Don't begrudge Windows users their Vista
Sat 10 Feb 07 21:56 | Tags: Windows
A buddy asked me last night if I was going to write about Windows Vista. I haven't actually had the opportunity to use Vista yet, so I don't think it'd be fair for me to write too much about the system itself. I'd like to say a few things about the public reaction to it, however.
(cue the Imperial March)
If you've read any of my other articles in this blog, you've probably guessed that I am not a Windows user; I'm a Mac user, though I'm also familiar with Linux and Unix (specifically, FreeBSD). Given that, I'm prone to joking about Microsoft and their notorious OS as much as anyone. Still, I think anti-Windows rhetoric can descend to levels of vitriol and juvenility that do not become us Mac users, who already have to fight against the stereotype of being arrogant jerks.
Specifically, I'm speaking of the accusations that Microsoft has stolen ideas and concepts from Mac OS X for inclusion into Vista. I won't argue that they haven't done this; of course they have. From what I've read, Vista is the biggest catching-up-to-the-Mac version of Windows since Windows 95. Remember when Apple highlighted Tiger at WWDC 2004 with banners that said "Redmond, start your photocopiers?" Microsoft took it to heart, as seen in the now infamous sarcastic Vista video review by Mac fanboy David Pogue for the New York Times, and also seen in these two videos on YouTube which feature audio of a demonstration of Vista's "innovative" new features along with footage of the Mac OS doing the same things. Most recently was Stephen Manes' scathing review for Forbes.
Windows Vista: more than five years in the making, more than 50 million lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump. The new slogan is: "The 'Wow' Starts Now," and Microsoft touts new features, many filched shamelessly from Apple's Macintosh. But as with every previous version, there's no wow here, not even in ironic quotes. Vista is at best mildly annoying and at worst makes you want to rush to Redmond, Wash. and rip somebody's liver out.
Ouch.
Anyway, my contention here is that sure, Vista borrows ideas from OS X, but is that something we really need to get so riled up about?
The fact is that some people will always use Windows. They've fallen for the "there's not enough software for Mac" myth, or the "Macs are more expensive" half-truth, or they have to use it for work, or they put PC gaming above more productive tasks, or whatever, and so they keep buying (or building) Windows machine after Windows machine. It's unfortunate, yes, but if they're going to run Windows, is there any particular reason they don't deserve to run a version of Windows with features that increase their productivity and security? In other words, if they must use Windows, can't they at least run a relatively good version of Windows? Isn't Windows allowed to improve?
Let's put it this way. What are standard features on cars nowadays? Power locks and windows, power steering, heck, even check engine lights -- but those features did not appear on all cars suddenly overnight. Some model of car somewhere in time was the first to have a check engine light. Other car companies thought it was a good idea, so they put it in their cars too. So isn't it a good thing nowadays that all cars have check engine lights? Would it be fair to drivers of Toyotas that their cars couldn't have, say, power steering just because Ford (or whoever) shipped a car with it first? And how often do you hear something like "Ohmigod, Honda so copied Suzuki with that feature!" in the car industry?
So let Microsoft copy. It's not like Apple is entirely innocent itself; off hand, I can think of three OS X features that appeared in Windows first: application switching with the keyboard (Command-Tab), proportional scroll bar thumbs, and contextual menus. Surely OS X would be for the worse without these features, and yet I can't recall too many people in the Windows community (if you can call it that) in fits when Apple instituted them in the Mac OS. And if any of you have any experience with GNOME or KDE on Linux or Unix, you know how much those systems have copied Windows in their look and feel, copying the Start button, Task Bar and System Tray, and even the stupid ideas like putting the menu bar inside windows; yet Microsoft has never threatened them with a lawsuit.
We as Mac users can and should remind people that most of these innovative new Vista features did in fact appear on our side of the fence first. But when we start getting vitriolic about it, or start insinuating that Microsoft has no right to adapt the ideas into their own system, people are going to tune us out at best and call us out as whiny children at worst, and rightly so. If people must use Windows, let's not begrudge them the right to use a smart, modern version of it.
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#1 | rancemuhamitz@hotmail.com | 10 Feb 07 22:22
1 word only....
DB2
#2 | LaMa | 11 Feb 07 14:00
If you're accepting requests, how about a review of dreamhost, like your plan, how many domains you use, pros and cons, and serviceability.
I've considered moving my blog to it's own domain, away from TMC, and starting side projects. I'm most interested in the unlimited domains hosted, because most companies charge extra for more than one domain.