[sdilley14]

...and they were focusing on the "snap feature"...again. That's the second or third W7 commercial I've seen where that's the focal point. I'm not sure why they're so proud of themselves for putting this in their OS. Seems like a more cumbersome, less useful variant of Expose. Why put so much effort in marketing this small, marginally useful feature? Wow, you can automatically get two windows to "snap" side by side. :/ Am I missing something here, is it really worth 2-3 different commercials?

[imitchellg5]

To answer your first question: Because there really isn't much else to market. I'm not really trying to slam Windows 7, but of all the new features, none are really marketable. It's like how 10.6 really doesn't have anything marketable either. Sure, 64-bit support, but who's gonna care? If that's something you do care about, then you're probably already going to know about it.

[sdilley14]

Exactly, I'm not trying to be a hater, I just don't get why they're so proud of themselves for finally including simple little features that have been around (more or less) on other operating systems for years.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by sdilley14 

Exactly, I'm not trying to be a hater, I just don't get why they're so proud of themselves for finally including simple little features that have been around (more or less) on other operating systems for years.

I didn't actually know that this was a feature from any other commercial OS. It certainly isn't in OS X.

Without having ever played with Windows 7, it actually does seem like a pretty useful feature to me. If it saves time and the implementation is elegant, I could see a variant of it making it's way into the OS X UI at some stage. When I say that, I'm referring to automatic window resizing as an idea, not necessarily the exact "snap" feature the way Microsoft has done it in 7.

[Kerrigan]

I use Windows 7 as my primary OS. It use the snap feature maybe once every 2 weeks, and it never quite does what I was hoping for.

Windows 7 is nice, but there's nothing that I can really see that is marketable. Frankly it's just like OS X and Xp had a child...nothing much to say about it.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

I use Windows 7 as my primary OS. It use the snap feature maybe once every 2 weeks, and it never quite does what I was hoping for.

Windows 7 is nice, but there's nothing that I can really see that is marketable. Frankly it's just like OS X and Xp had a child...nothing much to say about it.

Off topic question, seeing as the opportunity to ask it comes up:

How would you compare the UI learning curve, for a user moving from XP to Windows 7 as opposed to moving from XP to OS X (10.5 or 10.6)?

My 60 year old mom needs a new computer and is certainly a bit of an 'old dog' so I'm hesitant to buy her an Apple machine due to the learning curve, though I've been wondering if having her move to Windows 7 would be any less difficult.

[Paco500]

I'd never seen the snap thing before- it's not a bad idea. I have to compare 2 docs side by side all the time and can see it being quite useful.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by gradient 

Off topic question, seeing as the opportunity to ask it comes up:

How would you compare the UI learning curve, for a user moving from XP to Windows 7 as opposed to moving from XP to OS X (10.5 or 10.6)?

My 60 year old mom needs a new computer and is certainly a bit of an 'old dog' so I'm hesitant to buy her an Apple machine due to the learning curve, though I've been wondering if having her move to Windows 7 would be any less difficult.

It's not that bad. Of course you can also change the theme to Windows classic if that helps. I'd probably disable Aero so she's not distracted by shiny UI enhancements.

[Kerrigan]

Yeah, what iMitch said. You can make the taskbar act like the old one, you can set the theme to classic, and there's basically no learning curve.

[::maroma::]

Yeah, my girlfriend and I saw this the other night and she said to me, "Wasn't that feature that other guy's idea?" (referring to the first commercial with the dude in the bathroom claiming it to be his idea)

Silly marketers.

[sdilley14]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Yeah, my girlfriend and I saw this the other night and she said to me, "Wasn't that feature that other guy's idea?" (referring to the first commercial with the dude in the bathroom claiming it to be his idea)

Silly marketers.

Exactly. You'd think they could find some other feature to highlight.

[olePigeon]

Well, it's a useful feature for Windows because of how its windowing system works. When applications monopolize the entire screen, you have to rely on the task bar. Flip3D is completely useless, so the ability to organize application windows in a more appealing manner is probably a godsend for your average Windows user.

I thought it was funny when Windows PCs finally got OS-level support for multiple monitor in Windows 98. Mac users had been using dual setups since 1984, three or more in 1986; then 14 years later people are going apeshit over having two screens at once on Windows. I couldn't figure out what the commotion was until my friend explained it to me.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by gradient 

Off topic question, seeing as the opportunity to ask it comes up:

How would you compare the UI learning curve, for a user moving from XP to Windows 7 as opposed to moving from XP to OS X (10.5 or 10.6)?

My 60 year old mom needs a new computer and is certainly a bit of an 'old dog' so I'm hesitant to buy her an Apple machine due to the learning curve, though I've been wondering if having her move to Windows 7 would be any less difficult.

