Mountain Lion vs. Windows 8

[rocknblogger]

It's an issue with Parallels' Tools. You have to wait until they update the Parallels' Tools before it'll work properly.

Thank you I appreciate the heads up. Do you have a link or anything I can read to stay on top of it?

 

[ayeying]

Thank you I appreciate the heads up. Do you have a link or anything I can read to stay on top of it?

check this link

http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=257731

 

[scottsjack]

A follow up. . .

After Wednesday night's Windows 8 install on a mini 2.6GHz I put it on a late 2008 MBP 15 2.4GHz. This time, instead of a clean install, it upgraded Windows 7. That took a lot longer than the clean install but except for not making some Metro/start page icons for pre-existing Photoshop and Office 2010 apps it went OK.

I haven't had a chance to really test drive it yet but Metro looks a lot better on a laptop than on a 24in monitor. It might even be useful.

That said Mac laptops do not make very good Windows computers due to the lack of support for the dual GPUs and the keyboard that doesn't include two Command keys and other Windows specific keys.

All in all the MBP is much nicer to use on Lion. OS X is looking pretty good at this point and Mountain Lion appears to be an improvement over Lion.

 

[kirky29]

It's an issue with Parallels' Tools. You have to wait until they update the Parallels' Tools before it'll work properly.

Same for me, best to get another mouse, plug that in and under devices (on parallels) select the mouse and it'll work 🙂

Turning off SmartMouse also gets it to work, but I found with my MagicMouse it was just jumping like crazy!

Sometimes the mouse has been disappearing too, if that happens press CTRL+DEL under Win8 and then escape back to the desktop/start screen and it'll work again 🙂

 

[Tmelon]

I'm dual booting ML and W8 and I have to say that Windows 8 is probably the least user friendly OS that I've ever used. Here are my observations.

• Start menu is completely removed. Simple things like shutting down your computer just got a lot harder.
• Metro UI seems to be slapped on top of Windows 7. Feels like two separate operating systems.
• Gestures are awful. Things involve clicking and dragging from random places on the screen to get to options and menus and it's extremely unintuitive. I've used PCs for years before getting a Mac and the learning curve for Windows 8 is tremendous. New PC users will be confused as hell trying to get used to this.
• (In my opinion) Metro just sucks. Things are forced to be full screen, there's no menus and it's just counter productive. Serious hinderance of multitasking.
• Speaking of Multitasking, there's no way to close opened Metro apps.
• There's no connection between Metro apps and normal apps. Bookmarks and passwords on Metro IE are separate from normal IE for example. Metro IE also lacks plugins and flash. No reason to use it over normal IE.
• Native apps have not been updated. You'd expect Windows Media Center and apps like that to get a metro makeover, but they're still no different from Windows 7.
• Boots up quickly and runs applications very fast. This is the strongest point of the OS.
• Very touch friendly, but not good for keyboard/mouse. No multitouch gestures on trackpads
• App store is pretty populated, but Metro apps are just no good with keyboard and mouse.

I'm not a Windows hater, but I honestly can't stand Windows 8. It just feels like a mess. I could never picture any business taking this whole metro thing seriously. I'd give it a 2/10, but just because it's fast.

 

[LachlanH]

Long time Windows/PC fan here. Last year I needed a new laptop for work, and more and more people at work were using Mac's which I was expected to support so to be better at my job I decided to get a Macbook Pro, I figured if I used one every day at work I would get to know the OS much better and be able to support others more effectively.

The MBP is the best computer I have ever owned, Laptop or Desktop. And it's down to OSX and apples integration of the hardware into the OS. (I'm talking about gestures and all the little touches)

I have used windows 3.11, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista and am now running windows 7 on my home desktop and I can honestly say, if Windows 8 actually ends up looking as fugly as it does in those screenshots, this desktop will be my last PC for some time.

Honestly WTF.....it looks HORRIBLE. Steve Jobbs, despite what you may or may not think about him, was right about one thing. Microsoft (and others) Just Don't Get It.

Microsoft needs to hit a home run with Windows 8. They really do. I believe much of the Mac's recent popularity in the last 4-5 years has been due to the complete train wreck that was Vista. 7 is a MUCH better OS, but it came out too late to stop many users looking elsewhere for a computer that was actually an enjoyable experience to use.

If Windows 8 sucks, I fear Microsoft may be severely damaged by this, and the market share of OSX vs Windows could accelerate rapidly towards Mac dominance.

