Is Clowning Vista Smart When Leopard Ain’t That Big of a Deal?

So Apple is having its fun calling Vista a copycat and Vista 2.0 Leopard. Kinda reminds me of the Windows95 campaign of the duck thing. But you know what? Leopard ain’t that big of a deal. I mean, let’s look at what’s new.

Spaces: Ya, it’s nice and all but truth is virtual desktops have been around a long time. There are some great third-party applications for both Windows and Macs that do this quite well right now. Granted, it’ll come with the OS now, but still, nothing ground breaking here. Also, why limit it to just four “spaces”? Available memory should be the key to how many spaces you have if we’re talking “cool” here.

Mail 3.0: Really, Steve, copycat? Dude, have you looked at Outlook Express? Stationery templates have been there for a good while, buddy. I don’t know, man, but someone copied someone here and it wasn’t Microsoft running with something new up north to Redmond!

Dashboard Dashcode: Hey, I appreciate the ability to make my own Dashboard now, but if this is one the main highlights Apple is pushing for reasoning of the $129 price tag Leopard will be sure to claw from your pocket book, then I’m not scratchin’.

Spotlight: Being able to search network-mounted folders is nice but really is just the next logical step in Spotlight. Nothing cutting edge here.

Parental Controls: Copycat? Again, not a new thing and something that has been a well known feature of Vista. I saw it myself at CES in January, eight months ago, and apparently so did someone at Apple.

Time Machine: Okay, this is cool. Not only will this help bust more white collar criminals as they’ll have no way to erase their criminal past, but it’ll also remedy bonehead mistakes from costing many lost hair and hours of anguish trying to recreate a perished file from scratch (if it’s even possible.) Without a doubt, watching Scott Forstall demonstrate how to bring back an accidentally erased contact in your Address Book was the coolest.

So out of this entire list, only one item grasped the audience enough to bring resounding applause. Remember, these are the highlights, the really BIG stuff! If this is all Leopard has to offer, I’d say this is more a meow than a growl of the name in which this OS shares with. Definitely not worth the common $129 Apple asks for and absolutely not a reason to have to wait until Spring ‘07 for it.

So what of this? A lesser upgrade than we all expected and to be released after Vista. Wouldn’t it seem one should release its copied product before the copycat?

I think Apple is treading on thin ice with this campaign and should really just drop it. There’s enough Microsoft fanboys about that will have a field day with this lackluster release that comes well after the fanboys are doing Windows XP SP3 on their tired PCs.

[tags]os x,osx,apple,wwdc,leopard,vista,lacking,copycat[/tags]