Apple does right by joh · · Score: 1, Troll

      You press Control-F2 and use the cursor keys to get to Some Option.

    11. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > Apple's interface is elegant but inflexible. Everything fits into the existing scheme and runs perfectly within that scheme.

      Bullshit.

      Just look at the "zoom button" debacle on OSX. There is no "maximize window" functionality. The little green button with a "+" in it often makes the window *smaller* - or minimizes it (in the case of iTunes).

      The OS is filled with these massive problems because it has been simplified to the point of being retarded.

    12. Re:What Apple does right by jordibares · · Score: 1

      IMHO it is a cultural difference, not a user interface difference, not a graphical interface difference, and sure not aesthetics driven. A bit more like talking about user behaviour design vs. graphical design, this is years of innovation on Apple's side that Microsoft has not grasped yet.

    13. Re:What Apple does right by gtomorrow · · Score: 4, Informative

      System Prefs > Mouse & Keyboard > Keyboard shortcuts*.

      A quick look tells me that CTRL-F2 puts focus on the menubar, CTRL-F3 places focus on the Dock, etc etc. OSX has had this since (someone correct if i'm wrong) since at least 10.2 .

      So, that's about enough of this "can't navigate in OSX without the mouse" propaganda. [/wishful thinking]

      * Apologies if the wording isn't exact as i'm translating from the italian.

    14. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 3, Informative

      Which is slower, as I mentioned in a reply to another poster who brought this up.

      Might not be important to some people, but to me, it's a feature I miss in Mac OS X land.

    15. Re:What Apple does right by Xest · · Score: 1

      I actually agree with you, but yet look at the Office 2007 UI.

      It does a great job of solving the problems you state, options that aren't relevant are hidden, and only options relevant in the context of what you are doing are shown. To me this is a much better way of doing things, and yet the amount of people who complain, the amount who hate it far outnumber those who like it- OpenOffice and Firefox have recieved the same feedback when they suggested the same type of change to a UI that only provides what is relevant in the context of the actions being carried out for their applications too.

      So the question is, whilst to some people like you and I the simplified context relevant system seems better, is there an underlying reason many others hate it? Do they simply dislike change? or is there something else there, like a context based system being more confusing for them because things aren't always where they were?

      For what it's worth though I actually hate many of the Windows 7 changes, the new gadget system is appalling compared to the sidebar. Gadgets are useless because they're either on the desktop, out the way, and you have to explicitly switch to the desktop to see them in which case if you have to explicitly switch they may as well just be applications or alternatively they can be set to be always on top which means they obscure any windows you're working with underneath them. The sidebar ensured this wasn't a problem by allowing Windows to resize around the sidebar meaning they were both always on top, always available and yet never in the way.

      I also found the taskbar changes unhelpful on a large screen, although it's great on the small screen of my netbook where taskbar space is limited, but on my 24" screen at 1900x1200 the new system only uses up about 20% of the length of the taskbar and yet I have to take extra clicks to find the window I want because they're all hidden in their groups. I reverted back to the classic taskbar where the Window I want is available instantly by using the full taskbar.

      I even find the start menu since Vista much less efficient to navigate too in all honesty, if you don't type in the name of the program and want to click through because you don't know what icon was added the pre-Vista start menu was far more efficient.

      As I say though, I do like Microsoft's ribbon interface. For me it's all about the speed and efficiency at which I can work, and much of the Windows Vista / 7 UI changes seem to add the amount of mouse movement and clicks I need to make, the Ribbon UI however does not as it puts what I need right in front of me when I need it.

    16. Re:What Apple does right by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I don't understand your complaint. On windows, you do alt, F, S and get to the save menu item in the file menu. On OS X you do contol-F2, F, S, and get to the save menu. It is just one more keystroke. I'm not sure why this is better than using shortcuts to jump straight to the menu though, nor why you think pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    17. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Windows' interface is flexible but clumsy. While this has gotten much better in later versions, we're still looking at deeply nested menus, and applications which do not necessarily have any UI themes in common with each other.

      Please, please do not try to hang "applications which do not necessarily have any UI themes in common with each other" on Windows alone.

      Any GUI operating system that allows skinning of applications, whether by design, or by sheer bloodyminded overriding of low-level user interface drawing routines, will eventually have this problem as soon as some programmer decides that he doesn't like the "standard, boring, old window style" and he then proceeds to inflict his new "vision" of what the interface should look like on the user.

      Then you wind up with non-rectangular windows in garish colors of the programmer's choosing with buttons that don't look like buttons, no visible menu bar, and few, if any, of the features users are used to seeing in their application windows.

    18. Re:What Apple does right by gtomorrow · · Score: 1

      OOOPS! My reply was meant for the GP and not parent poster...ehmmm, yeh.

      Insomma, not for Dupple but for Procasinator.

    19. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      In Windows (most anyhow, and most linux apps too), the underlines appear when I hold down alt (I used italics to demonstrate where this will be). I can then go Alt + T + U + R and then use arrow buttons to get too Some Option.

      How do you do this in Mac OS X?

      Control-F2 to give the menu bar keyboard focus, then use the arrow buttons or first letters of the menu items. Check out the Keyboard pane in the system preferences for other keyboard navigation options. (I found this in less than three minutes, by the way; it's amazing what one can figure out, when one is more interested in learning than complaining.)

    20. Re:What Apple does right by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      Interesting. My background is cpm/dos/windows/(lately)linux and a few years ago i was messing about with a bondi blue iMac on OS7. I found it hard to get it to do anything, it couldn't see any win or linux boxes or any printers on the lan, which I half expected, but there didn't seem to be much in the way of configuration for the network or the screen or indeed any hardware compared with the equivalent win95/98. Maybe what I want to do isn't what Apple expects me to want to do?
      I would welcome the chance to try a more modern mac and see how things have altered.

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    21. Re:What Apple does right by wolrahnaes · · Score: 1

      It's the button you gain when you throw away Apple's shitty bundled mouse and plug something in that doesn't suck. The ADB mouse was the last good mouse Apple made (though the new glass trackpad is very enjoyable to use). The puck was of course so bad I don't expect even Apple fanboys to defend it, the "Pro Mouse" had nothing inherently wrong with it, but was simply uninteresting given that it lacked a scroll wheel and a minimum of three buttons. Since then they've tried twice to provide the missing input, but in both cases they have missed the mark. The "Mighty Mouse" scroll ball was too tiny to be of any use and right-clicking required lifting your left finger off the mouse surface entirely. The new "Magic Mouse" solves the scroll ball issue, but for some reason still requires lifting the left to click with the right.

      Not an Apple hater though, this post typed from a Macbook Pro with an Apple aluminum keyboard, but with a Logitech G5 handling the mousing duties. I love the platform, just wish King Jobs would get his head out of his ass regarding the single button thing.

      --
      I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
    22. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I was told you could only use the cursor keys. I seem to remember that myself, but could be wrong (don't have a Mac OS X installation near me to find out). The reasons why I might not want to use the mouse are many, including:
      • I could be using a program that is keyboard centric (such as word processing) and might want to access a menu option that I don't use regulary.
      • Using the keyboard is usually (and when designer properly, always) faster than using the mouse. Especially on a dual display, where the distance between my cursor and the option I want to use could be quite large
    23. Re:What Apple does right by caseih · · Score: 3, Informative

      Definitely sounds like person who has only used a Mac on occasion. I used to think like you about it until I actually used a Mac for a while. Actually I find OS X and most OS X applications to be more keyboard-friendly than Windows. Every single command you use frequently has or can be assigned a command-something combination (or control-something). So things like open, close, print, save are always assigned the same command key sequence across all apps. That's a time saver right there. Why alt-f-s when command-s will do? While most Windows users will actually click on file->save to save their document, very few Mac users I've seen bother with clicking on the menus for most common tasks; it's all done with the keyboard.

      As was said earlier in the discussion, OS X and Windows come from very different philosophies. You speak of how you want to explore the menu. On OS X that's absolutely wrong. If you have to explore the menu to find something, then someone screwed up. Deep, nested menus are considered bad on OS X. Besides, alt-something-something-something reminds me of emacs!

      There are many inconsistencies in OS X that are legitimate grievances. But not being able to alt-something-something-something the menu doesn't appear to me to be that important. I'm far more frustrated on a daily basis by how OS X eats the click that focuses a window (now I use command-tab and command-` to focus windows anyway without the mouse), that you have enable keyboard navigation in dialog boxes as it's off by default, and that carbon and cocoa apps behave so differently.

      Both systems have their inconsistencies, and both are getting better in this regard. And from what I can tell from using Windows 7, Windows is getting more usable and mac-like all the time.

    24. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why alt-f-s when command-s will do?

      That was only a simplified example. Not a very good one (as everyone can remember Ctrl+S). But some applications on both platforms can potentially have a lot of shortcuts.

      Every single command you use frequently has or can be assigned a command-something combination (or control-something). So things like open, close, print, save are always assigned the same command key sequence across all apps.

      Which is a good thing, but not a replacement. There are some applications where the amount of shortcuts are massive. I don't want to remember them all. I don't want to have to configure applications all that much either. This means I have to do it on new machines too. Personalisation is handy, but I want something out of the box.

      As was said earlier in the discussion, OS X and Windows come from very different philosophies. You speak of how you want to explore the menu. On OS X that's absolutely wrong.

      Which works for most applications, but not all. Word processing (like Word) and graphics (like Photoshop) often have many options. Most will be quickly accessible, but others won't be. I think the visual cues given from the Alt system is very handy, and allows jumping into applications much easier. The contextual switch is less of a burden. It might be a small thing, but it annoys me and probably other power-users who like relying on the keyboard (although, I could be alone on this).

    25. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right click functionality is the single greatest UI feature EVER!

    26. Re:What Apple does right by johneee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      users. Let the users tell you what is good and bad. Build the interface to match the user.

      The interesting thing here is that your evidence doesn't match the examples.

      Microsoft puts every single thing they do in front of users, and tests it to death. Apple puts some really smart, good designers in a room and they do what they think is best. (overly simplified, but you get the idea)

      One of the first things Jobs did when he came to Apple was to kill the UI research group. They have a unified, attractive and logical interface because they keep it tightly controled and don't let groups of just anyone come in and tell them to change things. They're also secretive to the point of paranoia, which means they'd never be able to do user testing groups before launch of anything.

      Microsoft is bland because every single thing they do is tested over and over and over again with user groups, which gives them a lot of data, but means they end up with the lowest common denominator on everything.

      You can make your own decision on which is better.

      I actually read something that made the case that Microsoft was too consumer focussed. This is around the time when MS had just got the security religion and the person said that until then, nobody was asking for security in their focus groups and market research, just features and compatibility with older software. Geeks were asking for security, but they made up a relatively small number of people in the market. When worms,viri and root-kits and all that started being more and more prevelent, people started asking for security, and so MS started doing security.

      Short version: Ask your users what they need all you want, but you're always going to be a reactive organization, and you're never going to surprise anyone, because they'll always just get what they ask for. If you make educated guesses what they need, you'll sometimes blow them away with something awesome.

      --
      - ------- There are ten kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who... Huh?
    27. Re:What Apple does right by mikael_j · · Score: 1

      You were using System 7 and you're complaining about it not networking properly with modern operating systems? You do realize that System 7 is from 1991, right?

      Somehow I'm reminded of when I did a stint in tech support a few years ago and some guy called in having issues with getting his custom A1200T (custom as in, typical Amiga system where only the motherboard is actually an original component) to use certain features built into the ADSL CPE we had sent him...

      /Mikael

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    28. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      very, very well put.

    29. Re:What Apple does right by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      How is that simpler than having a second mouse button to click?

    30. Re:What Apple does right by m.ducharme · · Score: 1

      While I would agree with all this, I would also note that mice included with any home computer tend to be the bottom of the barrel, regardless of how many buttons they have, and the first thing I always do with any computer is get rid of the mouse and plug in a better one.

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
    31. Re:What Apple does right by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      A quick look at the keyboard and you'll see that the function keys are already out of reach, so you need to reposition your hands to hit CTRL + Fkey. Where as CTRL or ALT + letter or maybe number doens't require me to move my hands out of postition.

    32. Re:What Apple does right by gander666 · · Score: 1

      Amen brother. I have been an off and on Mac user since the late 80's, Now my preference is my MacBook Pro. I use Logitech mice. They plug in and work, and the MX400 (I think that is my current fave) is super responsive and accurate. I think they (logitech) has a driver package, but I have never bothered to load it.

      My wife has an iMac, with the stock super mouse, and it drives me nuts that she can't seem to adapt to the right click thing, and always resets it in the properties menu.

      --
      Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress ... but I repeat myself. - Mark T
    33. Re:What Apple does right by pete-classic · · Score: 1

      While this has gotten much better in later versions, we're still looking at deeply nested menus, and applications which do not necessarily have any UI themes in common with each other.

      I disagree. Microsoft UI cohesiveness peaked somewhere around '95. They used a very consistent widget set, and had a firmly established menu standard. Then they got cute and overrode the default widgets with Media Player, opening the door for 3rd party apps to do so. Then they flushed the menu standard in favor of their much-hated "ribbons".

      Now the UI is total soup.

      -Peter

    34. Re:What Apple does right by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > Multi-button USB mice work perfectly fine with Macs. To right click with touch pad, put
      > two fingers down on surface instead of one. There still is the control click, as you said.

      Yeah... someone ELSE'S. While this is ultimately useful, it kind of defeats the entire "buy it all here" sort of paradigm that Apple is going for.

      Apple's keyboards and mice are atrocious and are only getting worse over time. I really can't see them winning anyone over with the demo units they have out in the stores.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    35. Re:What Apple does right by webdog314 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So, what you're basically saying is that Apple designs their interfaces to be intuitive, and Microsoft... doesn't.

      Yup, that pretty much covers it.

      But to be fair, you have to remember that Microsoft wasn't originally targeting yuppy thirty-somthethings and college students, they were going for business programmers and well, nerds. This is a completely different audience than Apple, and frankly, they hit the mark. Nerds don't want intuitive. Nerds want it the way they want it. This kind of interface is great for a logical thinker who can remember where they buried that TPS report, but not so hot for a non-programer who still confuses RAM with drive storage.

    36. Re:What Apple does right by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      I dunno...

      I like the mouse that came with my Revo more than any Mac mouse I've ever tried.

      It's nice and simple and to the point.

      It's not trying to be fancy in order to try and encourage me to buy something new that I don't really need.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    37. Re:What Apple does right by vosester · · Score: 1

      In OS X press Ctrl + F2 to get to the menu-bar and if you want the Edit menu just type edit and if you want the File menu just type file and so on, when you want to go down a menu just press Enter and type what you need next, can be used like that on any menu in OS X. Think of it like a filter. Easy when you know how.

      Makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Does not limit the amount of key combos that you can have compared to the Alt + Key way and you do not need to learn a sequence of keys but you can.
      it is natural language, you don't have to look for the underscore, it always starts with the first letter, and most of us read left-to-right so it is natural.

      At first OS X drove me bat shit crazy the way it works, but after reading the manuals and other users on how OS X work. I could not use another OS now for my desktop needs. I only needed a proprietary application for a couple of months for a job and after two months with OS X, I switch from Linux (8 years) to OS X and after stepping out of the FOSS world. OS X has showed me that Linux might have surpassed Windows years ago but its got a long way to go before it beats OS X in terms of usability.

      Before you get mad at the way OS X work like I use to do. A bit of research and you find the reasoning for the way Apple dose things and their will be a moment when you think to yourself dam that is cleaver and f**k that makes a lot of sense.

      And why the hell is no one else in the tech world doing what Apple dose. Love or hate Apple but credit where credit is due they think outside the view of the Windows/Gnome/XFCE/KDE crowed and I think its for the better.

    38. Re:What Apple does right by m.ducharme · · Score: 1

      I think the problem with Apple mice has been that they're too simple. And indeed, they are too simple. Often decently designed, but not as functional as a plain old three-button mouse. Apple mice are an example of the design interfering with the functionality instead of enhancing it.

