There have plenty of people bad mouthing MS-Windows Vista, for whatever reason, and sometimes without even taking a look at it. I recently got to see the system in action and I must say it looks quite good. Sure there are things they could do better, but then again MacOS X wasn't much better when it first came out. There may be some copying of the Mac, but then again most OSs are copying off each other and improving on various elements, much like car manufacturers. I am still very much a Mac user, so I am not at the point of wanting to switch.
What I would like to know, from those of you who have actually spent time with the new operating system, is what features in Vista do you like to the point of wanting to see them on the Mac. If there is a third-party utility which allows the Mac to have feature x from Vista, then I think that is worth noting too.
Please keep this thread civilised. This is about the positive stuff, so please don't use it as your personal advocasy thread.
To start off, here are a few that I liked:
- The size indicators for the various mounted volumes
- The 3D task switcher (liked it, though maybe a distraction)
- The widgets on the side of the screen.
Wait, are you telling me Vista isn't an Apple product? I thought it was an extention of Mac OS X Tigr...since it only had a couple of "new features".....
Lol, j/k. If you want Vista on a Mac, just put it on a Mac! Lol. But really...I just want some useful, sexy eye candy that I can drool over. Thats all I want!
Appearence Themes, man. Just like in OS 8... Or at least the ability to change a colour or two other than "Blue" and "Graphite"... Seriously, that's just ridiculous...
The only thing you could change in OS 8 that you can't in OS X was the color for the progress bars, scrollbar thumbs and menu selection.
The HiTech, Gizmo and Drawing Board windows themes were never released officially, there was no support from Apple if you used them. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but the last time I fiddled with windows-changing Appearance Themes under the Classic Mac OS, I was greated with a flashing question mark after rebooting; my HD was corrupted beyond repair. Looking at the HD using some utilities, I found that stuff pertaining to the Appearance UI had overwritten the boot blocks... But anyway this kind of thing couldn't happen under OS X, I was just pointing out that OS X wasn't such a step backward, since themes weren't really supported in OS 8 anyway.
When OS X was released, I was hoping that some hidden value would hold the main color for the Aqua interface widgets, and that simply changing this value would re-color the whole interface. I was wrong, as I discovered digging into the Extra.rsrc file, such a thing was not possible since each individual widget is composed of one or several bitmaps that are already aqua-colored.
Changing the aqua color to something else in 10.0 to 10.4 requires changing all interface bitmaps. In fact, there's a duplicate set of grayscale bitmap used for the Graphite theme.
But there's hope for Leopard, at least in the interface coloring department... Because of resolution independence, all standard interface widgets are being vectorized, that means interface elements can be easily recolored. To implement the Graphite theme in Leopard without having to duplicate resources, Apple would just need to use some global variable holding the main interface color.
It would be trivial for Apple to then implement a feature in 10.5 to change the theme color to something other than aqua and graphite. Even if they don't officially provide the feature, it'll be probably easy to hack, maybe a single Terminal command will do the trick.
So to get back on topic, the ability to re-colorize the interface is one of the few Windows feature I'd like to see on the Mac.
There have plenty of people bad mouthing MS-Windows Vista, for whatever reason, and sometimes without even taking a look at it. I recently got to see the system in action and I must say it looks quite good. Sure there are things they could do better, but then again MacOS X wasn't much better when it first came out. There may be some copying of the Mac, but then again most OSs are copying off each other and improving on various elements, much like car manufacturers. I am still very much a Mac user, so I am not at the point of wanting to switch.
What I would like to know, from those of you who have actually spent time with the new operating system, is what features in Vista do you like to the point of wanting to see them on the Mac. If there is a third-party utility which allows the Mac to have feature x from Vista, then I think that is worth noting too.
Please keep this thread civilised. This is about the positive stuff, so please don't use it as your personal advocasy thread.
To start off, here are a few that I liked:
- The size indicators for the various mounted volumes
- The 3D task switcher (liked it, though maybe a distraction)
- The widgets on the side of the screen.
How about...none?
Not to flame you here, but you have to be kidding with your comments about copying and Mac OS X not being much better when it came out. Hmmm?
Mac OSX has been out for over 5 years. M$ has had 5 years...count them...5...to copy Mac OSX. And you know what? They did a pretty decent job of it, for Microsoft.
Let's count the blatantly copied features, shall we?
1. Translucent windows/Aero
2. Gadgets (christ...even the NAME is ripped!)
3. Fast searching. But not as fast.
4. Windows Flip 3D.
As for Mac OS X, you're right in that 10.0 and 10.1 were not up to snuff (though honestly, I'd put Vista right with 10.1 from what I've read about it). But Jaguar (10.2) was a good, stable OS that was feature-complete. It's gotten much better since then.
