[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Windows 8 vs. Mountain Lion: Which OS Succeeds at Bringing Mobile to the Desktop? here

[GraysonPeddie]

For me, like Apple for Macs to be Macs but to allow iOS users to feel at home in using OS X, I want Windows to be Windows and bring some elements of Metro and have the option to not use Metro if I don't want to. I know I cannot stay with Windows 7 forever, but in the few years, I may have to ditch Hosted Exchange, Office 2010, and Windows and switch to Zarafa, Evolution Mail (collaboration software with mail, calendar, tasks, notes, etc. synchronization), Ribbon-equivalent to Office 2010, and Kubuntu.

I might be thinking about getting a Mac, but I'm a big fan of AMD's Accelerated Processing Units (APU) and GPUs, such as A8-3850 and Radeon HD 7750, but then it won't go hand in hand.

[waldojim]

GraysonPeddie, on 25 March 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

For me, like Apple for Macs to be Macs but to allow iOS users to feel at home in using OS X, I want Windows to be Windows and bring some elements of Metro and have the option to not use Metro if I don't want to. I know I cannot stay with Windows 7 forever, but in the few years, I may have to ditch Hosted Exchange, Office 2010, and Windows and switch to Zarafa, Evolution Mail (collaboration software with mail, calendar, tasks, notes, etc. synchronization), Ribbon-equivalent to Office 2010, and Kubuntu.

I might be thinking about getting a Mac, but I'm a big fan of AMD's Accelerated Processing Units (APU) and GPUs, such as A8-3850 and Radeon HD 7750, but then it won't go hand in hand.

For what it is worth, the Mac Mini does rock the AMD 6630m - which is pretty stinking powerful all things considered. Not, not even close to the new 7750, but powerful enough to game on.

[jscott418]

I have used both and have to say Apple does a much better job mixing IOS features into OS X then Microsoft does mixing Tablet features into Windows 8. In the end Microsoft will alienate many traditional PC users for the sake of trying to garner Tablet buyers. Its really a bad move for Microsoft.

[AnonymousFriend]

Windows 8 CLEARLY integrates mobile better than Mac's Launhpad. However, at present, Apple's iCloud is more streamlined than Microsoft's cloud services.

Hoping everything will be squared away by the time Windows 8 hits the market this fall.

[AAngKhoaKhoa]

last week, i used Win8, oh soop! but i haven't used MacOS

[JohnUSA]

I have been a Windows user all my life, and I hope Microsoft will drastically improve Windows 8 for non-touch screen users so I and millions of others will not abandon Windows.
The current Windows 8 experience for mouse and keyboard users is horrible, atrocious, unfriendly, illogical, aggravating, exasperating, slow and time wasting experience.
If Microsoft does not fix this irritating new OS then they will fail big time and surrender the OS war to others.

[JeremyRoeqh2g]

I bet you have never used Windows 8. I like it a lot. I use a mouse and keyboard and I also use voice commands. It is a very fast operating system. i think it will do fine because it i very easy to use and most people who use it find that out in the first 10 minutes.

[nemophoto]

Persoanlly, I don't give a flyingratsass about bringing mobile to my desktop. If I want a dumbed down OS, I'll use my iPhone or iPad. I want my computer to be my computer -- probably why Win8 will never find a home on my desktop. The Who;e Metro BS is just that. Keep it on a tablet or phone, but keep it away from my desktop. I don't want to have to wade through it to get real work done. It's a pity too, since Win8 does have some performance advantages over Win 7. That said, it's slower when working with images, and since that's 85% of what I do with my computer, advantage is STILL Win 7.

[waldojim]

JohnUSA, on 26 March 2012 - 07:23 AM, said:

I have been a Windows user all my life, and I hope Microsoft will drastically improve Windows 8 for non-touch screen users so I and millions of others will not abandon Windows.
The current Windows 8 experience for mouse and keyboard users is horrible, atrocious, unfriendly, illogical, aggravating, exasperating, slow and time wasting experience.
If Microsoft does not fix this irritating new OS then they will fail big time and surrender the OS war to others.

Go watch thier little 10 minute video on windows 8. You will find that windows darn near predicts what you want to do, loading it seamingly before you click the button to do so.

[WallyDuke]

I for one prefer to see mobile devices getting a more desktop-like experience than desktop devices getting a more mobile-like experience. For that reason I prefer Microsoft's approach but execution will be everything and, as much as I have been enjoying Windows 8, there is certainly a learning curve that could scare some people away.

[TerrenceNewton2zgr]

I just am not comfortable with the idea that, with Windows 8, to use it to its fullest, you have to swap between the Metro and traditional desktop areas -- not just for legacy apps, but also to access the more advanced windows functions. You should be able to do -everything- in one interface. Also, I think that the mouse-based control of the Metro area will be hindered by the fact that MS (or anyone) has yet to support a trackpad solution that is on par with what's been available on Macs for the past few years.

Mountain Lion, on the other hand, does integrate many iOS features into Mac OS X, but almost all of those features can be turned off, and users can have a more 'traditional' Mac experience, with full functionality. And for what its worth, I'm not really a fan of launchpad. I never use it. I find it easier to open apps from the dock, and from spotlight for apps that aren't on the dock.

