“Sometimes I wonder how Apple CEO Steve Jobs can sleep at night. He appears to spend half his waking hours ridiculing Microsoft’s admittedly behind-schedule operating system, Windows Vista, for copying Mac OS X features. But this week at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), he announced ten new features for Leopard, the next version of OS X, most of which will seem more than vaguely familiar to Windows users. I’m not dim: Microsoft does copy Apple on a fairly regular basis. But seriously, Steve. Apple’s just as bad,” Paul Thurrott writes for Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows,
Thurrott writes, “More important, perhaps, is that the new OS X features that Jobs and company announced this week aren’t, by and large, all that impressive. Two of the new features–Time Machine and Spaces–are valuable additions to OS X and worth discussing, though both, interestingly, have been done before in other OSes. The other Leopard features Apple announced, alas, are almost all a complete waste of time. They’re the types of things one might expect of a minor, interim update, or from free Web downloads. They are certainly not major features as Jobs claimed.”
Thurrott writes, “OK, enough Jobs bashing. The guy’s a visionary and truly important presence in the industry, and it will be a sad, sad day when he steps down from his post at Apple and fades into the sunset. (The reality of this possibility seemed all the more real this week. Am I the only one that though Jobs looked oddly gaunt and sickly during the WWDC keynote?) But as I’ve often said of Apple and Jobs: They do good work. It’s too bad they feel the need to exaggerate so much… I have to admit to being a bit shocked by how childish Apple is about Vista. Say what you will about Microsoft (heck, I do), but the company is at least deferential to its customers in public, about as far from smug as is humanly possible, and it very rarely takes pointed shots at the competition. From the opening PC guy video (“Widgets, gadgets… completely different. They are their own thing. Just like Aqua. I mean, uh, Aero.”) to the last moments of the keynote, Jobs and company unleashed a never-ending, tireless diatribe against Microsoft and its upcoming Windows Vista release.”
Thurrott covers the 10 parts of Leopard that Steve Jobs showed – of course, there are “top secret” parts not shown for competitive reasons – and spends a considerable amount of time stating his opinion (no facts get in the way) about which company thought of which idea first in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We agree with Thurrott. No, not with his ludicrous assertion that Apple is “just as bad” about copying Microsoft as Microsoft is about copying Apple; all you need to do is look at the OSes today: Mac’s GUI came first and, thanks to a bad contract by Apple’s lawyers, Windows came later… and keeps coming today, like heartburn. We all use a Mac in one form (the real thing) or another (an upside-down and backwards insecure knock-off) today. It’s plainly obvious to anyone with working eyeballs that, overall, Microsoft is the copier and Apple the originator. And, gasp, yes, Apple does find ideas elsewhere – even from Microsoft ocassionally. The difference is that Apple refines the ideas to make them actually useful and intuitive to people. And, really now, let’s give poor addled Paul a break: he’s been running a website that’s been waiting for something, anything to talk about for half a decade since Windows XP was released (October 2001)!
What we agree with Thurrott about is that Apple needs to relax with the Microsoft jabs.
Note that, unlike Thurrott, we do understand Marketing 101: #1 should not take shots at or even mention #2. #2 is free to pound #1 every chance it gets. For example, you rarely see Coke mention Pepsi, but a lot of what Pepsi does mentions Coke. It would only hurt Coke by elevating Pepsi to a status of being worthy to comment upon and it only helps Pepsi to be constantly associating with and comparing themselves favorably to #1 Coke. So, Apple is executing plays from the basic marketing playbook with their Microsoft attacks.
