[jocker]

http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_explorer_demo_01.jpg

http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_fast_search_demo_01.jpg

Seriously - how the f*ck can microsoft get away with such blatant interface copying? Does apple not patent anything? Does the long-standing agreement that apple made with microsoft years ago allow them to do this?

[cpac]

eh? The interface doesn't look much like Tiger at all, and in terms of functionality, well, Apple doesn't have a patent on searching.

[Ilja]

Well, I see his point: aquafied close, mini-/maximize buttons and the second screenshot reminds me very much of spotlight...

[ManOfSteal]

Kinkos.�

[G0Ducks]

Originally posted by jocker:
http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_explorer_demo_01.jpg

http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_fast_search_demo_01.jpg

Seriously - how the f*ck can microsoft get away with such blatant interface copying? Does apple not patent anything? Does the long-standing agreement that apple made with microsoft years ago allow them to do this?

This is definitely windows. The widgets are totally Inspiriat (inspirit?). This could also be a screenshot of Windows' new longhorn.

R

[chris v]

Take OS X, hit it with an ugly stick until its eyes swell shut, presto! Longhorn. Blech.

[Simon X]

!!!!!

[G0Ducks]

Originally posted by Simon X:
Good ol' MS. Still trying to polish a turd.

ooooooh, shiny!

[mAxximo]

That is indeed an ugly interface.
While Apple seem to be trying to leave all of the Aqua nonsense behind, MS have managed to take all what was wrong of it to a new level of ugliness. Good job.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by jocker:
Seriously - how the f*ck can microsoft get away with such blatant interface copying?

I don't see it at all...

[lenox]

That's not very blatant at all. Gosh, I pity anyone who has to stare at that interface.

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by mAxximo:
That is indeed an ugly interface.
While Apple seem to be trying to leave all of the Aqua nonsense behind, MS have managed to take all what was wrong of it to a new level of ugliness. Good job.

Huh? OS X's interface is still for the most part Aqua - a refined Aqua, but Aqua nevertheless.

I don't think this is Longhorn we're seeing, but if it is that's really great. That interface looks a smidgen worse than even XP's.

[wtmcgee]

There's a definate similarity between the 2nd screenshot and spotlight.... but a lot of it is becasue it makes sense to lay it out that way.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by wtmcgee:
There's a definate similarity between the 2nd screenshot and spotlight.... but a lot of it is becasue it makes sense to lay it out that way.

Yeah. Unless I'm just really think, I'd say it looks about as much like a Xfactor with the field names switched up as it does like Spotlight.

[zenatek]

That is Longhorn without question and its as ugly as ever.

[teszeract]

Windows XP already organises list views like this. It could be very useful. But true to MS abilities, the setting never sticks.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
I don't see it at all...

Please .... look at the blatant use of English in those screenshots!

[Phil Sherry]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:
Please .... look at the blatant use of English in those screenshots!

yeah, American English, too. psh, fools.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally posted by Phil Sherry:
yeah, American English, too. psh, fools.

Well, Apple is using American English, so obviously MS must as well.

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by G0Ducks:
ooooooh, shiny!

"Sh!t. Shinola."

[jamil5454]

I don't think Microsoft is trying to copy Aqua per se, but it is definitely trying to copy the "concept" of OS X. This means translucent menus/windows, more integration between system apps, etc. Basically Microsoft is trying to copy that feeling you get when you use OS X, but instead Windows XP (and Longhorn too) ends up looking non-professional, unintelligent (ie not a "smart" OS), and generally just like a toy.

It's kind of like OS X uses deeper sub-conscious features that work similar to the way our mind does, while Windows is nothing like this and is just more "shallow". It's hard to describe.

Anyway, I still have to use Windows at my school for coding, and fortunately it doesn't get in the way too much. Times I wish I had OS X were:

-When I had a lot of windows open and wanted to switch between them efficiently

-When I wanted to open a bash shell to do everything, instead of opening this program, clicking there, open that folder, viewing file properties, etc. The Command Prompt in Windows Sucks.

-When the reboot/login takes forever.

-When I wanted to open an Application and have to search around in the Programs folder because it isn't in the start menu. Then, once I find it, dragging it to the Start menu doesn't exaclty do what I want

-When all those little balloons are popping up in the bottom right corner of the screen saying things like "You have xx days left to activate Windows" and "Click here to see updates" and "New hardware detected" and "MSN messenger is still running down here" and "Take a tour of Windows XP". You get the idea. Annoying as hell when I'm trying to concentrate.

