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OSX has a superior UI to Windows


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  • 2 weeks later...
an interesting detailed look at why OS X has a better UI than windows

 

 

Just had a quick skim read through this. I do agree with most of it. Also personally I think the windows UI got worse when windows seven came out. I think the vista UI was better. Apple on the other hand have been using the same UI for two operating systems and Lion is looking pretty similar. I think they need to change the os x UI a fair amount.

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  • 1 month later...

well i dont think they need to change anything that works well, and to be honest i think most of it does. Im sure most people would agree changing the UI too much from what we have now would be a mistake since what we have now is already much better than anything else that is around. As far as usability and intuitiveness..

 

What they have done in Lion seems to be aimed at changing and improving the way you work with the interface by giving it a more tactile look and feel.

 

:wacko:

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What they have done in Lion seems to be aimed at changing and improving the way you work with the interface by giving it a more tactile look and feel.

 

I agree. The glossy "candy" look was OK for the first couple of OS X releases, but the newer square style is more professional and more iOS-like IMO.

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  • 1 month later...

I found the article highly biased. I use Windows 7 mostly and tinker with Mac OS X on my hackintosh. I figured I would try it out before taking the plunge. I use business applications a lot and I found this quote laughable...

 

Mac OS X is not without it’s flaws, but it’s my experience that as an operating system it’s of higher quality than Windows. This is true of software from Apple and third party developers.

 

MS Word, Powerpoint, and Excel spank ANYTHING Apple has to offer. These applications are the cornerstone of the business world. The Mac equivalents have serious compatibility issues. Mac OS X Numbers is nowhere near as robust as Excel. I doubt even Apple runs its financial models on Numbers.

 

OS X Pages might be superior if you want to make a newsletter for your bird watching club but you wouldn't type up a business plan or your resume on it. Everyone would need Pages to properly open the file unless you send it as a PDF.

 

The UI boils down to personal preference. I have not heard a convincing argument either way. I personally like the way windows has a menu with each window. I don't have to click on a window then go all the way up to the upper left hand corner to click file. On 27" high resolution monitors that can be a pain.

 

What OS X does well is include some cutesy stripped down apps with the base operating system like the iPhoto and iChat. As an advanced PC user I really don't need any of this stuff. I already have Photoshop on my PC. I also don't do a lot of online chat. Anyway skype has HD which iChat doesn't.

 

Mac OS X is for computer novices who want to snap a couple of photos with their iphone, touch them up, and upload them to facebook or email them. Its also good if you like to chat online but don't want to figure out skype.

 

One thing that is VERY interesting on the Mac is FCP X. I will wait for an update before I take the plunge, but it seems very different from anything on the PC.

 

Mac OS X definitely fills a void in the PC world but like most things it is NOT all things to all people.

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Mac OS X is for computer novices who want to snap a couple of photos with their iphone, touch them up, and upload them to facebook or email them. Its also good if you like to chat online but don't want to figure out skype.

 

Odd that should be said in a hackintosh forum, where many users are anything but computer novices, people who go to any length to make OS X work on their PC. Obviously not everybody who comes here is a geek or a guru, but we have more experienced users than many other forums.

Two considerations.

1) People move to OS X because Windows, including 7, has more problems and nuisances than I care to mention. Replacing Windows with Linux is not really an option (main Desktop Environments going downhill, severe shortage of quality applications, sub-par sound and video...). Thus they move to OS X. Of course Windows has by far the most applications, but that is less of a problem nowadays, with Crossover, Parallels...

2)OS X for computer novices? I know personally people who have been developers for years, have written technical computer books...who made OS X their main OS.

I suppose many of us move to OS X not because it is "perfect" (no such thing), but because it is better than the the competition in many ways.

Besides it is the whole Mac experience which really matters. Take for instance a MacBook Pro: it is light years ahead of most PC laptops, ugly, cheap, poor functionality...

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To my minde no OS is perfect. IMO its the much the same situation as with colours - some like red, some like green, some like non. And one can argue about it (which colour is better/best) to the very end - there will be no right/wrong side, as it is a matter of perception/taste.

 

I use both OS, and to be honest I like both, cos' I know how to use them in most efficient way, those getting most out of both. Therefore I don't use Linux any more, cos' there is no way I could use it effectively (no experience in the field). Sure each OS has -/+, but this rule applies to everything in this world.

