Mossberg: Windows 7 narrows the gap with Apple's Mac OS X
Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal has given Microsoft's Windows 7 a glowing review, noting that Microsoft's latest operating system is still behind Apple's Mac OS X, but not by much.
A known Apple advocate, Mossberg's positive take on Windows 7 is a big change from Windows XP and Vista, both of which the columnist felt were vastly inferior to Mac OS X.
"In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows," he said. "That’s no longer true. I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows."
He continued: "Now, however, it’s much more of a toss-up between the two rivals. Windows 7 beats the Mac OS in some areas, such as better previews and navigation right from the taskbar, easier organization of open windows on the desktop and touch-screen capabilities. So Apple will have to scramble now that the gift of a flawed Vista has been replaced with a reliable, elegant version of Windows."
Windows 7 is set to debut on Oct. 22. A Home Premium upgrade will cost $120 ($200 standalone); Professional upgrade will cost $200 ($300 standalone); and Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade will run $220 ($320 standalone).
It's launch follows the debut of Apple's latest operating system, which was released at the end of August. Mossberg said both offerings from the rival companies are more evolutionary than revolutionary.
In his August review of Snow Leopard, Apple's latest operating system upgrade, Mossberg said the upgrade is a decent improvement, but not a "must-have upgrade." He said the $29 product is priced accordingly, because Mac OS X 10.6 is not a "typical Apple lust-provoking product."
In the Windows 7 review, Mossberg drew many parallels between Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. He said the new taskbar is similar to the Mac OS X dock, but improves on the concept in some ways -- namely Aero Peek, which he said is "more natural and versatile" than Snow Leopard's Dock Expose. The Aero Peek feature allows users to mouse over an open window in the preview screen, which makes all other windows on the desktop transparent.
He also praised the new OS for being faster than Windows Vista, nagging users for security concerns less than its predecessor, and offering a wide range of software compatibility.
But there are a few key areas where Windows 7 falls behind Snow Leopard, Mossberg said. For one, Microsoft's OS "still isn't quite as natural" as it is on Mac, though it's an improvement from Vista.
And though Windows 7 is faster, his MacBook Pro still started and restarted faster than most of the PCs he tested. "But the speed gap has narrowed considerably," he said.
A known Apple advocate, Mossberg's positive take on Windows 7 is a big change from Windows XP and Vista, both of which the columnist felt were vastly inferior to Mac OS X.
"In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows," he said. "That’s no longer true. I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows."
He continued: "Now, however, it’s much more of a toss-up between the two rivals. Windows 7 beats the Mac OS in some areas, such as better previews and navigation right from the taskbar, easier organization of open windows on the desktop and touch-screen capabilities. So Apple will have to scramble now that the gift of a flawed Vista has been replaced with a reliable, elegant version of Windows."
Windows 7 is set to debut on Oct. 22. A Home Premium upgrade will cost $120 ($200 standalone); Professional upgrade will cost $200 ($300 standalone); and Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade will run $220 ($320 standalone).
It's launch follows the debut of Apple's latest operating system, which was released at the end of August. Mossberg said both offerings from the rival companies are more evolutionary than revolutionary.
In his August review of Snow Leopard, Apple's latest operating system upgrade, Mossberg said the upgrade is a decent improvement, but not a "must-have upgrade." He said the $29 product is priced accordingly, because Mac OS X 10.6 is not a "typical Apple lust-provoking product."
In the Windows 7 review, Mossberg drew many parallels between Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. He said the new taskbar is similar to the Mac OS X dock, but improves on the concept in some ways -- namely Aero Peek, which he said is "more natural and versatile" than Snow Leopard's Dock Expose. The Aero Peek feature allows users to mouse over an open window in the preview screen, which makes all other windows on the desktop transparent.
He also praised the new OS for being faster than Windows Vista, nagging users for security concerns less than its predecessor, and offering a wide range of software compatibility.
But there are a few key areas where Windows 7 falls behind Snow Leopard, Mossberg said. For one, Microsoft's OS "still isn't quite as natural" as it is on Mac, though it's an improvement from Vista.
And though Windows 7 is faster, his MacBook Pro still started and restarted faster than most of the PCs he tested. "But the speed gap has narrowed considerably," he said.
Comments
also how is this apple news?
people that compare snow leopard to windows 7 are angry pc users which have never owned / operated a mac and have no idea of what they're talking about, and were paid big amounts of money to write good reviews, like this mossberg character
nice to read reviews from people which are probably in microsoft's payroll
For fucks sake, Mossberg is one of Apple's biggest fans in print. Perhaps he gave Windows 7 a good review because its actually good? Posts like yours give websites like this a bad name.
nice to read reviews from people which are probably in microsoft's payroll
also how is this apple news?
people that compare snow leopard to windows 7 are angry pc users which have never owned / operated a mac and have no idea of what they're talking about, and were paid big amounts of money to write good reviews, like this mossberg character
Microsoft's payroll? This guy is probably the most pro-mac reporter out there. I think it was even mentioned in the article that he is a strong mac advocate. Do you really think that Microsoft is bribing reporters at The Wall Street Journal for good reviews?