      My problem with mice that come with commodity computers is that they under-perform compared to the cheap and dirty $10 mice you can buy retail, and are vastly inferior to anything Logitech or Microsoft offers. I'm not familiar with the kind of mouse that came with your Revo, so I have no idea where it goes in that continuum, it may be an exception to my experience. But I can say that I at one time worked selling computers, and never once did I sell a computer that came with a mouse I'd want to keep

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
    39. Re:What Apple does right by Moebius+Loop · · Score: 1

      It's not really that much slower... You can still press the first letter of the menu or menu item to select it. The only difference is that if there are two items with the same letter, you have to either press that first letter multiple times, or type the subsequent characters of the name.

      It actually works exactly like the list-related controls in the rest of the OS.

      --
      have you been seen on slash?
    40. Re:What Apple does right by jesterpilot · · Score: 1

      Apple and Microsoft attack the problem of user interface from two completely different points of view. Microsoft wants things to be orthogonal, logical, menu driven, hierarchical, and otherwise fully featured. Apple takes the approach that the user should not want to fuss with all sorts of menus and submenus he arrogantly thinks he needs (no two button mouse for years!) and just should want to do what Apple discovered they need as simply as possible. So you end up with two completely different interfaces.

      Apple's interface is elegant but inflexible. Everything fits into the existing scheme and runs perfectly within that scheme and noone could possibly ever want to do something outside the scheme.

      Or is the "fixed your typos"-meme dead by now?

      --
      Trust me, I work for the government.
    41. Re:What Apple does right by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      Ah, seems fairly usable so and better designed (besides F2, it's a bit of a stretch). No Mac users I asked knew about this, cause it drives me crazy. I'll experiment next time on a Mac (might be very soon, could be developing with Xcode soon).

    42. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand your complaint. On windows, you do alt, F, S and get to the save menu item in the file menu. On OS X you do contol-F2, F, S, and get to the save menu. It is just one more keystroke. I'm not sure why this is better than using shortcuts to jump straight to the menu though, nor why you think pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse.

      You can actually use CTRL+S to save on nearly every windows program ever made. Why would you do all those extra steps?

    43. Re:What Apple does right by blueZ3 · · Score: 1

      Usability studies have shown that hiding options is a Bad Thing© Users tend to remember items in menus by location, not by name. For instance, the "Save" item is in the first menu, about a third of the way down. Moving items around (by "hiding" less-used or currently unavailable ones) goes against the way that most users locate them.

      --
      Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
    44. Re:What Apple does right by ak3ldama · · Score: 1

      The parents assessment is absolutely correct. Witness WPF for another example of Microsoft giving up on any cohesive UI patterns and just completely giving up. (It is not just Windows Media Player, see Outlook, Office, MSN Live Messenger. The list probably goes on of applications within Microsoft that are considerably different.) I really wish I had mod points to mod you up. Microsoft has stopped using their development platform as a cohesive way to push standard user interface patterns out for their Operating System.

      --
      "but money is the God of Algiers & Mahomet their prophet." - Rich. O'Bryen June 8th 1786
    45. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was told you could only use the cursor keys. I seem to remember that myself, but could be wrong (don't have a Mac OS X installation near me to find out).

      You are wrong.

    46. Re:What Apple does right by blueZ3 · · Score: 1

      Part of why Microsoft's usability is bad is because of their focus on usability "studies".

      What you have to understand first is that there are three classes of users: novice users, intermediate users, and power users. Unfortunately, when you do usability testing/studies, you are presenting your interface to users who've never seen it before; i.e. these are the first group: new users. Designing your software to meet the needs of these users would be fine except that for any frequently-used software, new users quickly become intermediate users. So all that "hiding" menu items, only showing "frequently used" controls, etc, that worked so great for the novices is now getting in the way of the intermediate users. And keep in mind that if your software is at all useful, then users are going to use it, learn it, and move from the temporary novice user stage to the semi-permanent intermediate user stage fairly quickly. And most users are going to be at that intermediate stage for most of the time that they're using your interface.

      Any software development process that focuses mainly on the novice user is going to create something that's not as useful to the intermediate user. This is the pitfall into which Microsoft has tumbled.

      --
      Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
    47. Re:What Apple does right by gtomorrow · · Score: 3, Informative

      Okay, try this...

      1) CTRL-F2 (yes, yes, bear with me)
      2) Type the first letter of the menu item you want*
      3) Down arrow
      4) Repeat step 2
      5) Repeat 2-3 until you drill down to the desired command and hit "enter"

      * If by chance there are two menu items with the same first letter, it's sufficient to type the first and second letter.

      How is this slower if not more efficient than ALT-whatever?

      Only happy to help.

    48. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my experience, the main reason that pressing keys instead of using the mouse is important is because, sometimes the menu options end up off the screen and cannot be clicked. During those times the handy alt key is your only salvation.

      Alt, left, m to move the window, then down down down to bring it into a sane location.

      Seems that xp doesn't have this anymore, but I remember it distinctly on 3.x

    49. Re:What Apple does right by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      And on OS X you can use Command-S from any application - including the terminal (to save the buffer) without interfering with sending control codes to command-line apps. The grandparent specifically said that he didn't want to use shortcuts, but did want to use the keyboard to navigate the menus. It sounds like a pretty contrived example - I can't imagine anyone being productive working that way - but it is still possible on OS X.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    50. Re:What Apple does right by Dare+nMc · · Score: 1

      All kinds of reasons keys are faster better than mouse. The biggest reason for me is using a laptop with gloves (and no spot for a external mouse) granted that's only a windows thing, since apple doesn't make a laptop for use below 50F. (then again most windows laptops have a pointer stick, but they are not very accurate for me)

    51. Re:What Apple does right by Locutus · · Score: 1

      ahem, the marketing of Window 95 was all about how much 'research' Microsoft put into the UI change and they constantly told us about all the focus groups they used. Just like they did for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

      And if only the Windows UI was consistent. I loved the OS/2 Workplace Shell because when you interfaced with something which looked like a folder, you knew it was going to have the base classes standard folder settings and the same goes for the rest of the system because it used object inheritance. I've tried to help people who use Windows with broken systems or just getting them through various processes and I'm constantly amazed at how often a UI object doesn't do or let you do what you would think it should. Too many 'special' types of things and what that does is make these newbies afraid of doing something they have not remembered the steps to do. There is not enough consistency in Windows at all to make it user friendly and you don't have to give up flexibility. The Workplace Shell proved that IMO.

      yes, it is about time but come on, 18 years after OS/2 v2 shipped and they still suck at making a kick but UI? They should have purchased Stardock Systems in the late 90s and let those guys create desktop UI system for Windows 2000. Instead, they are moving at a snails pace toward who knows what but I doubt it'll be even close to OS X or even the OS/2 Workplace Shell.

      LoB

      --
      "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
    52. Re:What Apple does right by Hatta · · Score: 2, Informative

      why you think pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse.

      Because then I don't have to remove my hands from the keyboard. Seems obvious enough.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    53. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree with Procasinator, it simply is better, and once you're accustomed to it it's really annoying having to press more keys than are needed just to see the menu options. Also, I think it's more intuitive since you can remember key stroke combo's (eg - o+p+d) based on letters instead of "how many times to I have to I have to press Right and then Left to get to that option", for myself anyway.

    54. Re:What Apple does right by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      It seems that OS X is actually a little more consistent about what the hot keys mean.

      If you want to control what the menu hot keys are, you can add/change them in the Keyboard Preferences, by app or globally across all apps.

    55. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft wants things to be orthogonal, logical, menu driven, hierarchical, and otherwise fully featured. Apple takes the approach that the user doesn't want to fuss with all sorts of menus and submenus...

      Uh, what? Apple's entire OS is based on the idea that every app uses the same menu bar at the top of the screen. The damn menu bar is even built into the UI of the OS.

      In fact, if you just booted & put a Win7 and an OSX machine next to each other and said to yourself "Which one of these is going to make me use tons of menus," I think you'd be crazy to not immediately point out the Mac.

    56. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus saves, but so does Command-S.

    57. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand your complaint. ... why you think pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse.

      When you know what the key sequence is, if you're in the middle of typing and have both hands on the keyboard, it's faster to use keyboard shortcuts.

      It sounds like you're asking, "why bother to learn touch-typing when you can just stare at the keyboard and hunt and peck?"

    58. Re:What Apple does right by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      You're the third idiot who can't read to post this, so I'll clarify. The original poster explicitly stated that he didn't want to use shortcuts (e.g. command-s for save) but did want to use the keyboard to get to menu items.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    59. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The key to save on Mac is Cmd-S. Why on earth would you want to muck about in the menus?

    60. Re:What Apple does right by mcrbids · · Score: 1

      I'm in a window. I want to switch to a different window that might be in the same app and might be in a different app, without leaving the K/B. How?

      Typical scenario: I have two or three terminal windows open, debugging a webserver that's misconfigured. I have this terminal window somewhere in docroot, editing a temporary HTML file that I'm using to diagnose the problem. I have another terminal window editing httpd.conf, and being used to restart Apache. I have a browser window or two to see if I got it right, yet.

      I can switch from the terminal window to the browser window without much trouble, but I can't easily switch to the other terminal window!

      There's the Alt-Tab combination, but that switches between different *applications*. I can jigger the mouse into a corner, and see all windows on all workspaces, but that requires using the mouse - easier to click on the window with the mouse directly.

      There's no way to do this that I've been able to find, but if you know it, I'd sure like to know... As a LONG time KDE user, I LOVE Compiz effect's alt-tab combination that not only lets me scroll thru the windows, but provides a nice "stacked" interface for letting me see what I'm switching to!

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
    61. Re:What Apple does right by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      If you want to control what the menu hot keys are, you can add/change them in the Keyboard Preferences, by app or globally across all apps.

      Note: There are 3rd party applications on OS X that replicate the default hot keys but ignore settings set on OS X for hotkeys. This is especially common to cross-platform applications that have to deal with some horrible x11, java, Qt workarounds.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    62. Re:What Apple does right by dontmakemethink · · Score: 1

      In a sense, the MS employee was right. Microsoft is doing a lot to emulate Apple. And frankly, it's about time.

      Agreed! I don't know why Microsoft would rebut the comment so strongly. They're certainly not making Windows LESS Mac-like.

      While I'm not a Mac fanboi (anymore), I would rephrase your comment about Mac's inflexibility to indicate that the limitations imposed by the user-friendliness of the interface can be overcome with reasonably simple modifications through scripts etc, as can Windows be configured to be more user-friendly. There was a time I made some decent money configuring Macs to suit the specific needs of recording studios, video editing stations, etc. That was back at MacOS 8.5...

      --

      War as we knew it was obsolete
      Nothing could beat complete denial
      - Emily Haines
    63. Re:What Apple does right by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 1

      I think you're looking for Control-F2. After that menu selections are alphabetical, using space or enter to select an item. Menus can also be navigated in a 2d grid with arrow keys.

    64. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hit the windows key and type the first couple of letters of what you want to run/open. Since vista the win key is one of the most used on my keyboard.

    65. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's slower at all it's by a negligible fraction of a second, in that if two menu items share the same initial letter, you have to start typing out the full name. A tragedy!

      The underlying problem is that you obviously didn't know about this shortcut, and in typical slashdot fashion insist that it's a terrible solution (rather than admit that it solves your problem) and doesn't really do what you want it to.

    66. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is slower, as I mentioned in a reply to another poster who brought this up.

      Might not be important to some people, but to me, it's a feature I miss in Mac OS X land.

      I was blown away by this post until I realized your name isn't actually Procrastinator

    67. Re:What Apple does right by BlueStraggler · · Score: 1

      "If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."
      -- Henry Ford

    68. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alt-` (backtick) is your friend.

    69. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, and the big hand is on the three. And two take-away one is one. It's called the context menu.

    70. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try Alt + then m

      Some legacy win 3.1 thing.

    71. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >>nor why you think pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse.

      Then you've clearly never used keys to explore menus. Properly hotkeyed menus are always faster. Always.

      Related to your other point that ctrl-f2 is one more keystroke - in this case, you're missing part of the point. You can press alt-f-s in one rolling motion. Ctrl-f2-f-s is considerably more awkward.

    72. Re:What Apple does right by Bungie · · Score: 2, Informative

      On the mac you can hold down the control key or right click to get a contextual menu. Try it, you might like it.

      I think what the parent is talking about are accelerators. Menu captions in Windows can include an an ampersand which indicates the accelerator key to be used. The letters appears with an underline underneath them (under XP and higher you may need to press ALT first to display the menu accelerators depending on the user settings). They be accessed when ALT & accelerator key is pressed.

      So, for example to display the File menu's conetent, you can press ALT & F and then to select the "New" option once the File menu is open, you can then press ALT & N.

      In classic MacOS there was a tool provided by Connectix (perhaps Speed Doubler?) which provided this functionality, but I have not seen it duplicated on OS X.

      --
      The clash of honour calls, to stand when others fall.
    73. Re:What Apple does right by JStegmaier · · Score: 1

      As Henry Ford said, "If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse."

    74. Re:What Apple does right by Kerrigann · · Score: 1

      Alt-` is what you're looking for, I think.

      I think the apple way of doing this is to hit the expose key, then use the keyboard if you're looking for a specific window.

      I really really love the dock concept -- why do I have to have a firefox window open to keep downloads running? Why do programs have to go out of their way to manage system tray entries? If a program has a system tray entry, why are there *two* ways to minimize that app's window? All of this is solved by the dock!

      But, it's taken me forever to get used to the two level window switching that you're talking about. It still tends to feel clunky. I guess I could use the expose key, but it's not as conveniently placed where my left hand can reach it in the resting position. I can't help but think there is a better way.

    75. Re:What Apple does right by ActionGaz · · Score: 1

      You misunderstood what the parent was talking about. Exploring a menu is very different to quickly using a keyboard sequence to issue a command.

      When it comes to exploring a menu using the keyboard, a slight difference in the number of keystrokes is irrelevant. You're spending a lot more time looking over what is available than you spend pressing any keys.

      But why is anyone typing Alt-F-S when they could just be typing Ctrl-S (or Command-S)?

      (And for the record, for me there needs to be another keystroke on the Mac to actually open the menu. This can be a space or a down arrow that I have found.)

    76. Re:What Apple does right by ignavus · · Score: 1

      On OS X you do contol-F2, F, S, and get to the save menu. It is just one more keystroke.

      So a Mac is more like ... emacs?

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
    77. Re:What Apple does right by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Why alt-f-s when command-s will do? While most Windows users will actually click on file->save to save their document, very few Mac users I've seen bother with clicking on the menus for most common tasks; it's all done with the keyboard.

      Windows apps conventionally use ctrl+s to save, ctrl+p to print etc. Also like the mac ctrl+xvc (cut, copy and paste) is the same.

      mj

    78. Re:What Apple does right by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      Exactly my point - so the OP's claim of "no two button mouse" is false from the outset.

      To add to that, you have the complication that some Macs have two button mice, and others don't, leading to inconsistency.

    79. Re:What Apple does right by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      God, the tosser mods really walk into this one so predictable:

      "As always, subjective assertions without evidence get modded up simply because they are pro-Apple, whilst I bet I - even though I give clear examples and evidence - will get modded down, simply because these facts do not fit with an Apple moderator's worldview (how does moderation work these days, anyway? I haven't had any for years, and it seems they're only given out to those who mod up pro-Apple posts these days...)"

      Proof that moderation on Apple stories just doesn't work.

      How about you respond with arguments and evidence, instead of foaming at the mouth and reaching for the moderation button, to abuse the overabundance of mod points that you unfairly get?

    80. Re:What Apple does right by Killer+Eye · · Score: 1

      On windows, you do alt, F, S and get to the save menu item in the file menu. On OS X you do contol-F2, F, S, and get to the save menu.

      Well actually, on the Mac it's control-F2, F, down-arrow, S, then return. As much as I hate Windows, the Mac's method is more awkward. (Save is a bad example because it has a direct short-cut, but imagine accessing any item in a similar way.)

      --
      "Microsoft killed my company, I hold a personal grudge. I don't use Microsoft products and neither should you."-JWZ
    81. Re:What Apple does right by Killer+Eye · · Score: 1

      You speak of how you want to explore the menu. On OS X that's absolutely wrong. If you have to explore the menu to find something, then someone screwed up.

      Few users seem to realize that the Help menu (as of Leopard at least) has full search of all menu items. You can literally type command-? to open the text field, and start typing to have it find matching items. It is actually incredibly easy to "explore" menus on the Mac now.