The worst is whenever I let Windows automatically download critical updates and install them (it seemed like it REALLY wanted to do this after a bunch of "are you sure?" dialogs when I went to turn it off). So I'm working on Ultimately Hard Java Program and Windows decides to download and install updates. OK, I think, it's not getting in the way of anything. All of a sudden this window pops up while I'm typing asking me to restart the computer. Geez, that was annoying, I thought. So I click restart later and I get back to my Java work. Literally 5 minutes later the same dialog popped up again and once I again it interrupted my train of thought and I clicked "Go AWAY!". The dialog kept popping up every five minutes. Finally I surrendered to the Dictator that is Windows and saved my work and restarted.

The next day Windows found more critical updates.


This story has not been exaggerated at all. It actually happened like this. This is a perfect example of the OS "getting in the way" and controlling you rather than you controlling the OS. Here's what Microsoft should have done differently:

-display the dialog ONCE, at the most
-if you refuse to restart, a little colored icon will remain motionless (this is key) somewhere on the taskbar, reminding you to do so.
-in the unlikely event that Windows crashes because I mess with System Option A or Random Driver File B, I'll at least know that it was partly my fault because I didn't restart prior to doing so.


I'm done. I just had to get that off my chest.

[JayJay1974]

Originally posted by jocker:
http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_explorer_demo_01.jpg

http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_fast_search_demo_01.jpg

Does anybody else think it strange that they make the close button (X) the largest one there? There is no consistency in the window widgets.
Cool, more chance to close that window accidentally!
JJ

[CaptainHaddock]

PS If I were a Windows user, I'd have lots to complain about. The size of the close button is a good point. And why are those three buttons so squished up like that? Look how much room there is below them. And who doesn't think that thick Longhorn sidebar (I've seen it in other screenshots) isn't ugly as heck?

[Deimos]

Windows had a per-window search tool long before OS X came out. All they've done is move it up to the top. Perhaps the style is akin to OS X's, but certainly not copying the concept of a search tool in a window.

[RonnieoftheRose]

By rearranging elements to resemble OS X in some way Microsoft is helping to ease the transition of future Longhorn users to OS X. Good job

[Deimos]

Originally posted by RonnieoftheRose:
By rearranging elements to resemble OS X in some way Microsoft is helping to ease the transition of future Longhorn users to OS X. Good job

Why migrate when you can have both?

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by Deimos:
Why migrate when you can have both?

Because having both means you have to have Windows.

[Deimos]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Because having both means you have to have Windows.

It's like having 2 women at the same time... fabulous.

[msuper69]

Originally posted by Deimos:
It's like having 2 women at the same time... fabulous.

Yeah. If you like one of them to be a skanky broad that you picked up at 2:30am at the local bar.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by Deimos:
It's like having 2 women at the same time... fabulous.

Given a choice of having Catherine Zeta-Jones alone or having both Catherine Zeta-Jones and Gloria Stuart at the same time, I'll take the former, thanks.

[Deimos]

Originally posted by msuper69:
Yeah. If you like one of them to be a skanky broad that you picked up at 2:30am at the local bar.

Nothing wrong with a bit of variation.

[Deimos]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Given a choice of having Catherine Zeta-Jones alone or having both Catherine Zeta-Jones and Gloria Stuart at the same time, I'll take the former, thanks.

Poor choice of women, on both accounts.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Deimos:
Poor choice of women, on both accounts.

Just like Windows... poor choice.

If you really need some variation from Mac OS X, find a nice and heavy armored door and bang your head against it a couple of times. There's no need to pay MS for the experience.

[Chuckit]

Just so you know, Deimos, we're not really bashing you. There's just not a lot of Windows love round these parts.

(I'm sure you knew that, but I noticed you were new, so I just wanted to point it out.)

[Deimos]

Double posty

[Deimos]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Just so you know, Deimos, we're not really bashing you. There's just not a lot of Windows love round these parts.

(I'm sure you knew that, but I noticed you were new, so I just wanted to point it out.)

I know, nothing like a bit of online mickey taking, all in good fun.

[Hi I'm Ben]

I love Windows. I just hate spyware.

[CaptainHaddock]

Heheh, I thought this might belong in this thread. Look at this supposed screenshot from Longhorn (the one that copies Tiger's Spotlight):

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/s...ch_demo_01.jpg

Someone at Slashdot pointed this out. Look at the file-sizes and dates of the documents. Then look at the file-sizes and dates of the e-mails. They're the same! Why? Because whoever made that "screenshot" was actually doing it in Photoshop. They copied the document text layers to re-use for the e-mails, and forgot to change the numbers and dates.

In other words, maybe Longhorn will eventually look like that, and maybe it won't. But they don't even have screenshots of a working example yet.