But, while we Macheads love it all, the rest of the world doesn’t. And Apple doesn’t need to lower themselves either (that’s also why Jobs himself didn’t deliver the main body of the Microsoft zingers in yesterday’s presentation, by the way, he left that seciton to a subordinate). In reality, Apple holds “number one” status already: Mac OS X Tiger is roundly and almost universally acclaimed over Windows XP and what exists of Vista today. Even by Paul Thurrott. Apple may not have number one market share, but they can still take the high road here. People are interested in Macs right now. Only Macs can run Mac OS X and Windows. Nobody else can adequately compete. If Apple would cut the petty sniping, they’d attract a lot more Mac converts much more quickly than they are now. Nobody likes to be told that the last PC for which they paid what they consider to be a good chunk of change is “dull” and equated with a pudgy not-so-bright dork in a yawner of a suit. Just tell them about Mac OS X and leave Windows out of the conversation. A quiet confidence will speak louder than taunts right now. (We can keep taunting to our hearts’ content right here.)
So, Apple, put those WWDC banners in storage, can the wise-ass attitude, and just let the Mac speak for itself. It’s quite capable.
And don’t worry about Leopard. It’s too early to make any judgments. What you saw yesterday was a preview of some features, many of them minor filler, certainly not the whole ball of wax by a longshot. With Leopard, the best is yet to come.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Thurrott: Microsoft collapsing under its own weight, Gates has driven Windows Vista into the ground – April 20, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
The sound of response to this turd-head’s writing: crickets chirping
“…can the wise-ass attitude”
THIS coming from MDN! Wow.
Think for a second, do you really believe that any more than maybe 1% of the population even pays attention to geek developer shows? Apple’s bashing of Microsoft’s photocopying isn’t going to keep them from winning converts. Hell, 99% of the population will never have a clue what WWDC is, much less hear about what happened there.
The keys are the current Mac TV ad campaign, the iPod craze, and the Apple retail stores. That’s what’s generating the big surge in interest in the Mac right now. Sniping (or not) at Microsoft has no impact on that whatsoever.
Well, copycat or not..
That was my first reaction on ‘Time Machine’ only Apple does it the right way!!
There’s copying and bettering
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I disagree with the MDN take. I mean, come on, are we all so sensitive these days that no one can poke fun at someone else? Sheesh. It’s like all the whiners talking about Apple’s Mac/PC commercials. “They’re rude.” “They make fun of people and their computers.”
So what?! Good grief! Apple has got a lot of pride in their products. Let ’em gloat.
MW: “instead” as in instead of whining about hurt feelings, make better products.
MDN has the nerve to tell people to knock off the wise-ass attitude? Talk about the height of hypocrisy.
What exactly is he acusing Apple of copying? Windows has never had anything like Time Machine, that’s for damn sure. Windows XP has a crappy “roll your entire system back to a certain date” feature, but that is laughable compared to Time Machine – which lets to roll back changes at a file/folder level (more like CVS).
Well said, MDN, well said.
“The other Leopard features Apple announced, alas, are almost all a complete waste of time. They’re the types of things one might expect of a minor, interim update, or from free Web downloads.”
Exactly! Like 64-bit support, for example. Why, just yesterday I downloaded a free Web download that made all my apps 64-bit capapable, and it WAS a waste of time. Firefox doesn’t even display twice as many banner ads now as it did when it was 32 bit!
Yes, Apple does copy other people’s ideas. However, the end results from Apple and MS are completly different. Apple takes ideas and perfects them; MS takes ideas and ruins them.
“and just let the Mac speak for itself. It’s quite capable.”
And it always has been!
You have to admit that Thurott brings some good points.
I agree with the MDN take…mostly. Apple has a better OS and they innovate, but everything that has come out of Apple is not an original idea. Sometimes MDN treats Apple like a divine obelisk on a far-away deserted planet. Heck, the Unix core was a rip off from AT&T. I’m not saying they stole it; it fell under the GNU liscence.
The computing industry evolves together. This isn’t to say some species are more advanced (various wild felidea) and some are prey (colorful butterflies (MSN))
Beyond that, I agree that Apple should lay off the Vista jabbs. It makes me feel sorry for those guys in the same way I feel sorry for ten year old suicide bombers.
MDN magic word: Costs: as in freedom costs the price of sacrifice.
I agree with thelt. You don’t see people freaking out when Ford runs a “our truck can out-tow any Chevy” (or whatever) ads. There is nothing wrong with saying that you have a better product, it’s the essence of capitalism.