      --
      "Microsoft killed my company, I hold a personal grudge. I don't use Microsoft products and neither should you."-JWZ
    82. Re:What Apple does right by yanos · · Score: 1

      Oh my god. I just tried it now. I didn't know about cmd-`

      Thanks for the tips bro!

    83. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously? There are a lot of things I like about the Windows UI over the Mac UI, but menu keys are at the bottom of that list. If I have to use multiple keystrokes to navigate the menus and have to watch them to figure out what keys to press... well, that misses the whole point of menu keys. On the Mac if I forget the right key combination, sure I have to grab the mouse, but then I just watch the menu and the next time - instant gratification!

    84. Re:What Apple does right by RealGrouchy · · Score: 1

      On Windows, if I want to rename a file in Explorer, I can hit the context menu button and m to rename the file. On OS X, if there is a keyboard shortcut, it's obscured somewhere; I can't find a way to rename a file without clicking on it, twice, but not fast enough to double-click.

      On Windows, in any text editing function (e.g. a textbox on a webpage or in a document/text/code editor), I hit shift+end to select all text from the cursor to the end of the line, shift+ctrl+right to select one word to the right, shift+ctrl+end to select all text until the end of the textbox. I swear there is no consistent set of commands on OS X. Between textboxes in Firefox, message composition in Thunderbird, text/code editing in Dreamweaver, fields in FileMaker Pro, and text in Word:Mac, I can never confidently navigate text fields using the keyboard beyond the arrow keys because I don't know which combination I should be using in that program.

      I find on Windows, I can usually go for good stretches using either a keyboard or a mouse, whereas on a mac I need to constantly be using both.

      - RG>

      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
    85. Re:What Apple does right by dbIII · · Score: 1

      In Windows I can hit the Alt key, and quickly see all the menus I can open by using an other key (the letter used for the menu item will have an underscore). Such as Alt + F is the file menu.

      It was good while it lasted but for nearly the last decade that part of the interface is not even consistent in the Office product. Alt + F + X used to get you out of any MS GUI program as well as many others that would work the same across products - now all the alt combination is useful for is to bring up the menu so you can click on the correct thing unless you have lived every day for months in the one application. It's all just a twisty maze of menus with decreasing usability with every release.
      Many of my MS Windows users refuse to run anything unless there is a desktop icon for it. The bizzare morphing behaviour of the START menu scares them. These are people that have used the MS Windows platform for more than twenty hours a week for a decade and still want their Win98 interface back.

    86. Re:What Apple does right by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      No, I didn't know system 7 was from 1991. I am not an apple user (well, not since the europlus). I recall it as being 7. Maybe it wasn't. A quick google says that the machine _could_ run os9 but fails to reveal what it was shipped with.

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    87. Re:What Apple does right by zmollusc · · Score: 1

      To reply to my own post, whatever os it was, was on cd. Does that narrow it down?

      --
      They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    88. Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As Henry Ford once said:
      "If we had asked our customers what they wanted they would have asked for faster horses".

    89. Re:What Apple does right by uglyduckling · · Score: 1

      On the Mac, it's Cmd (or Apple Key) + `

    90. Re:What Apple does right by Kerrigann · · Score: 1

      *slaps forehead* I feel dumb now.

      I knew that, but I don't usually use a mac keyboard. I still remap the window and alt key so everything is the same position as on my macbook pro, though, so when I was responding I just looked down.

      But yes, it's cmd not alt :)

    91. Re:What Apple does right by sanyacid · · Score: 1

      That was quite an uninformed comment. Pressing Alt on Windows is same as Ctrl+F2 on OS X - you focus on menubar. Then you can use arrow keys to move around or press F, S or whatever you want to move directly to desired item.
      We live and learn.

    92. Re:What Apple does right by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Seems that xp doesn't have this anymore

      That's because the keyboard shortcut is Alt-Space, not Alt-Left. Works just fine in every version of Windows, AFAIK (and yes, I just fired up Windows 3.1 in DOSBox and tested it).

      Alt-Space, M, arrow keys. Furthermore, after you hit one arrow key, the window attaches to the mouse and you can reposition it with the mouse and click to set its position (easier than moving it with the arrows).

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    93. Re:What Apple does right by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      pressing keys to explore the menu is better than using the mouse

      I can do the first blindfolded. I cannot do the second blindfolded.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    94. Re:What Apple does right by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      This is Control-F2 on OS X.

      Ick. Why must all Apple shortcuts be so difficult to type? Steve Jobs must be a contortionist, or a sadist, or both.

      Tongue-in-cheek, but really. Something that I'd use so often should be less difficult to reach.

      For what it's worth, that is why I don't use the Alt-F4 shortcut to close a window from the keyboard. I use either Ctrl-W (where it's supported, e.g. Windows Explorer or [insert web browser of choice here]) or Alt-Space, C – either of which are a breeze to type, even if my right hand is resting on the mouse.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    95. Re:What Apple does right by joh · · Score: 1

      This is Control-F2 on OS X.

      Ick. Why must all Apple shortcuts be so difficult to type? Steve Jobs must be a contortionist, or a sadist, or both.

      You can change that to whatever you want.

      Tongue-in-cheek, but really. Something that I'd use so often should be less difficult to reach.

      For what it's worth, that is why I don't use the Alt-F4 shortcut to close a window from the keyboard. I use either Ctrl-W (where it's supported, e.g. Windows Explorer or [insert web browser of choice here]) or Alt-Space, C – either of which are a breeze to type, even if my right hand is resting on the mouse.

      You should be fine on a Mac then, because Command-W for closing a window works *always* ;-)

    96. Re:What Apple does right by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      You should be fine on a Mac then, because Command-W for closing a window works *always* ;-)

      Yes, but then the app runs as a TSR until I Command-Tab to it and Command-Q. ;-P

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  7. So? by war4peace · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So a Microsoft employee says something out the top of his head. In a normal discussion between me and you, this would be just an opinion, something along the lines of "I think that...". But change the speaker and all of a sudden it's along the lines of "BIG SECRET REVEALED!!!1111" kind of thing. Even worse, for most people it becomes one with the company's official PoV and this simple statement grows so much that the company must spit out a rebuttal via an official channel/spokesman.
    We are living in a twisted, perverted world, where one can't express an opinion without being beheaded by both the press and the company he's working for. God help us all! :)

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    1. Re:So? by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 1, Informative

      So a Microsoft employee says something out the top of his head. In a normal discussion between me and you, this would be just an opinion, something along the lines of "I think that...". But change the speaker and all of a sudden it's along the lines of "BIG SECRET REVEALED!!!1111" kind of thing. Even worse, for most people it becomes one with the company's official PoV and this simple statement grows so much that the company must spit out a rebuttal via an official channel/spokesman.

      We are living in a twisted, perverted world, where one can't express an opinion without being beheaded by both the press and the company he's working for. God help us all! :)

      It wasn't a conversation between you and me, it was a comment made to the press. Comments made to the press are taken to be official, which is why there are typically spokespersons specifically designated to speak to the press.

    2. Re:So? by Chapter80 · · Score: 1

      Furthermore, it was a comment made to the press, by Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous. This is someone who should know better, who's comments should accurately reflect the company's stance.

      Kiss his career goodbye.

    3. Re:So? by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      Well, you have to consider that in big corporations only certain individuals are allowed to talk to the press, and those certain individuals are supposed to know enough about their business to avoid such a monstrous gaff. We're techies, we know that the main "features" of Windows 7 are Mac-like GUI improvements. But to have a Microsoft representative admit that is terrible PR. Joe Shmoe may take Macs more seriously if he hears that OS X is the gold standard Windows is trying to live up to.

      If this was just some guy, who happened to work for MS, who was overheard saying this at a bar on his day off, you'd have a point. But he said it to a journalist in an interview, so I'd completely understand if they fired him. Car analogy: a Ford rep says, "we wanted it to drive like a Volkswagen, their engineers are fantastic." As a consumer, that sounds like an endorsement for VW, not Ford's wannabe. Considering this is make or break season for W7 and Apple's looking for new material for their commercials, MS's rebuttal couldn't have been too hasty.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
  8. Hi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm a Mac and Windows 7 was MY idea

    1. Re:Hi by xtracto · · Score: 1

      *clap* *clap* *clap*

      You my friend, win 2 internets!

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    2. Re:Hi by tyroneking · · Score: 1

      I wish you could be modded even higher! Funniest thing I've read since my colleague's test tool design report (which was, well, this morning...)

  9. News of "staff restructuring"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...coming to the guy in 3... 2... 1...

  10. employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by hibernia · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and no longer has a job

    1. Re:employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd fire the idiot too if he spouted off non-sense that can be taken as representing the opinion of the company. Whether he was right or not. (And he wasn't).

    2. Re:employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by MrMr · · Score: 1

      Hm, you mean, so you can argue the point in a public courtroom instead of your own office?
      I suspect you haven't fired many people.

    3. Re:employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My thoughts exactly! They (mgmt) probably approached him about this comment with an empty box or trashbag in their hand (like they do where I work).

    4. Re:employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by mr+exploiter · · Score: 1

      My thoughts exactly! They (mgmt) probably approached him about this comment with an empty box or trashbag in their hand (like they do where I work).

      That seems cruel... but I kind of like it. There should be someone with a cam too so it can be later uploaded to youtube. Seeing the face of employees when they're being canned could be funny.

    5. Re:employee who 'inaccurate and uninformed' by mqduck · · Score: 1

      I'd let people express their own opinions, but that's why I'm not CEO.

      --
      Property is theft.
  11. For everything Apple does one way by Shivetya · · Score: 1

    they seem to go the other with iTunes.

    I still see no reason for Apple to not allow sizing windows from any corner, let alone hiding/moving the Apple bar at top.

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
    1. Re:For everything Apple does one way by Mitchell314 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There'd be a lot more tech support calls to Apple if you could easily get rid of the top menu bar.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    2. Re:For everything Apple does one way by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Messing with the menu bar? YOU SPEAK HERESY!

    3. Re:For everything Apple does one way by daver00 · · Score: 1

      I don't even understand the apple bar? Why on earth would it be considered intuitive to take an applications menus, and move them out of the application window into the OS space, and then make these menus completely change depending on which window has focus? Its excessively abstract, the only reason I can see for doing things that way is because thats how it has always been done. Its not a method I would consider efficient in the modern era where we typically have hundreds of active windows.

    4. Re:For everything Apple does one way by uglyduckling · · Score: 1

      Firstly, they haven't 'moved them' - Apple put them at the top in the first widely available GUI computer. Microsoft moved them. It is much more efficient - it's efficient for screen real estate, and it's efficient for muscle memory. I can look away from the screen and hit the menu bar for my most commonly used applications, which means I spend less time have to 'aim and fire' with the mouse. It's like playing guitar - I know where the frets are and I don't have to look. On Windows the menus move depending on where the app is on the screen. If I open multiple windows, I get multiple menus. If I make a window really small because I only need to see something really small (like a command reference when I'm programming) then parts of the menu get covered and I have to keep resizing the app to see them. So, tell me, how is the windows way more intuitive or efficient?

    5. Re:For everything Apple does one way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever heard of Fitt's law? Go look at asktog.com for an explanation of why Apple does what they do.

  12. Mistaken is the Official Rebuttal not the comment by viraltus · · Score: 1

    They gave official publicity to the comment... No duh! Now they need an unofficial rebuttal to the official rebuttal so they don't look stupid.... er... wait a minute.

    --
    Dear /. CENSORS that set people's Karma to Neutral when you disagree with them: FUCK YOU!!
  13. Hello Streisand by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, considering that I had no idea what that guy said until I read it here, I'd say MS is putting more fuel on the fire by saying that. Would it have ended up on slashdot even if MS hadn't issued the denial? Maybe, but by denying it, it ensured it ended up on slashdot. In any case, this guy has the title, "partner group manager" which sounds like not only is he a manager but, suspiciously, in marketing too. It is funny though that MS periodically has these guys go off the reservation and start spouting not tactful, but perhaps true comments.

    But anyway, considering that Apple has put a huge amount of effort into streamlining their OS and making it more responsive to the user, just in general I think that's a good thing to emulate in your OS. For example, I can remember waiting on 10.0 and 10.1 for what seemed like eternities for the spinning beach ball to quit but that's gotten a lot better with recent releases. (Don't get me started on if you were trying to log onto an ftp server that wasn't responding.)

    --
    Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
    1. Re:Hello Streisand by bruno.fatia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, considering that I had no idea what that guy said until I read it here, I'd say MS is putting more fuel on the fire by saying that. Would it have ended up on slashdot even if MS hadn't issued the denial? Maybe, but by denying it, it ensured it ended up on slashdot.

      Who said Microsoft cares about whats on slashdot front page? Nothing really "good" from Microsoft is likely going to be news here anyways.

    2. Re:Hello Streisand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would it have ended up on slashdot even if MS hadn't issued the denial?

      Uh, considering it had already been on Slashdot... yes?

    3. Re:Hello Streisand by digitalhermit · · Score: 1

      It would be quite a brilliant move. I imagine that people would be more likely to look at Win7 now if there's a possibility that it was closer to Mac. That's like saying, "We tried to copy the Ferrari design cues. Ferrari engines still suck though, because they're, umm, unreliable."

    4. Re:Hello Streisand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing really "good" from Microsoft

      You're welcome.

    5. Re:Hello Streisand by CrazedSanity · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would venture to guess that the retraction wasn't for the reasons that it appeared to be. Mr. Simon Aldous made a statement that essentially compared Microsoft to Apple, but I don't think the issue at hand has anything to do with any "stealing ideas from Mac" or anything like that; the problem is that Simon basically said, "Mac's interface is better than ours and has been for a long time, so now we're gonna start making ours look like theirs, 'cuz ours sucks." Joe-Bob might read it and think, "wow, Microsoft even says Mac is better, why don't I just buy a Mac?"

      --
      Sanity is like a condom: rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
    6. Re:Hello Streisand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's to say the "leak" wasn't part of the plan from the start?

      The public: Poo in a fishbowl, Vista is horrible.
      Microsoft(1): Windows is now kind of more like the things you like in Mac.
      Microsoft(2): WE JUST WANTED TO MAKE EVERYONE AWARE OF THE UNTRUTHS AND BASELESS ALLEGATIONS MADE AGAINST US WHICH WE WILL FIGHT VIGOROUSLY SHOULD THEY ENTER A COURT.
      Microsoft(1): Do you think they bought it?

    7. Re:Hello Streisand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems to me that new Microsoft technologies often end up on the Slashdot frontpage... accompanied with totally ridiculous complaints about Microsoft copying some completely unrelated piece of existing technology. Those complaints are then easily rebutted in the first few highly moderated comments.

    8. Re:Hello Streisand by andruk · · Score: 1

      Somebody above pointed out the fact that what he said could be grounds for a lawsuit under unfair competition laws. So Microsoft was left between a rock and a hard place. If they didn't say anything, Apple could try to take them to court over copying their specific look and feel ideas (the 1990's case covering this is also mentioned above), but if they did try to officially retract his statement, the Streisand affect comes into play.

      They were in a damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-don't situation, because let's face it: they did copy a lot of ideas from other operating systems. Perhaps they should try to come up with their own ideas instead of playing follow the leader/s (Apple and the KDE team) in UI design.

  14. If this is true... by sitarlo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Then they did a terrible job copying OSX. Windows 7 is still clunky, slow, and unstable. It's nothing like OSX at all.

    1. Re:If this is true... by recoiledsnake · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Windows 7 is still clunky, slow, and unstable.

      Citation needed. I use Windows 7 and it's certainly not one of those.

      --
      This space for rent.
    2. Re:If this is true... by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2, Informative

      Then they did a terrible job copying OSX. Windows 7 is still clunky, slow, and unstable. It's nothing like OSX at all.

      I threw Win7 onto my MacBook Pro via BootCamp for work reasons and it's running fine. Heck, I even managed to get the 64-bit version running on it without any issues.

      I've had no crashes and it feels a little speedier than Vista. So far it's looking like it's not a bad release.

      Now I don't get the OSX and Win7 comparison, they don't look that much alike.

    3. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't know how to use it properly then...

