df473f39   
   XPost: comp.sys.mac.advocacy, comp.sys.macintrash   
   From: nunya@busyness.info   
      
   Derek Currie wrote   
   (in article   
   ):   
      
   > Gates Unveils Next Version of Windows   
      
   [snip]   
      
   > The highlight of opening night--OK, the only light--was the annual   
   > keynote presentation by Bill Gates and his team. The talk opened with   
   > mocked-up demos of the wizzy future, like Bill sitting down before a   
   > triptych of 30-inch computer monitors that, as in the movie "Minority   
   > Report," appeared to be nothing more than sheets of clear acrylic.   
   > Everything in the future, we're assured, will work smoothly together,   
   > never crash and never get viruses.   
      
   So OS X will dominate then?  That's great news.   
      
   [snip]   
      
   > The best part was a demonstration of Windows Vista, the next version of   
   > Windows, which Microsoft still says it will ship before the end of 2006.   
   > The audience in the standing-room-only auditorium was treated to a show   
   > of some features that hadn't been previously demonstrated. Here's an   
   > annotated blow-by-blow:   
   >   
   > * Transparent window edges. Well, it's true that Vista looks nicer than   
   > any previous version of Windows. But I'm just not sure about the value   
   > of transparent window edges. They're cool, sure; but exactly how many   
   > times, in your work life, have you muttered, "Darn! If only I could see   
   > just the part of the background window that's currently obscured by the   
   > 1/3-inch margin of the foreground window"?   
      
   A fair point, however, I can testify that the complete LACK of   
   window borders, transparent or otherwise in OS X is visually   
   tiring for some reason.  I really don't like it.  I wish it were   
   more like a conventional GUI in that regard.  But, at least it's   
   stable.   
      
   > * Widgets. Vista will let you summon, at the right edge of the screen,   
      
   Why not make the location configurable?   
      
   > widgets: single-purpose, single-window little programs. One's an egg   
   > timer, one's a news ticker, and so on. It's a lot like the Dashboard in   
   > Mac OS X (or the shareware Konfabulator that came before it), except   
   > that apparently, you can't put the widgets anywhere on the screen you   
   > like.   
      
   Then it's exactly like Konfabulator then.  Pity that both Apple   
   and Microsoft have screwed them over.   
      
   > * 3-D application switcher. With a keystroke, Vista can present you with   
   > a stacked deck of every window that's open on your machine, making it   
   > easier to hunt through them for one particular window. It's a lot like   
   > the Expose feature in Mac OS X, except that you don't get to see all of   
   > the windows simultaneously; you have to walk through them one at a time   
   > with the mouse or keyboard.   
      
   It's eye candy, but requires a smoking video card for it to work   
   well.  That's to keep the hardware vendors happy, while   
   pretending they are doing you (the customer) a favor.   
      
   > * Global, fast search. Vista can now find words in any of your files,   
   > quickly and easily, just like the Spotlight feature of Mac OS X.   
      
   Wow.  I wonder where they got that idea?   
      
   > * Photo organization. Some limited photo editing is now built into   
   > Vista's photo browser, which couldn't look more like Apple's iPhoto   
   > program if you ran it through a copying machine.   
      
   I hope it's more stable.  Oh wait, it's windows.  It'll be less   
   stable.  Relative to iPhoto, that's quite an accomplishment.   
      
   > If I seem to be laying on the "stolen from Apple" language a bit thick,   
   > you're darned right. Ordinarily, I'm careful about making accusations   
   > like this, because I know I'll get hammered by Apple bashers. But in   
   > this case, there's not a shred of doubt: most of the features Microsoft   
   > demonstrated last night were pure, unadulterated ripoffs from Mac OS X.   
   > I could hear actual whispers of recognition from the audience around me.   
      
   I'm surprised the Windows crowd didn't just think it was all   
   brand new magic.   
      
   > Does it matter? Not really. The courts have established that you can't   
   > copyright a software idea (only its code); besides, Apple occasionally   
   > helps itself to Microsoft's ideas, too. Truth is, I use both Mac OS X   
   > and Windows, and I'll be happy to have these features on both platforms.   
      
   I used to, until I realized that I don't have any need for   
   Microsoft anymore.  After the "active code" in WMV design flaw   
   thing, I want no part of a company that freaking stupid.  As if   
   active code in email wasn't bad enough.   
      
   > Besides, there were a few Vista features that Microsoft apparently   
   > dreamed up all by itself:   
   >   
   > * Sideshow. This ("sideshow," not "slideshow") is an optional feature of   
   > future, Vista-compatible laptops: an external L.C.D. screen that lets   
   > you look up, for example, your calendar without actually having to boot   
   > the thing up. Sideshow was displayed only briefly and without much   
   > explanation, so that's about all we know.   
      
   Then it's not shut down.  It's just another ACPI sleep state   
   most likely.   
      
   > * Slideshows with movies. The new Vista photo browser won't just show   
   > still photos; it will also integrate your camera's video clips into the   
   > slideshows.   
      
   ZZZZzzzz   
      
   > * Stacks. In the new Windows Media Player, when you sort by Genre, your   
   > albums' icons appear as piles of album covers, neatly grouped by kind of   
   > music.   
      
   Wow.  That'll make the music so much more exciting to listen to.   
   > * Thumbnail tabbed browsing. Internet Explorer will finally get tabbed   
   > browsing (a feature that Firefox, Safari and other browsers have had for   
   > years), in which you can keep multiple Web pages open at once, all in   
   > the same window; you switch from one to the next by clicking little   
   > file-folder tabs at the top. But in the Vista browser, you can also view   
   > all your tabbed Web pages as window miniatures, so that you can jump to   
   > one according to what it looks like (rather than just its name). A great   
   > idea.   
      
   If you have the screen real-estate to spare.   
      
   > Anyway, all of this will be nice to have, if it works and doesn't   
   > require us all to buy new computers to run it.   
      
   Guess what, that isn't the case.  The hardware requirements are   
   MUCH higher than XP.   
      
   > But I think that what most people want from the next Windows isn't more   
   > stuff added, but rather stuff to be taken away--like crashes, lockups,   
   > viruses, error messages and security holes.   
      
   good luck.  Some of them are designed into standard Microsoft   
   product features.  Clueless dolts.   
      
      
   --   
   Lefty   
   All of God's creatures have a place..........   
   .........right next to the potatoes and gravy.   
   See also: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gif   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)