Windows Vista in pictures
By Ryan Block 
posted January 29th 2007 2:41PM
posted January 29th 2007 2:41PM
posted January 29th 2007 2:41PM
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I dont see why people are saying vista copied osx? on what
they are clearly diffrent.
I have a macbook pro i like mac os x but the truth of the matter is, Vista is 1 great piece of software.
i personally love microsoft office and cant wait for the UNIBIN.
Stop hating and come clean VISTA IS FUCKIGN 10X BETTER THEN XP.
Egads. I'm not sure I see what it is in this OS that makes it for a 'real' computer user. I guess people are only valid in what they do computing-wise if it meets a narrow definition of 'real'. So what is the amazing new 'real' computing breakthrough here? Search? Widgets? Aero? More versions of Solitare? WMP?
Or maybe it's the 'amazing' applications, the ones that third party vendors make that have nothing to do with the OS itself, but okay. What artypes of apps are 'real' computing but Mac users can't use? They have office applications, scientific calculating apps, diagnostic apps, database and server apps... I'm not sure what 'real' computing app doesn't exist for them.
Oh, I get it, somehow iTunes sucking on Windows makes another OS suck. That's good logic. I guess iTunes must be one of those 'real' computer applications!
Eh, anyway, I'd be fine if anyone wanted to laugh at my 'overpriced' hardware, whether it was my computer, my digital camera, my TV and sound system... somehow I managed to afford them all, with Windows and Mac OS-running systems. Imagine that.
same turd, different polish!
I'm a little disappointed in you, Ryan. You didn't choose the kitten as your user picture, what's up with that?
Hmm...I'm not seeing it. Where's the "OSX rip-off" everyone is claiming? It looks like XP with things rearranged and some graphical effects. Sorry it still feels like Windows and not Mac. I'm not saying it's worth the upgrade from XP.
Oh and one way to make yourself feel better about overpaying for hardware is to to make yourself believe that the software is superior and more stable - ahem...
And for those who plans to install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp. Geezus, WHY? Microsoft doesn't care about the hardware, you're still buying/using their OS. They don't care if you use AMD, Intel, or whatever hardware you use. You are using their OS and that's all that matters. Idiots.
No one forces you to do anything. But while we're at it:
- Dashboard was a copy of Konfabulator (now Yahoo Widgets).
- Windows's search functinality was planned long before Spotlight came out, and Google Desktop (still not available on OS X) was out before Tiger.
- Leopard's Spaces have been implemented on just about every Unix System.
- Time Machine functionality is available through Vista's Shadow Copy and Imaging ability.
Everyone copies in this field. What matters is how well they're implemented. Apple's strength has never been introducing cool new features not available for Windows users, but refining these techniques and making them look cool and easy to use.
Vista is trying to the same now, with mixed success. While there are some things that OS X outclasses Windows (security, for starters), there are some things that I think Vista actually pulls off quite well.
For example, the "crappy shuffle card" thing may actually be superior in some circumstances. The purpose of Expose is to allow you to quickly select another window. This is fine with a small number of windows. As the number of windows increases however, it becomes difficult to locate a window once everything is sprawled out all over the screen. The card system turns out to be more effective here since it's easier to scan through a stack of cards in one dimension than to try to look through several windows arranged in two dimensions. Basically, if you're trying for someone in a stack of business cards, is it faster to randomly scatter the cards all across your desk, or to arrange them in a stack and thumb through them?
As for the windows being covered, you're still able to see 30 to 50% of the window, so for the purpose of quickly identifying and selecting a window, that should be sufficient.
The other example I would use is Window's implementation of search. Spotlight came out first, but I think Vista does it a little better. By integrating it with the Start menu, it's a lot easier to quickly find and launch programs. Spotlight is good for finding files, but not so much for launching programs -- it doesn't integrate with the Dock, which is pretty but flawed from a usability perspective (takes up too much space, gives insufficient information about each item). To get equivalent (actually, better) functionality, you'd need to get Quicksilver for OS X.
I have this deja vu feeling flipping through screenshots.
Vista = XP with a different lipstick.
Why it takes 5+ years to develop?
I used it and hated the UI with a passion. Why are they using checkboxes like radio buttons all of the sudden? That pissed me off so much, I love the radio button.