      I am no Windows fan, I have Snow Leopard, Windows 7, XP and Linux (Suse, RedHat, CentOS and unbreakable Linux) all on differing machines...
      All in all, Windows 7 has been stable as a rock on my machine...no problems to report apart from lacking Samsung Scanner Drivers...not MS' fault.

    4. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That says a lot since so many people had rebooting issues just installing the OS.

      The Lexus might be great but if the starter falls out from under it on the first test drive then first impression is already set and it ain't a good one.

    5. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nice article. an antivirus vendor claims that Windows 7 isn't secure and so you need their services more than ever? I'm convinced!

    6. Re:If this is true... by d34dluk3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Windows 7 is still clunky, slow, and unstable.

      Citation needed. I use Windows 7 and it's certainly not one of those.

      Which one of them is it not?

    7. Re:If this is true... by crndg · · Score: 1

      Windows 7 is still clunky, slow, and unstable.

      Citation needed. I use Windows 7 and it's certainly not one of those.

      Which one?

    8. Re:If this is true... by intheshelter · · Score: 1

      I guess we need a citation from you, because many people I know are complaining about this. . . . I'll wait, go ahead and get that citation that is needed . . . . .

    9. Re:If this is true... by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

      Citation needed. I use Windows 7 and it's certainly not one of those.

      I think they meant in relation to OS X and every distribution of GNU/Linux

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    10. Re:If this is true... by xtracto · · Score: 1

      Mhmmm

      That was left as an exercise to the reader?

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    11. Re:If this is true... by Bonus+Mop · · Score: 1

      Oops, I forgot lacks basic security. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/windows7

      Did you even read this article? The claim Wired is reporting about is that Windows 7 security isn't such a big leap over Vista that you can ditch your anti-virus software. They go on to conclude, "Clearly, the company is sensationalizing its findings in order to sell more anti-virus software.".

    12. Re:If this is true... by sitarlo · · Score: 1

      Yes I read the entire article, and it validates exactly what I am saying -- Windows 7 still has the same old problems that previous versions of Windows also failed to solve.

    13. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use Windows 7 and it's certainly not one of those.

      Citation needed.

      (Hey, this is fun!)

    14. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it three of them?

    15. Re:If this is true... by gmb61 · · Score: 1

      From your own article reference:

      Many security researchers agree that Windows operating systems will always be more vulnerable to malware. That’s because the vast majority of PC owners are Windows users, and that gives “the bad guys” greater economic incentive to attack Windows systems.

      Thus, even though Windows 7 ships with more built-in security features than Apple’s Mac OS X, the Mac is still safer because fewer malicious hackers are targeting the less-popular platform.

    16. Re:If this is true... by sitarlo · · Score: 0, Troll

      Yeah I read that. I suppose it is partially true. The other half of the story is that many of Window's vulnerabilities are by design. Look, no matter how much people pick on my reference, Windows is inferior to OSX. Everyone knows it. Microsoft knows it. Get over it and buy a mac. It's not like converting religions or something. I own PCs too. They suck, but they have their purpose - GAMES!

    17. Re:If this is true... by ogdenk · · Score: 1

      I've had it running in a Parallels VM on my Macbook (2009) for about a month. Runs fairly well. Runs even better under Parallels 5 and I even get Aero support. The BS Winblows Experience benchmark numbers in a VM with only one core thrown at it are better than my daughters dual-core Compaq F500 laptop.

      Windows 7 certainly "sucks less". It is still Windows. It's still problematic, annoying and vulnerable but it does indeed....suck less.

      In my opinion, it is certainly no match for OSX 10.6 on most fronts. Or straight BSD on others. But I can stomach using it for more than 10 minutes which is something I couldn't say about XP or Vista.

    18. Re:If this is true... by rantingkitten · · Score: 1

      I find it to be all of those things, but I also find OS X to be a total UI abomination, so as far as I, personally, am concerned, they did a fantastic job copying each other. It's like watching a race to the bottom.

      --
      mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.
    19. Re:If this is true... by Atomic+Fro · · Score: 1

      Now I don't get the OSX and Win7 comparison, they don't look that much alike.

      Thats because Windows is so far behind and, though its is a blatant copy, its not a very well done copy.

      What you do unlock the windows taskbar and move it to the left side of the screen.
      Now, open your default mail-app and have a file mana, err exporer window open. Maybe run xp in a virtual machine. Then check out this screenshot of an old version of OSX and tell me there are no similarities.

      12 years later and still behind.

      --

      ==================
      Hippie Logger Jock
      ==================
    20. Re:If this is true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I found it unacceptably slow, and I had it running on a quad core Q6600 with 8 gigabytes of DDR2-800. I'm not talking about boot speed, but the long delays between when you tell it to do something and when it actually does it, like file copies and such.

      I went back to XP. Hopefully the service packs will keep coming.

  15. This is not like OS X! by zebslash · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft has issued an official rebuttal: "We never used OS X as a source of inspiration in the design of Windows 7. This is completely uninformed. We used KDE 4 instead".

    1. Re:This is not like OS X! by HoldmyCauls · · Score: 1

      And also: "We hope Boot Camp users will find it easy to install!"

      --
      Emacs: for people who just never know when to :q!
  16. Re:If only.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's a plan! microsoft should change the windows API and sell windows 8 in limited numbers, say, only 5 pc every 100 is allowed to run windows 8, that way malware writers will stick on writing programs targeting the win32 api, and presto! we have a secure windows version.

  17. Ideas don't occur in a vacuum by Interoperable · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Apple has a lot of good ideas that Windows and Linux copy. Likewise, Windows and Linux generate a lot of good ideas that the other two copy. It's not surprising that Windows is mimicking some OSX features (and it obviously is). It would just be nice if Microsoft and Apple stopped getting patents on every damned thing (sudo) and acknowledged that other can have good ideas. Personally, I think Windows would do better to take pages from the KDE book, but maybe that's just personal taste.

    --
    So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
    1. Re:Ideas don't occur in a vacuum by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

      I think Windows would do better to take pages from the KDE book, but maybe that's just personal taste.

      I think people would like it, as per my other comment: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1440748&cid=30072032

    2. Re:Ideas don't occur in a vacuum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually what I've found is that most of Apple's ideas for OS N existed as 3rd party software during OS N-1.

  18. Hi, my name is Steve Jobs... by DaRanged · · Score: 1, Redundant

    ... and Windows 7 was my idea!

  19. Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by jkrise · · Score: 1

    Weve taken everything thats good about Vista, along with the core infrastructure of the operating system, and weve made it faster and slimmed down the code to make it more effective.

    Weve also tried to listen to what customers want in terms of a much slicker user interface and the ability to engage with it far more intuitively. Thats the product that were delivering.

    Why are the reviews saying 7 is completely different to Vista, and will be a success? I can only see more disaster for MS. I checked with a few retail outlets in India; and the feedback is that customers are removing 7 andloading Pirated XP instead. I feel this means Corporates will 'up'grade 7 to XP for the time being then.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    1. Re:Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by smitty777 · · Score: 1

      Not sure about that. I think they're trying to distance themselves from Vista. I do agree with you in concept, tho.

      --
      "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
      Albert Einstein
    2. Re:Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by Xest · · Score: 1

      Because the reality is, after a while Vista really wasn't all that bad.

      I ran it for just over a year before 7 came out without a single flaw whatsoever. Vistas biggest problem was it was pretty crappy in it's earlier days and it never really managed to shake off that image.

      I guess the situation in your area isn't representative, because Windows 7 adoption is currently well above Vista adoption.

      Windows 7 has certainly been rather successful so far and it seems to have a much better public image than Vista earmed from it's crappy earlier releases.

    3. Re:Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by Truekaiser · · Score: 1

      the place i work for has been doing that for years. either with vista or with the new machines coming with 7.

      Also i have heard microsoft is allot more careful who they give review copy's of 7 out to now, looks like they desperately want it to be a success that they will make sure all the reviews are positive.

    4. Re:Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh, well, if our worthless tech support slaves are stealing 10 year old software using their fantastic technical "degrees" it must mean doom for Microsoft's fastest selling OS to date.

    5. Re:Should've named it Vista7 or Vista-II instead.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The original working name for 7 was Vista R2. So, you're not far off.

  20. That was close by lyinhart · · Score: 1

    Bad choice of words by the Microsoft guy - definitely spoken like someone who wasn't directly involved in the product's development. It's like he'd never heard of Apple v. Microsoft.

    --
    Freedom is drinking a beer in the park when you're supposed to be at work.
  21. Save face? by professorguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The employee specifically said they copied the Mac's "look and feel" which is a determining factor for infringement lawsuits. So as far as lawyers are concerned, he basically said "We stole some of Apple's work."

    They ain't trying to save face. They are trying to save a lawsuit loss (i.e., money).

    1. Re:Save face? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      What they should have said, then, is "What was that? All of your ground breaking, paradigm defining, insightful ideas were taken from a well respected competitor? Welcome to the board^H^H^H^H...^H^HYou're fired!"

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

      The former employee specifically said...

      There, fixed that for you.

    3. Re:Save face? by RedK · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Except Apple's look and feel lawsuit against Microsoft has already been thrown out. About 20 years ago. So Microsoft can copy "look and feel" all they want, they have the legal precedents to do so.

      --
      "Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
      Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
    4. Re:Save face? by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      No, its not. Unless it looks identical or almost identical, and feels identical or almost identical, there's no infringement.

    5. Re:Save face? by Vancorps · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps because the look and feel then and the look and feel now are still completely different from that of Apple's offerings? I don't think anyone running 7 is confused about what OS they are running. Same with OS X users.

    6. Re:Save face? by Abcd1234 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Except Apple's look and feel lawsuit against Microsoft has already been thrown out. About 20 years ago. So Microsoft can copy "look and feel" all they want, they have the legal precedents to do so.

      Uhhh... no. According to Wikipedia, Apple won because the court ruled that:

      "Apple cannot get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface, or the idea of a desktop metaphor [under copyright law]."

      and, that (and this is a Wikipedia quote):

      "The court established that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on the precise expression of them."

      So, with that said, if Apple could demonstrate that Microsoft copied specific expressions of certain ideas, then they absolutely would have the basis for a lawsuit.

    7. Re:Save face? by commodore64_love · · Score: 1, Interesting

      WINDOWS 95:

      - trashcan copied
      - Shutdown procedure copied
      - Finder Menu copied

      It isn't Windows 7 that is remarkable. It's Windows 95 that went-off and blatantly copied the Mac interface (to the point where I said "I feel like I'm using a Mac"), and they've been using the 95-style paradigm ever since then. I'm surprised Apple never bothered to sue.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    8. Re:Save face? by cygnusx · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      "The court established that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on the precise expression of them."

      And the key word here is _precisely_.

      > - trashcan copied
      Actually, that's exactly why Microsoft never called it the "trashcan". They called it a Recycle Bin. It looks different, too.

      > Shutdown procedure copied
      Windows has a start button attached to a start menu. To shut down, you go Start > Shut down ... > ... This is not _precisely_ the same as the Mac.

      And so on...

      The point is look-and-feel protection is a very narrow protection. It protects you from lookalikes, not workalikes.

      And finally: sue or shut up. Frankly, if some Mac fans (or Apple) feel Windows 7 ripped the Mac off, they ought to get Apple to sue. Lord knows Apple isn't litigation-shy. Thankfully, their lawyers are a little more grown-up than the average Mac fanboy.

    9. Re:Save face? by IorDMUX · · Score: 1
      Even better than the "look and feel" comment, in my opinion, was the statement that Windows 7 is based off of Vista's stability, which is said to be "far more stable" than a Mac:

      We've significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it's built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.

      Basically, what the oddly-informed Microsoft rep is saying is that they took Vista and painted it to look like a Mac.

      ...Really?

      --
      >> Standing on head makes smile of frown, but rest of face also upside down.
    10. Re:Save face? by RobertM1968 · · Score: 1

      Actually, Win95 copied OS/2 largely, followed by Mac and Amiga. And managed to get it all wrong.

    11. Re:Save face? by rsborg · · Score: 1

      ctually, that's exactly why Microsoft never called it the "trashcan". They called it a Recycle Bin. It looks different, too.

      Yeah, and McDowells isn't copying MacDonalds either!
      "They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs".
      Sad ... life imitating art imitating life... infinite regression.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    12. Re:Save face? by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>And finally: sue or shut up.

      (checks paperwork). Nope. There's no record here that you purchased me as your personal slave. Which means my mouth belongs to ME, not you, and your command that I "shut up" is null and void. I will work my mouth (or typing fingers) and say whatever I want to say

      - Win95 copied the Mac System interface.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    13. Re:Save face? by spun · · Score: 1

      This isn't about law suits or damages. This is about fanboi bragging rights and in-group versus out-group defense. You see, Apple and Windows users ego-identify with the hardware/software they have bought, and any challenge to their chosen operating system feels like a personal dominance challenge. Claims and counter claims of theft and innovation are the geek equivalent of hooting and feces flinging in the "lower" primates.

      We Linux users, on the other hand, are far too intelligent and evolved for such petty squabbling. We know we are better, we don't need to prove it.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    14. Re:Save face? by Quarters · · Score: 3, Informative

      Double Jeopardy protects a person from being tried twice for the same crime. It doesn't mean that you can't be held accountable for committing the same type of crime multiple times. If you don't believe me try this; go speeding through a school zone at 80-90mph on a weekday morning. Keep doing this until you are pulled over by the police. Get the ticket, go to trial, pay the money, go to jail, etc.... When all of that is behind you start speeding through school zones again. The next time the cops pull you over look them in the eye and calmly say, "I can do this all I want now, I've already been tried and convicted for this." The Apple/MS look and feel lawsuit you are referring to was about a specific Microsoft product possibly borrowing the look and feel from a specific Apple product. Since both of those products predate Win 7 and Apple OS X the ruling (or dismissal, I can't really remember what happened) in that suit has no bearing whatsoever on whether there has been copying/borrowing going on with both companies current products.

    15. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Actually the lawsuit was about the fact that Microsoft stole the library routines for mac os and called it windows. Which they did and as a stupid loophole in their contract allowed them to do it the judge had no choice. Microsoft was an Apple contractor at the time developing Office (Yes office was Mac only in it's first iteration).

    16. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      Yeah the old joke was "Mac '84 = Windows '95" and it was mostly true.

    17. Re:Save face? by DrVomact · · Score: 1

      And why should I care about that looky feely stuff? Here's what I care about: I installed Windows 7 64 bit on a new build the other day (Intel i5), and it was, without qualification, the easiest OS installation I have ever done. I put the DVD in the drive, booted it, waited around a few minutes while the installer was doing whatever, and answered a few simple prompts. Then it started churning.

      This is usually the first act of a very painful multi-day drama, and I was tired, so I just walked away from it, figuring I'd deal with it the next day, and went to sleep. When I woke up, I noticed the PC looked like it was shut off. Nope...just asleep. It asked me for an admin login and password...and started right up. The OS was installed, and fully functional. I plugged the ethernet cable into the back, and lo, I had connectivity. First I downloaded Firefox, worked fine. Then I downloaded my current MMORPG, Aion, and cranked it up. Ran much better than before. There are no hardware problems, no missing drivers, sound works, everything works. I am happy. If by "look and feel like a Mac" you mean "works, and does not constantly irritate you", then why I suppose it's exactly like a Mac.

      --
      Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
    18. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      And way too busy figuring out how to get things done to bother posting in these "ego identification bouts"

    19. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      You are aware that Microsoft wrote OS/2?

    20. Re:Save face? by spun · · Score: 1

      Well, most of us already have everything done. We've got nothing left to do but look at the solid green status lights adorning our racks and consoles, and post brilliant witticisms and cogent analysis to Slashdot.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    21. Re:Save face? by IntlHarvester · · Score: 1

      That was part of it, but Apple also made very broad claims to fundamental GUI concepts such as title bars, menus, and so on.

      This was tossed out on principle, but not before Apple had buried GEM Desktop with their legal threats. (And that company did not "steal" or trade code from Apple.)

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
    22. Re:Save face? by arminw · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...So Microsoft can copy "look and feel" all they want,...

      Boy and they have been doing it too, wholesale! The problem is they do a pretty poor job of it. The task-bar, for example, is a second rate copy of the OS X dock. They have copied the transparency effect in the task-bar and Window frames. They even copied the crinkled paper sound when emptying the trash can they call they "recycle bin".