Obviously OSX has a LOOOONG way to go if it ever were to exceed Windows in market share, however another crap OS from Microsoft at a time when Apple seems to be on their game more than they ever have been could spell disaster for MS.



Haven't used ML yet, but I really liked 10.6, I find 10.7 to be excellent and the new features of 10.8 I am excited for.

Having said all this, I have used a Windows Phone running 7.5 and found it to be quite a nice experience. However taking that UI and making it your desktop OS....ew. Pull it together MS.

 

[limo79]

oh god

Keep in mind that Steve Jobs started a discussion about a "post PC" era and we have also tablet and notebook tablet like Lenovo X220T (which is a full performance notebook, but with touchscreen) users in this world ;-)

If we take a look in the past - Apple was perceived as a revolutionary corporation with very courageus ideas. But the last OS X changes are perceived more like evolution than revolution. Transition from OS X to iOS is more smooth and less dramatic, but it still exists... and most professional Mac users do not like it. They do not like it in the same way when Apple decided to address Mac computers mainly to the Facebook and iTunes/AppStore generation (i.e. glossy displays instead of matte displays etc.).

During last years Microsoft was perceived as lazy and cowardly corporation that do not change anything and stay in one point. Now they change it... and this is also bad ;-)

Currently Microsoft follow the philosophy like Apple in the past - making huge jump in vision of product. They even go further because the base idea was to make one platform for x86 and ARM machines. Apple still keep OS X and iOS as separate environments, but I am sure that they will follow the same path like Microsoft in close future. I believe that business expects such consolidation and unification - less problems exchanging data/informations.

As I know we still include Desktop mode which is very similar to Windows 7, so there is an option.

OS interface is just one factor. We can not judge OS base just on this. Take a look on this before you start Windows 8 criticizm:

http://www.itworld.com/windows/254380/hands-windows-8-cp-battery-life-test

"Microsoft has done its homework. Idle performance of Windows 8 seems to best that of Windows 7 SP1 in every case. This is especially true on the MacBook Air: Here, idle battery life increased by 51 minutes. Even under the PCMark 7 workload, it managed to squeeze 24 minutes of additional battery life out of the machine."

50 minutes and 24 minutes on the latest MBA is a huge boost in mobile world.

 

[imacken]

[*]Speaking of Multitasking, there's no way to close opened Metro apps.

Simply not true. There are several ways of closing Metro apps. The simplest way is to right-click on their Windows in the left hand list and click on 'close'! There are other ways, like dragging the icon to the bottom of the screen, but you don't have to close apps like you used to as the memory management works in a very different way in W8, like iOS and OS X.

 

[Tmelon]

Simply not true. There are several ways of closing Metro apps. The simplest way is to right-click on their Windows in the left hand list and click on 'close'! There are other ways, like dragging the icon to the bottom of the screen, but you don't have to close apps like you used to as the memory management works in a very different way in W8, like iOS and OS X.

Oh thank you. I'm not sure how I missed that.

 

[deconstruct60]

Also, one thing I forgot to mention that I noticed on the demo videos of Windows 8 - NONE of them showed a mouse pointer at all.

In the limited amount of time for the keynote they are going to talk about what is "New" not what is "Old". It doesn't make sense. 10 Mins of "here look, you can do the same things you could before.... please pay us more money". Yeah right.

There are buckets of features Microsoft didn't fit into the keynote coverage. Including the video you missed on the page the article referenced above refers to.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windows/videogallery2.aspx

Namely the
"Using a Mouse and Keyboard with Windows 8 " video.

Probably also missed that Microsoft has a keyboard/Mouse video at there Window 8 Getting started website....

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/get-started


There are others though.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/1/2835586/windows-8-keyboard-shortcuts-video

http://www.winsupersite.com/article...preview-windows-key-keyboard-shortcuts-142358


http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/ne...arted-with-the-windows-8-consumer-preview.ars

"... Because Windows 8 is intended as unified system for both PC and tablet, it works as well with a keyboard and mouse as it does with touch. ..." http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_...-microsofts-tablet-friendly-os/#ixzz1o4SRJy5G

Only touch. It's very clear the direction MS is going - making Windows 8 a tablet OS while abandoning the desktop (but leaving it there for this release).

No it is more clear that much of the ruckus with these introductions are folks hand waving about things they haven't really studied in any significant detail.