It's just not intuitive. Too little, too late.
That said I'm going to get it...
You can try to fight it all you want but the fact remains all the 'cool' stuff about Vista has been in OSX for years. Also in case you forgot, OSX is built on top of a BSD back end. Virtually any program you can run on BSD (or and linux/unix flavor for that matter) you can port to OSX. You're not a 'real computer user' unless you use windows? WTF? You're not a 'real computer user' unless you use linux/unix. OSX just happens to be one of the best flavors, with some of the best creative software money can buy. Yes they're more expensive, you're pay a premium for a product that works. As anyone who uses OSX can tell you, it works. Vista has already crashed on me several times, for a myriad of different reasons. You should only use Windows because you have to. I can't think of a single compelling reason to use windows other than everyone else is doing it.
Its a good product, used RC1 for several months without problem, but a year or 2 late. But as windows is the business standard these days will be on the majority of desktops within a year (or will it?). I think MS come from a business point (developer support, business apps, huge business share) of view and Apple from the consumer point of view (slick marketing and elegant products, good UI design).
We in the UK are being ripped off on the price of Vista (as with most products) current price on amazon uk/us for home premium upgrade (majority of users?) is
US = 80 pounds
UK = 150 pounds
Read that MS put this down to marketing different packages in different countries! Its a rip off....might be a move to OSX for me?
Price isn't a reason to move to OS X. Cost of ownership over the long run is higher for Mac users, in spite of MS price discrimination.
First, you can't pick your own hardware, so you can't customize to get a better deal.
Second, in the time between XP and Vista, Apple has released five (soon to be six) upgrades at about 89 pounds each (65 pounds for US users, blame the VAT) with the exception of 10.1, which was free for users of 10.0. In order to keep up with the latest and greatest on OS X, your cost would be 4 x 89 pounds = 356. That's about the price of a new version of Vista Ultimate and for more than just an upgrade. Note that Vista also includes media management software but OS X's iLife package is separate.
Third, unless you know how to port over BSD / Linux / Unix based software over to OS X, your software choices are far more restrained. Smaller market = less competition. For most people, this won't matter much, especially since the OS X community is good about finding / porting equivalent software, but it occasionally mean you'll end up paying 20 USD for what might have been free shareware on Windows.
Bottom line, if you're concerned about long-term cost, go with Vista, or even better, stick with XP for now. Or use Linux if you're so inclined. Of course, if you actually like OS X features and are willing to pay more for them, no one's stopping you.
I for one welcome our new Vista overlords.
For some of you idiots out there claiming that flip3d is a knock off of expose?
For your information microsoft back in 98-00 demonstrated some 3d features regarding windows arrangements. This was around the whistler era and they talked about how they will implement numerous 3d effects into future window versions.
So if you ask me expose is an idea taken from that idea.
if you think a company worth billions of dollars, a company that can buy apple at any time cant handle the wow factor. Then you are an idiot-just like any business you dont give 100% you slowly add features to make a sell. Not even os x gives you 100% they leave ideas for future version of mac os x as well.
Think before you post and see it like it should be seen-which is in a business way.
Vista Far from a copy of os x.
It looks awesome on my macbook pro.
I am SO glad I don't have to deal with Windows anymore! Looks like a complete mess.
Perhaps one day, operating systems may finally prove a complete hindrance to running programs.
LMAO. You should get the nail on the head award for your comment. David Pogue did his best to do a comparison and claim that Vista was like OSX and all he did was prove he's never even seen XP. Every feature of Vista he tried to claim was from OSX existed in some form in XP or before.
"They copied our GUI" is a tired mating call for Apple and Mac fans who can't claim Apple did anything else first. Every idea in every Apple product was done first by someone else. Apple has 2 things that belongs to them - their GUI and a boring repetitive hardware design theme. Mac 2% for a reason...
Will
I ran BSD on a PC before it ever touched a Mac. So why get a Mac? Don't like Vista, don't use it. It really is that simple.
1)Can we stop with the "hahaha they copied OSX" garbage? Yes, there are some features that piggyback off of OSX. But why don't people get mad at various Linux distros for supporting widgets? Fact is, Microsoft saw things that people wanted, and integrated them. Should they have just left out indexed search? I think that would have been more of a mistep, don't you? There is also plenty in Vista that OSX doesn't offer. It's a fact of consumer products that products integrate features of competitors that are popular in order to compete.