What's wrong with staying on XP from her POV?

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

Well, it's a useful feature for Windows because of how its windowing system works. When applications monopolize the entire screen, you have to rely on the task bar. Flip3D is completely useless, so the ability to organize application windows in a more appealing manner is probably a godsend for your average Windows user.

I thought it was funny when Windows PCs finally got OS-level support for multiple monitor in Windows 98. Mac users had been using dual setups since 1984, three or more in 1986; then 14 years later people are going apeshit over having two screens at once on Windows. I couldn't figure out what the commotion was until my friend explained it to me.

You mean like USB and CD burning support?

[gradient]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

What's wrong with staying on XP from her POV?

Nothing at all, it's only the fact that getting XP on a modern machine is a bit of a pain.

Thanks for the OT answers, guys; I won't push this anyfurther sideways.

Cheers.

[Doofy]

I don't get it.
Wasn't comparing two documents side by side a simple right click and "tile windows"??

How is this faster? How is it better?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

You mean like USB and CD burning support?

That too. I think XP was the first version of Windows that had built in CD burning support without requiring 3rd party software.

Did Windows 7 finally get DVD play back? Or do you still have to use 3rd party software?

Originally Posted by Paco500 

I'd never seen the snap thing before- it's not a bad idea. I have to compare 2 docs side by side all the time and can see it being quite useful.

You have to click on two windows and jerk them to the side of the screen. Without it, you have to click on two windows, move them to the side, and resize them (if they aren't big enough already. Does it really save that much time? Is this really revolutionary? And if you are using two docs in the same app, wouldn't choosing "Tile Windows" from the Window menu be easier?

How about this - you have your two windows "snapped", taking up the whole screen, and you want to copy an image from one window to the desktop (or another window). How do you do that exactly? On a Mac, I'd just start dragging the image, press the Exposé desktop key (or regular Exposé key for another app's window), and let go of the mouse button - easy.

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I thought it was funny when Windows PCs finally got OS-level support for multiple monitor in Windows 98. Mac users had been using dual setups since 1984, three or more in 1986; then 14 years later people are going apeshit over having two screens at once on Windows. I couldn't figure out what the commotion was until my friend explained it to me.

Agreed. When I explained this to some coworkers once, they said "but now we have it, so it's no big deal." I said "but what about all the other features I have now, but you don't." Windows still doesn't have an Exposé equivalent.

So, after I posted my last reply, I tried dragging the windows myself - well, the right one is a bit of a pain since the resize control is on the right side, so I made two AppleScripts and stuck it in the Scripts menu. You can enable the script menu in the AppleScript editor prefs. I named the scripts "window snap left" and "window snap right"

Code:
tell application "Finder"
	set screenBounds to bounds of window of desktop
	set frontmostApplication to name of the first process whose frontmost is true
end tell

set screenWidth to item 3 of screenBounds
set screenHeight to item 4 of screenBounds

--tell current application
tell application frontmostApplication
	--display dialog frontmostApplication as string
	set myWindows to windows whose visible is true
	get bounds of item 1 of myWindows
	-- left
	set bounds of item 1 of myWindows to {1, 22, screenWidth / 2, screenHeight - 60}
	-- right
	-- set bounds of window 1 to {screenWidth / 2, 22, screenWidth + 1, screenHeight - 60}
end tell

That's the left one. Comment the line under -- left and uncomment under -- right to make the right one. I hard coded 60 because that's my dock height, but it could be dynamic I support. To use it, choose the command from the script menu and it will act on the chosen window.

There, now we have "snap" too.

[Doofy]

^

[sdilley14]

^^^ This definitely deserves two different commercials on primtetime network television.

[DrTacoMD]

Originally Posted by hayesk 

You have to click on two windows and jerk them to the side of the screen. Without it, you have to click on two windows, move them to the side, and resize them (if they aren't big enough already. Does it really save that much time? Is this really revolutionary? And if you are using two docs in the same app, wouldn't choosing "Tile Windows" from the Window menu be easier?

Well not every program even has a Window menu (or a menu bar at all, for that matter), so having it at the OS-level is a good idea. Plus, it remembers the size of the window from before you snapped it -- just pull the window off the side, and it switches back to its previous size. Honestly, I don't use it too often, but it's kind of handy when I do. Not a KILLER feature, but just a little nicety.

[MrsLarry]

I just saw a new one of these last night, I don't even remember the feature it talked about... but I do remember the guys introducing himself, his name.... Mac.

I can't YouTube at work, but I'm sure it's out there. (Anyone else?)