[angelmb]

Originally posted by CaptainHaddock:
Heheh, I thought this might belong in this thread. Look at this supposed screenshot from Longhorn (the one that copies Tiger's Spotlight):

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/s...ch_demo_01.jpg

Someone at Slashdot pointed this out. Look at the file-sizes and dates of the documents. Then look at the file-sizes and dates of the e-mails. They're the same! Why? Because whoever made that "screenshot" was actually doing it in Photoshop. They copied the document text layers to re-use for the e-mails, and forgot to change the numbers and dates.

In other words, maybe Longhorn will eventually look like that, and maybe it won't. But they don't even have screenshots of a working example yet.

Not to mention that there are six references to only five documents LOL

[kcmac]

That really is embarrassing. Funny how Thurrott seems to miss this.

[ooninay]

Heh heh, that's a funny story Jamil, and I believe it too. The popup balloons in the notification area are a constant irritant to me too.

As for the interface itself. The one good thing I can say is that I think their new font is better. But I agree with others who criticized the maximize/minimize/close buttons. Why are they so small, why is the close button bigger than the other two, why are they so non-descript? It looks like they ran out of room and had to squeeze them awkardly up against the top edge of the window, except there's TONS of room below them. Also, it's just inconsistent and unaesthetic when all the other elements of the window are given relatively huge amounts of screen real estate, to make that single exception for these three, most commonly-used buttons. Also I find the reflection bisecting all three buttons to be rather ugly, cheesy-looking, and distracting.

Also, as usual the window as a whole is too busy. I'm looking at http://www.winsupersite.com/images/s...ch_demo_01.jpg and seeing along the top an inconsistent use of words and icons. E.g., "File" spelled out, then an icon that I think changes the display options, then another icon whose purpose I don't know, then both an icon (a checkbox), AND the word "Options" to set options. Maybe I'm being nitpicky but wouldn't either icons OR words but not a mixture be better?

Then there's the skin itself, which is kinda cheesy and amateurish to me. Oh, and the file folder icons in http://www.picmate.co.uk/lh_explorer_demo_01.jpg have been so simplified and stylized that they don't even look like file folders to me anymore. If they were going to turn them on their side like that (presumably to make them the same width as the other icons so all the columns would line up), then I think they should have made them look a bit more realistic so that they are instantly recognizable as folders. When I first looked at them I wasn't sure what they were.

This sounds like a Windows bash, and I guess it is kind of. Actually though I'm looking forward to Longhorn, because I'm an OS junkie who loves trying out anything new. Some of the Longhorn stuff sounds neat and cool, but I just hope the UI is a little more refined and elegant than what we've been seing so far...

[SubGeniux]

You guys get yourselves into such a tizzy that it's embarrassing.

The screenshots were just mockups for a new variation of the "look" of the interface, the actual functionality has been there for ages! All they did was present the sane "working" features in a new look.

[cthree]

I actually like many of the things Windows (the shell not the OS, too bad they are one in the same, mistake #1) offers like being able to do file operations in the open/save dialogs. I think it's a pain to go back to Finder to reorganize files and folders when I go to save something. Windows lets you rename, delete, create folders, etc from the save dialog and I like that feature. If you know of anything for my Mac that extends file management operations to the system open/save dialogs I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Both GUI shells have their good and bad points but which you prefer is largely a matter of personal preference. There are no substantial gaps in the functionality or usefulness of either. If Windows had the underpinnings of Darwin instead of the crap they do have lurking under there it would be a tougher choice to make IMHO of course...

[angelmb]

Originally posted by cthree:
...If you know of anything for my Mac that extends file management operations to the system open/save dialogs I'd appreciate hearing about it...

Check Default Folder X Hope that helps

[tavilach]

We weren't imagining things:

Winsupersite had pictures of SyncManager, etc. I looked at their website again, and look:

"On March 18, 2005, I updated the showcase with new images of Longhorn security, unresponsive application alerts, and SyncManager.

On March 23, 2005, I removed the previously added images at Microsoft's request."

Those were all the things that were essentially ripped straight from Panther and Tiger.

Wow.

[Kristoff]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Given a choice of having Catherine Zeta-Jones alone or having both Catherine Zeta-Jones and Gloria Stuart at the same time, I'll take the former, thanks.

Now Gloria Stuart circa 1935:



I'd hit that. In a second.

There was never a time that Windows ever looked anywhere near as Gloria did in her prime. (You should have picked someone else, like Rosanne or something)

[Simon]

Originally posted by Kristoff:
There was never a time that Windows ever looked anywhere near as Gloria did in her prime. (You should have picked someone else, like Rosanne or something)

[Madrag]

windows looks like the bastard child...