System Restore doesn’t even let users restore their data, only their system settings. It is absolutely nothing at all like Time Machine.
Again, what is Apple supposedly copying?
Paul Thurrott is jealous of the Mac. Let him stick to Windows.
Read his latest article about Hacking Windows Vista… he reveals the junk that is going to be Windows next OS.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_hack.asp
Apple users should be able to make jabs at windows at any time. How many times have you gotten crap from people becuase they ask you what computer you have and you say you have a mac. They proceede to tell you how it is a toy computer and total crap. Crap only because it doesn’t have top market share numbers. If the windows people want to dish it out they should have to take it too. How can they call mac users smug when the windows fanboys have been smug for years now. Mac users have been doing it for a short while now and we are the bad guys? How is that fair? Mac users should get to be smug at least for a little while. We’ve earned it.
I wouldn’t be banking on a lot of “secrects” coming in Leopard.
The biggest part of Leopard is that it supports 64bit.
Being able to run Windows in OS X just admits defeat.
THANK YOU THORIN. Excellent example.
I like it
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> It’s a start.
The jabs at M$ are just wiener-wagging. That’s what successful guys do sometimes. It’s not M$, exactly, that’s being taunted– it’s Gates and Ballmer.
There’s no such thing as playing nice. It’s business.
Keep in mind the audience was developers and “mac heads,” not the general public. Even Thurrott isn’t the general public. Though I’m sure he doesn’t realize it.
If there was a time and place to blow off some steam, this was it.
thelt is right. enough with the pitiful whining. it’s pathetic.
This is the best and most honest review of the Leopard preview that is currently on the web. Period.
Mr. Thurrott is dead on (this time), and Apple is acting too childish.
Mr. Thurrott is also dead on (this time) with his critique of the updates and announcements.
If you think Thurrott is just a screaming lunatic, this article proves you entirely wrong. Period. If you disagree, you either didn’t read the article, or you did and you are too immature to see it for what it truly is: honest and accurate.
Admittedly, the same cannot be said of all his articles, but this one is clearly shows that he actually is (when he wants to be) a very good tech analyst.
I researched it more and found out that Vista will have a greatly improved version of System Restore that will basically do what Time Machine will do. I suppose that who is copying whom depends on which operating system ships first. It’s a race after all!
Actually Thorin’s example is pretty poor since it completely ignores the concept of tone and attitude. In any case, I mostly agree with the MDN take (which is not that common, so I feel I should mention it when I do).
If you’re looking for a pat on the back for owning a Mac, then the smug attitude will suit you just fine. However, most of us Mac owners aren’t looking for empty reassurances of our worth as human beings, so the attitude seems a bit over the top.
I do think Thurrott is correct in how Jobs tends to exaggerate things, but that’s mostly a matter of opinion.
And after writing this article Thuroot puts his kneepads back on and crawls under Ballmers desk.
I now believe that the MDN takes are done by different people.
I say jab their eyes out Apple. If I get one more Windows user crying to me about some Windows PC that I told them not to buy, I’ll scream. I have not heard one complaint from the people that have taken my recommedation to buy a Mac and it feels good.
Captain Huh? take is spot on.
Re: Steve’s Health
I went through the posted videos of WWDC 2205, MacWorld 2006, and WWDC 2006. The quality of the WWDC 2006 isn’t as good as the others (which you could choose a higher resolution). The current stream is also rather dark and red-shifted.
In the first two, you will notice Steve has a bit of a love handle. These are gone in the WWDC 2006. It is obviously he has lost some weight, but he now seems more trim and athletic than the earlier ones.
Perhaps, in this over-weight country, we prefer a little fat on people. Perhaps to make ourselves feel better.
But, Steve’s overall stature, stride and voice all seem fine in the latest video and no longer sports a noticeable belly.
My opinion is that Steve is back to a more normal weight and athletic build, and no longer looks like most pudgy Americans.
Comparison pics here…
I tried to color correct the most recent one to compensate for the poor video quality.
would anyone really be complaining if Microsoft took Apple’s ideas and made them better? I don’t think so and I know I wouldn’t. It would push Apple further…right now…the only company pushing Apple is Apple’s last release.