You just can't help yourself can you?
nice to read reviews from people which are probably in microsoft's payroll
also how is this apple news?
people that compare snow leopard to windows 7 are angry pc users which have never owned / operated a mac and have no idea of what they're talking about, and were paid big amounts of money to write good reviews, like this mossberg character
Oh my... how could you possibly be more wrong about big Moss?
Be afraid, be very afraid!
What's really flawed is Microsoft's pricing. When OSX is compared with Windows, it's usually compared against the Ultimate version of Windows which costs $400 for the upgrade, and not the Home which is by far the most popular. The Home version is a feature crippled version with many pre-installed trial software which sometimes is impossible to un-install if you don't have the exact know how, one example of that is McAfee. Also the Home version does not include security features like the Professional or Ultimate.
Don't they make most of their money from corporations anyway so I really don't think this matters.
For fucks sake, Mossberg is one of Apple's biggest fans in print. Perhaps he gave Windows 7 a good review because its actually good? Posts like yours give websites like this a bad name.
Where Quadra's and Abster2core's? I'm ready for my daily entertainment NOW!
Throw in a little brucep too- he keeps it real.
What's really flawed is Microsoft's pricing. When OSX is compared with Windows, it's usually compared against the Ultimate version of Windows which costs $400 for the upgrade, and not the Home which is by far the most popular. The Home version is a feature crippled version with many pre-installed trial software which sometimes is impossible to un-install if you don't have the exact know how, one example of that is McAfee. Also the Home version does not include security features like the Professional or Ultimate.
That's not the upgrade pricing you are talking about - that's the full version.
119.99 for home premium ugrade
199.99 for pro upgrade
219.99 for ultimate upgrade
I agree that their pricing is too high, but the only things missing from the home version are xp emulation, bitlocker (hard drive compression and encryption) on the fly language switching and some networking features mostly relevant to corporate networks.
Most of that pre-installed software is installed by pc manufacturers, it's not on the retail win disks. McAfee is easy to uninstall if you don't want it.
1) make sure all major software producers release their software to take advantage of GCD and OpenCL
2) release some updates to their professional line of software (Aperture) so that they still have an edge in this regard
3) Apple should help more some specialized software houses to make their software better for Mac (ArchiCAD Cocoa rewrite) or to port it to Mac (AutoCAD).
Then, after that, they should release some new MacPros and iMacs.
After all these steps are completed they can create the iTablet, keeping one thing in mind:
- NO CONTENT = NO SALES
So, for instance, if you don't have a movie and video store in 99% of the countries you shouldn't be surprised that the Apple TV is still in some sort of beta limbo...
Microsoft Windows 7 getting better? This is a piece of news that should affect every Mac enthusiast who doesn't wear blindfolds.
Apple has an edge, in my opinion, in a combination of factors, OSX being only one of them. But it is true that Snow Leopard brought only under the hood changes, which is a good idea in my opinion, but it is also true that if nobody (software) profits from these changes they are as good as useless. iCal and Mail have never been the most resource intensive tasks my MBP performs.. Happy to see they are faster, but ArchiCAD and Aperture in my case are the two that might benefit MUCH more from being 64bit and GCD compatible. So that is something Apple has to fix next.
However, within two years, mac users can pretty much expect a new feature packed OS based on the solid foundation that Snow Leopard provides. Windows on the other hand, based on past history may not see an upgrade for a while and Windows 7 is already the feature packed update based on the foundation of Vista.
I wonder if Windows 7 has flash problems like OSX?
OS X doesn't have a Flash problem, FLASH has a Flash problem. Apple is just trying to leverage its position to promote HTML 5 as opposed to a bloated proprietary format.
They may fail, but I applaud the effort. I can live without the ads and porn on my iPhone.
Like the old joke.... I don't have a drinking problem. I drink, I fall down, no problem.
For fucks sake, Mossberg is one of Apple's biggest fans in print. Perhaps he gave Windows 7 a good review because its actually good? Posts like yours give websites like this a bad name.
THANK YOU. i'm an apple fanboy too, but i'm not an idiot. Windows 7 is good. my shares of AAPL are nervous that several switchers will switch back. MSFT will make a killing on win7 because every corporation in the world that's still on XP will upgrade, and that's a shit-ton of corporations.
It seems:
Windows is better for bigger screens
OS X is better for smaller screens
... interface wise at least.
The other benefits of each operating system, compatibility vs. fluidity, haven't really changed significantly with these latest iterations. I still prefer OS X and have gotten rid of my partition. Both OSs are more similar than ever, especially since most computing happens on the web these days. I'm just glad Windows is finally competitive and looking forward to 10.7 and Windows 8.
OS X doesn't have a Flash problem, FLASH has a Flash problem. Apple is just trying to leverage its position to promote HTML 5 as opposed to a bloated proprietary format.
They may fail, but I applaud the effort. I can live without the ads and porn on my iPhone.
Like the old joke.... I don't have a drinking problem. I drink, I fall down, no problem.
But why does flash work so well on Windows? From flash perpective OSX is bloated that's why the CPU is grinded to a halt. No such problem when running Windows from what I hear.