Windows Vista
You know, I was going to write a great long post, pouring scorn on Vista and how Windows Mail, Calendar, Music Player, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Media Center, Aero, Flip 3D, Instant Search, Gadgets and IE7’s RSS display (to name a few) are all second rate knock offs of features that the Mac has had for ages, some for the last three years or so.
… but I can’t be arsed. Resistance is Futile, and I’ll be using it every day before long. Enjoy!
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December 1st, 2006 at 5:03 am
Hang on, didn’t you just write a post saying you can’t complain if folks copy your idea, that if it is good, knocks will come along and they’re a part of life?
Sure, Vista incorporates a lot of crap from other places, but what’s the alternative, they IGNORE this stuff and plod on regardless, isn’t that already a heavy criticism of MS.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Aero (which given the southern accents I figured was ‘Arrow’) is pretty damned nice. Worth the extra overhead? doubtful, but nice to see MS putting together an OS interface that manages to shame OS X.
The more I play with Vista the more I’m becoming a convert. If it proves itself to be 2003 Server reliable, I may well grab it off MSDN before the year is out.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:40 am
I did indeed say that if your idea is any good, imitators will come along. If you’re going to imitate though, you have to be better than your inspiration.
Personally, I think MS would have done better to respond not only to criticism of themselves and Windows, but of Mac OS X. Like anything with something of a cult following, Apple’s biggest fans are also its harshest critics. Apple have been criticised with OS X for making their interface too simplistic, too consumer focused, too candy-coated and too inconsistent.
Since OS X came out, you could argue that Apple’s famous Human Interface Guidelines have gone out the window in favour of brushed metal, translucent, drop-shadowed fuckery-foo.
See this post - On the death of the HIG and the triumph of eye candy over usability - as a case in point.
With OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple seems to be calming down a bit. Like they’ve had their five years of messing around and are getting back to a consistent, professional looking interface.
Like the see-through blue irons and toasters you can get, MS have copied an aesthetic just as Apple is growing out of it. Considering MS audience, maybe a “We’re not going to pander to that cutesy nonsense, we’re going to come out with something slick and business-like” tack would have been more appropriate.
MS putting together an OS interface that manages to shame OS X
If you can find two graphic designers that agree with that, I’d be amazed.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:53 am
The main problem with windows, and it happens on everything they do, is that they take a few steps forward and a giant leap back…
They add X, Y and Z functionality and fancy ‘fuckery-foo’ (hah), but it also means that they’re making other things, the things that /really count/, just get worse and worse.
(And a lot of the giant leaps back seem to be by choice, which I’ve never understood)
December 1st, 2006 at 11:24 am
If they’ve managed to make the security system less of a mithering little swine then it’d be worth the upgrade just for that.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:52 pm
[EDITED]
They add X, Y and Z functionality and fancy ‘fuckery-foo’ (hah), but it also means that they’re making other things, the things that /really count/, just get worse and worse.
Apple is far more guilty of that particular crime…
Sure, it has some nice features, but Macs are now in a position of being the most vulnerable (security wise) they ever have been. OS X’s vulnerability is increasing at a rate over three times that of Windows, according to McAffee [link].
Yet, this fact is virtually ignored when anyone talks about OS X, in any of its various incarnations.
Apple have decided to utterly ignore security, not doubt allowing themselves to believe the often quoted comment by Mac users that they are ‘free from viruses’. If they carry on, they’ll find that strategy will bite them in the ass.
Vista has problems, the system requirements are insane and the UAC is still the all mithering almost useless piece of crap it was in XP. Great for complete idiots/home users but stripping the Admin account of pretty much all power has to be the stupidest thing ever. But underneath it all MS has responded (albeit at a snail’s pace) to the issues with XP and addressed most of them.
If only it wasn’t four years too late.
December 2nd, 2006 at 3:15 pm
I wouldn’t say Apple ignore security vulnerabilities, except in their marketing… A little of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field for the general public. In fact, a major security update came out only the other day and they come at a rate of one every couple of months.
I’m rather cynical of McAfee’s use of statistics: while it is fair to say (accepting their numbers) that the mac’s increased rate of vulnerability discovery (228% - 45 to 143) is outpacing that of Windows (73%), they shy away from mentioning how many are discovered on Windows. I assume because to compare actual numbers would make their doom mongering seem absurd.
You’re right though of course: only a fool would believe that the mac is entirely free of vulnerabilities or malware and will always remain so. As it gets more high profile and gains market share, it’s going to be more of a target for hackers and some sort of anti-virus software is going to be a necessity.