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I don't use Linux any more, cos' there is no way I could use it effectively (no experience in the field).

 

I have over 8 years of intensive experience, and yet I feel that Linux simply can't compete. I explained the reasons above.

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Odd that should be said in a hackintosh forum, where many users are anything but computer novices, people who go to any length to make OS X work on their PC. Obviously not everybody who comes here is a geek or a guru, but we have more experienced users than many other forums.

Two considerations.

1) People move to OS X because Windows, including 7, has more problems and nuisances than I care to mention. Replacing Windows with Linux is not really an option (main Desktop Environments going downhill, severe shortage of quality applications, sub-par sound and video...). Thus they move to OS X. Of course Windows has by far the most applications, but that is less of a problem nowadays, with Crossover, Parallels...

2)OS X for computer novices? I know personally people who have been developers for years, have written technical computer books...who made OS X their main OS.

I suppose many of us move to OS X not because it is "perfect" (no such thing), but because it is better than the the competition in many ways.

Besides it is the whole Mac experience which really matters. Take for instance a MacBook Pro: it is light years ahead of most PC laptops, ugly, cheap, poor functionality...

 

 

I wasn't specifically referring to people on this forum. Hackintoshers are a miniscule portion of the overall PC and Macintosh market. I'm sure you can find at least one pro that swears by Win 7, OS X, Linus, Haiku, etc. None of this disproves my hypothesis.

 

I'm heavily into business applications. I haven't written a program since I graduated from high school. And I've only done a small amount of web development years ago. My point was if you need MS Office then Win 7 is the ONLY game in town. Office on mac has too many issues. And if you're going to dual boot you may as well save money and build a Wintel machine and turn it into a Hackintosh for $30. Like I said I doubt even Apple uses Numbers to run its financial models.

 

I obviously have a windows machine and I haven't had ANY problems with the Win 7 side of the machine. I never understood the problems that people have with it that would cause them to switch to OS X. EVERYTHING I do with it works. Plus I NEVER have to worry about a file I send to my boss being compatible. When I show up to give a presentation it always opens no matter where I am. Zero compatibility issues.

 

I talk to my Mac friends and they are always making compromises with their macs. Documents and presentation are always having issues, but I do get plenty of facebook updates and emailed photos and videos "sent from their mac." I just think the Cupertino Koolaid is very strong. Macs do some things very well but they are no where near as rock solid as a Win 7 machine with MS Office.

 

And don't get me started on the TV multimedia stuff. Windows Media Center spanks ANYTHING on Mac OS X. Drop in virtually ANY tuner card and you have a free DVR. No channel guide fees like OS X. Hook it up to your Xbox and you can access it on any TV in your house. Got Cable? No problem. Get a Ceton Infinitv and plug in a FREE cable card and you're good to go. No cable box fees... ever. You instantaneously have 4 cable DVR/Tuners on your desktop in the study and you can still run your financial models on it while its recording all your shows. A mac will NEVER be able to do that. My poor friend with AppleTV was blown away. He was telling my about netflix and AppleTV. I was so sad to inform him my TV was connected to the internet and got netflix AND blockbuster OoTB.

 

Like I said though, FCP X is a killer app. The Apogee Duet 2 looks pretty cool too. Both of them ensure that I will at least keep some interest in OS X.

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I obviously have a windows machine and I haven't had ANY problems with the Win 7 side of the machine. I never understood the problems that people have with it that would cause them to switch to OS X.

 

It must be me or my hardware then, because I have all the known problems and more (except for viruses).

 

 

My point was if you need MS Office then Win 7 is the ONLY game in town. O

 

For my needs, OpenOffice or LibreOffice are plenty.

 

 

And don't get me started on the TV multimedia stuff. Windows Media Center spanks ANYTHING on Mac OS X. Drop in virtually ANY tuner card and you have a free DVR. No channel guide fees like OS X. Hook it up to your Xbox and you can access it on any TV in your house. Got Cable? No problem. Get a Ceton Infinitv and plug in a FREE cable card and you're good to go. No cable box fees... ever. You instantaneously have 4 cable DVR/Tuners on your desktop in the study and you can still run your financial models on it while its recording all your shows. A mac will NEVER be able to do that. My poor friend with AppleTV was blown away. He was telling my about netflix and AppleTV. I was so sad to inform him my TV was connected to the internet and got netflix AND blockbuster OoTB.