Seriously Microsoft…copy all you want…just improve it. If Vista was more like Leopard from the get-go then that’d be great…Leopard would have to be a step above that. Microsoft’s back-up should have looked more like Time Machine in it’s second release. If you improve something it’s not copying…it’s inspiration, and there is nothing wrong with that.
realist,
Your comment about “tone and attitude” is exactly what I’m talking about. What the hell should Apple do when talking about their products (at their own flipping developers conference, I might add)?
I suppose they should say something like:
“Uh, excuse us, we don’t mean to me rude, but uhm, well, this piece of OS X is better than, pardon, Vista. We’re so sorry to say it, we don’t want to come accross as rude or “smug” or like we think we make better stuff than, beg your pardon, Microsoft…”
The complete Thurrott article is actually pretty well written. It’s actually pretty fair about some of the features of Leopard vs. Vista.
MDN’s quote of the article doesn’t really give an accurate portrayal of it.
For example, Thurrott says,
“Give Apple some credit for getting to market first–by a long shot–and doing a fantastic job of implementing features that Microsoft, frankly, may never get right.”
Of course, this was never mentioned in MDN’s summary.
“Apple should start acting less like me.” — Paul Thurrot
MDN, can you please NOT post more ‘stories’ from Thurrott, please? He’s horribly annoying. Isn’t he the one who says he purposely ‘baits’ Mac users with his crazy ‘stories’.
I just read the entire article. What Paul still doesn’t get is that Vista has not shipped yet. He still claims that Apple ripped off Spotlight from Vista, even though Tiger has been shipping with Spotlight for quite some time now. Paul points out that Windows Server 2003 has had “Time Machine”s features for years, yet Windows Server 2003 is clearly not a consumer operating system.
Paul acknowledges that Vista blatantly rips off iCal.
Paul denies that Vista’s appearance rips off Mac OS X’s appearance, saying that Microsoft made it clear from the start that the new interface was going to look that way. (that is, that it will rip off Mac OS X…)
Paul acknowledges that Vista will still have its crappy registry and dlls and inherent brittle-ness that comes with them.
It seemed like his entire point was that Apple is “bad” because they ripped off Spotlight from Vista, because they ripped off Time Machine from Windows Server 2003, and because they are making fun of Microsoft for playing catch-up with Mac OS X.
In short, this article by Paul is an admission of Vista’s problems and a cry for Apple to stop being bean and hurting his feelings.
Wow thelt, you go from one extreme to the other. I’m not exactly sure what you think that proves.
Time Machine looks a lot like Shadow Volume Copy on Win2K3 MS Server, which is itself only an implementation of VMS’es versioning, circa 1979…
It is a way cool feature, very useful and I personally don’t care that Windows had an implementation first.
It’s not available on Windows’s XP Home, afaik, and barring buying an $N00/seat licence from MS, the backup cannot bestored on another volume, as, apparently, can Time Machine.
MDN MW: strength, as in OS X moves from strength to strength, Womndows moves, err, it’s NOT moving very well, now, is it?
Realist,
Thelt was commenting about the MDN take.
It says nothing about tone. It cites
Coke vs. Pepsi and taking jabs at MS.
We obviously see nothing wrong with that.
“but that tone”, GEEZ, this is starting to
sound like an argument with my wife.
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List of OS X Leopard improvements from developer build:
http://www.aeroxp.org/board/index.php?showtopic=5142&hl;=
Get it before it’s pulled.
Nick, it seems like you read things but only remember the words the reinforce what you already want to believe.
“I just read the entire article. What Paul still doesn’t get is that Vista has not shipped yet.”
– No, he actually aknowledges that.
“Paul points out that Windows Server 2003 has had “Time Machine”s features for years, yet Windows Server 2003 is clearly not a consumer operating system.”
– What difference does that make? It’s almost laughable that you think that the intended market determines whether a feature existed or not.