2)Yeah, it took them 5 years to develop it. But stop saying "it looks the same, so why did it take so long". It looks similar, true, but that is because it carries the general theme of Windows. However, there are so many features and upgrades that also went into it, that go way beyond what it looks like. Using that is just for lazy people who don't even want to give it a trial.
Also, why did it take Apple 3 years or whatever to develop the iPhone? Developing a brand new OS, that has to be back compatible with all other versions, and fill 90% of the OS market is a more significant task.
Just wanted to state that I read engadget almost daily but the only time I ever bother to read comments are when anything Apple or Microsoft gets posted. You clowns definitely provide me with a little comic relief for the day, that's for sure.
Come on, you're arguing about two companies, neither of which give a rats ass about you other than how much of your $$ you'll forfeit to them in the coming year.
Think about it.
The MS fanboys who are saying Vista is not OSX like are delusional. This puppy borrows heavily from OSX and what's worse, it doesn't even half heartedly try to hide it.
After playing around with Vista for a few days I will admit it has some cool feature...(media centre...etc) but for the most part these are things my OSX machine has been doing for a while.
I personally am a little disappointed. Competition is always good for the consumer and with the growing Mac popularity I figured MS would come with something groundbreaking to stem the tide, but after messing around with Vista it gives a little credence to what MS haters have been saying for years...MS does not innovate it imitates and outspends the market leader.
It's great when you have money and clout to do that, it sucks that the general consumers get sorry imitations of better products.
It's all a little this for that, some of the features here are similar (superior IMO) to OSX, just as most of OSX 10.5 features have been in Windows for quite some time
Microsoft has SO copied Leopard on Mac! It's shameful (but a poor imitation). Apple comes along 18 or so months ago and creates widgets........the all of a sudden whaddya know Vista has these things called YADGETS!!! WOW what a coincidence! I could go on and on and on but can't be bothered but there are LOTS of, shall we say, similarities.
Mind you they do say imitation is the highest form of flattery! ;-)
Soooo funny Microsoft!! Sooo funny!!
Baah! Took me awhile to find out how to change my display setting. What happen to the easy right click on your desktop??
The aero is starting to wear off on me and with it annoying switching it back and forth on certain program. The search option is pretty fast.
It's nice upgrade from XP but nothing to go totally crazy about it at the moment.
I for one, welcome our superior-UI-enhanced digital overlord. (Or overlords because of the many editions)
And P.S., I'm not Vista-bashing.
I had planned to buy vista tomorrow to put on a system i built last year which up until now has been running ubuntu and a not entirely legal copy of xp.
That was until i checked PC world (UK)this evening. £220 (almost $440) for the home premium version WTF. Ill be sticking with what i have.
The same store are selling a mac mini and a core duo 17 inch imac for under £400. I'm going to buy something this week but it certainly aint gonna be vista.
Lmao. I got my free business copy two days ago. Installed it, and never looking back. I don't want to run OSX, I have too much favourite windows native software for that. It's not the best thing ever, but once you disable all the security features ('HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU PUSHED A KEYBOARD KEY!?!?!? CONFIRM!?!?'), it's le awesome. Better than XP if nothing else.
Go Youtube "beryl" and see all of Aero's features, plus more. At half the system requirements.
Ooooooh...... how very beautiful.
I have seriously died and gone to heaven, where I swoon every few minutes upon looking at this beautiful screen...
You may not like me, but I llllloooooooooooooooove Windows Vista.
Hurray!!!
Well all those people who bought mp3 players or got one for christmas are out of luck. wont work with this system
Complete FUD.
No, it's not an OSX rip off...
It's a sad attempt at an OSX rip off
That's just sad...
Ohhh, Old macfanbuys you are so used to only have cosmetic changes in your OSes that you only can see the interface on Vista. You need to be a little more literate about the issue, but well, that's too much to ask to a bunch of babies listening to music or printing stupid photos on their macs. Good luck y'all.
Yeah, it is interesting that all these OSX fans forget that Apple didn't invent widgets. True, they were the first to integrate them into their OS, but they didn't invent them.