[LiveBrianD]

Even though I'm generally a Windows fan, I think OS X is better than Windows 8 if Win8 forces me to use metro. Seriously. (the hardware for it is another story though)

[GraysonPeddie]

WallyDuke, on 26 March 2012 - 10:10 AM, said:

I for one prefer to see mobile devices getting a more desktop-like experience than desktop devices getting a more mobile-like experience. For that reason I prefer Apple's approach but execution will be everything and, as much as I have been enjoying Windows 8, there is certainly a learning curve that could scare some people away.

Don't you mean Apple for bringing iOS features into OS X but can be turned off if you don't want to use it? I've changed "Microsoft" to "Apple" and bolded it just to show what I mean.

[SirFalcon]

It doesn't really matter which one is better. Windows 7 will retire and retailers will start selling PCs
with windows 8 preloaded as a standard. Unless OS X Mountain Lion starts to officially support non-apple hardware.

Since I don't like metro one bit and I doubt all monitors will turn into touch screens any time soon, I would just have to deal with it the old fashioned way ... using shell replacements.

Imagine having to emulate the look and feel of windows 7 on a windows 8 PC...

They should just make it possible to revert from the metro style start menu to the classic windows 7 style start menu.

[gysgt213]

jscott418, on 26 March 2012 - 03:15 AM, said:

I have used both and have to say Apple does a much better job mixing IOS features into OS X then Microsoft does mixing Tablet features into Windows 8. In the end Microsoft will alienate many traditional PC users for the sake of trying to garner Tablet buyers. Its really a bad move for Microsoft.

I have to agree and I really like Windows 8. I hope I'm wrong, but Microsoft seems to me to be way behind the curve here and not just on the desktop but phones as well as tablets. They let Apple run wild for over 2 years it seems with no response till now. Apple now is on the 3rd gen of ipad and close to the 5 or is 6th gen of the iphone and people really want one of those or an android instead of a windows phone or tablet.

[greglomow]

The author says the following regarding Windows 8, "this one OS will run on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or touchscreen PC ... For example, all of your applications will work across all of your hardware, and you won't have to relearn everything when you buy a new piece of equipment."

This is incorrect. Microsoft itself has said that current third-party Windows apps won't run on 'Windows on ARM' devices unless the vendor recompiles/ports it for the new hardware.

Also this quote seems to imply that the UI for existing apps will be exactly the same on all devices no matter the form factor and whether or not it uses a touch interface. Of course, a vendor might try and use exactly the same UI on all form factors and for all input mechanisms, I doubt that this will result in a satisfactory user experience and therefore the UI differ across form factors and input mechanisms, meaning that some level of relearning will be required.

[andriajohn]

Good!!!
Apple and Microsoft are both trying to bring mobile features to their new desktop operating systems

[MarkSmiley]

LiveBrianD, on 26 March 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

Even though I'm generally a Windows fan, I think OS X is better than Windows 8 if Win8 forces me to use metro. Seriously. (the hardware for it is another story though)

I have to say coming from being a big windows user to using linux and and the ipod touch and the used the ipad a little bit i have to say that I like where apple is going with this than where windows is going with this. If you follow windows you can tell that windows will suck this time around they just got a lot of people to switch from windows xp to windows 7. Windows sucks every other os. So yeah i am banking on apple. People don't want to look at a bunch of touch screen aps on your windows 8 touch screen on your desktop. I see windows 8 flopping and they rushing windows 9.

[TechConc]

AnonymousFriend, on 26 March 2012 - 04:29 AM, said:

Windows 8 CLEARLY integrates mobile better than Mac's Launhpad. However, at present, Apple's iCloud is more streamlined than Microsoft's cloud services.

Hoping everything will be squared away by the time Windows 8 hits the market this fall.

I think the author's attempt to compare the Windows 8 start screen to OS X's Launch Pad is a bit misguided. Launch Pad is available today in Lion and I don't know any Mac user that actually uses this "feature". They really aren't comparative products / features at all, nor are they intended to be.

As the articles suggests, Apple's approach is to treat the desktop as a desktop and to treat the mobile devices as mobile devices. There is a clear division. At the same time, where it makes sense, make the environment as familiar as possible between the two. Examples are things like notifications and things like naming conventions - like changing iCal to "Calendar", etc. Apple's approach is also very gradual and now they appear to be on an annual release schedule.

By contrast, Microsoft seems bent on trying to not just catch up, but to possibly "one up" Apple in this regard, but I think they've misread the direction Apple is going here. I'm not sure desktop users really want a mobile interface. I like Metro to some degree, but I don't see the benefit of having it on the desktop machine. Microsoft's "no compromise" solution is one great big compromise. The inconsistency between the traditional desktop (where the majority of software is written for) and the new Metro interface is very much "jarring" to say the least. I don't see a scenario whereby people will be happy switching between the two environments.

I suppose time will tell how all of this will work out. I'd expect Windows 8 to be successful on the desktop, just as Windows 7 is today. Yet, for as much positive reviews we've seen with Metro, it's not yet taken off in the marketplace. It didn't with Windows Mobile and I'm hard pressed to see how it will on tablets. I'm even more unconvinced with Metro on the desktop. Then there is the Win8 on Intel vs. Win8 on Arm to consider. It seems to me that Microsoft is adding more confusion to the marketplace rather than making things more simple. Time will tell I suppose.