The point is...what was Microsoft doing in that time? I'll tell you...they were busy trying to rewrite Windows with some actual innovations...like a new file system...which of course was scrapped and replaced with what is basically the Microsoft version of Mac OS 9...all with an "Aero/glass" candy shell and a bunch of features blatantly stolen from the Mac OS..again.
I've heard that the widgets on Vista run in the background so that they're ready immediately. I think I would like the same to be the case on 10.5... Then again, there's probably a reason Vista has rediculus system requirements.
Oh, and I would also like to see Vistas affordable pricing. Oh wait - not!
There is something out there that jostles Dashboard every so often and keeps the wigest running. Can't remember right now but it exists.
Two things I've wanted on the Mac OS from Windows for a while are:
1) Four-sides window resizing. Why the crap do I HAVE to drag the lower right corner on a Mac?!
2) Right-click dragging of files to copy, move, create shortcut, etc. I know there are button+click combinations, but I want it available with just a click and drag.
Not to flame you here, but you have to be kidding with your comments about copying and Mac OS X not being much better when it came out. Hmmm?
Mac OSX has been out for over 5 years. M$ has had 5 years...count them...5...to copy Mac OSX. And you know what? They did a pretty decent job of it, for Microsoft.
Let's count the blatantly copied features, shall we?
1. Translucent windows/Aero
2. Gadgets (christ...even the NAME is ripped!)
3. Fast searching. But not as fast.
4. Windows Flip 3D.
(...)
The point is...what was Microsoft doing in that time? I'll tell you...they were busy trying to rewrite Windows with some actual innovations...like a new file system...which of course was scrapped and replaced with what is basically the Microsoft version of Mac OS 9...all with an "Aero/glass" candy shell and a bunch of features blatantly stolen from the Mac OS..again.
So what features would I like? The ones I have.
This gives me the real WOW. I admire the way you've put that particular
I saw one thing in Vista I liked and that was that you could put what looked like a gadget stock indicator on the desktop. In fact, I cannot believe that nobody has made a stock app for the dock where you can track a few select stocks.
I wish somebody would make a taskmenubar type app for OS X. What a great classic shareware app this was...
Imagine how cool it would be to have your closed laptop playing yout iTunes, displaying email and more importantly available wireless strength when you're out and about.
The HiTech, Gizmo and Drawing Board windows themes were never released officially, there was no support from Apple if you used them. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but the last time I fiddled with windows-changing Appearance Themes under the Classic Mac OS, I was greated with a flashing question mark after rebooting; my HD was corrupted beyond repair. Looking at the HD using some utilities, I found that stuff pertaining to the Appearance UI had overwritten the boot blocks...
I used themes for years under OS 8 with no problems. Although the themes were never officially released by Apple, they WERE supported natively in the OS. There was always a popup-menu to choose themes in the Appearence control panel, only that it only contained one item until you put the files in the right folder...
I strongly second your suggestion to at LEAST allow a colour change on the widgets in Leopard. That'd be sweeet...
My other reason for wanting themes is for themes like UNO or Iridium that removes the hideous brushed metal and unifies the appearence... "One appearence to rule them all..."
Ugh, I'll tell you what Windows feature Apple needs to implement..
The Add/Remove programs tab. I am sick of having to manually delete all the files when I want to uninstall something. I know, some apps come with their own uninstallers, and there are third party apps like AppZapper that can do this for you... But why hasn't Apple made one built in? They've been making operating systems for decades and they can't come up with a simple uninstaller?
Is there a reason for this that I just don't know about? Because it just seems annoying to me..
Ugh, I'll tell you what Windows feature Apple needs to implement..
The Add/Remove programs tab. I am sick of having to manually delete all the files when I want to uninstall something. I know, some apps come with their own uninstallers, and there are third party apps like AppZapper that can do this for you... But why hasn't Apple made one built in? They've been making operating systems for decades and they can't come up with a simple uninstaller?
Is there a reason for this that I just don't know about? Because it just seems annoying to me..
Hmmm, I actually find this installing and removing programs one of the more satisfying aspects of osX...
So what if some program leaves behind some small settings files in your library.
It's just annoying. There should be a way to click on a button and remove a program. I shouldn't have to manually delete all its components.
osX treats a program as a any other file. Because that's just what a program is: (a bunch of) files that happen to be executable. When you move a program to the trash you remove all components. Sure, some settings files are left but they will do you or your Mac no harm wahtsoever, I just don't see why you're upset with that?? Just ignore them!
To me the osX way is the most intuitive possible way of adding and removing programs.
Comments
There have plenty of people bad mouthing MS-Windows Vista, for whatever reason, and sometimes without even taking a look at it. I recently got to see the system in action and I must say it looks quite good. Sure there are things they could do better, but then again MacOS X wasn't much better when it first came out. There may be some copying of the Mac, but then again most OSs are copying off each other and improving on various elements, much like car manufacturers. I am still very much a Mac user, so I am not at the point of wanting to switch.
