Snow Leopard Is a Pale Imitation of Windows 7

[raj11650]

"Where's the beef?" That's the idiom that jumps to mind as I work my way through Galen Gruman's "The 7 best features in Mac OS X Snow Leopard." I knew the features list would be lean -- Apple has deliberately undersold Snow Leopard by pitching it as a relatively minor release -- but please! Gruman's article reads like a laundry list of borrowed features and derivative works. It's as if someone at Apple grabbed a copy of the Windows 7 beta and simply Xeroxed the release notes.

For example:
64-bitness: Yippee,! Apple finally goes 64-bit -- BFD! As a Windows user, I've been livin' la vida 64-bit for more than three years. Vista was the first mainstream desktop OS to deliver a viable 64-bit experience, and Windows 7 has taken this migration further by making it the preferred flavor for business users.

Meanwhile, Apple can't even deliver a fully 64-bit implementation. Snow Leopard boots into a 32-bit kernel by default -- something about a lack of 64-bit device drivers, which is ironic when you consider how small a hardware ecosystem Apple must govern when compared to Microsoft and its burden of having to run on just about anything with an Intel-compatible CPU.

Exposé Dock Integration: This one's a joke, right? Am I to understand that Apple is just getting around to adding this? Microsoft has been offering this type of functionality (aka thumbnail preview) for years, and Windows 7 has taken the concept further with Aero Peek, Shake, and Snap. It sounds like Apple's Xerox machine suffered a paper jam with this one -- or perhaps it's just stuck in one of those famous Mac OS X infinite loops.

Expanded PDF Preview: If this constitutes a "feature," then Apple must really be grasping! I mean, Windows has supported PDF file preview -- via an installable ifilter module -- ever since Desktop Search debuted pre-Vista. In fact, the ability to seamlessly preview third-party content has been a staple of the Windows experience for years. So while I'm glad to see Apple finally getting on the ball with its PDF handling (I hear the updated viewer lets you basically do away with the piggish Adobe Reader for most common tasks), I'm still utterly stunned by the fact that this is even an issue. Provide a free (i.e. not trialware) XPS document viewer with Mac OS X and then maybe I'll get excited.

Read more

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

:O I'm seeing things right? I swear I just posted. Must be losing it..

Anyways, Glad to see someone that doesn't bash on Windows. I already knew about it booting into 32-bit kernel by default.

See Mac Users? Your precious OS is not perfect. (Not saying Windows is)

 

[amidoinitrite]

OMG!!! Mac copying Windows.

 

[v0id]

Windows 7 fan writed this and someone who hates macs! And that is his opinion!

 

[chuckr]

OMG!!! Mac copying Windows.

Seems only fair:

BillyG got "windowing" from Apple.

And SteveJ got it from Xerox Research Park.

It's not like there's any real 'innovation' here, except by Xerox...

 

[Tews]

I stopped playing the "My OS is Superior to your OS" game years ago ... seems rather childish to me..

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

I stopped playing the "My OS is Superior to your OS" game years ago ... seems rather childish to me..

Well I wasn't saying Windows is better, I was saying that OS X isn't perfect like most mac users these days seem to think. All OS's have their flaws, their setbacks, their advantages and disadvantages.

Until everyone realizes this we will be stuck in a never ending fight about which is better.


I know this is likely blasphemy for both OS's (OS X and Windows) but did anyone ever think about what they could do, if they worked on one OS together?

 

[Tews]

The only way there is a fight is if you decide to join...

 

[MadMax]

well theres something new for a change:sarc:

 

[Tews]

I know this is likely blasphemy for both OS's (OS X and Windows) but did anyone ever think about what they could do, if they worked on one OS together?

Yeah, they'd come up with a new Linux distro ... :roflmao:

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

Yeah, they'd come up with a new Linux distro ... :roflmao:

Don't you mean Winux Snow XP? Or something like that. =P I'm sure apple wouldn't let the name 'vista' touch anything of theirs.

 

[smarteyeball]

I just like the fact that little man R.C.Kennedy is actually praising Microsoft....

 

[Klaw117]

Regardless of whether he praises Windows or Macs, I don't usually trust this guy's articles. He's so biased that he becomes unprofessional in his arguments, meaning it's near impossible to take him seriously.

On a side note, this seemed to upset many Mac fanboys. I saw many people say the exact words "XP Sucks" and "Vista Sucks" while going on how godly Macs are.

 

[Shak 10]

come on! Who gives two ****s if Apple and Windows copy each others best features at the end of the day we just get a better OS.