 

[tkermit]

Apple still keep OS X and iOS as separate environments, but I am sure that they will follow the same path like Microsoft in close future. I believe that business expects such consolidation and unification

When has Apple ever cared about that? And thank God they don't. Metro makes it painfully obvious that different input methods demand different UIs.

 

[deconstruct60]

I'm dual booting ML and W8 and I have to say that Windows 8 is probably the least user friendly OS that I've ever used. Here are my observations.

Perhaps need to look a bit harder.

Start menu is completely removed. Simple things like shutting down your computer just got a lot harder.

Start screen ===> Press "Windows" key.

Shutdown/hibernate options ===> Ctr/Alt/Delete

Perhaps you classify those as hard, but they are relatively easy to do.

Yeah "knowing" you have to put the mouse into the "start screen" corner is something to learn, but it isn't hard. It is just new.

Metro UI seems to be slapped on top of Windows 7. Feels like two separate operating systems.

LOL. Go to your Mac OS X dock and press the "dashboard" icon. ( or just mouse-wheel click. )

Yeah one is "non-overalpping windows" and the other is the more classic mode but different operating system. Go pop open a book on Operating Systems.

Gestures are awful. Things involve clicking and dragging from random places on the screen to get to options and menus and it's extremely unintuitive.

While the charms hot corners are new the "start" hot corner is the same corner

Random is a gross characterization. New perhaps. Random .... not any more random that tapping the home key twice. Or swiping left to get to volume/music controls or down for notifications.

Anyone who sits down and moves the mouse around to the sides, corners, right clicks in some areas , etc. will be exposed to and will act in predictable ways.

Does all the facets of the interface work without instruction? No. But neither does OS X or iOS.

I've used PCs for years before getting a Mac and the learning curve for Windows 8 is tremendous.

If open to learning, not really. The disconnect is having a high expectation that things are exactly the same as Windows NT or 2000.

New PC users will be confused as hell trying to get used to this.

Probably because more PC (and Mac ) instruction is oriented around giving people a fixed set of incantations to invoke. "Do X and Y will happen" "Do Z " "Click Y". There is almost no instruction on problem solving or how to explore a new interface. Almost all of it is oriented to mapping down into the some very limited set of concepts.

[*]There's no connection between Metro apps and normal apps. Bookmarks and passwords on Metro IE are separate from normal IE for example. Metro IE also lacks plugins and flash. No reason to use it over normal IE.

Not sure what the problem is with having two different web browsers on the computer. I have Safari , Firefox , and Chrome installed. Each have different strengths and weakness. Same is going to be true of the Metro vs. classic IE . It is like having just one hammer in the toolbox.

When fully baked I suspect that the Metro IE will probably auto-sync when logged into the Microsoft cloud.

[*]Native apps have not been updated. You'd expect Windows Media Center and apps like that to get a metro makeover, but they're still no different from Windows 7.

Apps are not an operating system. The should have their own update cycle. Tightly coupling them to the OS release cycle is a fundamentally flawed concept. There is zero reason to force everything into Metro all at once. That some of the flawed sillyness that blew Vista up.

[*]Very touch friendly, but not good for keyboard/mouse. No multitouch gestures on trackpads

Trackpads need to have multitouch sensors to encode multitouch gestures. That is a hardware integration thing not a generic public beta issue. When new machines are released with the production OS this will probably sort itself out better a drivers stabilize and vendors converge on a tractable subset of sensors.

I'm not a Windows hater, but I honestly can't stand Windows 8. It just feels like a mess. I could never picture any business taking this whole metro thing seriously. I'd give it a 2/10, but just because it's fast.

What is missing from much of this knee jerk reaction is that the start screen is customizable. I would suspect that most businesses to remove much of the "social network" tiles from the start screen and develop a custom screen that they deploy by default that has the core company apps much more prominent. Similarly install the internal "social" network tiles (internal wiki's, IT's dashboard/help desk, etc. )

Lots of companies develop internal "dashboards" for the employees. Metro is an opportunity to install at least a portion of that onto each start screen of every computer inside the business. Frankly, there is alot of Flash/proprietary IE5-IE6 web apps that can be sent to the trash can if replaced with much more sensible Metro (HTML5 scripted ) apps.

Again the core issue here is a lack of problem solving skills. "What can be done with this tool" as opposed to "What is the minimal amount of anything new I need to know".

Similar for non business. Don't like colors of start screen or tiles on screen ..... customize it to something different.


There are bigger problems for regimented business IT for the WOA devices not being as centrally manageable as the the x86 ones.