What I would like to know, from those of you who have actually spent time with the new operating system, is what features in Vista do you like to the point of wanting to see them on the Mac. If there is a third-party utility which allows the Mac to have feature x from Vista, then I think that is worth noting too.
Please keep this thread civilised. This is about the positive stuff, so please don't use it as your personal advocasy thread.
To start off, here are a few that I liked:
- The size indicators for the various mounted volumes
- The 3D task switcher (liked it, though maybe a distraction)
- The widgets on the side of the screen.
Wait, are you telling me Vista isn't an Apple product? I thought it was an extention of Mac OS X Tigr...since it only had a couple of "new features".....
Lol, j/k. If you want Vista on a Mac, just put it on a Mac! Lol. But really...I just want some useful, sexy eye candy that I can drool over. Thats all I want!
Appearence Themes, man. Just like in OS 8... Or at least the ability to change a colour or two other than "Blue" and "Graphite"... Seriously, that's just ridiculous...
The only thing you could change in OS 8 that you can't in OS X was the color for the progress bars, scrollbar thumbs and menu selection.
The HiTech, Gizmo and Drawing Board windows themes were never released officially, there was no support from Apple if you used them. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but the last time I fiddled with windows-changing Appearance Themes under the Classic Mac OS, I was greated with a flashing question mark after rebooting; my HD was corrupted beyond repair. Looking at the HD using some utilities, I found that stuff pertaining to the Appearance UI had overwritten the boot blocks... But anyway this kind of thing couldn't happen under OS X, I was just pointing out that OS X wasn't such a step backward, since themes weren't really supported in OS 8 anyway.
When OS X was released, I was hoping that some hidden value would hold the main color for the Aqua interface widgets, and that simply changing this value would re-color the whole interface. I was wrong, as I discovered digging into the Extra.rsrc file, such a thing was not possible since each individual widget is composed of one or several bitmaps that are already aqua-colored.
Changing the aqua color to something else in 10.0 to 10.4 requires changing all interface bitmaps. In fact, there's a duplicate set of grayscale bitmap used for the Graphite theme.
But there's hope for Leopard, at least in the interface coloring department... Because of resolution independence, all standard interface widgets are being vectorized, that means interface elements can be easily recolored. To implement the Graphite theme in Leopard without having to duplicate resources, Apple would just need to use some global variable holding the main interface color.
It would be trivial for Apple to then implement a feature in 10.5 to change the theme color to something other than aqua and graphite. Even if they don't officially provide the feature, it'll be probably easy to hack, maybe a single Terminal command will do the trick.
So to get back on topic, the ability to re-colorize the interface is one of the few Windows feature I'd like to see on the Mac.
Change System Font size !!!!!
The read/write/copy file/folder progress dialogs in Vista display the data rates, like 34meg/sec.
What's the point of Apple spending so much time/money/research into the look of OS X only for people to ruin it?
There have plenty of people bad mouthing MS-Windows Vista, for whatever reason, and sometimes without even taking a look at it. I recently got to see the system in action and I must say it looks quite good. Sure there are things they could do better, but then again MacOS X wasn't much better when it first came out. There may be some copying of the Mac, but then again most OSs are copying off each other and improving on various elements, much like car manufacturers. I am still very much a Mac user, so I am not at the point of wanting to switch.
What I would like to know, from those of you who have actually spent time with the new operating system, is what features in Vista do you like to the point of wanting to see them on the Mac. If there is a third-party utility which allows the Mac to have feature x from Vista, then I think that is worth noting too.
Please keep this thread civilised. This is about the positive stuff, so please don't use it as your personal advocasy thread.
To start off, here are a few that I liked:
- The size indicators for the various mounted volumes
- The 3D task switcher (liked it, though maybe a distraction)
- The widgets on the side of the screen.
How about...none?
Not to flame you here, but you have to be kidding with your comments about copying and Mac OS X not being much better when it came out. Hmmm?
Mac OSX has been out for over 5 years. M$ has had 5 years...count them...5...to copy Mac OSX. And you know what? They did a pretty decent job of it, for Microsoft.
Let's count the blatantly copied features, shall we?
1. Translucent windows/Aero
2. Gadgets (christ...even the NAME is ripped!)
3. Fast searching. But not as fast.
4. Windows Flip 3D.
As for Mac OS X, you're right in that 10.0 and 10.1 were not up to snuff (though honestly, I'd put Vista right with 10.1 from what I've read about it). But Jaguar (10.2) was a good, stable OS that was feature-complete. It's gotten much better since then.
The point is...what was Microsoft doing in that time? I'll tell you...they were busy trying to rewrite Windows with some actual innovations...like a new file system...which of course was scrapped and replaced with what is basically the Microsoft version of Mac OS 9...all with an "Aero/glass" candy shell and a bunch of features blatantly stolen from the Mac OS..again.