      They still shut down the computer using the "start" menu. It still has the abomination called the registry. It won't open PDF files without downloading a reader program first. A user still has to go through a not always working "uninstall" rigamarole, rather than simply dragging the program to be deleted to the trash. Apple trusts their users by not requiring lengthy installation codes and don't require an Internet connection to activate their computer. The computer, even a Hackintosh is always activated.

      What does Windows 7 have out-of-the-box that OS X won't do? Play as many games? Run some specialized corporate software? OK, what else?

      The Apple Time Machine program is a far better backup system that requires no work, being fully automatic, after setup. It is able to backup multiple computers over the network. The Apple iLife programs are light-years ahead of what Microsoft offers.

      --
      All theory is gray
    23. Re:Save face? by arminw · · Score: 1

      ...To shut down, you go Start > Shut down ... >...

      Yeah that's real intuitive isn't it, press the start button in order to shut down your computer!

      --
      All theory is gray
    24. Re:Save face? by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      You are aware that Microsoft wrote OS/2?

      Co-wrote.

      Not sure what part of the GUI was MS and what was IBM, as the original OS/2 was a DOS-esque command line affair with a GUI based on windows 2.0 following shortly. The GP is probably talking about the OS/2 2.0 GUI that was a significant step forward. Or maybe Warp.

      Anyway, I always thought of it as more of an echo of the Amiga GUI....

    25. Re:Save face? by RedK · · Score: 1

      Uhhh... no. According to Wikipedia, Apple won because the court ruled that

      Apple won ? According to your own wikipedia article :

      Apple lost all claims in the suit except for the ruling that the trash can icon and file folder icons from Hewlett-Packard's NewWave windows application were infringing.

      Hence Apple lost the look and feel lawsuit, it won the copyright infrigment portions of the suit. Like you quoted, you can't patent or copyright "look and feel", thus Microsoft is free, and has legal precedent to back it up, to copy said look and feel.

      --
      "Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
      Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
    26. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      The endless sunshine of a spotless mind, wonderful.

    27. Re:Save face? by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      I do recall, however, that Microsoft had to say File -> Exit, because MacOS already used File -> Quit.

    28. Re:Save face? by dan828 · · Score: 1

      Seriously, what kind of idiot, in this economy, embarrasses the hell out of his company with a statement to reporters that goes against 20 years of PR?

    29. Re:Save face? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 1

      An honest one.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    30. Re:Save face? by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Actually the lawsuit was about the fact that Microsoft stole the library routines for mac os....

      No. If that was what it had been about, HP and their "NewWave" system wouldn't have been co-defendants. It was about Apple's insane (and disgusting) attempt to overreach the bounds of copyright law by laying claim to the "look and feel" of their system whose look and feel wasn't even original to them. (It was heavily based on designs by Xerox, who actually attempted a blocking lawsuit at the time, but were barred because of the statute of limitations had run out.)

      Yes, Apple lost a lot of that case because of contracts they had with MS, but that was never the basis of the suit, nor were the contractual issues the only reason they lost. They also (fortunately for the world) lost because A) they themselves "stole" a lot of the stuff they were accusing MS and HP of stealing, and B) most of it wasn't protectable under copyright law in any case (the one good thing to come out of that despicable lawsuit). Their actions in bringing the lawsuit, and their arguments in it were so disgusting and abhorrent that they became the first and still only company ever actively boycotted by the Free Software Foundation. Even Microsoft has never managed to achieve that level of evil!

      Apple has improved over the years, and they seem to be a fairly decent company these days (relatively speaking), but you've really gotta be a brainwashed Apple zombie fanboi to try to whitewash that whole mess!

    31. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read the book 'Barbarians led by Bill Gates' if you'd like to know a bit more on how MS worked when they first started up.

    32. Re:Save face? by sbeckstead · · Score: 0, Troll

      brainwashed Apple zombie fanboi Nice ad hominem. But if you want to believe the FSF propaganda, go right ahead.

    33. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You performed an OS installation that was hassle-free. Congratulations - it's 2009. Mac installations have been as such since 2001. Good for you.

    34. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. It is.

    35. Re:Save face? by daver00 · · Score: 1

      Thankfully, their lawyers are a little more grown-up than the average Mac fanboy.

      I'm really not so sure about that...

    36. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Apple stole from Xerox!

    37. Re:Save face? by RobertM1968 · · Score: 1

      You are aware, that (1) as someone else said, OS/2 version *1* was co-written, and IBM took over development for v2 to v5.

      You are also aware that the Workplace Shell is an entirely IBM component, correct (patent and all)? You know... the WPS that MS tried copying and blundered on for Win95? You remember, the one that IBM released in 1990 in the OS/2 2.0 betas and alphas? That one.

    38. Re:Save face? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't see what this has to do with double jeopardy, it was about the legal precedent that case set.

      To take you analogy and rework it, if you got pulled over by the police for speeding at 80-90 miles an hour, and the judge said they couldn't give you a ticket because everyone else was speeding*, then the next time it happened you could get off with the same defence.

      In other words, the products involved may be different, but it is the same situation, so should result in the same outcome.

      *I'm not trying to say this would be a valid defence, just using it for the purpose of this analogy.

    39. Re:Save face? by Quarters · · Score: 1

      Assuming you're the same AC I replied to, you're contradicting yourself. If a case was 'thrown out of court' then there was no judgment and no precedent. The lawsuit in question was ruled upon. You are probably confusing the fact that Xerox sued Apple during the same period and had that case dismissed due to the expiration of a statute of limitations. The ruling in the Apple vs Microsoft case went in Microsoft's favor. But, that lawsuit was not based on copyright infringement it was based upon the argument that Microsoft breached the licensing contract they had with Apple regarding Windows 1.0. Since it was a contractual matter no precedent was set. The court's ruling was specifically narrowly focused on the contractual issues so that it wouldn't create a more far reaching look and feel precedent. My analogy is quite apt. Microsoft won that court case based on the facts and evidence presented regarding a specific licensing agreement regarding a specific version of Windows. That ruling in their favor was not precedent setting. The post I was replying to implied that since Microsoft won once (although the poster felt this was due to a dismissal, it wasn't) they could copy all they wanted. That is a bastardization of the definition of double jeopardy. I, correctly, pointed out that double jeopardy does not work that way. Microsoft can not freely copy Apple's work based on one narrow ruling in their favor +20 years ago.

  22. Paging Mr. Balmer by m0s3m8n · · Score: 1

    From the MS intercom system... "Paging Mr. Balmer. Your expertise is needed in HR for some water boarding! And bring a chair too."

    --
    Conservative, mod down for violating /. political norms.
  23. Defenseable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds to me like the "Liar, liar, pants on fire defense"

  24. I'm a Mac by Jezza · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I'm a Mac, and Windows 7 was my idea!

    1. Re:I'm a Mac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a Mac, and Windows 7 was my idea!

      there, I want funny mods too.

  25. Underwriters by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 0, Troll
    In 1994 and earlier:

    Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 709 F.Supp. 925 (N.D.Cal.1989) (Apple I); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 717 F.Supp. 1428 (N.D.Cal.1989) (Apple II); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 759 F.Supp. 1444 (N.D.Cal.1991) (Apple III); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 779 F.Supp. 133 (N.D.Cal.1991) (Apple IV); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 799 F.Supp. 1006 (N.D.Cal.1992) (Apple V); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 821 F.Supp. 616 (N.D.Cal.1993) (Apple VI).

    And in 2003:

    8. In 1995, Microsoft introduced a software package called Windows 95, which announced itself as the first operating system for Intel-compatible PCs that exhibited the same sort of integrated features as the Mac OS running PCs manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. ("Apple"). Windows 95 enjoyed unprecedented popularity with consumers, and in June 1998, Microsoft released its successor, Windows 98.
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. MICROSOFT CORPORATION, Defendant. COURT'S FINDINGS OF FACT

    And in 2005:

    "They can't even copy fast,"

    It is truly bizarre that average people allow the shills to make noise promoting such incompetence. Look at their search engine payment bug and you are reminded yet again what kind of people they must scrape the bottom of the barrel to get. Not just known-nothings, but fresh-out-of-school ones at that. Sadly that scam has gone on for a generation. What happens if they get into schools or colleges and start posing as staff or faculty??

    --
    Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
    1. Re:Underwriters by MetalPhalanx · · Score: 1

      "What happens if they get into schools or colleges and start posing as staff or faculty?"

      Sadly that has already happened long ago. Shitty profs are shitty profs. And, I'd rather have a shitty prof JUST out of school (who may actually understand the internet and at the very least may post notes) rather than a shitty OLD prof who sucks and doesn't understand this new-fangled internet thing.

    2. Re:Underwriters by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 1

      Not if they're just posers from Microsoft using the classroom as a captive audience for marketeering. That and smearing the school's name through the mud by claiming affiliation.

      --
      Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
  26. Bad Analogy (courtesy MS) by smitty777 · · Score: 1

    FTA: "When the sun is shining there’s no incentive to change the roof on your house. It’s only when its raining that you realise there’s a problem."

    Ahem....um...so I guess by rain, you mean some sort of Katrina like attention getter? Sheesh...

    --
    "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
    Albert Einstein
  27. They were caught telling the truth. by DoctorNathaniel · · Score: 1

    Always a classic screw-up.

  28. Put aside the ego... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1

    But I suspect lots of Linux/Mac OSX fanatics will be coming in 3.. 2.. 1..

    Who cares about them, though! For the rest of us, it's a non-issue. Lets face it - the best thing about the Macs *is* their interface. It certainly isn't the overpriced hardware and its limited capacity for upgradeabiity. If Microsoft can sell me a similar interface without these issues, then that's a plus for me. Yay! Capitalism!

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    1. Re:Put aside the ego... by jedidiah · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      No. The best thing about Macs is they aren't malware prone like Windows. They aren't dominated by Microsoft software that is created with an incompetent notion of usability that ultimately leads to innovating new forms of malware. They are safe for "grandma" to use not because they are inherently more "usable" but because they are inherently more secure and you won't by constantly trying to prevent her from browsing the wrong site or enabling the wrong browser plugin.

      Everyone else should view the Microsoft debacle in this respect as a warning and act accordingly.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Put aside the ego... by Vancorps · · Score: 0, Troll

      As someone dealing with unencrypted file transfers from OS X I laugh at it being more secure. I'll grant in some ways it's better. For those of us that haven't been running as Administrative users and yes, that includes my grandma, we haven't been worrying about browsing the wrong site for many years now. The advantage for OS X is that it treats it's users like idiots and in reality that's probably a reasonable assumption. Fortunately there are ways to open it up but you're still left with an OS that sucks at playing with others. I'm referring to ever worsening Samba support making file transfers to both Linux and Windows servers absurdly slow, then of course there is the shaky NFS support which has only slightly improved with time. I'll never understand why Apple couldn't use the IPSec transfer abilities like Samba on Linux does. Instead it will just send your username/password and all your data over the pipe in the clear. Yes, real security!

    3. Re:Put aside the ego... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 2, Interesting


      I'm torn! On the one hand, I don't think you can legitimately call Microsoft learning from a competitor a debacle on their part. On the other hand, I can see from your sig that you loathe the usurping and stupid SI versions of computer memory terms and their pandering to the brainless as much as I do!

      So I'll merely lament your inappropriate modding as Flamebait. Slashdot's getting so that you can't post anything without getting a Flamebait or Troll mod unless you write like you're talking to a very spoilt child that will cry if you contradict them.

      Regards,
      H.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    4. Re:Put aside the ego... by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't try to bullshit the rest of us. Windows gets shoved down our collective throats so we can't help but have experience with it. This isn't like MacOS where you're only ever going to have experience with it if you explicitly seek it out.

      Need encryption? Try using a tool that explicitly ensures it. There is even a "checkbox" for it.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    5. Re:Put aside the ego... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      "I'm referring to ever worsening Samba support making file transfers to both Linux and Windows servers absurdly slow,"

      Why don't you just scp things for encrypted file transfers? It comes native with linux and OSX...and just throw Cygwin on your windows box or the GUI version (WinSCP?) and be good to go....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    6. Re:Put aside the ego... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you really sound like a total n00bster comparing OS X's "checkbox" encryption to Samba authentication, fyi

    7. Re:Put aside the ego... by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

      Yeah. I use putty and pscp on Windows for this, and it works very well.

      Might not be feasible in the other poster's environment, though.

    8. Re:Put aside the ego... by matty619 · · Score: 1

      I guess it depends on where you work, or go to school. Many colleges strongly encourage students to use Macs, and a huge percentage of the graphical design industry is all Mac. And every time I turn the TV on, I'm being bashed over the head w/ that god damned "Hi, I'm a Mac" douche bag. Its all a matter of perspective.

    9. Re:Put aside the ego... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      The "checkbox" in question is for the MacOS ssh daemon.

      My OS can browse remote filesystems across ssh as if they were mounted like regular filesystems.

      Can't yours?

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  29. Look and Feel by Adrian+Lopez · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Considering Apple's litigious nature and the fact that it once sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing on the MacOS "look and feel", I can easily see why Microsoft would want to distance itself from this guy's statements. Apple has always wanted to have exclusive rights over Mac-like graphical interfaces, damn the negative consequences to the rest of the industry.

    This guy's statements are fodder for Apple's bloodthirsty lawyers. Should it turn out he's lying about Microsoft's intentions, firing him would seem to be the best course of action.

    --
    "In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
    1. Re:Look and Feel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple and Microsoft worked out the whole "look and feel" legalities years ago. Back in the Win 95/98 era, if I recall.

    2. Re:Look and Feel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering Apple's litigious nature and the fact that it once sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing on the MacOS "look and feel"

      Thing is, Apple lost, and the ruling effectively barred all look and feel type lawsuits in the future (excluding such things as exact icon designs etc. which are a relatively minor issue). Anyhow, Apple would be foolish to open this can of worms again - last time *they* ended up being sued by Xerox over things they sued MS for, this time I'm sure that just about anything they sued MS for would have already appeared in some other previous gui (possibly quite obscure), so they could end up losing big time even if they won against MS.

      Apple do much better playing the 'even MS admit they are playing catchup with our superior infterface' card.

    3. Re:Look and Feel by celle · · Score: 1

      "Considering Apple's litigious nature and the fact that it once sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing on the MacOS "look and feel""

      Apple lost as the court said you can't sue over 'look and feel', so what's all this whining about lawyers again?

    4. Re:Look and Feel by maccam · · Score: 1

      Why say allegedly? MS eventually paid Apple (Scully's time) for use of some interface features to head off that lawsuit. The flagship apps of Office were Mac apps before long they were Windows apps. So, you expect us to believe that MS used none of what they learned during years of writing for Apple's GUI in the development of Windows?

      --
      Half Word - Will Double, Wire Palindrome, San Francisco
  30. "built on that very stable core Vista technology" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the article: "it’s built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance."

    Apple's development model, for years, has been to perpetually tweak and improve on their existing operating system code. Not to mention it's Unix, which has been around since the dinosaurs. He even says in the article that XP was completely rebuilt for Vista, which was then gutted again for this new Vista2. He wants to talk about stability? Why am I surprised?

  31. Sounds like.... by SendBot · · Score: 1

    sounds like someone doesn't want to get sued by apple for defamation.

  32. Someone got called out by onyxruby · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So some clueless employee in a company of tens of thousands of employees made a comment on the record. If this was an employee on one of the design teams, and it was a comment in an email to their manager and said email leaked, there would be a story and a lawsuit. However it wasn't, it just happened to be conjecture by someone that pulled their comment out of their ass.

    The employee should have known better to make such a comment to begin with and is likely now /very/ aware of Microsoft's press policy.

    What the employee did was no different from a factory worker for Ford that spends their day driving new cars into the parking lot making a comment about the design inspiration for the F-150. To be frank, I'll be surprised if the employee doesn't get fired, they certainly have cause.

    1. Re:Someone got called out by Chapter80 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Read the article. This was Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous. Not "just" some clueless employee, but a high ranking clueless employee speaking to the press.

      This is MUCH different from a factory worker. This is Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous. Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous. Not a factory worker. Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous.

  33. If you believe in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    evolution. Then the chances of a random chain of events leading to Windows 7 looking like OS X is possible. It might even be the only explanation.