 

Again, not my problem. I hardly watch any TV. I mainly watch DVDs, in English. And if I wanted to watch TV we have plenty of free channels on digital terrestrial.

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It must be me or my hardware then, because I have all the known problems and more (except for viruses).

 

For my needs, OpenOffice or LibreOffice are plenty.

 

Again, not my problem. I hardly watch any TV. I mainly watch DVDs, in English. And if I wanted to watch TV we have plenty of free channels on digital terrestrial.

 

Well I'm not sure what "the known problems" are, because I really haven't had any consistently.

 

If OpenOffice or LibreOffice works for you that's great. That stuff is wholely inadequate for my place of business.

 

If you watch OTA digital terrestrial you should check out Win 7 and a cheap tuner card. I actually got my tuner card for free from someone that was upgrading. Its awesome. Once you use the free Win 7 DVR function you will never watch the clock waiting for your shows to start.

 

My point is that different people have different needs. They also have different preferences. I read the article on the original post with great curiosity. But once it started saying how useless Win 7 was I knew I was reading a biased puff piece. Some things about OS X are great, but other things are very problematic. So much so that I could not ditch Win 7 at this point in time. But I can't ignore OS X either.

 

I see all these Mac faithful using work arounds for Office. They have work arounds for TV tuners. They have all kinds of patches and work arounds and I find myself wondering, why don't you just get Win 7 then?

 

Each OS has its benefits. Its not a black or white thing.

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  • 2 months later...

That article makes some great points and taught me a few things that i hadn't thought about before. However, i still prefer the windows 7's GUI to OS X. OS X has all these cool features for window management (mission control) and a shiny, pretty looking dock. But when I'm typing in Word or on the web in Chrome or Firefox I just want the application to take up the entire screen, and to switch between windows with a simple taskbar. I also like being able to snap two windows side by side neatly using aero snap instead of dragging windows in OS X.

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I think the windows 7 taskbar makes better use of the smaller screen space it occupies than the huge OS X dock. I just like how it looks better.

 

One thing I dislike about it though is the lack of notifications, especially with things like mail clients!

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  • 2 weeks later...
I think the windows 7 taskbar makes better use of the smaller screen space it occupies than the huge OS X dock. I just like how it looks better.

 

The huge dock size can be minimized in preferences.

 

One thing I dislike about it though is the lack of notifications, especially with things like mail clients!

 

Try Growl, it interfaces with mail clients, skype, torrent applications etc and notifies when something is happening, even lets you know when a person is in the process of typing a note to you.

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I think the windows 7 taskbar makes better use of the smaller screen space it occupies than the huge OS X dock. I just like how it looks better.

 

One thing I dislike about it though is the lack of notifications, especially with things like mail clients!

Regret saying these words on a thread, but Alas!:

"This guy "Dr. Hurt" has no clue of what you can do with the OS X GUI and its settings / options.

  1. Does Windows ("Any" version) give a un-pixelated icon scaling, "IN REAL-TIME"...!!!!!?????
  2. Does it support Icon Transparency?
  3. Is its "taskbar" as 3D as OSX Dock? <-> WITH reflections?
  4. Can you change the "taskbar's" appearance or texture, just like you can with OSX Dock?
  5. Does Windows "taskbar" support Application hiding like OSX GUI? --> This minimizes all open windows of that application to collage into a Single App icon. Saving screen, and Dock bar's actual real-estate.
  6. The Biggest Question: What is START button? What more does one want to start after booting to desktop?

 

The worst thing is: if anyone has checked out Windows 8 preview videos on popular video tubes....!!!

 

It's like Windows 7 mobile interface on Windows 7 desktop....!!!!

 

I'd rather say, the entire interface is like DreamBoard application for iOS for mostly, iPhone 3GS and above...!!!

 

The last Laugh:

Even on the latest touch-driven GUI of Windows 8, there is a large, 32-point text labeled - you guessed the answer to the gazillion dollar question which is yet unanswered by billions (of kids/students to quantum physicists!) using computers worldwide - "START...

 

On a touch screen!!!! - What the...!!!???

 

I won't say anything about notifications. It's beyond dignity to compare OSX's alert system with [nonexistent] Windows'.

Agree with "geithals"

 

Regards,

Freaky Chokra ;)

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