OS X Vs Windows - Does Apple Know Something That Microsoft Does Not?

Am I on drugs, or has this been posted here, either the same or essentially that way, before?

I agree that Windows visually must be left alone.

When I first saw Windows XP, I thought it was terrible from a visual standpoint, but the improvements of the backend were impressive. When I saw Windows Vista, I was very disappointed. For me, that confirmed the switch to OS X.

I’m not against Windows considering I still have it installed on my computer in the basement. I use it when necessary, but OS X, in my opinion, has captured people with its stunning looks and its simplicity. It works for me.

As a former user interface designer, I know that most users do not want massive change to the user interface every time a new version rolls off the designer’s system. They have a skill set: one in which they have worked for countless hours and to which they have become accostomed. So, when Windows XP came out, they would revert to the “Classic Start Menu, if they could find the properties box for the system startup.

This is not an accident. The human mind resists change because it has a set of “normals” in its long-term memory. In addition, the average mind can only balance seven, at most operations in the short-term memory. Change in XP didn’t overwhelm users, even though it brought a fairly large change visually. Couple that with the “Classic” view on which people could fall back, and you have a more functional operating system that did not require that much change for the user.

Vista practically blew that model out of the water. You can still switch to Classic View, and most people did when Vista hit the street. Vista did, unfortunately, make many functional changes that really irritated the user community. take, for example, the Programs and Features in control panel. People had become comfortable with the old “Add/Remove programs” item in the XP Control Panel. What was the point of changing the name. I have to also wonder what idot at Microsoft let someone do it.

If someone had to transition to OS-X from windows, there would be a substantial paradigm shift for the user. The smart thing is to provide improvements in the functionality without subjecting the user to without trashing the user’s working model.

Sam Avera

I mostly agree with your analysis. I also am not in either camp nor am I a Linux Lover. Whenever any manufacturer tinkers with a well accepted design interface it is absolutely critical that the back end shows up major improvements in performance , speed and reliability. To me Vista is just too much plain hard work to be bothered. I invested 10 years of my life getting to know 95,98,ME,2000 and XP -I never cared much for NT - do Microsoft seriously think we all want to effectively throw the baby out with the bathwater every year or so. I am certain part of the rejection of Vista has to do with this very issue of changing where everything used to be located . The Control Panel alone is a classic example. People DON’T like change really and they especially do not like it IF it means a new learning curve , more money , upgraded hardware and software and to be brutal the marketing gurus in and around Microsoft just cannot get their head around this fact. From what I have seen of Windows 7 they are still not learning the lesson and I predict unless they get some old fashioned familiarity back into their OS they will have another DOG on their hands . I would rather persist with XP because I know it well , it works , does not involve me in new cost and will do me until at least 2014 - I will worry about what to use then but I am experimenting with Ubuntu and whilst I loathe Unix /Linux it may just have to do me as the world goes into financial meltdown.

Ken
IT Director
Melbourne.

I stumbled a bit on that first paragraph Matt…

A little early for the eggnog, no?

I agree with your observations and opinion. The fancy eye candy does nothing for me either.

And this phenomena isn’t limited to Windows and Mac. There are Linux distros (gOS) that include that stuff. Great for those who feel it “adds to the computing experience”. I’m very happy with Xfce, because I like a “flat screen” with “flat graphics”, not ones that are trying to jump out of the screen at me like an old 1950’s Sci-Fi flick.

And all OS developers (God bless ‘em) need to take better care at standardizing nomenclature and the location of the “graphical commands” within the OS. This is again true of Windows, OS-X, and all of the Linux distros. If something was called “duck” in the first version, why change it to “goose” in the second? It makes no since.

Here’s another problem I’ve encountered with Linux. Sometimes you go to a forum for help and find that you have to edit a configuration file. Well the poster says that the particular file is in /usr/bin. Then hours later you make the frustrating discovery that the particular distro you’re trying to fix has moved the file you’re looking for to /etc/bin. Programmed frustration!

Vista is a dead horse !! Neither I nor any of my clients of small business are willing to buy any computers that require Vista. The incompatability with specialized Small business software has been tested, and in every case Vista FAILED !!!!
Until Microsoft Provides for my Small Business Users, they will continue to use XP, and when XP is no longer is supported i have worked out WINE settings that will provide teh necessary compatability already !!! WHAT VISTA COULD NOT PROVIDE I WORKED OUT WITH WINE IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS. Just me myself and I !!!! Microsoft is either filled with dummies, or just has no clue!!