  34. GeoWorks by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 1

    Man, I miss GeoWorks. Especially that pushpin on menus. Anybody else remember and miss that?

    1. Re:GeoWorks by jcr · · Score: 1

      Openlook had pushpins on menus too, and Nextstep and Mac System 7 had tear-off menus. I'd like to something like that come back.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  35. As reported on by zdnet australia by jonaskoelker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "We never used OS X as a source of inspiration in the design of Windows 7. This is completely uninformed. We used KDE 4 instead".

    That's not far from the truth.

    Or at least, if you tell people KDE4 is Windows 7, they believe it.

  36. MS Innovations have never been about Design by BlueBoxSW.com · · Score: 0, Troll

    MS innovations have always been in Marketing themselves.

  37. Quick, name one technology... by xednieht · · Score: 1

    Besides the EULA that Microsoft actually invented. Serious question, not trolling. What new technology, not just old tech with a new name, has Microsoft actually invented? To me it seems that their contribution to the software is the EULA, not the underlying tech itself.

    --

    Hope is the currency of fools
    1. Re:Quick, name one technology... by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      Quick, name one technology Apple has invented.

      Remember, the GUI, mouse, etc. were all invented at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    2. Re:Quick, name one technology... by phillymjs · · Score: 2, Informative

      Firewire.
      Apple Desktop Bus (which was copied and improved a bit by Intel, and named USB).

      There's two.

      ~Philly

    3. Re:Quick, name one technology... by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Besides the EULA that Microsoft actually invented. Serious question, not trolling. What new technology, not just old tech with a new name, has Microsoft actually invented?

      Direct X, remote desktop protocol (the new features go beyond any other system out there atm), Legacy Plug and Play, AGLP/AGGDLP/AGUDLP, Windows Media Audio (with a tonne of codecs), Windows Media Video (with a tonne of codecs) and that's just from the top of my head.

      Hope this was helpful.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    4. Re:Quick, name one technology... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple has invente the first personnal computer that you can hook on a TV (1977).
      After they invented the first low cost floppy disk controler.
      They made one of the first PDA before the palm with handwriting reconition (Newton)
      They had the first mass market Postscript laser printer.
      They invented the first icon base GUI (the Xerox Star had no icon, only box and drop down text menu)
      Quickdraw was a major breakthrought for fast display rendering, And Microsoft has try so many year to replicate that performance, and was not able until 11 years after with windows 95.
      The ADB, Appletalk, Firewire, was all created by Apple.
      The USB, SCSI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, NuBus, was technology been push by Apple. It's funny to see how the market for USB product take off only after Apple has coming out with the original iMac, the first USB mac.

      Desktop PeeCee still have 1.44 diskettes.

    5. Re:Quick, name one technology... by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      While you might have a point with Firewire and ADB, those are two hardware innovations by Apple being compared to Microsoft, which has been primarily a software company and whose hardware side has used established hardware standards. Basically, you are having to reach into an area in which Microsoft does not compete in order to find examples which provides Apple an unfair advantage.

      And, about ADB becoming USB:

      USB was created by a core group of companies that consisted of Compaq, Digital, IBM, Intel, Northern Telecom, and Microsoft

      While the use of ADB in Apple computers was superseded by USB, USB was not created from ADB. The USB 1.0 specification was first introduced in 1996, two years before ADB was removed from Apple devices. About the only thing the two specification have in common is the number of pins commonly used.

      And, while I am thinking about it, can you imagine the outcry if Microsoft made computers and used proprietary hardware and connectors and stated that one could only run Microsoft software on Microsoft hardware? That is exactly what Apple does, yet many turn a blind on to it.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    6. Re:Quick, name one technology... by ogdenk · · Score: 1

      The first ready to use pre-packaged, pre-assembled personal computer. The Apple II.

    7. Re:Quick, name one technology... by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      Again, that is hardware, not software. Back then MS wasn't into hardware at all, so again, it is an unfair comparison.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    8. Re:Quick, name one technology... by phillymjs · · Score: 1

      While you might have a point with Firewire and ADB, those are two hardware innovations by Apple being compared to Microsoft, which has been primarily a software company and whose hardware side has used established hardware standards. Basically, you are having to reach into an area in which Microsoft does not compete in order to find examples which provides Apple an unfair advantage.

      Okay, how about AppleTalk? A zero-configuration networking protocol which has been superseded by Zeroconf (Bonjour) networking, essentially an improved version.

      While the use of ADB in Apple computers was superseded by USB, USB was not created from ADB.

      USB is most certainly an indirect descendant of ADB. ADB was a low-power serial bus designed for input devices and allowed daisy-chaining. USB is a low-power serial bus originally designed for input devices, which allows daisy-chaining, plus it is hot-pluggable and uses more sturdy connectors, to name two improvements.

      ~Philly

    9. Re:Quick, name one technology... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Direct X try to copy OpenGL
      Legacy Plug and play was an ugly try to add what all other system beside PC has no problem with.
      The first Video for Windows player was a total rip off of the Quicktime player and the cinepak codec (Microsoft gave 150m$ to apple in a off court reglement).

      Microsoft never invented anything, they buy out technology from others (NCSA Mosaic that become IE for example) or if they can't they try to replicate and and do anything they can to kill other business (Stacker for example)

    10. Re:Quick, name one technology... by ogdenk · · Score: 1

      2D graphics acceleration on microcomputers starting with the Lisa then :P

    11. Re:Quick, name one technology... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you asked for technology. That's hardware. If you speak about ideas they invented desktop publishing. There were GUI based stuff before from xerox but they were specialized workstations.

    12. Re:Quick, name one technology... by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Direct X try to copy OpenGL

      I fail to understand how it's a copy of OpenGL. They're not even similar in how they approach things. OpenGL was also deemed at the time something for uber high end systems, not low end which Windows was often running on. Not to mention at the time, everyone had their own magical graphical standard, Microsoft just happened to completely standardize that down to direct x and opengl on Windows.

      Legacy Plug and play was an ugly try to add what all other system beside PC has no problem with.

      It was a great workaround technology due to the limitations of PC hardware, I don't see why Microsoft shouldn't be recognized for working around some of the more majorly difficult problems we've had in PCs.

      The first Video for Windows player was a total rip off of the Quicktime player and the cinepak codec (Microsoft gave 150m$ to apple in a off court reglement).

      I didn't say video for windows, nor did I say player. The technologies I mentioned take some dramatic shift in other directions than other existing systems do, thus a different technology all together.

      It's like saying LCD means nothing because CRT was created first - That's ridiculous. The majority of technology we have out there, from any company was based on other things done by man. Apple didn't invent the GUI, Xerox got the credit, even though the concept of an GUI had been floating around for years in scifi books etc.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    13. Re:Quick, name one technology... by BadDreamer · · Score: 1

      Quick, name one technology MS has invented.

    14. Re:Quick, name one technology... by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      Did you even bother to read the GGP post that started this thread?

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
  38. Duh! by db32 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If Microsoft hasn't been copying Macs the entire time they would be shipping 5-Star notebooks and Bic pens rebranded as MS office. Aqua vs Aero? I think the jab there is fairly obvious. Dashboard vs Sidebar? They are like the same damned thing, except Dashboard is less irritating. Apple makes iPod, MS rushes to make a Zune? I realize their products are very different under the hood, and how they behave, but on the surface MS spends quite a bit of time copying Apple to make "original and innovative" things for Windows. I haven't used Win 7 myself yet, but I have watched people show it off and the first thing I thought of in many of the new "shiney" is "Hey, Mac was doing that a year or two ago".

    --
    The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
  39. Re:If only.... by Procasinator · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ummm... Windows Vista and onwards is more secure out of the box. I mean, Mac OS X hasn't even really implemented ASLR yet. That Mac OS X is more secure is a common misconception.

    Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hack-windows-security-snow-leopard,8704.html

    Charlier Miller covers why he thinks Windows is more secure than Mac OS X.

  40. Nothing to see here by BlortHorc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh man, the number of times I've heard one of the BD/marketing guys spouting off about some shit he has only been paid to sell, not understand and I've thought, man, seriously hope no one he is talking to has a clue, because, really, if they do, we are going to look like dicks right now.

    This shit happens a hundred times a day all over the world, BD/marketing guys spout shit, what we pay them for, apparently, just happens this time someone wrote it down where people who know better could see.

    Nothing MS specific about this, except this particular waste of space happens to work for them. Or at least, he did :)

  41. u need a Mac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    there's a app 4 that

  42. the future... by Drasham · · Score: 1

    I often wonder at what point the fans of both sides will stop and realize that both OSas are convergently evolving? We can all see how both OSs have slowly been drawing closer and closer together. Additionally, where do you draw the line between a company's "property" and a "good idea"? Both OSs use a window driven interface, both have close and minimize buttons, both use a mouse, et cetera... Heck, even Linux OSs have a window's-ish GUI. "Can't we all just get along?"

  43. genius defined by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    Some people say genius is achieved in a work of art when there is simply nothing more to add, others say it's achieved when there is nothing more to take away.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  44. Apparently by idontgno · · Score: 1

    life DOES follow art.

    (Using a liberal definition of "art" to encompass advertising.)

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  45. What did you expect... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    What did you expect Microsoft to say? Did you really expect them to officially acknowledge that Windows 7 is an OS-X rip-off?

  46. This isn't news to me by Moas · · Score: 1

    A few years ago before Vista came out I went to the local Apple store with her and glanced at one of the desktops. I clicked around for a minute saw the sidebar, "Aero" interface, how the icons jumped around smoothly, etc. I said to her "That's what the new Windows interface is going to look like; they are always copying from Apple". Now keep in mind I hadn't seen a preview of Vista at this time. Sure enough Microsoft's interface looked and acted like the one in the Apple store. I pretty much only use Microsoft products...but I thought it was very funny.

  47. Blue Steel... Ferrari? Le Tigra? by slagdemon · · Score: 1

    They're the same face! Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

  48. Have always had secondary menus by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Apple takes the approach that the user doesn't want to fuss with all sorts of menus and submenus (no two button mouse for years!)

    That is simply not the case. Macs have ALWAYS HAD two button mice, in that you could always use a keyboard modifier to access the context menu even with just one button - you are basically claiming Macs for years had no context menus which was never, ever true. If you bought a two button mouse, it would ALWAYS activate the context menus - from the very first version of OS X.

    I agree with your point about aesthetics but that doesn't mean Apple does not also provide layers of menus and commands (just try using XCode sometime and you will see). They do try to align application layers more (UI, and underlying frameworks used).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Have always had secondary menus by IntlHarvester · · Score: 1

      That is simply not the case. Macs have ALWAYS HAD two button mice, in that you could always use a keyboard modifier to access the context menu even with just one button - you are basically claiming Macs for years had no context menus which was never, ever true.

      This is totally untrue. The old MacOS had no support for context menus until long after Windows became popular (System 8 timeframe). Previously they were kludged into a couple applications -- the "bad Windows port" of MS Office in particular -- but they were not really widely used across the board until much later.

      If you could show me any evidence of context menus (control-click or otherwise) in 1980s era Mac applications, I'd like to see it.

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
  49. There's Nothing Uglier Than... by flameproof · · Score: 1

    Lipstick on a pig.

    --
    ~Just as a thing fails if it lacks a kernel, so too it fails if it lacks a skin. ~ Rumi, Discourses
  50. Re:If only.... by MartinSchou · · Score: 1

    Mac OS X hasn't even really implemented ASLR yet

    They haven't implemented Age/Sex/Location-Restrictions yet? The bastards!

  51. Then OS X better suits what you say you want to do by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    This is my problem - I do use this manner. It's handy because I don't have to learn the various different short cuts accross different applications.

    You say you want the speed of keyboard only but the ALSO say you cannot learn quick commands? Which is it, did you want faster access to application features or not? If there's something you use with any regularity you'd set a shortcut for it if one did not already exist.

    It also allows me to explore the various commands quickly in a new application or get to commands without shortcuts without leaving my keyboard.

    Then you should prefer OS X where you can either type letters or use the arrow keys to explore menus, and you have more free command sequences to assign to shortcuts since the menus are not consuming them.

    To me this highlights a fundamental difference between OS X and Windows - OS X tries to leave you as free as possible to do things the way you want to do them. Windows consumes multiple valuable keyboard commands because hey, it knows better than you what would be a useful way to use a keystroke sequence.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  52. Apple paid Xerox for GUI/Mouse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    1. Re:Apple paid Xerox for GUI/Mouse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple paid for the rights to use many of the concepts developed by Xerox for the Star and Alto by paying Xerox in Apple stock. That makes it considerably different than simple "copying."

      Did you read through your own link? It correctly states that Xerox later sued Apple for violating its copyright by appropriating the use of the "look and feel".

  53. If it was... by alexborges · · Score: 1

    Anything like OSX, it woudlve actually made sense. It isnt, thats why its crap.

    --
    NO SIG
  54. Re:If only.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a bunch of crap,

    Tom Hardware only quote a unknow guy, and Charlie's hack use a plugins (flash) for been able to win the prize.

    One thing for sure, you can't hide a process on the Mac OS like you can on windows with root kit and all the crap running on single or multiple svchosts. Those are the flaw of Windows.

    BTW on Windows 7 x64, why 64 bits DLL are in system32 folder and the 32 bit ones are in sysWoW64? what a mess. And why they put all versions of all previous version of windows in the WinSxs folder? Why I need 15 years of DLL with all the crap that come with?
       

  55. To troll or not to troll by flyneye · · Score: 1

    (giggles) No! I cant go through with it. My karma is too good right now to inject the obvious hilarious remarks about Windows and Mac. Just watching you guys carrying on is funny enough right now.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  56. Pot, Kettle. by DarthStrydre · · Score: 1

    This, coming from a user advocating an OS that doesn't even have an SSH client.

  57. You're mistaken by MisterSquid · · Score: 1

    You have no idea what you're talking about. CTRL-F2 gives keyboard focus to the menubar and you can explore the menubar using the keyboard, targeting specific menu commands by typing the first several letters of the item you're interested in.

    This gives one access to the entire menu system via the keyboard, not just the items a programmer decided to provide keyboard shortcuts for.

    --
    blog
  58. Ok, well, let's look by mario_grgic · · Score: 1

    Taksbar now looks like dock did in Tiger 4 years ago.

    Windows have drop shadow, like they do in OS X for a long time now.

    Aero peek and aero flip 3d are rip off of expose.

    Windows search is still not as fast, extensive and as Spotlight is in OS X.

    So, yes, they have tried to re-implement OS X features, but as as all things Microsoft, they lack polish and taste :D. User experience is still noticeably not as good or as refined as in OS X, I doubt is can ever be without simplifying things at the OS core.

    --
    As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
    1. Re:Ok, well, let's look by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Taksbar now looks like dock did in Tiger 4 years ago.

      Doesn't look like it to me. Where is the programs menu in the dock? Why isn't it centered on the screen like the dock? Why isn't resizable in the same scalable method OS X does etc.

      Windows have drop shadow, like they do in OS X for a long time now.

      I've had drop shadows in win3.11 (and in other earlier OSes), it was using a trick with 1 bit black, 1 bit transparent shading. Then in win2k, check "appearance settings" in desktop preferences, uses an alpha trick. In WinVista, still uses an alpha trick, but done in a completely different way.

      Windows search is still not as fast, extensive and as Spotlight is in OS X.

      Seems pretty instant to me (and I even chose a video you would like) and with my own testing on the same hardware, Windows Search often beats spotlight. Nevermind the fact that this was already planned back in win2k with the indexing service project that was never finished and on Unix/BSD/Linux systems predate that with GUI interfaces to 'locate'.

      So, yes, they have tried to re-implement OS X features, but as as all things Microsoft, they lack polish and taste :D

      Oh Christ, window drop shadows, big feature. Programs without their titles - Oh nos, OS X is being stolen!!!!

      Oh this is so innovative and only Apple could come up with such ideas!

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    2. Re:Ok, well, let's look by mario_grgic · · Score: 2, Funny

      You seem to be one of those people who don't get it. It's not any one individual feature, or lots of them that makes OS X polished. It's how they work together, and how usable they are (usability is all about hiding complexity or exposing the absolute minimum necessary to get something accomplished in an as intuitive way as possible).