“Paul denies that Vista’s appearance rips off Mac OS X’s appearance”
– He was talking about the logo.
“It seemed like his entire point was that Apple is “bad” “
– No, he actually says that Apple is good.
As the saying goes:
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
Apple has chosen to lead; Microsoft has chosen to follow; and the rest have one way or another gotten out of the way.
And by Lead I mean in quality.
Microsoft obviously leads in quantity, but more and more people are seeing the light day by day and switching to Apple for obvious reasons: quality and elegance.
Apparently, MDN and you others that think Apple should stop poking fun at Microsoft have never been harassed or beaten up for merely being in the minority.
This is a developers’ conference, filled with geeks (strike 1) that have chosen to support and defend the Mac OS (strike 2). These people live in a ridiculed minority, day in and day out. Steve HAD to give a rousing speech to bolster his troops, to build their moral. He is much more than the grand Wizard of Oz pumping out cool toys. He also leads a minority culture that is being perpetually being beaten upon by ignorant bullies and mindless lemmings.
Rather than bouncing around like a witless unimaginative ape, Steve entertained his most loyal followers by poking fun at the very thing that causes them pain. And he did it very well and very professional. He didn’t make any jabs at anyone personally, nor did he joke about any weaknesses that were not Microsoft’s fault.
Perhaps more of you need to live in the shoes of others within a downtrodden minority, be beaten for merely being how God made you, not something of you own choosing. THEN you will know the sweet taste of getting back at the ignorant bullies.
Someone needs to take Microsoft to task for their blatant copying and abuse of their consumers.
If not us, then who?
If not now, then when?
Thorin,
Ok, maybe MDN didn’t specifically mention the word “tone” but when they say “can the wise-ass attitude,” I think tone is implied since tone is often times a way to determine one’s attitude.
MLB: “Apparently, MDN and you others that think Apple should stop poking fun at Microsoft have never been harassed or beaten up for merely being in the minority.
This is a developers’ conference, filled with geeks (strike 1) that have chosen to support and defend the Mac OS (strike 2). These people live in a ridiculed minority, day in and day out. Steve HAD to give a rousing speech to bolster his troops, to build their moral. He is much more than the grand Wizard of Oz pumping out cool toys. He also leads a minority culture that is being perpetually being beaten upon by ignorant bullies and mindless lemmings.”
– Ok, what’s your excuse for when Apple acts like that outside of the developer’s conference setting?
Come on, dork! Sometimes I don’t get you Thurrot. Did you notice that I was preaching to the choir. Who but Mac fanboys would watch a two-hour keynote?
Pffttt…get a life dude, because the one you have seriously sucks your brain dry…
Bozo
S.
Come on, dork! Sometimes I don’t get you Thurrot. Did you notice that I was preaching to the choir. Who but Mac fanboys would watch a two-hour keynote?
Pffttt…get a life dude, because the one you have seriously sucks your brain dry…
Bozo
S.
When I saw Steve on the video, I thought he looked much older than before. But I think it was the beard. That gray beard really makes him look older. Lose the beard Steve!
Lots of the Leopard stuff was either in the:
-“ho-hum, another gimmick”
-“i will never use that and who would?”
-“solution looking for a problem that really does not exist”.
You really want that Time Machine feature keeping everything you thought you threw out???
And those roller coaster shots for the iChat—gimmicky crap.
And the top secret stuff—-prepare to be unimpressed.
Who cares about who copies who? Its the f’ing computer software industry. Everybody has copied everybody at some point. So what if Microsoft copies from Apple. So what if Apple copies from Linux or vice-versa. A good idea is a good idea.