 

[pparks1]

I don't get into the arguments anymore. Regardless of my personal feelings or preferences, the fact remains that the people who I know personally who have Macs really like them. And some of these people are PC people as well.

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

I love watching Mac fanboys get all bent out of shape when someone (if it's warranted) criticizes their supposed godly operating system. It tends to go both ways, but it seems a lot of Mac users tend to take personal offense like you insulted their mothers or something.

 

[Adamd]

I love watching Mac fanboys get all bent out of shape when someone (if it's warranted) criticizes their supposed godly operating system. It tends to go both ways, but it seems a lot of Mac users tend to take personal offense like you insulted their mothers or something.

I agree. It really is kind of sad.

Now I do kind of stick up for windows once and a while because people say "Vista is the worst OS EVER!!!!!!!!!!" but I try to explain that in fact Vista fully patched is a very good OS and is better than crappy XP.

Then they go on to say that Microsoft just stole all the cool things from OSX and put them into Windows 7. Whatever is all I have to say.

So far I have had no problems with 7 and have to say it is one killer OS. No way would I switch to OSX.

 

[saverio]

I'm very much a mac fan, but have been using windows for over 3 years due to applications that I need - which will neer port to mac.

I understand what you are all saying, and yes, I think the article is utter garbage, but all said, I still think that the Mac OS is more aesthetically pleasing and also user friendly.

Expose' is a far more elegant solution than aero flip, however yes, snap is a jewel of functionality. I think that Windows 7 is a great OS, preordered it and loving the RC.

The new replacement for taskbar was long overdue, and the ability to just hover above an app to see active windows is great. But coverflow is great technology too, and it does allow for great document previewing inside folders, but that's the eye candy lover in me talking.

If I had to say for me, and this is personal, the only thing missing from 7 is a really sublime gui. Mac always have had, and still do manage to make things very touchy feely and simply intuitive. Their gui also looks great. Surely MS could rob a gui designer from there and see where they go?

Admittedly I had to laugh about the insulting the mother... I used to be one of those, and now I do enjoy apple user baiting because I've seen both sides of the fence. I love them both. If apple want to make proper money out of windows users, just release a copy of iLife for Windows, I really do believe that in terms of useability very little comes close to these most simple of applications.

In fact if Apple made an OS X shell for W7 my life would be complete - made by apple to run on windows, and the best bit is that I'd know because it's windows underneath it all - it just works!, but it would mean that I'd let my eyeballs be stroked by a gui which dare I say I love and find very productive to use.

Would I buy a mac again, even if it could run windows apps natively? at over 2k for a pro... I don't think so.

 

[sandeep]

The only thing that annoys me about Apple is the fact they like to keep everything to themselves, Look at Windows and Linux, 100% compatible with any hardware, but Apple, they have to use their own Foxconn manufactured hardware just for their systems. If they made Mac OS X to work on all hardware and install just like Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora etc.) then they would make a heck of a lot of money. I would really love to use the Mac OS on my PC as a Virtual Desktop but nope, can't do it.

Then there's Hackintosh, and that is just not the real thing, I've tried it and uninstalled it because of so many problems.

 

[wattgn]

I've never used the Apple OS and would only consider using it maybe inside a virtual machine. The reason of course is that most of the world is microsoft and therefore there is a huge array of applications that run only on Windows. The other reason is cost. Apple cleverly suck you in but if you are an enthusiast you end up spending a fortune on their overpriced systems which can easily run up to 15k or more. I love it that for an insignificant price you can have a quad core screamer and huge amounts of memory and a lovely OS like Windows 7.

I'm a software developer and I can tell you that microsoft have invested a fortune in high quality development tools and software that enables integration of systems. Apple is really very shallow in that department. Mind you I wouldn't underestimate the value of their concentration on useability and eye candy for the desktop. Mac users love their systems and probably for good reason. I think it would be good maybe if microsoft would rip off more of their ideas. At the end of the day, all that matters is the end product, although patents and law suites make that difficult.

I didn't like Vista that much to start with as it seemed slow and also I had display driver issues and crashes. Ultimately though I liked Vista very much. Windows 7 is even better and is a polished system. I use Puppy Linux in a limited way but the interface is very amateurish by comparison even though it is a very useful product.

Overall Microsoft really doesn't have to fear Apple, it is a self limiting product with deficiencies of it's own. Competition in fact is essential for Microsoft to deliver the best products to us and so Apple is an important part of the ecosystem for computer users.

The thing that amazes me about Microsoft is the clever way it delivers updates. It is one of the unsung praises about Microsoft. I mean you pay up front for the OS but they do an excellent job of support and updates.

Grant