So what features would I like? The ones I have.
I've heard that the widgets on Vista run in the background so that they're ready immediately. I think I would like the same to be the case on 10.5... Then again, there's probably a reason Vista has rediculus system requirements.
Oh, and I would also like to see Vistas affordable pricing. Oh wait - not!
There is something out there that jostles Dashboard every so often and keeps the wigest running. Can't remember right now but it exists.
Here's something that can do it in a fashion.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/17871
CPU share will increase...
1) Four-sides window resizing. Why the crap do I HAVE to drag the lower right corner on a Mac?!
2) Right-click dragging of files to copy, move, create shortcut, etc. I know there are button+click combinations, but I want it available with just a click and drag.
The only thing you could change in OS 8 that you can't in OS X was the color for the progress bars, scrollbar thumbs and menu selection.
...
So to get back on topic, the ability to re-colorize the interface is one of the few Windows feature I'd like to see on the Mac.
Just let me add, whenever i look over the shoulder off of a Windows User,
i actually see the default windows color scheme. In years. I don't know
of anybody who bothers to change anything in Windows general appearance.
Granted maybe i don't know the right people.
How about...none?
Not to flame you here, but you have to be kidding with your comments about copying and Mac OS X not being much better when it came out. Hmmm?
Mac OSX has been out for over 5 years. M$ has had 5 years...count them...5...to copy Mac OSX. And you know what? They did a pretty decent job of it, for Microsoft.
Let's count the blatantly copied features, shall we?
1. Translucent windows/Aero
2. Gadgets (christ...even the NAME is ripped!)
3. Fast searching. But not as fast.
4. Windows Flip 3D.
(...)
The point is...what was Microsoft doing in that time? I'll tell you...they were busy trying to rewrite Windows with some actual innovations...like a new file system...which of course was scrapped and replaced with what is basically the Microsoft version of Mac OS 9...all with an "Aero/glass" candy shell and a bunch of features blatantly stolen from the Mac OS..again.
So what features would I like? The ones I have.
This gives me the real WOW.
Microsoft issue straight.
I wish somebody would make a taskmenubar type app for OS X. What a great classic shareware app this was...
- Mark
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebo...how-Laptops/p1
Imagine how cool it would be to have your closed laptop playing yout iTunes, displaying email and more importantly available wireless strength when you're out and about.
The HiTech, Gizmo and Drawing Board windows themes were never released officially, there was no support from Apple if you used them. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but the last time I fiddled with windows-changing Appearance Themes under the Classic Mac OS, I was greated with a flashing question mark after rebooting; my HD was corrupted beyond repair. Looking at the HD using some utilities, I found that stuff pertaining to the Appearance UI had overwritten the boot blocks...
I used themes for years under OS 8 with no problems. Although the themes were never officially released by Apple, they WERE supported natively in the OS. There was always a popup-menu to choose themes in the Appearence control panel, only that it only contained one item until you put the files in the right folder...
I strongly second your suggestion to at LEAST allow a colour change on the widgets in Leopard. That'd be sweeet...
My other reason for wanting themes is for themes like UNO or Iridium that removes the hideous brushed metal and unifies the appearence... "One appearence to rule them all..."
The Add/Remove programs tab. I am sick of having to manually delete all the files when I want to uninstall something. I know, some apps come with their own uninstallers, and there are third party apps like AppZapper that can do this for you... But why hasn't Apple made one built in? They've been making operating systems for decades and they can't come up with a simple uninstaller?
Is there a reason for this that I just don't know about? Because it just seems annoying to me..
Ugh, I'll tell you what Windows feature Apple needs to implement..
The Add/Remove programs tab. I am sick of having to manually delete all the files when I want to uninstall something. I know, some apps come with their own uninstallers, and there are third party apps like AppZapper that can do this for you... But why hasn't Apple made one built in? They've been making operating systems for decades and they can't come up with a simple uninstaller?
Is there a reason for this that I just don't know about? Because it just seems annoying to me..
Hmmm, I actually find this installing and removing programs one of the more satisfying aspects of osX...
So what if some program leaves behind some small settings files in your library.
Hmmm, I actually find this installing and removing programs one of the more satisfying aspects of osX...
So what if some program leaves behind some small settings files in your library.
It's just annoying. There should be a way to click on a button and remove a program. I shouldn't have to manually delete all its components.
It's just annoying. There should be a way to click on a button and remove a program. I shouldn't have to manually delete all its components.
osX treats a program as a any other file. Because that's just what a program is: (a bunch of) files that happen to be executable. When you move a program to the trash you remove all components. Sure, some settings files are left but they will do you or your Mac no harm wahtsoever, I just don't see why you're upset with that?? Just ignore them!
To me the osX way is the most intuitive possible way of adding and removing programs.