It was literally a completely different operating system
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macOS Tahoe Review: Spotlight Shines, Liquid Glass Disappoints
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Which is a transition from one architecture to another
XP was based on the Windows 2000 kernel. It was a point release.
Ah, I see your confusion. The Win9x tree ended with Windows ME and XP was a derivative of Windows 2000 <- NT 4.0 <- NT 3.5.x, etc. They simply reskinned Windows 2000 with the shipping Win9x skin and shipped it as XP.
I'm sure this will be great for my 80 year old mom with macular degeneration. We'll be just jumping on that upgrade asap lol. Apple is clueless. I'm seriously tempted by the Flip 7 right now. Apple is just so far behind, ugh.
Let's hope not. I rather like John Gruber's closing thoughts on this from his latest Podcast episode:
428: ‘Michigan-Starred Fine Dining’, With Louie Mantia
Podcast Episode · The Talk Show With John Gruber · 07/31/2025 · 3h 6m
podcasts.apple.com
I use my AVP every day. On average, I'd say about 6 or 7 hours. Liquid Glass on Mac, iPad, and iPhone does zero for me as an AVP user. It doesn't really approximate the AVP interface. Calling it a UI unification is just wrong.
If I had to guess at the real reason for Liquid Glass, it's a leadership problem. With Jobs dead and Ive gone, Apple has lost the discipline to say no. Why else would it take a decade to cancel Titan? Vision no longer drives product design and design sure as hell isn't defining function anymore. Apple Silicon gives every device a ton of GPU horsepower. But gaming is a dead end on Mac and Apple Intelligence face-planted right out of the gate, so all that power is going to waste. They needed something to show it off. What we got are UI gimmicks that make the Mac worse -- an expensive distraction that lets bad leadership survive one more vesting period.
As I've said before, Apple needs a change in engineering leadership. Federighi should be replaced by someone who understands that vision, not consensus, defines great products. Someone with the cojones to say no. Otherwise, brace yourself for MacOS 27: Liquid Glass 2 -- Aqua's Revenge, the Return of the Candy-Colored Buttons.
Someone gave a plausible reason on a different thread. Using clear-glass tablets and displays is a common visual trope on Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. It looks "futuristic" (for now). So, perhaps that is one of the psychological reasons it was chosen, whether the designer knows it or not. Of course, on that post the person rightfully pointed out that it is impractical -- there is a reason we write on whiteboards and not on glass windows in conference rooms.
I am not confused.
They switched the consumer operating system from win9x to NT.
They way you made your statement in the context of the poster you were responded to made it seem like you are saying that windows xp was a point release increment of window 98, which you clearly understand is not the case.
“Spotlight replaces Launchpad”
HUH?!
I use spotlight 95% of the time. The other 5% I NEED Launchpad because I forgot the name of that seldom used program!!
These things are NOT interchangeable! I guess they will have me scrolling through Finder/Applications now?
Still far better than the accursed Windows Not-A-Start-Button they ruined!! But Apple should aim higher than not as horrible as Micro$oft.
HUH?!
I use spotlight 95% of the time. The other 5% I NEED Launchpad because I forgot the name of that seldom used program!!
These things are NOT interchangeable! I guess they will have me scrolling through Finder/Applications now?
Still far better than the accursed Windows Not-A-Start-Button they ruined!! But Apple should aim higher than not as horrible as Micro$oft.
Amen brother - so many complainers here. I guess what they say is true, change is hard for most people
How much can you turn this all off? This thread is scaring me
I’ve thought recently about dipping my toes back into Windows — which I migrated from 20 years ago — due to the sad state of Apple AI. I have a Windows VM running for Quicken (Mac version still doesn’t have feature parity), and I rather like the UI look of Windows 11, tho admittedly I haven’t really used the OS itself a lot. And Quicken still looks very dated FWIW.
But things on macOS to me keep getting progressively worse in a lot of ways. The fact thst I’ve already looked into PC laptops a couple months back to get an idea of what is out there is something I couldn’t imagine five years ago I would have done now under any circumstances.
And yet here I am.
Yeah, this is the most anti-Apple Apple site on the web. It seems like the majority of commenters here are Mac users who prefer Windows and/or iPhone users who prefer Android, and who consistently cheer Apple’s opponents in any lawsuit. Just buy yourselves a Windows computer and an Android phone already, and stop stinking up the comment section.
Some posters: OMG this new MacOS is awful!
You: OMG this website is awful!
Shades of grey, people. Liquid grey 😁
All of the Mac OS X versions have been released in September since OS X El Capitan (2015)
Sometimes I think I should stop reading about upcoming features, especially since I’m still newer to macOS. I tried to use Spotlight to set a Reminder yesterday. Then I remembered, I can’t do that yet.
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Apple has shown this "background extension effect" for macOS in one of the developer videos. They do seem to encourage it at least for apps that fill the window with artwork:
I personally find this effect too conspicuous since the floating sidebar doesn't extend to the window edges. Depending on the artwork, the flipping/mirroring is noticeable. This begs the question why Apple felt the need to force this floating sidebar design on all apps. They should have reserved it for apps with full-window content, like Maps. Most apps are not like this, however. Moreover, apps that don't use full-window content will still use the desktop wallpaper for colour, which now makes no sense because the sidebar floats on top of the window.
IMO they should flip between a drawer in normal windowed mode and a floating sidebar in full-screen mode (and perhaps in windowed mode if there’s not enough room for the drawer).
I despise Win 11 with a passion. My current work issued laptop came to me 2-3 years ago with Win 10. I could go weeks without needing a reboot, just put it to sleep. Since IT forced down 11, some days I need 2-3 reboots. On average though I’d say I have to reboot at least once a week. It’s not just me either, my coworkers all have the same experience.
I’ve been a Windows user since 3.1, for at least the last ten years or so it feels like they get every other OS right. Since 10 was good and 11 is garbage, here’s hoping 12 will be good again.
No, there were three released in October and one in November. The November release was due to delays due to what was going on in 2020. The two prior to El Capitan were also in October.