Similarly, Google Desktop was providing indexed desktop searching all the way back in 2004. OSX Tiger wasn't around until 2005. So did Apple copy from Google, too?
oh i love it, mac fanboys diss vista say it's shit and then say clever things like "*commence negative score on my comments from windows fan boys." cos you definitely weren't just being the most obnoxious fanboy ever. i think that yeah, vista copies things off osx. big deal, that's how the world works. trying to keep all your great ideas to yourself is selfish. stfu, computers (mac and pc) rock. i don't care what os it runs. sorry for the rant.
OSX interface, is nothing like vista. At least before you make false claims, know who microsoft REALLY stole it from, Mandrake Linux KDE..
Also, just to ad some microsoft love to the apple fanbase here:
World - OSX = same
World - Windows = no more
:) cheers
And what is really cool is that MSFT will have service pack 1 out with WinFS and all before Shmapple can get their upgrade off the ground.
MSFT is giving support for XP till like 2013 !
Apple probably won`t even be in business by then.
Well, I think I would like to try Vista (with all the options) for a little while. It has to be better than xp and at least compete with apple's OS But most of the posts make me laugh. If you start from the begining and skim through the posts, it sounds like a comedy of two nerds arguing over how many episodes star trek had. (they did that plot in Futurama)
I know its not the same, but skim through them and see.
Can I still run my DOS games and diddle pins on the parallel port? Damn! 768K of extended memory and I can't do a damn thing! Bill Gates you suck!
I love it how anyone who posts anything about how Vista is not an OSX ripoff immediately gets their post rated low. Even if the post is legitimate and intelligent.
For anyone who has used Mac OS X, the ad for Vista sounds like this
"The Yawn is now"
Hey Ryan, could you get some screenshots up of the different colors? Namely Pink? I'd REALLY appreciate it, i can't find screenshots of that ANYWEHRE!
You know, I love my Vista RTM and all but looking through the gallerie I think they should have updated at least Writepad and Paint. I mean at the very least make them look pretty, if not completely overhaul and actually make better.
So if you skinned XP to look Vista and used Konfabulator (sp?), what would you really be missing out on? Some upgrade...
It doesn't even appear to look very nice, colour-wise.
The problem with Mac's are purely that they suck.. One mouse button on Powerbooks winds me up. I mean £1800 for something you can't have full control over unless you use n external peripheral. The softwere is limited and not always that good. And yes you can get virus's on it, and all the mac lovers think they look stylish... I big fat white square thing is not as pretty as my modded isotope case. And less powerful, and just annoying.
Now on the other hand. Windows has many flaws. So what... A computer is only as good as the user, and if like you get problems every five minutes maybe you should buy yourself a Nintendo DS. Vista looks cool. The widgets are pretty useless most of the time, unless you do the stocks.
Vista has finally started to bring things together with Live. The various different software's are finally starting to talk to each other. About time.
I am a beta user of Vista, and although few problems with drivers, which is an expected teething problem, and my router being stalled, this is remedied now.
I still think they made it a little too confusing by putting related settings in different and confusing places, and not simplifying it so admin's can have the entire toolkit in one place. On the other hand vista now has a network viewer that works, and a new rating system. This rating system scans your computer and rates hardware into five (i think) catagories.
This way you can look at the computer, see all are rated highly apart from one, and can say... "Thats the next upgrade" Vista has full support for almost every bit of hardware in this scrotum of a universe, unlike mac's that once you buy, your pretty much restricted (only for them to finally switch to intel).
I don't like the windows 3d malarky. Purely because I'm running Dual-SLI nVidia 8800 and it still just doesnt feel smooth and graceful.. I always used classic use anyway.
Anyway. whats your problem. Apple might be a rich company, and make most of the internet sales on itunes than any other music reseller (HMV - not even close). And buying out the multi-point touchscreen NY University designed for the new iPhone. But they just are so stuck up thier own anal caverns, so much so, they have met the klingons around uranus.
If you buy a new computer Vista will be probably be pre-installed. So haha...
Oh that looks like something I did in the loo, lol j/k love vista mann
The US sold 5.5 billion in mp3 player sales last year and they dont work with vista. so now what buy another one? good for profits