 

[tkermit]

Yeah one is "non-overalpping windows" and the other is the more classic mode but different operating system. Go pop open a book on Operating Systems.

If Apple combined iOS and OS X to be the same operating system (which, from a certain layer on, they of course already are), you'd get the same reaction from users. Imagine if Apple had OS X users boot into the iOS Springboard from where you'd be able to either start up iOS apps, or enter into a regular Desktop interface. Of course it would feel like using two different operating systems. Because a user's primary impression of what the OS is, depends almost entirely on the UI that is provided, not on the deeper layers of the operating system – even though they are very relevant to the experience of course.

 

[limo79]

I realize that Metro UI changes a lot and there is a lot of mixed feelings about it, but please do not judge OS this way, because there are many important factors that make OS good: power management (battery time and heat dissipation) also overall performance and responsiveness, boot /sleep /hibernation time. Let me give you an example:

You have OS A that has good interface, but gives you just 2 hours on battery and bottom enclosure of your MacBook is hot and has higher system requirements, good responsiveness and quite fast web browser.

You have OS B that has a new interface that you must explore and learn with 4 hours on battery and MacBook bottom enclosure cool and lower system requirements, significantly better responsiveness and much faster web browser.

In my opinion it is better firstly try to learn and explore OS B and maybe change some habits. If operation will be not succesfull I decide to switch to OS A, but not after few minutes or hours. It is the same like to feel a new car or to know a new person. It needs a time to catch all advantages and disadvantages. First experience is sometimes misleading - yeah this awful Nissan designed in Asia. It is ugly, design is horrible but after few years you are sure that this is a car you can rely on. Almost failure-free with no significant defects.

Give a credit to the new product and remember that OS X is also not so perfect. Users still notice many important issues with OS X Lion 10.7.3 related to memory leak/RAM consumption etc. Also wireless issues are real nightmare in almost every OS X release.

 

[thundersteele]

• Start menu is completely removed. Simple things like shutting down your computer just got a lot harder.
• Gestures are awful. Things involve clicking and dragging from random places on the screen to get to options and menus and it's extremely unintuitive. I've used PCs for years before getting a Mac and the learning curve for Windows 8 is tremendous. New PC users will be confused as hell trying to get used to this.
• (In my opinion) Metro just sucks. Things are forced to be full screen, there's no menus and it's just counter productive. Serious hinderance of multitasking.
• Very touch friendly, but not good for keyboard/mouse. No multitouch gestures on trackpads

I'm not a Windows hater, but I honestly can't stand Windows 8. It just feels like a mess. I could never picture any business taking this whole metro thing seriously. I'd give it a 2/10, but just because it's fast.

I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'm sure your overall picture, "a mess", is accurate. I want to address a few of the points above however:

* OSX goes with very little use of the start menu. Since I don't shutdown/reboot more than once a month, I only use it to access "About this Mac." It would be viable to get rid of the start menu in my opinion - also since in the spirit of tablets, you don't shut down your PC anymore.

* New PC users will be just fine - they have to learn it anyways. Its only for the more experienced users that everything seems unintuitive.

* I thought it was possible to have "split fullscreen", e.g. half screen for one app, and half for the other. That would be useful, and a feature I would also like for the OSX fullscreen feature.

* if they don't implement multitouch thouchpads on PCs, then it's a big fail of course!

 

[baller1308]

Seems like Windows OS alternate between good and bad every new release. So XP = Good, Vista = Bad, Windows 7 = Good, Windows 8 = ?

 

[deconstruct60]

If Apple combined iOS and OS X to be the same operating system (which, from a certain layer on, they of course already are), you'd get the same reaction from users.

The same knee-jerk , uninformed reaction? .... sure.

But that is primarily negative reaction to change. You could not including any iOS elements at all , but something distinctly knew and you'd get the exact same reaction. [ There was similar "you'll pry OS 9 from my cold dead fingers" when Mac OS X appeared from hardcore OS 9 users. Were users confused and befuddled by when using Mac OS X's Classic Mode? Not really. ]

Of course it would feel like using two different operating systems. Because a user's primary impression of what the OS is, depends almost entirely on the UI that is provided, not on the deeper layers of the operating system – even though they are very relevant to the experience of course.

