On May 22, 2004, at 1:35 PM, David W. Fenton wrote:
But, in case you want to defend your stance on Longhorn and OS X, do tell exactly which features of Longhorn (i.e., features that were absent in any previous version of Windows) are ripped off from OS X.
I'm all ears.
Weren't we talking about Mac OS X's "Expos�" feature here not long ago? Isn't that one of the things coming in Longhorn which doesn't currently exist in Windows?
As I understand it, the main features which Longhorn is going to add which were not in previous versions of Windows but are in Mac OS X -- I assume that's what's meant by "ripped off" -- primarily have to do with the graphic interface.
Longhorn is going to have windows that can be semi-transparent so that other windows are visible behind them. It's going to add animation features so that the various manipulations of icons, windows, etc, will be smoother and snazzier. For example the "genie in a bottle" effect when a window is "put away" somewhere, or the way that a tiny icon can balloon to a more readable size when your mouse pointer moves over it (to name two "gee whiz" effects which I myself soon turned off...). I'm not very familiar with the state of the art in Windows, but as I understand it, these things are currently absent in Windows, but they are present in Mac OS X.
Also, some changes that aren't really new features, but evolutions of features that already exist: The current Windows task bar is going to be dressed up in a direction that makes it more like OS X's "dock". (This is largely a byproduct of the animation/transparency stuff.) With regard to file organization, the current "My Pictures", "My Movies", "My Music", etc., are moving more in the direction of OS X's Library folder, leaving users less responsibility for keeping track of where files are actually located. (This latter is something that an old curmudgeon like me dislikes, by the way. I prefer to do all my file locating myself, but obviously I'm an exception.)
Of course you may now nitpick that these are not really "features" but just fluff, or that they aren't really "innovations". But whatever you want to call it, I believe this is the sort of thing people have in mind when they characterize Longhorn as copying OS X.
I'm just addressing your question here; I have no desire to associate myself with any claim that either OS is "ripping off" the other. Both groups are chasing a similar goal, so it's hardly surprising that they're going to evolve along a similar path. It's only natural that one system will adopt the more successful features of the other. If the Microsoft buzz is to be believed, Longhorn is not just going to chase Mac OS X in graphical interface stuff, but surpass it -- at which point it will be Mac's turn to "rip off".
mdl
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