      And this is where OS X shines. When I first switched to it from years of mental abuse from Redmond, I felt naked without complexity (where is my regedit, computer icons on desktop to right click on and choose manage, where are all the dialogs popping and jumping in my face, things steeling focus, where are the problems for me to tinker with instead of you know doing things that I turned the computer on for). IT just all seemed too simple, and I was wondering, what the hell, how can you do anything with so little. I didn't realize that I was conditioned for years to expect trouble, to spend my valuable time making windows run smoothly to the point that it become an instinct and expectation. Without it I felt just wrong.

      But amazingly enough, you later realize that you don't need any of those things, and that OS X just gets out of the way, and lets you do things, and enjoy your applications. And the few base services that it does provide (like spotlight, expose, spaces, etc) are there on each machine and they work well and fast. And you don't need to spend significant amount of your time baby sitting the OS and making it run fast and smoothly. It does that on its own. My OS X installation is just as fast as the first day I put it there 2 years later. Windows somehow manages to get progressively slower with time.

      --
      As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
    3. Re:Ok, well, let's look by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      You seem to be one of those people who don't get it.

      I'm going to nerrrrrrd raaagge for the hell of it.

      It's not any one individual feature, or lots of them that makes OS X polished. It's how they work together, and how usable they are (usability is all about hiding complexity or exposing the absolute minimum necessary to get something accomplished in an as intuitive way as possible).

      Drop shadows worked just fine on the start menu since it was first introduced in windows chicago. When windows search came out, it also 'just worked' fine with those other features.

      Sorry, but if you're not going to provide examples, I'll use the examples that I was provided and in those cases, it's random non-sense.

      When I first switched to it from years of mental abuse from Redmond

      I'm not a "switcher". I'm platform agnostic, I have a tendency to hate all OSes. Now, the problem is - You're talking to someone who knows OS X very well and I know all of OS X's little nooks and crannies. From the broken UNIX support in the BSD subsystem which is inferior to Windows' POSIX subsystem (which is also unix certified mind you) to the broken OpenGL implementation with poorly polished graphics drivers.

      I felt naked without complexity (where is my regedit

      Why, it's the billion xml files included with OS X, where if you screw up the formatting can prevent OS X from even letting you boot in because there is no GUI tools for letting you modify most settings (compared to other OSes) since they're completely hidden from the user.

      computer icons on desktop to right click on and choose manage

      Use the control panel like on OS X if you don't want to hit that.

      Christ, you should see the popups I get on OS X whenever I try to do anything with Safari and downloads.

      things steeling focus

      You've never worked with fullscreen applications on OS X extensively, obviously

      where are the problems for me to tinker with instead of you know doing things that I turned the computer on for).

      Yes, I just want my computer to work - And that involves it working the way I want, not the way Apple deemed I should jump through a billion hoops to do. I don't care for editing secret files, googling settings when I can get it all in GUI settings - amazingly, Windows and Linux is far better at that than OS X.

      Now, maybe for your tasks (webbrowsing with Safari, Mail.app (provided it's not using imap), iphoto) it's fine, and I congratulate you, great, marvelous. However, the moment you need to do something with OS X out of it's tiny little box, you're going to have problems and this is where most other OSes can go beyond.

      IT just all seemed too simple, and I was wondering, what the hell, how can you do anything with so little.

      Yes, I needed the Unix/POSIX support that was claimed for OS X, that OS X was promoted to be so awesome at. A standard fork() without exec() (this is POSIX specifications compliant - Works on real Unix just fine), however OS X cannot guarantee that the libraries in use are 'async-signal-safe' and crashes the thread and thus the entire application.

      Wonderful, that POSIX/Unix stuff 'just works' with the system, doesn't it? Works all pretty with those drop shadows with the crash mes.. Oh wait, there is no crash messages, it just, disappears. Yes, no popups there, very helpful. What would I have done with these popups I get on windows, they weren't useful at all for debugging anything after all, I'm going to skip the bit about how posix threading is broken because I don't feel like writing a huge piece of documentation to explain the problem.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    4. Re:Ok, well, let's look by mario_grgic · · Score: 1

      I don't know what's your issue with POSIX in OS X? The few apps I tried porting and compiling in OS X werent' that bad.

      We at MKS make a port of all standard UNIX utilities for Windows (including the shells korn, bash, csh etc), and the POSIX for Windows (and UNIX services for Windows) is based on an ancient version of our product. But still porting UNIX POSIX apps to windows is way harder than for OS X (where it's mostly a breeze), and for you to say that POSIX support or compliance in Windows is better than in OS X is just silly.

      --
      As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
    5. Re:Ok, well, let's look by daver00 · · Score: 1

      Taksbar now looks like dock did in Tiger 4 years ago.

      Windows have drop shadow, like they do in OS X for a long time now.

      These are fairly petty complaints. I have two cars and both have steering wheels in front of me, with climate control panels in the middle, gear shifters in the middle, and peddles under the steering wheel. What. The. Fuck?

      Aero peek and aero flip 3d are rip off of expose.

      Flip 3d sort of tries to do what expose does, but you could hardly call it a ripoff, and it sucks balls and nobody uses it. Whoop dee do, a fancy animated way to do alt-tab, how innovative and original of both mac and windows. Aero peek on the other hand is not even remotely close to expose, and is a very good, very useful idea in its own right. It is more of a taskbar functionality.

      Windows search is still not as fast, extensive and as Spotlight is in OS X.

      Instant results is pretty fast? Extensive? It is 100% customizable, it can be as extensive as I tell it to be.

      So, yes, they have tried to re-implement OS X features, but as as all things Microsoft, they lack polish and taste :D. User experience is still noticeably not as good or as refined as in OS X, I doubt is can ever be without simplifying things at the OS core.

      7 is easily as polished as OSX, and looks better imo, but that is opinion. OSX usability is overrated, again, my opinion, but I'm trying to point out here that each one of your arguments is purely opinion based. I find parts of the UI in OSX completely clumsy and counter intuitive, but thats me. I don't want lord Jobs telling me how to use a computer, especially when he and I appear to disagree on how that should be. I actually find that windows does what you are claiming OSX does far more than OSX: it gets out of your way. Everything in OSX seems to be about forcing you to 'experience' the OS, it always feels like the OS is meddling with whatever you are doing. There is no clear distinction between OS UI and App UI, they are hopelessly intermingled in a senseless and abstract way. Personally, I hate it. I'm not a fan of windows, I just appreciate that it lets me set it up how I like and then just gets out of my way, thus I use it for my day to day chores, I use linux where it makes sense to, and using mac just doesn't makes sense so I don't.

      Now we disagree, isn't that nice?

    6. Re:Ok, well, let's look by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      I don't know what's your issue with POSIX in OS X?

      I explained the behavior already with doing forks. I don't just compile applications, I use them extensively for work and if they crash I debug them extensively usually.

      We at MKS make a port of all standard UNIX utilities for Windows (including the shells korn, bash, csh etc). But still porting UNIX POSIX apps to windows is way harder than for OS X (where it's mostly a breeze), and for you to say that POSIX support or compliance in Windows is better than in OS X is just silly.

      But here is the thing, I don't have the mentioned a fork() problem on Windows. Nor do I have to deal with the screwy events posix threads issue etc.

      Once I have a build environment in Unix Services for Windows, it's dead simple for me, there is rarely any kind of modifications I need to do to the code to get it to work right. I get a build environment on OS X working, the application compiles, but then suffers problems because OS X is not behaving to POSIX specifications.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  59. I see it as natural progression by Stan92057 · · Score: 0

    I see it as natural progression,A perfect example is gaming consoles,first there was the Nintendo block people,tennis balls hit with bars etc,next version had better graphics with each console.computers are the same,first were punch out and now we can see humans so real looking it can fool people. Apple didn't invent anything,it was just a natural progression to make what we have better. That idea has been around for decades. Apple made brushed metal famous,scratch that, brushed metal has been sold in products way before Apple use the image of brushed metal on a computer screen.

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
  60. Re:sell:nike air max jordan shoes,coach,gucci,hand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess you don't realize you are doing more harm than good for your business.

    You have just ensured that I will never purchase anything from your website.

  61. Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by MisterSquid · · Score: 1

    In practice (aka reality) OS X has never had a virus or worm. All known in-the-wild exploits to this day have required users to install something, many requiring administrative passwords. That is, all in-the-wild exploits have been trojans.

    The Windows landscape is full of viruses and worms. Conficker is just one recent and ongoing example. Botnets are not only comprised mostly of Windows machines running IE, but apparently 80% viruses run in Windows 7 just as they did in previous versions of windows.

    And you're repeating the idea that Windows of any stripe is more secure than Mac OS X with a straight face?

    --
    blog
    1. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, no problem.

      The fact that OS X has never had a virus or worm (don't know how true this is) doesn't necessary show the platform is secure.

      It well know that the scale of market share of Windows VS OS X more than tilts towards Windows. This means, as attacker, Windows is the most profitable to target. Hence we see more exploits.

      It's like if I owned one house in Harlem and the other in Luxembourg. The house in Harlem would more than likely being broken into quicker than the on in Luxembourg. This is external to the houses: it's the environment outside of it.

      Botnets are not only comprised mostly of Windows machines running IE

      Safari has had plenty of bugs (if we are comparing browsers too), and these would have allowed Worms quite easily.

      Could you tell me, how many bugs can you find for IE8 that are being *exploited* on Vista or Windows 7? There was one pre-release (in IE8 beta). Keyword is exploited here, because thanks to ASLR, the vulnerabilties that are being found and exploited on XP are notoriously difficult to exploit on Vista/7.

      As for the 80% of virues. How about 8 out of 10 tested. And let's not forget this viruses were just put on the system, which usually come by other means (usually browser exploits - which are covered better in Windows Vista/7 with ASLR than Mac).

      http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowssecurity/archive/2009/11/06/windows-7-vulnerability-claims.aspx

      ASLR, as well as many other security initiatives, go a long way to protect Vista/7 users from vulnerabilties within Windows itself and 3rd party products that support it. Mac OS X is one of the few platforms that haven't implemented this.

    2. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by intheshelter · · Score: 1

      This has been debunked many times before, security through obscurity, but I'll take a piece from your won reply to show you how full of shit this argument is.

      "Safari has had plenty of bugs (if we are comparing browsers too), and these would have allowed Worms quite easily."

      - First of all, how can that be true? You said that the Mac has no viruses because of low market share. Safari obviously has a correspondintly low market share, thus it must have less vulnerabilities per your own logic. Either that or your logic on this topic is WRONG.

      - Second, "these would have allowed worms". NO. You don't get a free pass on this FUD. They either did or did not allow worms. No theoretical "would have". Same with OS X, either it has a virus or it does not. At this point it does not. Maybe some day it will, but right now Windows is the suckiest of the lot.

    3. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by magamiako1 · · Score: 1

      Do you actually get up every day and just say you're going to sound like an idiot?

      Did you even read the dude's Pro's response or what?

    4. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 1

      comprised mostly

      I never hear of a malicious botnet that ran on anything other than Windows. As far as I can tell the browser is irrelevant, looks like the numbers matched up closely to global averages.

      Botnets are comprised of only Microsoft Windows.

    5. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    6. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      You said that the Mac has no viruses because of low market share. Safari obviously has a correspondintly low market share, thus it must have less vulnerabilities per your own logic. Either that or your logic on this topic is WRONG.

      What does that even mean? When did I say anything about the number of vulnerabilities? For all I know IE8 has 10 times that of Safari. What I am saying is that if IE8 get hacked, say buffer overflow, on Windows Vista/7 an attacker is less likely to be able to run shellcode - whether it's return to libc or to their own shellcode - because the locations of these things are randomised (ASLR).

      If, however, on Safari I get a buffer overflow I can more easily get the hooks because there is no randomisation of address space layout.

      Learn about computer architecture, and common vulnerability types and exploitation techniques.

      Second, "these would have allowed worms". NO. You don't get a free pass on this FUD. They either did or did not allow worms. No theoretical "would have".

      Okay, many of them did allow worms. The vulnerabilities that allowed for execution of arbitrary code allowed worms.

      If you want to learn more, do some reading. I am not addressing you anymore. You didn't even try to debate the point, you just sprouted non-sense.

    7. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 1

      This is a PHP vulnerability that installs php scripts that can be used of the attacker's gain. Certainly challenged the definition of botnet that I was thinking of. Never the less I suppose you're right.

    8. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by w0mprat · · Score: 1

      All security is through obscurity to some extent. Passwords, encryption etc.

      --
      After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
    9. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by arminw · · Score: 1

      ...The fact that OS X has never had a virus or worm (don't know how true this is) doesn't necessary show the platform is secure....

      Windows may be more secure, at least in your opinion, but it is definitely a fact that OS X is much safer in practice. The overwhelming majority of viruses on the Internet are for Windows. You may be able to give all kinds of excuses why this is so, but the likelihood of a Mac getting infected is still close to zero.

      --
      All theory is gray
    10. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      If you want to learn more, do some reading. I am not addressing you anymore. You didn't even try to debate the point, you just sprouted non-sense.

      A mirror could be useful to you at this point.
      I suggest reading about malware and you will understand that there was no point to "debate", just a very silly lie on your part. Your cut and pasted technobabble is relevant in other places but has nothing to do with what you are attempting to make it mean. I suggest you learn about the things you wrote before posting them again.

    11. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      Care to expand?

      My point is that a remote executable vulnerability on Windows 7/Vista is harder to pull of then on Mac.

      I suggest reading about malware and you will understand that there was no point to "debate", just a very silly lie on your part.

      Where is my lie?

      Your cut and pasted technobabble is relevant in other places but has nothing to do with what you are attempting to make it mean.

      Where did I do this. None of what I said was technobabble. It's well documented.

      I'd love for you to point out my mistakes, maybe I'll learn something. Be better than condescending reply that really has no substance, and means nothing.

    12. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      I agree, but that wasn't my point, and that wasn't the OPs point.

      To quote the OP:

      Now if MS could just shoot for the same level of security that Mac OSX has, out of the box, then we'd be talkin'

    13. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Windows Vista and onwards is more secure out of the box. I mean, Mac OS X hasn't even really implemented ASLR yet.

      If you know what you were talking about you would know IT TAKES A LOT MORE than playing about with memory to make a system secure and the MS systems do not do very well in those areas - thus a very silly lie.
      If you don't you've grabbed a bit of text surrounding what looks to you like a nice buzzword.
      There is no third option, simply two possible reasons why you are spreading bullshit on a forum where everyone can see it for what it is unless you pretend some new technology that many readers have never heard of is the difference. Nasty little confidence trick there because not many people will spend two minutes with google to find out that this is not some magic solution but instead another bandaid. Even though it is real you were using it as technobabble.
      If you really think this will solve the problem you have a LOT of reading to do, which is amusing considering what you said to the other poster about ignorance.

    14. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      No doubt it does, but you haven't proven anything. You are trying to debase my character, rather than talk about the facts between the 2 platforms.

      ASLR is not exactly new (implementations haven't existed since 2001) and I never suggested that it was the be-all of security. It's another layer - but a good one to have on a system.

      ASLR has been enabled by default in the linux kernel for a while, and has been in Windows since Vista.

      Mac OS X has a rather broken implementation that is practically useless. They are not the first ones to have a faulty implementation, but instead of addressing it they decided to ignore it.

      If you don't see how ASLR is important I can't really convince otherwise. Again, it's not the end-all, but it does create a large stumble block for reliable execution of memory corruption bugs.

      I know you know you haven't got much to say due to the lack of anything concrete to say:

      If you know what you were talking about you would know IT TAKES A LOT MORE than playing about with memory to make a system secure and the MS systems do not do very well in those areas - thus a very silly lie.

      Care to expand on the emphasis? Or are you talking out of your ass. Can you show me how Windows is doing less in these "areas" than Mac OS X, or are you just another fan boy. I have shown where Windows (and other various other operating systems) have a security layer implemented that Mac OS X hasn't. Show me the opposite - where Mac OS X has implemented things that Windows hasn't. I'm guessing you will come back with an unfounded claim about quality (or not come back at all).

      Don't get me wrong, there are lot of things I like about OS X (having a decent terminal for one). But I stand by with my disagreement that Mac OS X is inherently more secure platform than new versions of Windows out of the box.

    15. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Show me the opposite - where Mac OS X has implemented things that Windows hasn't.

