Paradigms lost: The Windows 7 Taskbar versus the OS X Dock: Page. Start your copiers? Windows 7's new Taskbar has drawn many comparisons to Mac OS X's Dock, and many of them negative, with the overwhelming concern that Windows is becoming too Mac-like. Even among Mac users, the new Taskbar is unlikely to be universally appreciated, as many feel that the Dock is deeply flawed. On a superficial level, the similarity is obvious; both Dock and Taskbar are rows of large icons used for application launching and switching. Closer examination, however, reveals that there's a long way to go before anyone should worry that Microsoft is slavishly following Apple. The Windows UI isn't turning into the Mac OS X UI—not yet, at least. UI Paradigms In order to fully appreciate the differences between the Taskbar and Dock, we first have to understand the basic premises on which Windows and OS X are built.
The fundamental distinction between OS X and Windows is that, in general, windows on Mac OS X represent documents; on Windows, they represent applications. TextEdit. Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. I admit it: I'm a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can't control it. It's Apple. I don't like Apple products. And the better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them. Seriously, stop it. Of course, it's safe to assume Mac products are indeed as brilliant as their owners make out. Consequently, nothing pleases them more than watching a PC owner struggle with a slab of non-Mac machinery. This drew the attention of two nearby Mac owners. "Ah: the delights of Vista," said one. "It really is time you got a Mac," said the other. "They're just better," sang monk number one.
"You won't regret it," whispered the second. I scowled and returned to my infernal machine, like a dishevelled park-bench boozer shrugging away two pious AA recruiters by pulling a grubby, dented hip flask from his pocket and pointedly taking an extra deep swig. I know Windows is awful. That's why Windows works for me. Until now. Snow Leopard. Side by side: UI changes from Windows 7 beta to Windows 7 RC - A. Right clicking the Homegroup icon shows that the Delete option is gone from here as well, but four more options have been added: Change HomeGroup Settings, View the HomeGroup password, Start the HomeGroup troubleshooter, and Share with devices.
I guess deleting Libraries was causing problems for users, so that option is now gone. For right click menus of other items in the left pane of Windows Explorer, "Delete" has been renamed to "Remove" and "Open folder location" has been moved closer to the top. Snipping Tool What could they possibly change with the Snipping Tool? Sound There's a new Sound icon, and in the Communications tab, the drop down menu has been changed to a bullet list of options. In the Sounds tab, 12 new Sound Schemes have been added: Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.
Speech Recognition The Speech Recognition Options applet has lost its third word. Start Menu. Deep inside the Windows 7 Public Beta: an in-depth tour: Page 1. The next step Last week's CES saw the announcement of the much anticipated public beta of Windows 7, with 2.5 million license keys promised to beta testers on Friday. Friday arrived, and as is now well-known, Microsoft's servers melted under the load.
The key generation is now more or less working, and the 2.5 million limit has been scrapped, so it's time to take a look at what's on offer. The first public sightings of Windows 7 were at Microsoft's PDC developer conference in October last year. The lead-up to PDC was unusually secretive, with Redmond giving little away about what Windows 7 would actually contain when it shipped, in contrast to the extremely public lead-up to Windows Vista's release. The covers came off at PDC, with the star of the show being Windows 7's new taskbar.
The taskbar The taskbar is probably the defining feature of the Windows user interface. The new taskbar Fire up Windows 7 for the first time and the taskbar is pretty much what we saw back in October. Windows 7: How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista. Windows 7 First Impressions: Hey, This Looks Pretty Good! | Tech. DiggWindows Vista fatigue. I know I’m suffering from it, and so are a lot of other PC users.
Heck the whole PC industry is still trying to shake it, and even Microsoft itself may be afflicted. Is there a cure? Maybe so–in the form of Windows 7, Vista’s successor. And it looks…quite promising, really. Forgive the cliché, but Windows Vista turned out to be a sort of a bull in a china shop of an OS: a behemoth that slammed its way around users’ PCs, breaking things without providing anywhere near enough benefit in return. Vista suffered in part because it seemed to be an operating system that didn’t know what it wanted to be.
–It aims for compatibility. –It tries to stay out of your way. –It wants to make it easier to manage stuff–applications, documents, and more. –It’s connected. –It’s surprisingly original. Will the legions of Windows XP users who continue to spurn Vista find Windows 7 to be the upgrade they were waiting for? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.