Apple copying Microsoft, what a farce. Whatever, I'll continue on my merry way happily booting OS X, Windows 7, and Linux side by side on the same machine. But just to throw kerosene on the fire:
64-bitness: Yippee,! Apple finally goes 64-bit -- BFD! As a Windows user, I've been livin' la vida 64-bit for more than three years. Vista was the first mainstream desktop OS to deliver a viable 64-bit experience, and Windows 7 has taken this migration further by making it the preferred flavor for business users.
There has been "64-bitness" on the Mac for a while, but I agree that it has taken them too long to get everything running 64 bit.
Exposé Dock Integration: This one's a joke, right? Am I to understand that Apple is just getting around to adding this? Microsoft has been offering this type of functionality (aka thumbnail preview) for years, and Windows 7 has taken the concept further with Aero Peek, Shake, and Snap. It sounds like Apple's Xerox machine suffered a paper jam with this one -- or perhaps it's just stuck in one of those famous Mac OS X infinite loops.
Oh please. Apple has had Expose since Panther was released in 2003. MS copied the idea in some of the effects of Aero when Vista was released. Microsoft improved on some of the ideas, so now Apple is copying back some of Microsoft's ideas. Both companies have copied from each other and to argue otherwise futile.
Expanded PDF Preview: If this constitutes a "feature," then Apple must really be grasping! I mean, Windows has supported PDF file preview -- via an installable ifilter module -- ever since Desktop Search debuted pre-Vista. In fact, the ability to seamlessly preview third-party content has been a staple of the Windows experience for years. So while I'm glad to see Apple finally getting on the ball with its PDF handling (I hear the updated viewer lets you basically do away with the piggish Adobe Reader for most common tasks), I'm still utterly stunned by the fact that this is even an issue. Provide a free (i.e. not trialware) XPS document viewer with Mac OS X and then maybe I'll get excited.
What? You mean you can install something to get functionality on Windows that OS X doesn't have by default? I'm not even sure what he is on about here, and I'm guessing any consumer could care less about this as long as Preview (the OS X app that comes with every install) opens PDF files, which it has been able to do plus many other file types since at least my first experience on a Mac with Tiger.
QuickTime Pro: Can you believe the Apple folks used to charge for this thing? I guess they saw the writing on the wall, what with Microsoft releasing yet another excellent iteration of its free Movie Maker application. Way to play that reactionary card, Apple!
It was stupid to charge for QuickTime Pro. Of course using Microsoft's Movie Maker application as an argument would have to be met with the free iMovie app that comes with every Mac and is much more powerful than Movie Maker.
I've often referred to Windows 7 as "Vista R2," an incremental follow-up release that was mostly about righting the wrongs of its predecessor. Viewed in these terms, Mac OS X Snow Leopard is more like a service pack: a collection of bug fixes and minor functional enhancements that, quite frankly, should have been in the original release. As such, Snow Leopard is nothing to get all excited about; it's not worth even the modest "upgrade" price Apple is asking.
So Microsoft makes and incremental follow-up that rights some of the wrongs of the previous version, and it is worth $300, but Apple doing the same thing is just a "service pack" that is not worth the $29 price?
All in all, Windows 7 is a great OS. It
does fix many flaws of its predecessor and I enjoy using it. I also enjoy my MacBook Pro with its sleek design, well built construction, and OS X. I can run any OS that I want on it and it is a great machine. Yes it is a little more than PC notebooks, but it is also of a bit higher quality. I can't stand fanbois, whether they are Windows fanbois, OS X fanbois, or Linux fanbois. It's a freaking computer OS, there are much better things on which to devote your time, love, and attention.
