OS X Lion VS Windows 8?

[ChaosAngel]

Hi all,

I'm currently testing Mac OS X Lion (as a Mac Dev), but I’m interested to hear peoples thoughts on how they think it will compare to Windows 8. For those who haven't seen, a lot of Windows 8 information has already been leaked.

In my opinion Windows 8 is already looking very good and although I’m loving Mac OS X Lion, I can't help but think that the advantage OS X used to have over Windows is quickly being eaten away.

Personally, I really hope Apple have some big new features in Lion that they haven't yet revealed (maybe waiting for WWDC?).

Thoughts?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Is Windows 8 then Windows 7.0, like Windows Seven is actually Windows 6.1?

 

[applefan289]

What I like about Apple is not only the great products, but also their professionalism. Microsoft does not give off the "kid in a candy store" vibe, and the Microsoft website just feels clunky.

I guess those were not good examples, but even if Windows 8 beats Lion as far as the OS itself, Windows 8 will not beat Apple's marketing, professionalism, and "with it" mind set.

 

[Lone Deranger]

MS still playing catchup by the looks of the feature list in my opinion.

Nothing there to tempt me away from OSX. Not even tempting enough to make me upgrade my W7 license.

(And my god that desktop background image looks hideous).

 

[Hellhammer]

There is no beta of Windows 8 yet so it is hard to say. MS can add million new features to make it sound good on paper and then fail it like they did with Vista. In the end, the most important thing is stability. Windows 7 is great and I really hope W8 will take it even further.

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

It looks like the only way M$ is "catching up" is by copying technologies with which we are already familiar. As Bertrand Serlet suggested, maybe M$ really DID start up their photocopiers

I saw a video on YouTube entitled "The Real Windows Vista", in which the audio from a (series of) M$ lecture(s) was combined with video showing a Mac user demonstrating the then-unreleased features of Vista on a Mac. It was originally in three parts, and at the end of each part the specific technologies mentioned were identified, as well as the year in which they were introduced. It appears also that, as Mr. Serlet also mentioned, "if you can't innovate, you must imitate, but it's never quite the same."

 

[SandboxGeneral]

There is no beta of Windows 8 yet so it is hard to say. MS can add million new features to make it sound good on paper and then fail it like they did with Vista. In the end, the most important thing is stability. Windows 7 is great and I really hope W8 will take it even further.

I agree. Stability is very important and it is what makes or breaks an OS. I hope Microsoft does really well in their next OS. Win7 is a winner in my book as I use and manage it at the office while OS X is the winner in my home. As long as MS & have decent OS's to compete against each other, the hopeful winners will be the users in that we get quality software to run.

 

[ChaosAngel]

Good points and for the me the Apple ecosystem is very important (something Microsoft doesn't have). However, looking purely at the operating system itself, I can always remember first showing my "Windows" friends OS X (even in the early days) and them being blown away by how amazing it was. These days I don't see that same excitement (really since Leopard) and the gap between OS X and Windows is now much closer.

I wonder if we will hit a point when the OS X guys/gals look at Windows in amazement? To far?

I just hope Lion brings more then what I am seeing in the Developer Builds. Don't get be wrong it's looking like a great OS, but is it the leap I was hoping for? Not yet...

 

[clientsiman]

It's too early to compare those two OS.

I like using both OS X and Windows. I am not impressed with Lion so far. (From what I have read, as I haven't try it). I hope Apple has same surprises to show in the WWDC.

I am really looking forward to see what Ubuntu can achieve till next year. I am not sure if I like the new Unite shell but I agree that Ubuntu needs to create something new and stop copying OS X and Windows.

 

[Woodcrest64]

I like both Windows 7 and OSX 10.6.7 right now.

What I don't like about Windows 7 is the registry.

and what I don't like about OSX is the UI is starting to look old and that there is no native AVCHD support.

I don't think MS is going to get rid of the registry in Windows 8 but I can hope that they do. I also don't think Apple will make a major UI change with their OS until OS 11 but I have been wrong before.

Apple could very well be holding out until its final preview to show off some radical new UI changes.

 

[roadbloc]

How can we compare a Dev Preview to something that doesn't even exist yet?

 

[superstrikertwo]

How can we compare a Dev Preview to something that isn't even public yet?

Fixed.

 

[MattInOz]

Why George I think she's got it?

Product is designed to help people realize value.
I mean it's taken them this long to work that out.

 

[MikhailT]

Microsoft is doing the smart thing by basing W8 on W7 and refining with a smaller collection of new features/improvements instead of trying everything new like they did with Vista. They are not going overboard this time around and they're also pushing to do <3 year release cycle. I hope they do another smart thing by actually decreasing the price of their SKUs a bit while reducing the SKUs as well. W8 Home for 150$ and W8 Pro for 250$, remove the Ultimate SKU.

Windows 8 is rumored to have a new feature called History Vault that's similar to Time Machine, so it'd be interesting to see how it works out.

Please note that it's not fair to compare both right now. They both say things but it does not mean that those features will show up in the final build. W7 changed a lot from the first beta to the final release due to their massive beta test program. Microsoft is likely to repeat the same beta test project with W8 because of the massive success it bought to W7.