I have a feeling there must be some reason why Apple is going after MS in such direct, blunt words… I am sure Apple/Jobs is smart enough to know not to bash the “#1 giant” So if Jobs is bashing MS so openly, I get a feeling they are getting ready with some real ammunition (the top secret stuff could be some of it). Could it also be that Apple is planning to stand on its own instead of under the shadow of MS (market wise, not quality wise ofcourse – the latter, we have already seen Apple do for years). It could also be that Apple is preparing for life without MS support? (i.e. MS Office etc?). Think about it, why would Jobs/Apple be foolish enough to provoke MS if they expect continued support/collaboration from MS? (Apple must have already known MS was going to pull the plug on VPC before the public did) so more and more Apple might be realizing that it CAN take a chance severing MS business ties and be strong enough to stand and offer true competition to MS in the marketplace esp. now that the iPod influence (hopefully) would spread to the digital lifestly/living rooms of people at large, the Intel transition which will put Apple & PC makers on an equal playing field etc (it’s been already shown that Apple hardware CAN now compete with PC hardware in terms of cost- no more “oh, Mac is more expensive than PCs”!) May be Apple now realizes that it is getting stronger enough to take the battle to Redmond (due to the above mentioned reasons and more?) :O)
MDN agreeing with Thurrott? WTF? <head explodes>
The Coke vs. Pepsi analogy is no longer applicable. Ten years ago, the market capitalization of the Coca-Cola company was twice that of PepsiCo.
Earlier this summer, PepsiCo passed Coca-Cola Co. in market cap.
As beverages go, Coke is still bigger than Pepsi. But for the companies, Pepsi is bigger.
(For what it’s worth, I drink Cokes).
Okay I managed to make it thru Thurrot’s whole article without laughing out loud too much. His diatribe shows there is nothing sadder than watching someone in the process of realizing they’ve bet it all on the wrong horse.
That whole article was Thurrot shouting “D’OH!!!!”
“Two of the new features–Time Machine and Spaces–are valuable additions to OS X and worth discussing, though both, interestingly, have been done before in other OSes.”
Those “other OSes” do not include Windows. Apple is including them in its OS X before Microsoft includes them in its Vista. (Before we know it, Microsoft WILL add their own versions …)
It’s no wonder that Leopard isn’t as monumental a release as Vista. Apple has been graciously showering Mac users will added features for the past 5 years; Microsoft is going with a lump sum:
Aqua –> Aero
Expose –> Flip3D
Spotlight –> Instant Search
Finder Sidebar –> Explorer Favorite Links
Dashboard/Widgets –> Sidebar/Gadgets
Smartfolders –> Folder Stack
VoiceOver –> Speech Recognition
Software Update –> Windows Update
iCal –> Calendar
iMovie –> Movie Maker
iDVD –> DVD Maker
iPhoto –> Photo Gallery
iTunes –> Media Player 11
Apple icon –> Windows “pearl”
O.K. Paul, time to run to Bill to get your treat and get patted.
I just love how Paul STILL thinks Mac OS X ripped off Spotlight from Vista.
Vista is being released next year. Spotlight was released by Apple last year. He just doesn’t get this “time traveling in one direction” thing.
I’d have to say the most interesting part of the keynote was the hardware announcement Schiller gabbled through – a new dual Xeon Mac Pro will do me nicely.
With regards to Leopard, you can say what you want about Thurrott, but Apple need to knock the whole ‘they’re copying us again’ jabs on the head. They’ve clearly borrowed OS ideas from others – just implemented them in a different way. From memory, Expose was the last great Apple UI innovation I can remember. And I wouldn’t brag about the Finder. So, I’m hoping these coming ‘top secret’ features are something to crow about.
Finally – the whole flow of the keynote felt a little odd. Jobs did look tired and a little thin, and at times forgot his pace. Maybe it’s stress? Let the conspiracy theories fly…..
Keep the banners. It’s all in good fun. Man, people don’t have a sense of humor anymore. If we can lighten up a bit (Windows and Mac dudes alike) the world would be a fun place. But Windows people are so serious that they simply can’t take a little lighthearted humor from the Mac camp. And Mac people always feel so attacked by the Windows crowd. Man, both Windows people and Mac people should really lighten up. There’s a place for everyone, and there’s always place for a little humor.
Heck, the whole world is bashing Microsoft: Thurrott usually is, stockholders and analysts are, its customers certainly are, its distribution partners are, the EU is, my wife is (she suffers XP at work)…. SO WHY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD SHOULDN’T APPLE?????
