All About Microsoft
Mary-Jo FoleyA plea to the Windows team: Don't make Windows 7 too Mac-like
Summary
If I wanted a Mac-like environment, I’d buy a Mac. Maybe Microsoft could introduce “Windows 7 Luddite Edition” for those of us who value function over form?
Topics
Blogger Info
Mary-Jo Foley
Biography
Mary-Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.
Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.
Blogger Paul Thurrott has written a couple of interesting posts about the difference between “simple” and “easy” in the context of Windows 7.
Sure, Windows 7 is still in the pre-beta phase, meaning the user-interface elements still will be tweaked considerably before the product is released to manufacturing. But Thurrott raises a number of points that left me nodding my head in agreement.
I am a Windows user by choice, not simply because I blog about Microsoft. When I saw the recent demos of Windows 7 — with its JumpLists, AeroPeek, AeroSnaps and lots of other eye candy — I was torn. I want some of what’s coming in Windows 7, such as fewer UAC prompts, simpler backup and restore, better peripheral handling. But I really do not care if I get more fancy bells and whistles that just clutter my desktop.
Thurrott blogged:
“Windows 7 basically takes Windows one step closer to the design aesthetic of the Mac, where form is valued over function. I’m not sure this is the right strategy. Simplicity, taken in isolation, may seem like a good idea. But I’m afraid that in Windows 7, Microsoft is sacrificing too much in its bid to be more like Apple. And it’s the users of Windows who will pay the price.”
If you are a PC user like me, you definitely will pay the price. I value ease of use far more than fancy graphics. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive — and given the direction Microsoft ends up taking once it provides testers with the Superbar — maybe they won’t.
(Given Beta 1 of Windows 7, which many are now expecting around January 13, is supposed to be feature-complete, I’m expecting we’ll get to see what the Superbar will look like real soon now. Me? I still think we might see Win 7 Beta 1 on or around December 17, but in either case, it’s not too long until we see the latest Windows 7 look and feel.)
If I wanted a Mac-like environment, I’d buy a Mac. I want an computing environment that helps me get my work done and doesn’t require a how-to manual to figure out which icon does what. Maybe Microsoft could introduce “Windows 7 Luddite Edition” for those of us who value function over form?
What’s your take? Do you think Microsoft is too focused on making Windows 7 in Mac OS X’s image?
On a related note, for more Windows 7 analysis — in podcast form with yours truly and The Register’s Software Editor Gavin Clarke — check out the latest edition of “MicroBite.”
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).
Disclosure
Mary-Jo Foley
Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors. I have not accepted any consulting funds from Microsoft, any of its partners or its competitors for any studies/projects.
Biography
Mary-Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.
Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.
More from “All About Microsoft”
Related Discussions on TechRepublic
Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?Talkback Most Recent of 595 Talkback(s)
-
Well...
...it was either Mac or Linux. 
n0neXn0ne(Edited: 12/03/2008 09:00 AM) -
And notice which one they didn't choose?
why do you think that is? ROTFLMAO!! 
Loverock Davidson12/03/2008 09:25 AM -
They didn't choose
their own GUI...
indeed a good one.. lol 
TedKraan12/04/2008 07:12 AM -
Psssst.....
LET them!!!
Why?
It will be easier for the poor windows masses to switch to MAC or (gasp) to Linux.
I bet we will see a lot of NIX under the hood of the new Windows. That's the only way they can get this pig to behave in a decent manner.
But then again, wouldn't it validate Linux or OSX as the better OS??!!
Northwolf12/04/2008 06:48 PM -
Specifics, please...
I'd really like to know what aspects of the Mac OS cause
Ms. Foley such distress.
I'm a Mac user by choice, since 1984, but for the last six
years I've had to use Windows at work, currently XP Pro.
I've been amused over the years by Microsoft's inexorable
move toward emulating much of the convenience and
function of the Mac OS. It took MS ten years to get past
the eight-character limitation on file names, but they have
been accelerating their replication recently, with just
enough differences to be annoying to dual-OS users.
