Quote:
Originally Posted by SebC
I'm not an MS exec, so this is a subjective interpretation:
- UAC was an attempt to replicate Apple's non-adminstrator environment.
- Their early ad campaign for Vista/Windows Live seemed to me to be a response to Apple. With a touch of a button, your photo is automatically better sort of stuff.
- Aero's default window-expanding animation that was on by default was very reminiscent of Apple. I turned it off, I want my window-switching to be instant, not animated.
- Pinned icons on the taskbar is very Apple-ish.
- IIRC, pop-up taskbar became the default... makes switching windows two actions rather than one, I'll keep my taskbar on please.
- WMP got more intrusive/automated with Vista.
- My interpretation of Vista is that they put too much effort into making it pretty and not enough effort into making it stable.
- Windows 8 being touch-oriented seems like a response to the iPad. Looks like Windows phone, which was obviously aiming to take market share from Apple.
Ultimately what I think people want from Apple are products that are easy to use and that they don't want to have to think about it. What I want from MS is a product that supports my software and hardware, is stable, and lets me do things how I want to do them.
|
- Logging into your OS as a non-administrator is a practice predates both Windows and OSX and goes back decades. UAC was an annoying answer to widespread security concerns.
- I don't remember the ad campaign but this is hardly a marketing discussion. Apple marketing has been imitated plenty.
- The only thing the default Windows and Mac OSX window animations have in common is that they animate, if you want.
- Microsoft has allowed you to stick icons in your taskbar since the IE4 shell update. I have no idea what Macs were doing then.
- OSX dock is set to "always show" by default
- What's the WMP parallel in OSX? iTunes? The default player for all media (that I know of) in OSX is quicktime player.
- I didn't know that Apple had patented aesthetics.
- Making an OS that runs on tablets would be tough without making it touch-oriented.
It's a real stretch to claim that any of these changes were to cater to Mac users. Windows 8's Metro UI takes more cues from Android widgets than it does anything that Apple has ever done, but is really it's whole own animal, in my opinion.