Are you guys starting to feel SORRY for MS or what???!
I say WELL DONE Jobs & Co, you need to promote the differences between OSX and XP/VISTA, promote how MS continually copies and delays and makes poor software and poor experiences for customers that leads to massive and unnecessary expenses.
Apple needs to do this because it suffers continually from a drip drip diet of malicious and underhanded commentaries coming from up North. Let’s have an open and honest fight.
But again, perhaps Apple needn’t do anything, after all, VISTA will be a Microsoft killer.
Paul constantly contradicts himself in the article…
This is kind of zen: “Steve’s claim is baloney…but his comment is technically true”
What an Apple fan:
“I’m actually a huge fan of both Apple and Mac OS X.”
“Apple plays light and loose with facts.”
“I have to admit to being a bit shocked by how childish Apple is about Vista”
“see how Apple’s childish behavior rubs off on its fans?”
He says Vista is more productive but not better:
“I’m not claiming that Vista is somehow “better” than Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard, though I do find myself to be more productive in Windows than in OS X”
On new features in Leopard:
“…most of these features are not major by any definition I’m aware of…”
except Time Machine: “it’s certainly a major feature that will benefit end users”
except Spaces: “Another truly major new feature…”
except Core Animation: “Core Animation will usher in a new generation of graphically animated application.”
except Accessibility improvements: “pple is working to dramatically improve how well Leopard will work for people with disabilities, and they certainly deserve some credit for this work.”
Paul needs to take his medication more regularly, methinks.
Good job Paul, now do not forget next week brain reconditioning session.
“Run 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively [of WinXP x64]” — Paul Thurrott.
Wrong! WinXP x64 has an emulation layer called WOW (Windows On Windows) to allow 32-bit applications to run on 64-bit Windows. Unfortunately it’s a bit flackey and I had to nuke and reformat my Windows PC from 64-bit to 32-bit (and lose all the speed and stability of x64 version) to run all my buggy 32-bit apps (special mention to Reuters for Reuters-Link).
Also, it keeps 32-bit apps in different folders, e.g. “Program Files (x86)”, and is pretty poor at running 32-bit apps.
Furthermore, I’ve beta tested 64-bit Windows Vista and that has similar problems … if 64-bit / 32-bit integration was good in Vista, why would there be two builds (x86 and x64)?
I concur with a previous comment. MDN should be the last one to complain of a “wise-ass attitude”. In this case it would be great for all concerned if you took your own advice MDN,
Mr Thuroot is guilty of a few inaccuracies himself. Here is a copy of an email I just sent him regarding a major one.
Dear Paul, you state in your article:
“because of the effort in porting the OS X code to a new platform (which, actually, had been in the works for a long time and wasn’t the 210 day project Jobs claimed).”
Actually he was referring to the time it took to convert their product line to Intel chips, it has nothing to do with the OS. Regards, Tony.
No dice. I couldn’t find a can big enough for my attitude.
realist:
I didn’t REALLY mean that Apple should talk like that… I was illustrating that that’s what it seems like you and all these other sissies with their feelings hurt all the time want Apple to say…
Man, it’s like communicating with a pre-teen girl
thelt, and I was asking what the point of that was since no one is actually saying the things you claim. Strawman anyone?
my only comment about the MDN take is that … Apple IS, in fact, #2. In terms of all the important business metrics. I’m talking about Apple the company, not Apply the equipment (and it’s the company that we’re dealing with here).
That’s why they take pot shots at MS. Apple need to get people to pay attention to them as a credible alternative to MS and hitting MS where it hurts is one way to do that. Those who already know will be a bit annoyed, those who don’t may start paying attention. It’s a ploy that Sun used for ages; but Sun never offered a credible alternative during it’s MS bashing days, and Apple does.
“The difference is that Apple refines the ideas to make them actually useful and intuitive to people”
LIKE…. DASHBOARD.
(I’m still mad about that one since it was a poor-man’s rip-off.)