Granted, the basic reason for these ZD blogs is to generate
responses to convince advertisers the rates are worth it,
but Ms. Foley must have some specifics in mind that cause
her to complain about "fancy bells and whistles that just
clutter my desktop", "I value ease of use far more than
fancy graphics" and "doesn?t require a how-to manual to
figure out which icon does what".
So, Ms. Foley, give us some examples. What exactly do you
fear that Microsoft will next copy from the Mac OS that you
don't like? What can you possibly mean by desktop
cluttering that is unique to the Mac OS? What Mac icon
could possibly have required you to need to refer to a
manual? (Suggestion: there is a convenient Help feature
universally available in the Mac OS menu bar if you get
stuck again.) Do let us know.
frabjous12/03/2008 07:21 PM -
The Horrible Row of Bouncing Program Launch Icons ...
... on the bottom of the desktop. They move into your way when your mouse strays over them, and launch random crap applications. As far as I can tell, every damn program on the Mac regardless of usefulness gets a space. It's all eye candy, and it sucks.
I was just telling my Mac-loving family members how much I hated it, and then I read that Windows 7 will have some stupid version of same. Please stop.
PMC-CON12/03/2008 09:45 PM -
That 'horrible row of bouncing program launch icons..."
is called the Dock. You can resize it so that it's really
small, you can turn the magnification off so that the icons
don't "move into your way," you can turn the bouncing
animation off, you can put it on the left, right or bottom of
your screen, you can hide it, and you can determine which
programs have icons there.
If you just look at things as 'eye-candy' without actually
using a little thought as to why these things exist, you'll
actually lose out on a lot of functionality.
msalzberg12/03/2008 09:59 PM -
Right on
Well said.
Of course, very few people become proficient in both
Windows and Mac OS, and we naturally understand and favor
what we are most used to, but I do wish the most rabid
complainers would do a tiny bit of research into the topic
before showing their ignorance. Oh, well...frabjous12/03/2008 11:07 PM -
True
However, most people using Macs are also probably fairly proficient at using Windows, since chances are very good it's what they're stuck with at work every day.
frgough12/04/2008 10:23 AM -
My wife has a Macintosh.
Let me know when the rest of us can move the damned "Dock" somewhere else, (like the left side of the screen), can make the icons much smaller, and can turn off the stupid bouncing which has no purpose except to annoy the user.
While you're at it, put the Menu bar back on the application windows instead of the top of the screen.
Finally, unless the user is a rock musician, most of us don't need "Garage band" on a computer. Whose idea was that?
Windows Vista and XP may not be perfect, but they're a lot easier to use than a Mac.
gypkap@...12/04/2008 06:04 AM -
It sure isn't hard
Apple menu/Dock (10.4 and 5). Just pick what
you want from the drop down menu. For more
customization just pick Dock Preferences at the
bottom of the drop down. For earlier versions,
Apple menu/Systems Prefs and then click on the
Dock prefs section.
If you don't want an icon for an app in the
Dock, just drag it off. Poof. It's gone.
Why complain about receiving a free app -
Garage Band? Just don't use it or, if you really
don't want it on the machine, trash it.
j.m.galvin12/04/2008 06:26 AM -
Just one more craptastic option to remove
So, after I successfully avoided Vista, MS wants to foist more consumer grade refuse on me. If I want Garage Band, I'll buy it at the local gaming store. Take $50 off the price of the OS, remove the raven attacting bling, strip it to the core functionality an OS should support, and get the h*ll out of my way. I have work to do. I'll play Garage Band on my own time.
JScarfe12/04/2008 06:35 AM -
Trash it
I think the reason he's complaining is that removing
an application on Windows is such a pain in the butt.
These people just aren't used to the concept of "trash
it". 
chaiguy133712/04/2008 08:26 AM -
LOL
Uninstall program. It's that simple.
Dolt.
Sleeper Service12/04/2008 10:33 AM -
But why...
is GarageBand there in the first place? It should be a free download for Mac owners, as it's not something most people would use. My wife doesn't use it, and has no idea how to remove it, or whether removing it breaks other apps.
Being a Windows guy, I know how to add and remove programs on XP or Vista, and know that removing a program generally doesn't break other applications. I have no idea where Add/Remove Programs is on a Macintosh or how those apps interact.gypkap@...12/04/2008 11:33 AM
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