 

[Dolorian]

Considering that we haven't had any substantial update since Leopard (as Snow Leopard was more an under the hood thing), which launched 4 years ago, the same year the original iPhone launched; the list of features that are being shown for Lion are downright underwhelming.

- The Mac App Store
This is not a part of the OS itself and I can use it right now. This is also hardly an innovation.

- Launchpad
This is just a slightly different take on the stacks concept, borrowing from the way it is handled in the iPad.

- Full-screen apps
Hmmm....ok...how is this a big deal again?

- Mission Control
Just a tweak on the present expose concept. I find it looks a bit cumbersome/clunky.

- Auto save
Hmmm....ok...how is this a big deal again?

- Versions
Hmmm....ok, useful.

- Resume
This one is good.

- Mail 5
Now with conversations, something Gmail has had for a long while already.

- AirDrop
Interesting but I think not all that different from using Bonjour to transfer files.

And...that's very much it...

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Apple as much as the next guy but this feature set is hardly impressive. I remember back when Apple released 10.4, I was actually excited about the new features and couldn't wait to update my computer. But now? I feel very much indifferent about Lion, don't see anything innovative or exciting at all, specially when one considers that the last update to include additional features as opposed to under the hood improvements (10.5) was released four years ago.

 

[MikhailT]

@Evoken, we haven't seen the full features list yet for Lion. That's going to be announced at WWDC.

The rest here isn't directed to you, just my opinion of what Lion is supposed to be.

If we consider Lion to be an improvement/refinements to Snow Leopard, it's already an impressive update, just like Snow Leopard was to Leopard. The slight changes in the UI are noticeable over Snow Leopard. The animations, the buttons, scrollbars gives Lion a refresh of the current interface.

The Mac App Store isn't a feature for Lion, it has nothing to do with Lion. It's just another Mac App that's bundled with Lion just like Mail/iChat.

Full Screen Mode is just an interface API which are useful for some people on the Airs and laptops. Some people only use one app for a few hours, and the full screen mode can be useful for them.

Auto-save is a big feature because it changes the way the applications save the files for you in the background. You no longer have to worry about saving in case of a crash and you can now just close/quit the app and return from the same state with auto-resume feature, basically the same way apps work in the background on the iOS platform. Imagine the ability to work on a big project in Numbers or Keynote and you just want to close it for now. Come back in an hour, open them again and you're back to where you started an hour ago. No open last file required. It's just a refinement of the "Close App, Open App, Open Last File Used" process.

Combine Auto-save, auto-resume and Versions, you have a new way of handling files in applications.

Everybody should set their expectations low for Lion, consider it a refinement of the front end for Leopard while Snow Leopard was a refinement of the backend.

Apple isn't about new stuff, they're about refining the same stuff in a different way. That's what they have done with iPhone, iPad and soon, Lion. iPhone wasn't the first device with a touchscreen, it was just refined by integrating both software and hardware in a way that it provide a much better interface. Innovations does not mean that it's for brand new ideas/products only, it can also mean an idea/product that's used in a different way.

 

[benhollberg]

Is Windows 8 then Windows 7.0, like Windows Seven is actually Windows 6.1?

I believe Windows 8 will actually be Windows 6.2.

 

[MikhailT]

I believe Windows 8 will actually be Windows 6.2.

Hmm, 6.1 = 6 + 1 = 7, 6.2 = 8.

 

[baryon]

If Windows 8 doesn't have something as simple as Spaces or multiple desktops, then it's an inferior OS.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

If Windows 8 doesn't have something as simple as Spaces or multiple desktops, then it's an inferior OS.

If someone can make such a broad statement, they are an inferior person

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Hello all! This is an interesting debate... I think both OSes will be powerhouses by the time they're released. However... Microsoft's upping the ante with Windows 8, it seems. Had I seen this thread, I would have posted this here, instead... oh well.

 

[Dr McKay]

Is Windows 8 then Windows 7.0, like Windows Seven is actually Windows 6.1?

Thats just the NT version. Windows 8 will be 6.2

7 was 6.1,
Vista was 6.0
XP was 5.0

Technically Windows 7 is the 10th version of Windows, if you don't count Windows Server.

Windows 7 is the 7th version if you count from Windows 95.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Thats just the NT version. Windows 8 will be 6.2

7 was 6.1,
Vista was 6.0
XP was 5.0

Technically Windows 7 is the 10th version of Windows, if you don't count Windows Server.

Windows 7 is the 7th version if you count from Windows 95.

According to Wikipedia, Windows 8 will be NT version 6.2, not 7.0 - just in case you were wondering.

 

[Dr McKay]

According to Wikipedia, Windows 8 will be NT version 6.2, not 7.0 - just in case you were wondering.

Thats what I said.. I didnt say it would be NT 7.0

 

[baryon]

If someone can make such a broad statement, they are an inferior person

How do you know? Maybe Windows 8 will have multiple desktops. IE is also gaining all the features that all the other browsers have... Just a few years late, that's all!