“But, while we Macheads love it all, the rest of the world doesn’t. And Apple doesn’t need to lower themselves either…”
To whose standards? To Pepsi’s standards? Cuz you just mentioned the Microsoft doesn’t do it. Let it be said, I can’t ever imagine using Win XP again, but nearly everyone I talk to about about Macs (unless they are a Mac fan) goes, “I don’t like those commercials.” Then they add something about snobby….
The Mac ads need to be as universally cool as the iPod ads. Just my O.
What does Microsoft have to be smug about?
Don’t blame Apple lawyers; blame Sculley. After His Steveness was forced out, Apple cut a bad deal with the devil M$. Apple’s lawyers were simply following orders from the big cheese at the time. Let’s all be glad that Steve returned to save the company–and us as well.
Well it is just plain silly! All the people doing the complaining are Geeks! The rest of the world could careless as long as it looks cool and gets the job done what ever the job is.
MDN getting warm and fuzzy? say it ain’t so.
I wonder what Eric Clapton thought when he heard the Troggs live. Or Steven King thinks when he glances through a Harlequin romance novel. I don’t mean to insult Troggs fans or people who read Harlequin Romances, but I wonder if this isn’t this the way Steven Jobs sees Microsoft. Not only has Jobs produced a very reliable, modern operating system – OSX, but prior to this in NeXT, he had some simply amazing things going. At the same time as the most exciting thing in the MacOS was WindowShade and MS was struggling to keep Windows 95 up and running for longer than five minutes at a time.
The only thing I can say about MS is that it’s mediocre. It’s not bad, it’s not good either. There certainly no WOW! factor. I can understand Jobs’ attitude. Sure, 98 was an improvement on 95 and 2000 was an improvement on 98 – we’ll forget about ME – XP seems better than 2000, although there’s still an awful lot of futzing around to keep it going for any length of time. But XP and Vista still suffer from the Barry Manilow syndrome. “A singer designed by a committee.”
Mediocrity.
And as for Thurrott, “Time Machine? We’ve had that on XP for years.” He didn’t even look at it. He can’t see beyond his own fixed ideas. This isn’t “System Restore,” or “Previous Versions.” Time Machine is the way we think. It’s a parallel of the human mind.
Perhaps we take OSX for granted. It was and is a tremendous advance in GUI that MS is struggling to catch up to. And with all the money and software muscle they have, they keep dropping features and still can’t get Vista out on time.
Jobs has HIGH standards. MS is Fisher-Price, chocolate boxes and supermarket muzak. Something that no one really objects to but no one really gets passionate about. It’s the low average of everyone’s taste.
I understand Steven Jobs’ attitude.
Yours sincerely,
John Davis
“At $129 for each version, that’s about $750 on Mac OS X upgrades since 2001. That kind of puts the cost of Windows in perspective” – Paul Thurrot
Well let’s see. Say you get paid $12 an hour doing some sort of work that requires a computer. The cost of a $129 upgrade would be justified if, by using the new features in the upgrade, you saved yourself just 10 hours in a year. That’s less than an hour a month!
Just how many countless hours have additions such as Spotlight, Automator, Expose etc. saved people in a year?
If initial price was the important issue none of us would have bought expensive hardware to run OSX on. I’d rather pay more for the hardware and get OSX where my productivity is much higher than a cheap Windows system. To me time is the most precious commodity. You can recover lost money but you can never recover lost time.
Hmm … will Virtual Desktops be just another PowerToy for Vista or will Microsoft follow Apple’s lead by making it a part of the operating system like Spaces?
Does virtual desktops work in Vista beta? They’ve changed so much of the code it might not work.
My guess is that Microsoft have enough on their hands just trying to get the (now stripped down) features they’ve promised for Vista ready. To add a Spaces like feature, whether it would require rewriting the old virtual desktop powertoy code or not, would be too much work to get right in time.
MDN derives revenue by linking to the likes of Enderle and Thurott and also enriches these folks by doing so.
Pot calling kettle black….
Mac had virtual desktops as far back as 1986 according to Macworld:
http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/firstlooks/leospaces/index.php