Just because it is skewed notion doesn't make it right. This bastardized notion of OS as the set of apps the users use is partially an artifact Microsoft perpetrating that fraud during their antitrust trail ( "Oh we can't remove IE it is part of the OS" fraud ). It isn't very helpful to view a Windows app in Unity mode as an Mac OS X app when running it via Fusion. Even though they have similar window frame wrappings. People can invoke superficial mental models of how things work ( "flat earth" ) , but that typically doesn't work all that well when the reality actually matters ( "the world is a sphere").


Users primarily use applications, not operating systems. As long as the user leverage the same set of apps it is not an issue. The only new issue is how do they mix. Mixing one Metro app with the desktop just works. ( earlier pointer to the getting started with keyboard/mouse video) that Microsoft did. The metro app can be used as a "pinned to the side" window alongside the desktop. Similar to the "snap to side" windows that were available in Windows 7. Some of this is new because folks have been hiding in their XP caves for a long time.

 

[tkermit]

The only new issue is how do they mix. Mixing one Metro app with the desktop just works

Nothing about the mixture of Metro apps and the Desktop "just works". The simple fact is that the user interface that Metro apps provide, even if you consider them to be efficient and enjoyable to use with a keyboard, a mouse and a large monitor, is in no way consistent with what Desktop apps offer, and you're currently forced to switch between them for the simplest of tasks. Want to open a PDF? That's possible now, but only in Metro, and only one document at a time. Want to open a picture? You're thrown into Metro, again with only one picture at a time. If you want to compare different pictures, you can launch the photos viewer on the Desktop with an entirely different UI. You also have a choice of different Internet Explorers, Control Panel UIs and different solutions for adjusting the settings of apps. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Maybe MS will manage to improve on all of this, even though I don't see how you can successfully provide a single Ui solution that works on tablets just as well as it does on Desktop computers. We'll see. Personally, I'm just glad Apple are taking another approach.

Oh, and, by the way, a resolution of 1280x800 is not sufficient for Metro Snap to work.

 

[Krazy Bill]

if they don't implement multitouch thouchpads on PCs, then it's a big fail of course!

Synaptics has supposedley worked on this.

My concern is what kind of trackpad drivers in Boot Camp for Win8 Apple decides to write. I doubt they'll go "all out" with gesturing even though Metro is made for it.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Nothing about the mixture of Metro apps and the Desktop "just works".

This marriage of Desktop and Metro will never be elegant. And considering the established user base MS has, I don't see how they could have done it any differently.

I find easier to think of the old Win "Desktop" (and everything running inside it) as simply a metro app all by itself. It actually reminds me of running Windows7 on a mac inside a virtual machine. Given this analogy I think it's quite possible that OSX users will grasp Windows 8 functionality more quickly than Windows users will. (For those of us that also have Windows on our macs of course).

 

[deconstruct60]

The simple fact is that the user interface that Metro apps provide, even if you consider them to be efficient and enjoyable to use with a keyboard, a mouse and a large monitor, is in no way consistent with what Desktop apps offer,

Forced consistency is just an argument for them being the same. They are different. There is no reason everything has to be homogenous. OS X Dashboard or Windows Widgets don't have to act exactly like the more traditional apps. Desk accessories from early Mac OS days didn't act exactly like "normal" apps.

and you're currently forced to switch between them for the simplest of tasks. Want to open a PDF? That's possible now, but only in Metro,

Really? Adobe Reader stopped working in Windows 8?

Want to open a picture? You're thrown into Metro, again with only one picture at a time.

I guess Photoshop stopped working in Windows 8 too.

That is a gratuitously binding file extensions to one app problem and a default setting to Metro app problem. Flip the settings and/or use a different apps and this largely made up problem is solved.

Maybe MS will manage to improve on all of this, even though I don't see how you can successfully provide a single Ui solution that works on tablets just as well as it does on Desktop computers.

One flaw here is that the majority of even classic PCs are not desktops. They are laptops. In a couple of years what Intel is currently labeling "ultrabooks" will by themselves dominate the number of desktop computers.
Some of the constraints of tablets are going to be shared with more classic PC market merely because the form factors are similar.

The era of the "big box with slots and a monitor dangling off of it" being the dominate PC driver is over. Windows and OS X could ignore that but they'd be eaten alive by the attack of the killer tablets.

We'll see. Personally, I'm just glad Apple are taking another approach.

Apple's "full screen" apps aren't too substantially different.

Oh, and, by the way, a resolution of 1280x800 is not sufficient for Metro Snap to work.