      I suggest picking up any textbook on unix from 1990 onwards.
      It is very amusing that you are accusing me of "talking out of your ass" when you made the original and rather ridiculous claim which is disproved by a vast plague of malware beyond the predictions of bad SF.

    16. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      If you do not wish to learn from past experience consider the port 139 exploit in MS Windows 7 posted today.
      Listening for commands from any script kiddy in range is not "more secure out of the box" by any stretch of the imagination.

    17. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      If you read more you'll find that this isn't the default setting, so "out of the box" this doesn't happen. So yeah, you're talking BS once again.

      Do you understand what this bug does? It causes an infinite loop. It's a DoS. A silly one to let creep into the system, but not the most critical of problems.

      Attacks will be most limited to those within the LAN (as having 139 or 445 accessible outside of the network would be strange).

      Is this what your argument has descended too? Point out bugs? Do I have a good refute if I show some silly bugs from Mac OS X.

      Here is an infinite loop DoS bug that existed in AFP (Apple Filing Protocol): http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2009-0142

      Probably should have been caught a lot earlier. And didn't require fuzzing/analysis to find (because it happened naturally in production).

    18. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Now I understand. If bugs that create security holes are ignored then you consider that platform to be a secure system. That isn't enough either due to flaws in the design of the way services interact.
      I jumped into this thread because you not only exhibited gross ignorance of the subject but accused others of your flaw. Kindly stop spreading such rubbish as pretending malware is not a problem when we are up to our necks in it.

    19. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by Procasinator · · Score: 1

      Oh, I understand. You jumped straight into a thread without understanding what it is about.

      You try to discredit me through attacking my character, instead of attacking my premise. I don't think you even understand my premise.

      I never suggested there was less malware for Windows than OS X (cause obviously Windows is littered with it). I never suggested to ignore bugs (where did you get this from?). All I suggested was that Windows Vista/7 has many security features built in that Mac OS X does not. And it is of my opinion, for example, a person surfing with IE8 in Vista/7 is more secure than that of a person surfing Safari on OS X. However, I still think you are more likely going to be targeted on a Windows platform than an Apple one - so while the security of product might be better or on par with Mac OS X, it will be more likely of the 2 to have malware.

      Being a target does not make a product less secure, but rather makes security problems more likely to arise.

      I do think it's a baseless and obviously biased claim when people say Mac OS X security is fantastic, and in the same breath say Windows is so far behind in this department. This people are usually Mac fanboy's or M$ bashers.

      You, I think, are just an idiot.

    20. Re:Day is Night, Black is White, and Good is Evil by dbIII · · Score: 1

      You are of course entitled to your opinion although it does reveal ignorance. However you were accusing others somewhat more in touch with the issue of ignorance, which although amusing did deserve comment.
      As for your final comment before the insult, unfortunately there is a very long list of reasons as to why it is incorrect - starting with the single user, non-networked assumptions which still underlie the MS Windows environment. The "allow everything until I say not" aproach to security is a flawed approach at the very start, and adding bits of obscurity such as the memory model you wrote about do not come close to making your statement about relative security something only to be expected from ignorant fanboys.
      I suggest that you know what you are writing about before accusing others of ignorance, especially when they are challenging something I am convinced you know is an outright lie. Perhaps try lying on other forums when the majority of the readers do not know it is a lie if you wish to continue playing such a childish game.

  62. mice by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 1

    I wish I had video taped it when I plugged a microsoft USB mouse into a macbook pro in front of a room full of apple fans. Some of them thought the mouse would not work since it was not an apple mouse. The looks on some of their faces were priceless. I was told I was harming the mac by using the microsoft mouse. By an apple certified person no less (they claimed to be anyway). I was trying so hard to not laugh. I just wanted to get done with what I needed to with as little hassle as possible. I do use the right click on a mac all the time.

    There is another one of those meetings coming up. I think I will tape this one. I will use a dell mouse just to match them squirm.

  63. Alt-Keys Navigation Re:What Apple does right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What really drove me nuts is when MS started hiding the alt-key indicator by default. Was the little underline in the menu really in anyones way? Why should I have to hold down Alt to 'discover' if there is a keyboard navigation for a particular menu?

    What I will also admit some frustration with, is that although i love the feature, it can be annoying when different applications use different keys to access commonly named menu items.

    Not a better key, just a different one. Firefox why are bookmark properties changed from 'r' to 'i'???

    However, far and away I'd rather deal with the idiosyncratic use of the option, than not have it at all.

  64. The persons involved have been fired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The people responsible for firing the people who reported that Windows 7 was similar to OS X have also been fired.

  65. Re:"built on that very stable core Vista technolog by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    Apple's development model, for years, has been to perpetually tweak and improve on their existing operating system code.

    Is that why over the years why I had to disable numerous things from features in userland java applications to stop kernel panics. Forced to remove opengl features in 3d applications to stop the system from locking up the system.

    Note: The code works fine on Windows, Linux, BSD etc. just fine.

    Not to mention it's Unix, which has been around since the dinosaurs.

    Which explains why standard unix compliant applications are crashing because OS X decided it will crash applications trying to do a standard fork() without exec() (this is POSIX specifications compliant - Works on real Unix just fine), however OS X cannot guarantee that the libraries in use are 'async-signal-safe' and crashes the thread.

    Note: The code works fine on Windows (seriously, I have more luck getting it working via cygwin on Windows than on OS X), Linux, BSD etc. just fine.

    The hilarious thing is that software like Finf, darwinports, macports etc. 3rd party software which is supposed to make it easier for doing POSIX/Unix type stuff on OS X has constant random segfaulting issues on the provided precompiled binaries and such.

    Seriously, don't bullshit me. I bought into the whole OS X is so superior, it's Unix, blah-de-da at one point and I found out it's a pile of shit when I tried it.

    It's people like you who end up causing good people who value their time greatly to waste their time and money on absolute shit.

    If you like your OS, fine, I have no problem with that. But, I have a problem when people like you start spouting lies and half truths. Don't bother with the excuse "I didn't know", if you don't know - why the hell are you claiming this is fact to begin with?

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  66. re "Microsoft employee" says it's like Mac/OS.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't you mean "former Microsoft employee"?

  67. both right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hardware hogging? upgrade inducing?

    what hardware do each of you run on?

  68. Apple and Kama Sutra by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

    "It's not like they tried to deny their Microsoft store inspiration."

    Apple has a kind Kama Sutra philosophy of invention. If Apple takes an existing idea and then copies it but keeps its fingers crossed, it becomes a new original idea.

  69. they are either lying or there's no reason to go 7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    very simple

  70. It's just a myth by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

    There was never any agreement between Apple and Xerox that gave Apple a license to use Xerox's IP. If there had been, Apple would have used it as a defense against the lawsuit Xerox filed against them later.

    1. Re:It's just a myth by wzinc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They may've used that as a defense, but it never got that far:

      "Much later, in the midst of the Apple v. Microsoft lawsuit in which Apple accused Microsoft of violating its copyright by appropriating the use of the "look and feel" of the Macintosh GUI, Xerox also sued Apple on the same grounds. The lawsuit was dismissed because Xerox had waited too long to file suit, and the statute of limitations had expired." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_(company)#Adoption_by_Apple (same Wikipedia article)

    2. Re:It's just a myth by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      Yes, I know how it ended.

      Do you really think Xerox would have sued Apple if they had such an agreement? Do you think the intensely image-conscious Apple would have kept quiet when the lawsuit was filed?

      If such a document really existed, it would have been uploaded to the net long ago.

  71. Correction! aesthetics vs. anaesthetics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One loves the aesthetics that Apple has. If you use Windows one needs anaesthetics.

  72. Meant to qualify "OS X" by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    This is totally untrue. The old MacOS had no support for context menus until long after Windows became popular (System 8 timeframe).

    Sorry, I somehow edited out a key distinction that meant to apply my comments to OS X only... though on reflection I suppose the OP may have been talking about pre-OS X Macs it did not seem like that.

    I used them only infrequently pre-OS X so I can't remember for sure the presence or absence of context menus in any versions older than OS 9, though I have seen mention of them in System8 and thought they were around before then.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  73. Ok so heres the deal... by tengeta · · Score: 1

    Apple made OS X look more like Windows, and did it better, and then Microsoft copied it. Get it right instead of telling half the story.

    --
    "They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
  74. Must have lights... otherwise... by imtheguru · · Score: 1

    We've got nothing left to do but look at the solid green status lights adorning our racks and consoles, and post brilliant witticisms and cogent analysis to Slashdot.

    Must have lights... must! Otherwise...

    "It is pitch dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

    --
    Yet Socrates himself is particularly missed.
    A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed.
    1. Re:Must have lights... otherwise... by sbeckstead · · Score: 1

      Grues only hang out near OSes that are Real Unix, so you are most likely safe. But don't blink, not even for a second...

  75. all this fuss about nothing... by pbjones · · Score: 1

    look and feel? he meant to say, it's GUI is consistent and works, like a Mac.

    --
    There was an unknown error in the submission.
  76. Not a copy... by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    Yes, because Aero is nothing like Aqua, and Gadgets are nothing like Widgets...shall I continue?

  77. Xerox called . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    . . . and wants their mouse back.

  78. Here is a citation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Best Buy still sells the Eee PC (like the one I bought last week) with XP because Win7 is slightly, but consistently and noticeably slower and power hungrier than the 8 year old XP.

  79. Re:"built on that very stable core Vista technolog by InfiniteLoopCounter · · Score: 1

    Apple's development model, for years, has been to perpetually tweak and improve on their existing operating system code.

    Seriously, don't bullshit me. I bought into the whole OS X is so superior, it's Unix, blah-de-da at one point and I found out it's a pile of shit when I tried it... It's people like you who end up causing good people who value their time greatly to waste their time and money on absolute shit... I have a problem when people like you start spouting lies and half truths.

    Seeing as I don't really like Macs, I'm surprised to find myself thinking "what a whinger," when reading the parent post. What a bothersome tirade. The OP is saying that Apple tries to improve their software over time -- hardly an Earth shattering claim.

    With regards to stability, we've probably all seen problems with the Operating System we use. Both with code and just generally.

    Myself, I have seen code not work on one of Linux/Windows because of forward slash/backslash differences, "pause" and other basic features not working quite the same in C code, threading not working as intended because of different compilers doing different things, etc.

    I've seen the video card driver lock Linux systems so bad that unplugging was the only option when rendering too much data at once, Windows 2000/XP not respond for many minutes when a network path could not be found or you mistakenly clikced "open with," Windows virus effects (graphics plain crash for no apparent reason when left idle too long, copy/paste feature removed, etc), problems of slowness/usability in Vista (reordering everything "for dummies"), Macintosh refuse to log in and just have the spinning wheel go on forever, etc, etc.

    I think most people have had problems with whatever Operating System they run. It's like they have come out of their infancy, only to become little kids that have to be monitored and assisted to get out of trouble all the time. Problems are all part of the computer experience -- no Operating System has a monopoly on this (even Macs) or is free of them.

  80. Re:If only.... by bgspence · · Score: 1

    So, the OS X is about a million times less secure than Windows 7, but you are about a million times more likely to get a virus, or get rooted, or whatever on Windows.

    I never heard of anyone with a virus on the Mac since OS 9, but most every Windows user I know has had virus problems.

    I'll go with Mac luck rather than Windows security.

  81. The IP stack & services securing by MS? From A by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The way services are now secured in Windows, as to their "LOGON ENTITY" (SID)? From Apple...

    (I.E.-> Windows, modern variants thereof (after Windows 2000), no longer run ALL SERVICES (analogs to *NIX daemons) as "LOCAL SERVICE", but now many instead in Windows XP/Server 2003 (via service packs), & VISTA/Server 2008/Windows7 (outta-the-box/oem stock these latter newest models of Windows come that way (which is good, but...))? Came from how MacOS X did it)

    See - the idea of 'least privelege' isn't just in UAC in modern Windows, VISTA onwards, as it is in *NIX's, in "userland"... but, that goes on, also, "beneath the covers", as in the example of services now being under "least privelege" principals also. Apple did that, first.

    Also?

    How the now partially "plug-N-play" driver design in the IP stack in Windows (doesn't load FULLY before the user logs on, as it still is in Windows 2000, but not in XP onwards)?? Apple MacOS X again... Microsoft took this idea from they as well.

    Heck - they ALL do it.

    NOW, a LOT of you "Pro-*NIX" people here KNOW I am mostly a "Windows fanboy", but, I will "tell it how it really is" too, by the same token. Honesty? It is a better policy, whether I am an "MS Fanboy", or not...

    APK

    P.S.=> It's not just in software either: A major Fortune 100 I worked for had a "bldg. #19" where ALL THEY DID, was tear apart & disassemble the work of others who out-innovated or out-competed them, & then they created "workarounds" knock-off hacks of the same ideas, & JUST ENOUGH so it wouldn't violate standing patents from said competitors... this, I saw, & with my own eyes. I am sure you all have as well, so I may be "preaching to the choir" here is all... but, we ALL get BETTER PRODUCTS for it so, it might useless "beetching" here about it anyways! apk

  82. Re:If only.... by arminw · · Score: 1

    ...That Mac OS X is more secure is a common misconception....

    However, Macs are MUCH safer! There are 7 million Windows PCs infected with the conficker are worm alone. How many infected Macs are there? How many infected iPhones? It doesn't really matter WHY someone's computer is infected or someone's house was broken into. The facts are simply this: it is safer to surf the Internet with a Mac than with Windows.

    --
    All theory is gray
  83. Re:"built on that very stable core Vista technolog by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    With regards to stability, we've probably all seen problems with the Operating System we use. Both with code and just generally.

    True, but Apple are the ones that claim that because they control the hardware and software it's more stable than other operating systems - Except, it's not. Infact, my biggest problem is that the same code that executes beautifully on every other OS is capable of causing kernel panics as a userland application or lock up the system completely. I find it difficult to do such things intentionally on Windows, never mind accidentally and yet I am supposed to believe OS X has superior stability? Best thing, I won't get this under Linux or Windows on the same hardware.

    Myself, I have seen code not work on one of Linux/Windows because of forward slash/backslash differences, "pause" and other basic features not working quite the same in C code, threading not working as intended because of different compilers doing different things, etc.

    Except, this wasn't a compiler issue, it is the system kernel not working to specifications. Now, if you're going to claim that you're Unix, have a Unix certification - I'm going to expect you to work properly in that regard instead of giving me an unbelievable amount of compatibility issues.

    I've seen the video card driver lock Linux systems so bad that unplugging was the only option when rendering too much data at once

    I've seen this too, but funny enough, every instance I can think of this happening was by using not fully supported hardware or proprietary software that was not considered 'correct', not that I'm saying it doesn't exist in opensource, supported platforms. But when it's considered supported, it's not having the insane issues you get on OS X is what I am trying to get at - while Apple is claiming their support is superior.

    I think most people have had problems with whatever Operating System they run.

    Oh, I agree. I just get annoyed being told that it works so well because of X,Y,Z and that has absolutely nothing to do with it. Additionally X, Y, Z being completely broken in so many ways.

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  84. News flash, this just in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Police today found the mutilated body of a yet unnamed Microsoft employee, who was apparently beaten to death with a folding chair.

  85. they missed OSX... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hmmmm, my first thought after going from XP to windows 7 was how similar to KDE 4.3 it was. I skipped vista, so I'm not sure if KDE leveraged some of vistas UI or not, but W7 and KDE seem to have a very similar feel. However, it looks like W7 has a log of old dialogs that seem unchanged from XP, so the UI of W7 seems very disjointed when the UI's for a sequence of dialogs change. KDE feels a little more consistent. Gnome and OSX feel much more similar when switching back and forth....

  86. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wouldn't know if the new Vista7 (or whatever they are calling it) is like a Mac, I don't use the crapple system.

    I didn't like OS/X or Safari so I don't use them.

    The Apple hardware is very nice, but I can buy 3 win PC's for the price of one.

    If you don't like Windows then don't use it. If you can do better than Microsoft then go create your own O/S!

    To each his own.

  87. Re:If only.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I also recall him saying that although he thought Windows was more secure, that OS X was safer. So that article was somewhat selective in how they quoted him.

    So, basically OS X may be technically less secure, but it wins on the security by obscurity front.