Either you have large desktop monitor(s) or you don't. If you don't then compromises like spaces (OS X ) , dashboard mode (OS X) , full screen VM , etc you have to make. Metro is that much different.

----------

I find easier to think of the old Win "Desktop" (and everything running inside it) as simply a metro app all by itself. It actually reminds me of running Windows7 on a mac inside a virtual machine. Given this analogy I think it's quite possible that OSX users will grasp Windows 8 functionality more quickly than Windows users will.

This.

The "Finder" or "Window's desktop" is just an app. They have always been just apps. That people's mental models were flawed in not mapping this reality just makes them members of the "Flat earth" OS society.


Also folks who use VNC or remote desktop software. "Computer in a framed box by an application" concept. Neither a new concept nor a huge impediment to getting work done.

 

[xTRIGGER092x]

I'll take Mountain Lion over Windows 8 anyday. I actually like W8's slick aesthetics and the app store is quite nice - but it's a mess to navigate:

1. Getting to the Start menu, viewing your open programs, and getting to settings is awkward - you have to hover your mouse pointer to the precise corner of your screen, and then click (and sometimes the box to do so fades if you oh so slightly take the mouse off the corner) what you want to do.

2.Hibernation/Restart/Shut Down is more complicated than it should be - hover mouse pointer in the bottom right corner, select Settings, and then hover over Power, where a pop-up menu appears where you select what to do.

3. Getting to programs through the desktop (which, by the way, makes W8 feel very inconsistent since it's split between Metro and the traditional Windows interface); because the Start button is gone, you can't quickly access programs through the desktop unless you make a shortcut (which I had difficulty in doing - instead of dragging a program from the Start Menu to the desktop like I used to, I now had to find the program in Explorer and create a shortcut using the right-click menu) or pin to the taskbar. I later found out you can access desktop programs through the Start screen - but by default, they're not on it. You have to bring up the Metro search menu to be able to see them all in a list.

On Mountain Lion (which is pretty much Lion with a few new applications), the experience is consistent, pretty, and easy to use. Windows 8 is just pretty. It's funny how the removal of the Start button, something most Windows users take for granted, turns a relatively user-friendly OS into quite the confusing experience. Maybe I'm doing some things wrong, but that doesn't really matter; I'm a proficient user of the Windows operating system, and if I was having trouble knowing how to perform tasks in Windows 8, then chances are many average users will have trouble too.

 

[tkermit]

@deconstruct60:
Windows 8 is basically a superset of Windows 7. Of course you can just continue using your old programs (except for the Metro launcher which you are forced to use). If you don't touch the Metro apps, I could imagine Windows 8 working great on a Desktop and offer a relatively consistent experience (except for the odd remaining Metro parts in the UI)...Of course, Windows 7 would work just as well. If you don't use Windows 8 like it's intended to be used, it works great.

Windows and OS X could ignore that but they'd be eaten alive by the attack of the killer tablets.

Yes. I'm sure Apple is terrified of their Mac products being cannibalized by the iPad, eh, I mean tablet market.

 

[imacken]

Apple's "full screen" apps aren't too substantially different.

No, but they do have the option whether to use in full screen or not.
I like Metro, but my biggest gripe is the way it works on a 2560x1440 screen.
In the Start screen, the tiles are lost as there is so much screen real estate, and in the full screen Metro apps, text is too large, and again, there is way too much wasted space.
I can see how the whole would work really well on smaller screens, but on large ones, not so good.

 

[markrox7]

I have tried out Windows 8, and I get what all the hype is about. It's truly a revolutionary OS, because it's the first OS that really combines desktop and mobile (albeit not perfectly…). OS X iss also evolving into a desktop/mobile operating system, it's just gradually getting there. This is why Windows 8 will be like Vista, IMO. OS X is keeping many elements, adding more mobile elements to it, and getting rid of old stuff from the OS that wouldn't really fit with the desktop+mobile approach. Microsoft isn't taking gradual steps to this unification like Apple is, it's instead jumping right to the point, something users aren't ready for, and this Apple understands and Microsoft doesn't. Both operating systems (OS X ML and Windows 8) are good, the difference is OS X is gradually getting to what Windows (8) abruptly became, which IMO is a much better approach.
By the time people get accustomed to Windows 8, OS X will have blended with iOS much more gradually, so users won't be overwhelmed with so much change at once. Both companies are revolutionizing mobile and desktop OSes into one, the difference is Apple is taking its time while Microsoft is pushing it out as quickly as it can.